I swallowed and turned my head toward him. The second I did, he turned too, like he’d been waiting for it but didn’t want to make the first move. His fair cheeks were splotchy with color. His chest, too, rose and fell quickly. His Adam’s apple moved up and down on a swallow.
What does this mean? I thought.
It doesn’t have to mean anything, he seemed to say in return.
His thumb moved gently on the back of my hand shooting electricity through my whole body.
I opened my mouth to speak when I heard my name.
“Roxanne,” Vincent said.
I glanced up to find my manager glancing between Sanders and me and the blanket.
I’d never moved so fast. Pulled my hand away and stood up so fast.
Felt ashamed so damn fast.
* * *
Sanders
Once on a campingtrip as a kid, Dad came across a rattlesnake hanging out near a ditch. My dad, who was never afraid of anything, jumped a foot in the air. I’d never seen someone run away so fast. At least, not until Vincent approached us and Roxy shot up like she’d been bitten. I fought to keep my face easygoing but her reaction stung.
It was probably a good thing.
I’d been struggling. When I learned the lengths that Roxy went to save me, my affection grew. How could it not? But I couldn’t just forget everything she’d shared with me earlier in the day. She wanted to be friends. I could and would respect that. As we sat next to each other on the couch, every thought in my head consisted of “would I do this with Skip?” If I would do it with Skip, then it was all good. Skip and I were affectionate. Skip and I hugged. I could potentially hold hands with Skip …
But then again, it never felt that way when I touched other friends. It never lit me up with a million tiny shocks of electricity when our skin grazed. Holding Roxy’s hand for that minute had felt like a gift. I’d been about to do or say something very stupid when Vincent came up.
Roxy was up and standing next to him before I registered the coldness of her absence. She tossed the blanket onto my lap, thankfully, as she jumped up. They stood side by side, Vincent in his expensive suit, Roxy with her hands clasped, her demeanor as professional as his. His face remained neutral except for one small tic in his cheek that disappeared as fast as it came.
“Mr. Olsson, I heard about the accident. Glad you’re okay. Can we get you anything to make you more comfortable?” Vincent wasn’t a tall man but he seemed to tower now as he quickly glanced at his flashy watch.
I was painfully aware of the blanket and the heat flushing my body. I sat forward, elbows on my knees.
“Not at all. I’m totally fine,” I said. If I were him, I’d be worrying about a lawsuit, so I quickly added, “I feel stupid for ignoring all the clearly marked warnings.”
Vincent flared his nostrils to let out a slow breath. So maybe that had been worrying him too. “We’re just happy it wasn’t anything more serious.”
“Thanks to Ms. Kincaid,” I added.
He glanced to Roxy, his features softening ever so slightly. She was too busy glaring at the floor to notice. “She keeps surprising us with her talents.”
There was something I didn’t like about the way he looked at her. Well, he had eyes, so I couldn’t blame him. The admiration worried me a little more. Did she feel it in return? Was he the type she’d go for? Suave, rich, more self-contained. I fought to still myself but my leg jumped up and down.
Vincent frowned to Roxy. “We’ll have to add this to the ever-growing list of fixes to the Lodge to avoid this ever happening again.”
She nodded tightly. “Of course.”
“Please let us know if you need anything,” he said to me, and then to Roxy, “Roxy, can I talk to you for a minute?”
They stepped around the corner together, into a staff hallway. I pulled out my phone and pretended to work. I couldn’t hear much of their conversation, but based on her rigid stance and her frequent nodding, she was mostly listening anyway. Her short answers in soft tones came across even less than his smooth baritone.
Getting hurt really had been my fault. I’d been hoping to get away with my buddy and give her space, but once again I managed to muck up a situation. It had been reckless and stupid but I didn’t want Skip and Roxy to see how ashamed I felt, so I played it off like I was fine. I was so sure the universe wanted me to come down here but nothing had gone right since I showed up. I was supposed to be making things better, not worse.
I frowned at my phone screen, feeling a creeping sense of anxiety. Somewhere a person stopped vacuuming or a motor shut off because suddenly their conversation was audible.
“I had a plan,” Roxy said and her drawl a little more pronounced than normal. “I didn’t—”
