Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Jasper
After a shitty night of sleep, I pulled into the parking lot of the resort. How had the weekend gone from being the best ever to the worst?
The look of betrayal on Sheridan’s face haunted my dreams. Even worse, I didn’t get the impression that it was from losing out on the chance to get the property in the end.
It was from me not telling her who exactly was blocking her expansion.
It was from keeping secrets from her. From not being so into her that I would marry her in a heartbeat and give her everything she thought she wanted.
The problem was that I did know what she wanted.
When I had asked her to marry me, she’d said no. The acid in my stomach splashed like lava at the memory. She’d said no.
If her answer had been yes, I would’ve done it. I would’ve gone through with it, and I would’ve worked to make sure our love was believable. Turned out Sheridan didn’t want to be an afterthought in business or fake love, and she’d chosen that over a big leg up with any future resort competition.
“Fuck.” I blinked back my fatigue and got out. I could go right to the shop and work on painting the shed. It was cooler today, and I wouldn’t bake like I would’ve last week. Instead, I went inside the main building.
“Morning, Jasper,” Maria said, smiling and handing a customer a receipt.
“Morning, Maria.” I nodded to the guy checking out. Again, I could’ve stopped to get the list of problems that had occurred over the weekend, but I continued on. Straight to Sheridan’s office. How was she doing?
She looked up from her computer. Her face was pale, and guilt filled me. Had her sleep sucked too? I hadn’t asked for that damn cabin, and I didn’t want it or the stipulation it came with. The tugging on my chest wall said otherwise.
She paused with her hands over the keyboard and a brow lifted.
“Just checking in.” I stuffed a hand in my pocket. I didn’t have to come to her office. Would she see right through me?
Did she hate me?
“I’m fine,” she said softly.
If she’d said anything else, I might have believed her. If she’d told me to fuck off or given me a list of tasks for the day, I might’ve moved on. But neither of us was fine. I stepped in and closed the door.
She sat back and crossed her arms. I took the chair across from the desk. My insides were as pounded as the rest of me looked on the outside. How was it just last week that I had her pinned between me and the desk?
“I’m not fine,” I admitted. The back of my throat was raw. I didn’t want to be the villain in her story. Just another person making her feel like she wasn’t good enough.
“You can take today off.”
Dismay heated the back of my neck. “Seriously. A day off?”
“Yes. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Her tone was sincere. I believed her, but her concern didn’t make me feel better.
I took my ball cap off and tossed it on the desk in front of me.
I shoved my hands through my hair. “Jesus, Sheridan. You’ve got to talk to me.
You’ve got to give me something. I can’t believe that I ruined everything just trying to help you. ”
What did I ruin? The chance to have sex with her? Our friendship? A working relationship? Yes. All of them mattered.
Her lips formed a troubled line and she considered me, her head canted to the side. Then she pushed her chair back. I drank in her polo shirt and linen shorts. She was back to casual yet professional and summery, so damn pretty my heart hurt.
She rose, and I ground my teeth together. Was she kicking me out? Had I irrevocably extinguished the chemistry between us?
Rounding the desk, she didn’t say anything, but she also didn’t tell me to get the hell out.
My head tilted back the closer she got. Then she swung a leg over my lap and sat her sweet ass on my thighs.
The shock coursing through me was no match for the sudden spike of lust. “Sheridan?”
She cupped my face. “How else can I show you that I’ll be fine?”
She wasn’t. The distance between us said everything she wouldn’t. She straddled me, but she wasn’t open to me. She had closed herself off, and I was the thoughtless bastard who had caused that. I was selfish, and right now, I felt like that slacker my ex had thought I was.
Her butt rocked on my legs when she leaned forward. I froze to my chair and tried to silence my dick, but she was on me. Moving against me. And all I wanted was to get her under me.
She put her lips on mine.
I immediately slipped my arms around her but forced myself to stop moving. “What are you doing?” I whispered against her mouth.
“I’m showing you that when I said I was fine, I meant it.
” When she added more pressure to my mouth, I gave in, melting under her.
She needed this. I could sort my jumbled thoughts out later.
“The news was a shock, but I understand. I really do. This job is my priority, and you were right to remind me of it.”
Why’d it feel so wrong?
She dug her fingers into my scalp and gripped me with her legs.
Arousal coiled around my gut, urging blood into my dick and blocking any more questions I might’ve had.
The armrests of the chair were in the way, but I took what I could, sliding my hands up her back.
When her lips parted against mine, I took the opening and delved inside.
Mint hit my tongue. She was a delicious morning power drink, infusing my sluggish veins with energy they didn’t get from sleep.
I was content to keep this position, letting her attempt to dominate me, and me letting her. We kissed, our tongues tangled, but we didn’t go further. She kept her hands above my neck, and I wouldn’t delve below any clothing.
This kiss sealed the conversation from yesterday.
It was a recentering. A repositioning back to where we’d been before my family gathering.
She had moved on from the topic of the cabin, or was trying to, and I had to do the same.
But that didn’t mean I had to ditch her.
The chemistry was still there, and she was telling me that it didn’t have to mean forever.
It could just mean that liking each other was good enough.
A door slammed down the hall. Probably a guest or housekeeper. Most likely it was Landon since he was clueless about charging in or out and letting the door shake the building.
Sheridan didn’t jerk away. She eased back, and I let her go, unsure of exactly what this meant.
Did she know? Her lips were wet, her eyes shiny.
It’d be so easy to stand, place her on the edge of her desk, and roll that top up or slide her shorts down.
To put her in the same position as I had her in my truck when I got between her strong legs. But I wouldn’t.
She’d given me a peace offering. A point to move forward, to follow our own paths. She knew what hers was. Mine would be to be there to support her until I figured out my own.