Page 130 of Flirty Fall Fling

“I know,” he says. “It was weird as fuck.”

All I can do is laugh. “That’s my life constantly. Sometimes, none of it makes sense.”

He tips my head back under the water and rinses my hair out. He isn’t in a hurry about it. I close my eyes and let him.

“It doesn’t have to.” He laughs. “Your life is an adventure. Never a dull moment.”

“That’s true.” Water and soap run off my skin. “Perspective is everything.”

“It is. But I also know you see the glass as half full instead of empty. You make wishes on stars. You believe in mood rings and birth charts and manifesting. You can have whatever it is you want.”

Once my hair is rinsed, I take my time scrubbing every inch of him with the body wash and loofah. This man is a dream.

As if he can read my mind, he smiles.

We stay in until the hot water runs cold. Up here, that takes exactly sixteen minutes. He gets out and holds a towel open for me. I step into it and let him dry me.

“Queen treatment,” I say, grinning.

He curtsies to me—properly too. “It’s my pleasure, Your Highness.”

The rest of the day is easy, but it might be our last one like this for a long time. It rains in the mountains, and we stay inside by the fire, playing rummy on the coffee table. We drink vodka, have more sex, and share funny facts about ourselves. Whatever is happening in the real world doesn’t matter right now. I want to keep seeing the world with a glass half full.

“I’m going to miss this,” I tell him as we’re eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

“I will too,” he says, and then neither of us says anything else about it.

“I had a thought,” he continues.

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you throw your aunt’s annual Halloween party this year?”

“But—”

He places his finger on my lips. “Your party is more important. It’s a town tradition.”

I chew on the edge of my lip and smile. “I should.”

“You absolutely fucking should.”

30

JAMIE

We fell asleep sometime after midnight and woke up before the sun rose. I pack our bags in the back of the Mustang, knowing Blaire wants to be at the manor early enough to shower before her roommates wake up. When she walks past me in the living room, making sure she grabbed everything, I pull her into me.

“No sulking,” I remind her, kissing her. “Leaving was your decision.”

“I just don’t know if I’m ready for this,” she admits.

“I’ll stay here with you in this cabin until Halloween. Just say the words.”

“I can’t hide. It’s not what Wardwells do.”

“Okay. I’m following your lead.” I take her coat off the hook by the door and hold it open for her.

She puts one arm in the sleeve and stops. “What’s my lead?”