One #2
Behind him, the office door opened, and he spotted Nora stepping inside. “Hey! Why are you talking to my fiancé?” she asked.
Unable to help himself, Slater laughed. “Man, the two of you are like one scary brain.” He got to his feet and stretched before facing Nora. “You were running late, so when your laptop chimed, I figured I’d answer it and chat with him until you got here.”
“What if he hadn’t been wearing pants?” she asked. “What if this was a sexy call?”
On the computer, Milo was sputtering, but Slater just laughed harder. “That was my first thought too! But don’t worry. He’s dressed.” He clapped her on the shoulder before waving to Milo. “I’ll let you know when I have everything worked out.”
“Thanks again, Slater. We’ll talk soon!”
“What are you working out?” Nora asked.
“I’ll let Milo tell you about it. In the meantime, I’ll go work in the office up at the lodge with Lexi. Lock the door if the two of you decide to make this sexy.”
“Get out!” Milo shouted.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” And with a wave, he walked out, closing the door behind him.
It was a chilly day, but it was typical for March. Soon the trails would be full of resort guests, and they’d all be super busy. But for now, it was nice to be laid back with nothing pressing to do.
He wasn’t lying when he told Milo he was ready to move on, but he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go. With all their friends starting these great lives—getting married, having kids, growing their businesses—he felt a little like the odd man out. More than he ever had before.
Not that he was jealous or wanted any of those things. Hell no. He was not the marrying type. His old man had taught him that some people weren’t meant for those things. And considering just how much he was like his father, there was no way he would do to a woman the things his dad did to his mom.
The women. The lying. It was just cruel after a while.
So…it’s one of the main reasons he kept moving. Less of a chance of getting tempted. Having stayed in Harbortown for this long was making him a bit lazy. Or maybe it was comfortable. This was the longest he’d ever stayed anywhere as an adult. But it was time to move on.
You know, after Evie left.
Because he had a feeling hanging out with her here at the resort could be a blast. She was possibly the last single—as in unattached—friend he had left. It could be fun to have someone to hang out with when all the couples were together.
As he strolled up to the lodge, he smiled because he had something to look forward to.
Or maybe…someone.
And that hadn’t happened since…well…never.
The wedding invitation felt like a ticking time bomb.
It had been sitting on Evie Parker’s desk for three days now, and she was still trying to work up the courage to ask her “boyfriend” Tucker if he would go with her.
Boyfriend was technically correct—they had been casually dating for over a month—but she wasn’t sure if that meant they were wedding date material.
“Why am I overthinking this? Tucker’s the bride’s cousin, and the groom is my brother. We’re both going to be there no matter what, so…”
It made sense, but for some reason, formally asking him to be her date felt like a big deal.
Like…a really big deal.
Letting out a long breath, she forced herself to take a minute to calm down.
It was Friday morning, she had a ton of stuff to do before her boss left town for another extended stay on the other side of the country.
He had asked her to come with him—to help him get his satellite office set up—but she had turned him down.
Right now, her life was pretty copacetic, and she didn’t want to mess anything up.
Especially this relationship with Tucker.
Maybe with her working fewer hours, they could finally spend more time together and maybe even take things to the next level.
And she wasn’t just talking about the whole wedding date thing.
Physical.
They had done nothing more than kiss, and even though she was ready for more, she sensed that Tucker was taking things slow with her for a reason. Like he was a respectful kind of guy who didn’t want to rush her.
“Special delivery for Evie Beanie.”
Turning in her chair, she smiled up at Slater. He was standing there looking as handsome as ever, one arm behind his back, the other holding out a cup from her favorite coffee shop and smiling his most charming smile.
“What’s up, Slater Gator?” she asked with amusement, even as she accepted to cup from his hands.
“Coffee for the coolest girl in Seattle,” he said with a wink before placing a muffin down on her desk.
“You are the sweetest. Thanks. And perfect timing. I was running late this morning and didn’t have time to stop and get my coffee fix.” She smiled. “You totally saved the day.”
“So…what I’m hearing is that I’m a hero.”
Evie couldn’t help but laugh. “If that’s what you want, sure. Hero.”
He posed like a superhero for a moment before sitting on the corner of her desk. “So, what’s this I hear you’re not coming back to Harbortown with us?”
“It’s just not a great time for me to go away.
And I don’t think I’m really needed. Nora’s super organized like I am, and I think she can totally help Milo get his office up and running.
Plus, my brother’s getting married next month.
It’s a destination wedding in Costa Rica, and I’m going to be taking off extra time for that.
There’s going to be all kinds of pre-wedding family stuff, so… ”
He nodded. “Got it. I just thought it would have been cool for you to finally come and see the resort. You’ve been listening to me, Milo, and Nora talk about it for so damn long I figured you’d just want to see it for yourself.”
“I do,” she assured him. “And someday I will. I promise.”
All he did was smile at her. And Slater had a great smile.
And laugh. And…everything. He was kind of the total package where men were concerned.
But she had learned fairly soon after meeting him that he wasn’t the kind of guy you dated.
He was the guy you could either have a fling with or the guy who was going to be an awesome friend.
That was it. Only two choices. So she’d accepted being his friend.
Every once in a while, though…when he smiled at her like he was doing now, it was hard not to let out a dreamy sigh and pretend that he was secretly in love with her.
Ugh…I read too many romance novels…
“So,” she said a little too loudly. “What brings you here this morning? Milo’s on a conference call already and will probably be tied up for at least an hour.”
“Oh. I flew in last night with Nora, and she had a spa appointment this morning. I drove in with him and figured I’d come and say hey to you. But I stopped and grabbed us breakfast first.”
“Really?” And yeah, she kind of cringed at how giddy she sounded.
“Absolutely,” he told her. “But I also just got a call from my buddy who owns the plane I flew, and I wanted to let Milo know that I have it for the week so he can relax.”
“You really flew Nora here? How big is the plane?”
“Bigger than the seaplane we have at the resort. This particular one is called a super mid-sized jet and can handle ten passengers.”
“Who else are you planning on flying? That seems kind of big for just the three of you.”
“A smaller one would have been fine, but they don’t typically handle the cross-country distance.
It’s 2,800 miles from the resort to Seattle, and the smaller jets can only handle up to 2,500.
It’s not a big deal. We could have just stopped halfway and fueled up, but I was able to get the bigger one, so this just makes sense.
” He paused. “That means there’s plenty of room for you if you change your mind… ”
“I promise to think about it after the wedding,” she told him. “I’m pretty psyched about going to Costa Rica. I’ve never been there before.”
“It’s beautiful there. You’ll enjoy it.” Another pause. “And it’s your brother who’s getting married?”
“Yup. He and his fiancé wanted a destination wedding, and that’s where they decided. I had put my vote in for Hawaii, but no one was really listening.”
“Hawaii’s beautiful too. You should check it out sometime. You know, after you come to the resort,” he said with another wink.
She was about to comment when she spotted Tucker walking toward them.
Suddenly she felt a little flustered. Slater kept talking about the wonders of Hawaii and the beautiful waterfalls, but Evie began shifting things around on her desk, putting the wedding invitation in a prominent position so Tucker would have to see it and it could give her the perfect opportunity to bring up them going as each other’s dates.
Slater must have noticed the change in her behavior because he glanced over his shoulder and must have spotted Tucker too.
“Is that your boyfriend?”
She nodded distractedly, her heart racing like mad in her chest. “Uh-huh.”
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. “You’re being a little squirrely right now.”
“I’m fine. I just…” She glanced up and noticed Tucker talking to Grant in accounting, that meant she had a minute to tell Slater what she was planning. “We’re both invited to the wedding—the bride is his cousin—and I’m going to ask him if he’d like to go as my date.”
He looked mildly surprised. “You guys didn’t talk about it already? And he didn’t ask?”
Evie shook her head. “Nope. I kept waiting for him to do it, but he hasn’t, so…I’m going to do it.”
She didn’t know why he was frowning, but there wasn’t time for her to ask, either. Tucker was almost to her desk now, and she needed Slater gone.
“Shoo,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Shoo! I don’t want anyone hanging around while I do this.” Then she gave him her best pleading look. “Please.”
He stood, but he was still frowning. “Fine. I’ll just go and…quietly sit in Milo’s office.”