That made her laugh. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Especially if they get news about a house. They’ll need to celebrate.”
“And by celebrate, you mean…”
“Do it in his office on the desk? Um…yeah,” she said with a small laugh.
They both grew quiet.
“So I was thinking maybe tonight we convince those two to turn in early and then you and I can go to my cabin with no one noticing.”
And for some reason, that made her giggle.
“What? What’s so funny?”
Evie twisted a little toward him. “I’ve never had to sneak around before. It’s kind of exciting.”
He grinned, and she realized that Slater had a great smile. It was easy and warm and welcoming, and right now she wished she could lean in and kiss him.
“I hate like hell that I’m making you sneak around,” he said quietly. “You deserve something a hell of a lot better than that. More respectful.”
“I wasn’t complaining.”
“I know you weren’t, it was just…I don’t know…an observation or something.”
“You’re very sweet to be worried about it, but I’m fine with it. Besides, you promised me adventure if I came to the resort, and so far, you’ve delivered.”
His smile grew right before he waggled his eyebrows playfully. “Stick with me, sweetheart. I promise to give you the adventure of a lifetime.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Sorry about that,” Milo said as he and Nora slid back into the booth.
Sexy thoughts and promises of adventure were pushed aside as the conversation went back to work issues and resort business. Normally she didn’t mind that sort of thing, but right now all she could focus on was counting down until she could slip into Slater’s cabin later on tonight.
By the time the fire burned low and the last marshmallow had been sacrificed to the flames, Evie’s cheeks hurt from smiling.
She and Slater had barely touched. Hell, they’d barely been able to have a single conversation just the two of them because everyone decided to hang out tonight—Axel and Maisie, Milo and Nora, even Connor, Lexi, and their kids came to have dinner and dessert with them. What should have been a quiet and intimate dessert around the fire before slipping away to be alone turned into some sort of party.
Around the fire pit, surrounded by friends, their knees had brushed once. His hand had lingered at the small of her back when he passed her a stick. Their eyes had met more times than she could count.
But that was it.
No stolen kisses. No wandering hands. No private moments. And when everyone finally stood and stretched and declared it a night, Slater had smiled at her like he had dozens of times before—that friendly, easy, casual smile.
“See you tomorrow, Evie,” he said as they all began to disperse.
Tomorrow.
Like they hadn’t made plans to be together. Like they didn’t spend last night naked and sweaty and tangled together in his bed. Like she hadn’t memorized the shape of his mouth in the dark.
So, she’d smiled back. Because what else could she do? And with a forced smile and wave, she walked back to her cabin alone. The night air felt colder without his hand in hers.
Inside her cabin, the silence was worse.
She leaned back against the closed door and let out a slow breath. Being alone was her thing, and maybe this was for the best. Spending only one night together had been risky enough; two just might be the tipping point to ruining things. Being friends—staying friends—was good. It was smart. Keeping some boundaries was the right thing to do.
They’d agreed—without saying it outright—that this was temporary. She shouldn’t expect him to knock on her door every night, especially after only one night. She shouldn’t want him to.
With a long, weary breath, she pushed off the door and moved around the small cabin, mechanically getting ready for bed. She washed her face and changed into sleep shorts and one of her oversized tees.
