Chapter 15 #2
“Okay, Miss Nora,” Eliza—her masseuse—quietly said. “We’re all done. Take your time getting up. There’s a pitcher of water here on the table, and your robe is on the bed. I’ll be waiting out in the living room, but don’t feel the need to rush.”
“Thanks, Eliza,” she said drowsily. In the distance, she heard the door open and shut, but she was completely boneless and wasn’t sure she’d be able to get off the table, let alone get dressed and drink water.
But at some point, she forced herself to move.
“Thank God no one is here to witness this,” she murmured as she clumsily got to her feet and padded naked over to the bed to get her robe. Once it was on, she went and poured herself a glass of water and drank it down faster than she would have thought.
She stared at the bed longingly—desperately wishing she could crawl under the blankets—but Eliza needed to come back in and get her gear. Pouring herself more water, she forced herself to leave the room.
“Thanks, Eliza,” she said with a smile. “That was incredible.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Be sure to drink plenty of water today. It will help with recovery.” And with a quick nod, she went back to the bedroom to collect her things while Nora went in search of Milo.
She found him working in the guest room, and when he spotted her, his entire face lit up, and it made her heart beat crazily for a second.
“Well, someone’s looking very relaxed,” he said as he got to his feet.
“You have no idea. I kind of want to take a bath to get some of this massage lotion off, but I think I’d fall asleep.” Laughing softly, she added, “Although, I’d die a happy woman. That was amazing.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I can’t make myself relax enough to get a massage.”
“That’s what I thought, but Eliza’s hands were like magic. You should…” Pausing, she had an image of Milo naked on the massage table with nothing but a towel over his butt and Eliza’s hands running all over him. “You know what? It’s not for everyone. You shouldn’t give it another thought.”
As if reading her mind, he stepped in close, his hands gently resting on her hips. “The only hands I want rubbing me are yours.”
“Good.” Kissing him softly, Nora felt like they were back on track.
As much as she hated that he hadn’t come to see her, she had to admit that this was kind of a lot better.
Slater didn’t mind finding people to cover her shifts, and he had even hinted at how he maybe wasn’t as eager to leave the resort as he originally thought.
“Are you taking my promotion back?” she’d asked lightly, but there was a part of her that was genuinely concerned.
“Not at all. I think I was feeling like it was time to move on, but nothing’s piquing my interest yet.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
“And with us cutting back on the outdoor stuff soon, chances are other places will be too. So you and I can share the load, but ultimately all the decision-making will be yours. You know, if you want.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Nora, come on. You’re jetting off to be with Milo, and we both know doing the tour guide thing was never your lifelong dream.”
“That’s not true,” she lied because she was curious where he was going with this.
“All I’m saying is there’s no rush for either of us to change anything up right now.”
“Okay.”
And he’d changed the subject to chartering planes after that.
“Hey,” Milo whispered, caressing her cheek. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry. My mind wandered for a moment.”
He looked at her expectantly.
“I was just thinking about how nice this is and how I’m dangerously close to enjoying being pampered. And no one is more surprised than me.”
That seemed to please him. “You deserve to be pampered. You work hard and everything you do is for other people. So if I can help you take time for yourself, then I’m going to.”
Reaching up, she cupped his firm jaw. “I swear you’re too good to be true sometimes, but I’m glad you’re mine.”
“That part makes me happy too.” He kissed her then—tenderly at first, and then a little deeper and needier. Taking her in his arms, he turned them and backed her up against the wall. His hand slid underneath her robe, and she hummed with pleasure.
“Have a good day!” Eliza called out before letting herself out, but neither of them paid any attention. They were in their own little world.
Breaking the kiss, Milo looked at her, his dark eyes glazed with desire. “You’re mine, Nora,” he said gruffly. “All mine.”
“Yes,” she panted.
And to prove it, he claimed her right there against the wall of the guest room. It was wild and frantic and so damn good that her screams echoed throughout the penthouse.
Minutes later, even more boneless than she’d been before, she let Milo carry her back to his bedroom where he lovingly placed her on the bed.
“Rest,” he whispered. “And when you get up, we’ll take that bath and I’ll hold you up so you don’t fall back to sleep.” Kissing her forehead, he covered her with the blankets and quietly left the room.
She was asleep before the door even closed.
One weekend of bliss followed by three of disappointment.
Every time Milo had to cancel, he told her he’d fly her to Seattle, but she refused, not to be spiteful, but because she wasn’t comfortable with this kind of relationship.
Maybe he didn’t realize it, but it felt like he was buying her affection.
Or maybe it was that he didn’t mean to buy her affection, but he was trying to buy relief from his own guilt for constantly letting her down.
Either way, it was really getting to her.
Right now, she was waiting for the call or text telling her whether he was getting on a plane to come and see her.
Basically, she wasn’t holding her breath.
Hell, she didn’t even want to be waiting for the call, but she didn’t have anything else to do.
Slater had covered all the hikes because he felt confident that Milo was going to show up.
“That makes one of us,” she mumbled as she walked into their brand-new shed office.
Well, they couldn’t really call it that anymore.
It was a brand new tiny house—or tiny house-ish kind of structure—that Milo had delivered last week.
Slater was ecstatic over the whole setup, especially when Reece and his crew showed up to get the water, heat, and electric connected.
She had to admit it was a pretty great thing for them to finally have, but she saw it for what it really was: emotional outsourcing.
Again, he kept mistaking provision for presence.
For such a smart guy, he was pretty freaking clueless.
Nora just had to decide when she was going to confront him about the whole thing.
Just the thought of it didn’t sit right with her.
Most of the time she didn’t mind speaking her mind to anyone, but Milo was so non-confrontational that it almost made her feel mean.
There was a time when she wouldn’t have minded being mean to him, but that was in the past, before she knew him.
And after everything they’d shared, it didn’t feel like something she should be doing.
No matter how mad he was making her.
She had barely stepped into their new office when one of their guides, Dave, came limping in. “Oh, hey, Nora. Is Slater around?”
“No, sorry. He’s up on the expert trail. Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “I got back a little while ago with an intermediate group, and I took a nasty fall while trying to help one of the guests from falling. Either way, my ankle’s swelling up and I’m heading up to the lodge to see the doctor.”
“Oh, wow, Dave, I’m sorry! Do you need help to get up there?”
“No, but…I’ve got another group starting in thirty minutes and there’s no way I can do it. I figured if Slater was around, maybe he could take it.”
She was already on her feet. “Don’t worry about it. I can take them.” She looked over at their schedule board. “Beginner group…eight people…no kids.”
He nodded. “Yeah, they’re all here as part of a family reunion. Cousins or something.” Shifting on his feet, he winced. “I really need to go…”
“Go. I’ve got this,” she assured him. “Text me later and let me know what the doctor said, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to tell you to stay off your feet for several days.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Axel walking by and immediately called out to him. “Axel! Can you come here for a minute, please?”
He jogged over and looked between her and Dave. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Dave’s hurt and needs to get up to the lodge to see the doctor. I hate the thought of him hobbling up there alone. Any chance you can get one of the golf carts and drive him up? I need to get ready to take over his hike.”
“I thought Milo was coming in today and you had the day off.”
Forcing a smile, she shook her head. “I haven’t heard from him, so I’m just going to assume he isn’t coming. Can you help Dave?”
“Of course. Hang tight.” He walked away and was back in two minutes.
“Thanks, Nora,” Dave said with a tight smile. “I could have made it up there myself, but I know this is going to be much better.”
“Take care of yourself, and we’ll talk soon.”
Once they were gone, she stared down at her phone. No missed calls. No texts. No voicemails. No emails.
Son of a bitch.
“I guess it’s a good thing I’m going on a hike,” she mumbled as she began putting together her backpack. “Less time to think about what a colossal jerk my boyfriend is.”
It took her only ten minutes to get everything together, and once she was done, she jogged back to her cabin to change into clothes that were more suitable for a hike than her yoga pants and tennis shoes.
“Hey, Nora!” Harlow called out as she jogged over to the cabin. “Is Milo on his way?”
Inwardly, she groaned. This was another sucky aspect of this relationship—she worked with all his best friends and they knew everything.
“No idea,” she said with a forced smile.
Harlow frowned. “Really? I thought he was definitely coming this time. I talked to him yesterday and…”