“Meh.” I shrugged.
“No,” he said foggily. “I’m sorry.”
Reluctantly, I tucked my boob away and climbed off of him. He was probably right. People could walk up and I wouldn’t want to traumatize a vacationing family. “Why can’t I seem to control myself?” I asked myself out loud.
He looked up at me, his eyes burning. “I know why for me.”
He got up on his knees and let out a long breath, arms akimbo at his sides. He looked up through his lashes, his head slightly bent. “I know we talked about going slow. Being professional. I’m just having a hard time remembering why at the moment.”
“Me too,” I said honestly. Then I shook my head. “That’s part of the problem. Things go all haywire in my brain. Just now when you caught me … it’s like the moment we touch I forget my priorities and I just want to smash my face against yours.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Same for me.”
“Maybe we should wear those giant sumo suits, you know the kind for wrestling at parties, whenever we’re around each other?” I suggested.
“You know, I’m weirdly into that. I don’t think that would help.”
I laughed, feeling at ease. He was so good at diffusing my embarrassment. He knew just what to say.
He was rubbing his chest with a pained expression.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Just a bit of heartburn,” he said.
I scooted closer. “I have antacid back at the hotel.”
His face scrunched. “I don’t think that’ll help.”
We were kneeling face to face. Just a breath away. I wanted so badly to lean in and kiss him more.
He grabbed my hands and held them between us. “I want to be a person you can rely on, Roxy, truly. I’m not just saying that. I want you to think of me any time you have to work through a problem. I want to be a person you can call if you have a flat tire. I want you to trust me.”
“I do,” I whispered and realized I meant it wholeheartedly.
“So.” He squeezed my hands. “If that means we have to leave all the physical stuff out of it, I’m willing to do that. If my attraction to you is complicating things, I can be better. I keep trying to be better.”
“It’s not just you.” We needed to get through this week without our bodies getting in the way. We had a job to do and then he was leaving. “But you’re right.”
“I really hate being right,” he said.
Our foreheads dropped to touch, our hands still clasped between us.
“We’ll focus on this next week with MooreTek, so there’s no worry or complications, and then …”
“And then?” I couldn’t help the eagerness in my voice.
“And then I’d like to take you on a date, Roxy Kincaid. A real date. Fancy restaurant, nice clothes. The whole shebang. We’ll do this right.”
“That sounds nice,” I said.
Maybe I could manage this balancing act. Maybe I was enough.
Chapter 20
Sanders
Iskipped into the lobby with a smile on my face and a whistle on my lips. I stopped short when I discovered Skip pacing the lobby of the Lodge gnawing on his thumb. He’d clearly been waiting for me because the second he saw me, he walked to meet me.
