Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
AVERY
Avoiding Aiden was more difficult than I’d anticipated. I didn’t realize how often we’d cross paths, especially since my room was directly next to his. And especially since I’d confused his door for my own more than once.
Though I’d tried my best to avoid him, I could feel his eyes on me whenever we were in the same space. And I’d like to say I didn’t watch him when he wasn’t looking, but that would be a lie.
I caught dozens of glimpses of him sitting behind his desk, those sexy-as-fuck black-framed glasses perched on his nose, his brow pinched and mouth set a firm line as he went over financials or files or spreadsheets.
I knew by heart the transition of his attire from completely buttoned-up at the beginning of the day to how it was when he finally headed up to his room for the night—tie loosened, the top couple buttons of his shirt undone, and his sleeves rolled up.
More than once, I’d been forced to witness him hauling guests’ luggage or loading boxes for Beck at the diner or helping the production crew carry their equipment where it needed to go, watching the bunch and flex of all those muscles.
And that didn’t even mention all the times I’d run into him in the middle of the night, him shirtless and me not wearing nearly enough to keep what he did to me under wraps.
His eyes were usually tired but sharp, proving he hadn’t yet been to sleep.
I couldn’t help but wonder how often that happened.
And why he’d been able to fall asleep so quickly and sleep so soundly when he’d been with me.
I also didn’t anticipate how many times I’d be getting myself off to memories of what he’d done to me, stifling my moans into my pillow or hoping the shower spray covered them all while he was just a door away.
Thankfully, Addison had been my touchstone for my new job, so I’d been able to steer clear of the man who’d taken up permanent residence in my fantasies, managing to avoid any more one-on-one conversations with him for more than a week.
I knew that couldn’t possibly last, especially considering I’d be here for three months, but I was going to do everything in my power to extend it as long as possible.
Because I still didn’t know what to do.
I was torn, one part of me yearning for the man he’d been that night in my hotel room, and the other part hating the one who’d asked me to keep a secret from his entire family.
It was shitty, no doubt, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d hate his request as much if my life hadn’t happened the way it had…
If my mom and I hadn’t had the rug pulled out from under us, our lives irrevocably altered by someone’s kept secret.
“Hey.” Addison pulled me out of my thoughts, tearing into the front room of the inn like a tiny tornado.
In the years we’d been apart, I’d somehow managed to forget how she was always on the go, never standing still.
She moved at the speed of a freight train, and God help anyone who got in her way. “Are you busy?”
“Nope, just checking on tomorrow’s reservations. What’s up?”
“The crew didn’t finish cleaning the Bayside Room when they were done filming in there, and it’s booked for tomorrow. Can you take care of it before you clock out?”
I gave her a nod. “Sure.”
“Great.” She shot me a beaming smile. “I should be done soon. You want to grab dinner? We could head into town and go to One Night Stan’s.”
At her words, I tripped over absolutely nothing and stumbled straight into the wall, flashes of the last time I was at that bar accosting me. Aiden’s smile, how his dimple popped when we’d been talking, and his low, rumbling laugh. A laugh I hadn’t heard once in the time I’d been staying here…
“Shit,” Addison said with a giggle. “Are you all right?”
“You’re supposed to ask me that before you start laughing.”
She snorted, obviously trying to hold it in. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m not.” She stopped trying to hold it in and let out a loud guffaw. “You remember that time you tripped up the steps at a football game, and your popcorn and slushie flew everywhere?”
“No,” I said flatly. “I’d forgotten all about one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. But thanks for reminding me.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad.”
I pinned her with a look, one brow raised. “I spilled my entire cherry slushie onto Ben Forester’s lap, so it looked like he had a period.”
That only made her giggle harder. The thing about Addison’s laugh was that it was infectious as fuck, so even if she was laughing at you, pretty soon, you were laughing with her.
It didn’t take long before we were leaning into each other, tears streaming down our faces until we were out of breath and attempting to hold each other up.
God, I’d missed this. Missed her. There was something special about friends who had known you for so long.
Friends you’d grown up with and had inside jokes with.
The kind you had your own shorthand language with.
The kind who knew you, inside and out. Knew all your baggage, who’d seen you at your best and helped you through your worst and loved you fiercely all the same.
“Okay,” I said on a giggle, straightening as I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes. “I’ll go clean up, then I’ll change, and we can head out when you’re done.”
“Sounds good.” She nodded. Then, with a completely straight face, she asked, “Do you think you’ll get a chance to sit at a stranger’s table and eat their food tonight?”
It was a callback to senior year when I’d unknowingly done exactly that. Except it hadn’t just been a stranger…it’d been one of my professors, and I hadn’t realized that until he’d returned to the table just in time to see me inhale a mouthful of his french fries.
Without bothering to reply, I flipped her off over my shoulder, her laughter following me as I headed toward the Bayside Room. My stomach was growling like no one’s business, so hopefully it wouldn’t take me too long to straighten up.
I turned the corner into the room and jerked to a stop just inside the door. Aiden stood in the corner, his back to me as he handled what Addison had sent me to do. While I’d done my best to restrain my roaming eyes this week, the chance to look at him while he was unaware was too good to pass up.
His shoulders were broad, filling out that gray dress shirt in a way that should’ve been illegal, but that had nothing on his ass in those suit pants.
I’d never been one for the whole businessman look, but there was something delicious about this man in it.
Maybe it was because I’d already seen him dressed down in a T-shirt and jeans, and I’d seen him in nothing at all.
And because of that, I knew exactly what he was hiding beneath his buttoned-up attire.
It felt like a secret just between us, and I hated how much I loved it.
I leaned a little too hard against the door, causing it to knock softly into the wall behind it.
He froze, then straightened as he turned his head to look over his shoulder.
With a muttered curse, I slipped out and around the doorway, pressing myself against the wall and holding my breath. Hoping like hell he hadn’t seen me.
After a few tense moments, I finally exhaled slowly when I heard him go back to what he’d been doing and thanked whoever was looking out for me that I’d have at least one more day of reprieve.
A couple days later, Addison strolled into the front entry as I was researching a day-trip the couple in Cottage Twelve had asked me to arrange.
Thankfully, I had taken to the job they’d needed me to fill easily and without much training.
It wasn’t all that different from what I’d done in Havenbrook—taking care of people and making sure they had what they needed.
Except here, it was the guests I needed to look out for.
“Hey,” she said, stopping on the other side of the desk. “How’s it going today?”
“Good. Scheduled a fall foliage tour for Cottage Seven, organized a private fishing charter with Levi for the group of friends staying in Cottages Three, Four, and Five, and I’m working on putting together a day-trip for the couple in Cottage Twelve.”
She shot me a grin. “I don’t like to brag or anything—”
I snorted since we both knew that was a blatant lie, but she continued on as if she hadn’t heard me.
“But hiring you was a stroke of genius on my part.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s helping.”
“More than I can tell you. Seriously. It’s such a load off not to have to stop what I’m doing every ten minutes to handle something for a guest. And Aiden hasn’t fucked up all week! I’m calling that a win all around.”
A familiar wave of uneasiness washed over me, same as it did anytime Addison complained about him. That wasn’t anything new with us—it was something she’d done frequently in college—but it felt oddly intrusive now, considering how intimately I knew the brother she was complaining about.
Except she didn’t know that tiny little detail…
Since the start of Addison’s and my friendship, we hadn’t kept secrets from each other. That was probably what had bonded us so quickly and so permanently. But I was keeping a secret from her now. Multiple, actually.
I might’ve been mad at Aiden for asking me to lie to Addison and keep his secret, but wasn’t I doing the exact same thing by keeping my involvement with him under wraps?
“Can you do me a favor and help unload the truck out front?” she asked. “It’s the supplies we ordered for Mabel and George’s anniversary party this weekend. Everything should go to the Bayside Room.”
“Sure.” I strolled toward the front door and glanced out the window, my steps faltering when I saw not only the delivery truck and driver, but also Aiden standing at the back, helping to unload the equipment.
The dress shirt he wore did nothing to disguise the way his arms and back muscles rippled with the effort.
His forehead was creased, eyes focused and intent, and God, I remembered what it felt like to have all that intensity directed at me.
While I was naked and moaning for him.
In the time I’d been working at the resort, I’d become so aware of his schedule that I knew at this point in the day, he was usually poring over his spreadsheets and doing the day’s reconciliation.
Which meant the only reason he was out there in the first place was because someone had asked him to be.
The very same someone who’d stuck me in a room directly next to her brother.
The same someone who’d tried to throw us together earlier in the week when she’d asked me to clean up after the crew.
And the same someone whom Aiden had told, firmly and loudly enough for me to hear it through my closed door, to stop meddling in other people’s lives.
I turned back to Addison with narrowed eyes. “That’s weird… Aiden’s already out there. Doing exactly what you just asked me to.”
She stared back at me sweetly, not an ounce of deceit on her face. “Really? That is weird. But if you go help, you’ll get it done in half the time.”
Oh, she was good. But we’d played enough poker in college that she should know I’d always call her bluff. “Nah. There’s no need for me to go out and help, because Aiden’s already taking care of it.”
“Well, I say there is a need, and I’m your boss, so…”
“Actually, when I took this job, you explicitly told me you weren’t my boss. Aiden was. And I’m pretty sure my boss would want me to stay where I’m supposed to be in case any guests need attention.” I patted the front desk and shot her a smile.
She stared at me for long moments, the tiniest twitch at the corner of her eye the only sign of her irritation.
Then it was wiped clear from her face, and she beamed at me, all frustration gone.
“Fine. The garbage needs to be gathered up and taken out anyway. And after you’re done with that, you can check all the mousetraps. ”
And then she swept past me with a blinding smile, the brat, and I could only shake my head at her retreating form. I didn’t know what she was up to, but meddling was her middle name. And there was little doubt she was attempting to meddle with Aiden and me. In an effort to…what? Throw us together?
Little did she know, we’d already been thrown together. Naked. And I couldn’t even close my eyes without remembering exactly how good it had been between us.
I obviously couldn’t tell her why it was a bad idea to keep forcing us together. But I was getting dangerously close to saying fuck it, just a frayed thread away from throwing my ire out the window and climbing him like a tree. Again.
Avery:
I know what you’re doing.
Addison:
Recording videos for this week’s social media posts?
Avery:
Don’t play dumb with me. I was there when you made dean’s list all four years, remember?
Addison:
Yes, yes, I’m incredibly smart
What does that have to do with anything?
Avery:
You know damn well that’s not what I mean.
Addison:
I have no idea what you’re talking about
Avery:
I’m talking about the fact that refilling the snack station in the parlor isn’t a two person job, yet you asked me to do it. Along with your brother.
Addison:
Well, you’re kind of short
I thought you might need help reaching the granola bars
I was just looking out for you
Is that so wrong?
Avery:
You just can’t help yourself, can you?
Addison:
Self-control isn’t my best quality, no