15. Gianna
“Simone? Are you there?”I pull my phone away from my ear and look to make sure the call is actually connected.
It did.
“Yeah, shit. Sorry. Hold on.” Simone finally speaks, and a rustling sound followed by a crash comes through the phone.
“Uh, are you okay?”
“Fine, yup.” She sounds slightly breathless, and I immediately think I’ve caught her at a bad time.
“Are you? I mean, am I interrupting?” I whisper the question, hoping I’m wrong. It’s only around five o’clock here, but that means it’s later on the east coast.
After the revelation at that meeting, I have to talk to someone, and the only person I want to talk to is Simone.
“Oh, no. That’s just Tiny.”
“Tiny?”
“I got a kitten,” she says casually. I can practically see her waving her hand like it’s not a big deal.
“A kitten?” I yell into the phone. “I’m sorry, I love you, and I want to hear all about this incredibly random development, but we have more pressing matters.”
“More pressing than Tiny? You haven’t seen a picture, but do tell.”
“So remember what we were talking about before I came back to Ever Lake, about Henry?”
“Yes…”
Taking a deep breath, I work up to telling her what I have to tell her. I still can’t believe I’ve gotten myself into this mess. Small town or not, what are the chances?
Oh, God. If I could have just waited one night, I would know what I know, and I wouldn’t have jumped back into bed with Henry.
“You slept with him already?” Simone’s shocked voice rings through the phone, clearly impatient with how long I’m taking to spit it out.
“Yeah…” I can’t seem to force the words out of my mouth, and I half hope she can just fill in the blanks. As unlikely as that is.
“Oh wow, night one. How was it?”
“It was great. More than great, actually—” I stop myself, feeling my body warm at the thought. Tiny shivers run down my back. “He helped me unpack my things. Ironed and hung stuff up for me.”
“What?”
“Yeah, it was bizarre, but also surprisingly really nice?”
I can’t talk about him like this. What I want to tell her is that the whole thing, the whole night, made me feel comfortable and taken care of. It was great sex, but also great company. And I can’t. I just can’t.
“That’s awesome. You’ve got a good, consistent hookup buddy for the duration of your visit. And you didn’t have to put away all your shit or pretend that hanging up something in the bathroom while you shower does anything about wrinkles. Win-win.”
“Can’t happen again.”
“What do you mean? Of course it can. You clearly enjoy him and are sexually compatible. Just let him know that you’d rather not sleep with him if he’s sleeping with other people and explain that you’ll be leaving in a few months, so no strings are necessary.”
“I can’t do that, Simone—”
“Gia, I love you like a sister, I do. But you make things too complicated. It doesn’t have to be that serious, I promise.”
“Simone…” I try to stop her in her tracks, but she’s on a roll now, and the easiest way to get through is to let her run out of steam.
“Okay, fine, if not him, find some other cute Colorado guy to get you off. You deserve to have some fun with a guy who’s the complete opposite of the type you usually go for. I just don’t want you to look back on your twenties and wish you had done the carefree thing. And no offense, but you finding your boyfriends through my doofus brothers or our other cousins has clearly not worked out. They always end up being stuffy finance guys or guys who wish they were stuffy finance guys. Talking about the fucking stock market all the time. I can’t deal anymore. I can’t relate to them, and I want to like whoever you end up with.”
“You relate to me just fine,” I remind her. It’s not like my job is all that exciting to people either.
“You don’t prattle on about your job the way those guys do. And when you do, you’re usually talking about the businesses you’re helping in the process. Also, you’re my best friend. Of course I relate to you.”
I pause for a second, waiting to see if she has anything else to say before finally getting to the point. “It’s not that simple, Simone, and let me finish. You remember that I said we were working with a family-run lodge?”
“Yeah, but you and the broody boy usually pick family businesses.”
“Right, but I mentioned that this older couple has their kids working for them.”
“Sure…”
“Henry, he’s…he’s one of the kids.”
My words hang heavy between us, somewhere between Colorado and Massachusetts for several beats before Simone finds her words again.
“One of the kids…as in?”
“Henry Wright is apparently his name. Of the Wright Family Lodge family.”
“No…”
“Yeah, and if we had our initial meeting yesterday instead of this afternoon, I wouldn’t have done it again.”
“Slept with him, you mean?”
“Mhm.”
“I mean, it could be worse?”
“They’re not telling their kids about what’s going on with the business, at least for the first few weeks that I’m here.”
“That’s…okay, yeah, that’s not great. So what are you going to do?” The gravity of the situation seems to finally be sinking in for her.
“Nothing. I obviously won’t be sleeping with him again. It’s not my place to tell them what to do in terms of informing their kids, and it’s beyond inappropriate for me to continue any kind of intimate relationship with a client”s child.”
“I mean, what if you run into each other? He’s a local, right?”
“I’ll just shut it down. Easy. I’m here to work anyway, and last night was obviously a bad decision.”
“Was it?” She sounds skeptical, and I can hear her smiling.
“Simone, it was clearly not the right move.”
“Okay, but on the other hand, what if the universe wanted you to have another great lay before finding out this information? The universe is on the side of orgasms, Gia.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m right, though, ridiculous or not.”
Rolling my eyes, I try my best to ignore her logic, but part of me might agree with her. I’m about to voice that, when someone knocks at the door that leads out to Main Street. “Someone’s here. And I don’t think it’s Cam.” He’d knock on the door inside the bed and breakfast since he’s staying in the other garden suite. I’m whispering as if the person on the side of the door can hear me from all the way across the room.
“Who do you think it is?” Simone adopts my whispering too, and I almost laugh.
“I don’t know.” Taking small quiet steps, I make my way over to the door, thankful that I have my blinds drawn and there’s a peephole.
I stand on my tiptoes and close one eye to peer out, then immediately stumble back. Cupping my hand around the bottom of my phone, I tell Simone, “It’s Henry! He has takeout in his hands. And he’s smiling.”
I stand there, staring at the door like it might jump out and bite me, and wait for some kind of direction from the other side of the phone. When Henry knocks again, I almost jump out of my skin.
“What’s he wearing?”
“Be serious, Simone,” I whisper-yell at her.
“You have to answer the door, Gia.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Gianna Renee, pull it together and answer that door right now.”
Pulling out my middle name is a harsh move, but she’s right. I was going to have to have this conversation sooner or later. It’s just a lot sooner than I planned.
“Fine, but I hate you.”
“Yeah, yeah, remember that when you’re dialing my number after this interaction.”
I blow a raspberry loud enough for her to hear it before ending the call. Stepping back up to the door, I flip the deadbolt and yank it open before I can talk myself out of it. Henry has his fist raised to knock again.
“Hey,” I greet him, trying to slow the beating of my heart to something less likely to throw me into a cardiac arrest.
“Hey.” Smiling, he lifts the two paper bags in offering. “I thought I’d bring dinner. Have you tried the Greek place off Main Street?”
“I…haven’t. Listen, I actually thought we should talk.” I hesitate to invite him in, not because I don’t trust myself.
Okay, maybe I don’t trust myself. But only a little. And only because he’s shown up wearing a thick flannel that hugs his chest and arms in a way that is truly not safe for work.
“Chat over spanakopita?” He unleashes that charming smile of his, and I know there’s no way we can have this conversation standing at the door.
That, and who am I to turn down spanakopita?
“Yeah, sure. Come on in.”
A swift breeze follows him in, chilling me to my core. The temperature change is a nice reprieve from the heat that washes over me every time I’m in his presence.
“You can put everything on that table over there.” I shut the door and point at the small round table in the corner. He unpacks the bags of food, and I drag over two chairs, so we have somewhere to sit.
Looking satisfied, Henry sits and gets comfortable before popping open lids and grabbing plasticware.
“Listen, before we eat, I wanted to let you know that I’m not really up for any more hookups or anything. I’m sorry if last night may have led you to believe that it might turn into a regular thing, but it’s not, and I don’t want you to think—” I’m babbling, and I finally take a breath when he interrupts me.
“Whoa, hey. Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?” He stands and comes around to stand in front of me, hands hovering as if he wants to check my body for injuries.
“No, oh my God, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” A deep V that appears between his brows, and his lips turn down into a frown.
“Yeah, I just—it’s not—I’m not looking to hook up while I’m here working. Last night, while honestly wonderful, I promise, wasn’t my best choice. I appreciate how nice you’ve been, and again, I’d be lying if I said the orgasms weren’t also much appreciated, but I don’t think we should continue on.” I almost stop there, but I don’t want to mince my words. “I’m a relationship girl. Always have been, always will be at my core. It’s obvious that’s not you. You’re not a relationship kind of guy, and that’s okay. I’m not judging either way. It takes all kinds to make the world go round, right? But it’s just not what I’m looking for.”
“Oh, okay, no worries. That’s totally fine, Gia. I understand.” His face falls, and the sight of it is like a punch in the gut. “Did you still want to have dinner?”
The question almost stuns me. I guess I didn’t see him being a dick about this. But the fact that he still wants to share a meal with me is almost too nice.
Something that I’m beginning to understand Henry might not be capable of being anything but charming and kind.
I almost wish he had some dark secret that would cure me of this inconvenient crush.
But he doesn”t, at least not to my knowledge.
I”m the one with the secret.