Axel sat back with a smirk, but Slater wasn’t really paying attention.
“I mean, I know I put her in the friend category, but that was out of respect for her because I know I’m an ass. I don’t get serious with anyone. I never wanted to. Plus, she’s Milo’s assistant, and I didn’t want anything to get messy or awkward.” He sighed. “But then…then…we started spending all this time together and she says these things that she doesn’t even realize are flirty or sexual, and suddenly, it was all I could think about.”
Meanwhile, Axel just continued to sip his coffee.
“Then we’re playing trivia up at the lodge one night—and she is crazy competitive when it comes to trivia—and we win, right? The next thing I knew, she’s in my arms and she kissed me. Not like a deep, passionate kind of kiss, but her lips were on mine and my hands were on her body, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about that.” Another sigh. “The next day, you guys were all gone and we hung out alone and I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t focus. And I was being a total jerk to her because I couldn’t keep looking at her as my friend Evie. Suddenly she’s like…Evie, a woman I desperately want to sleep with.”
“So you did.”
Shit.
“It wasn’t just like that, but we kissed after she shoved me on my ass on one of the trails. I swear, I really thought I could compartmentalize the whole thing: kiss her, find out what it was like, and then move on. But it didn’t work.”
Axel held up a hand to stop him from saying more. “Can we go back to how sweet, petite little Evie shoved you on your ass?”
He laughed. “Yeah, it took me by surprise too, but I think it was something she needed to do. It empowered her.” Then he grinned. “And even though it pissed me off at first—because she ran off as soon as she did it—it was kind of hot how she stood up for herself by calling me out for being a jerk.”
“Do we get the same free pass?” Axel joked. “Can I shove you for being a jerk for lying about the vibes?”
“No,” Slater said, but it was hard not to laugh. “Just…keep it to yourself, please. I really don’t want Evie to be embarrassed.”
“Um…too late?”
“What do you mean, too late?”
“Maisie and I talked about it all the way to our suite last night. Now I can’t wait to tell her we were right!”
“Axel…”
“What? I’ll tell her to keep it to herself. Don’t worry.”
But he was worried and had to figure out a way to talk to Evie before anyone else did.
It was after five, and the rain was still coming down in buckets. It was such a dreary and depressing sight, but at least she could hang out up here at the lodge until she was ready to deal with walking back to her cabin.
“Hey, Evie,” Maisie said, smiling as she stepped into Milo’s office.
“Hey, Maisie! What’s up?”
She looked around. “Where’s Milo?”
“Oh, he went to work in the conference room. He had a meeting scheduled with Reece, and he thought it would be easier for them to go in there so I can handle some company stuff here. I could have just taken my laptop down to my cabin, but this rain just won’t let up. It’s awful.”
“I don’t know, I kind of have a fondness for the rain,” Maisie said dreamily as she sat down.
“Really? Because living in Seattle has taught me to tolerate it, but I’ve never heard anyone say they have a fondness for it.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard it’s how Axel and I met. We got stranded here together at the resort while it was still under renovation. There was a massive storm, and I had shown up for an interview, and then I couldn’t leave. There were trees down and all kinds of flooding.” She sighed happily. “So I definitely love stormy days because they give me happy memories.”
“Aww…that is definitely sweet. I hadn’t heard that story. Thanks for sharing it with me.”
“No problem. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
“Well, maybe it’s a little while I’m here. We thought we’d do dinner up in our suite tonight. It’s a thing we always used to do when everyone was still living here at the resort. But with the weather being so bad, we just thought we’d hunker down up here at the lodge and have a nice dinner up in the suite, hang out, and hopefully by the time we’re done with dessert, it will be dry enough for you guys to head down to your cabins without the threat of being washed away.”
That made her laugh. “I don’t think it’s that bad but count me in for dinner. And you’re sure you don’t mind me joining in? I feel like it’s something your group does, and…”
