Page 69 of Flirty Fall Fling

“Yeah.”

She’s quiet for a long while. We eventually break apart and clean up before sliding back under the blankets.

“I’m really jealous you haven’t read my palm.”

She gives me a half-smile and grabs my hand. Her fingers trace the lines.

“What do you see?” I ask.

Then she folds my fingers closed and settles into my side.

“Happiness,” she says.

The quiet of the night settles around us, and I hold her against me as we fall asleep. Through the glass wall, the carnival below blinks out one ride at a time.

She draws lazy shapes on my skin. Maybe they’re circles, or letters, or one of her many symbols. I don’t ask. Whatever she’s writing on me with her invisible ink, I want it there.

I close my eyes, pulling her closer, inhaling the sweetness of her skin.

For the first time since I arrived in Pine Haven, the house doesn’t feel empty.

17

BLAIRE

Sneaking out of a glass house while hoping no one sees me is a joke.

My heels are in one hand, and my dress is crooked. I tiptoe across cold marble while Jameson Cross sleeps like a man with no worries. He’s sprawled across the middle of the bed we wrecked, one arm thrown over the spot where I’m supposed to be. His face is relaxed, and he looks younger at this angle. I stare too long, admiring him.

That’s exactly the problem.

Things got too intense. I said yes to things I had no business agreeing to. Somewhere between the bar and the pool and the palm reading, the rules we’d made to keep this simple stopped working.

I put on my heels and walk out the front door, happy it doesn’t announce my departure. The cold goes straight through the dress I’m wearing. I walk down Douchebag Drive like it’s my runway. I pass a mule deer who pops her head up, watching me as I go.

“Let’s keep this between us,” I whisper.

The ski resort runs an early shuttle down the mountain for the morning shift. The expansion continues up Ridge Road, and I walk down to the bus stop. When I step on, the driver gives me a confused look.

I offer a “Good morning,” and share a bench seat with two lift mechanics wearing Carhartt jackets.

I replay last night, knowing Winter and Josie will ask questions. Thankfully, I can handle them.

Jamie and I agreed that the deal would end on Halloween. We had many rules, like nothing serious, no falling in love, and no one else. Staying the night with one another is too much, and my leaving only did us both a favor. Now there will be no awkward morning after.

When I close my eyes, I can still see the love line on his palm. It was solid, which tells me that when he finds the love of his life, it will be everlasting. I’m cheating him of finding that sooner, and the guilt is almost too much.

I’m dropped off in front of the resort bike shop that will transform into a ski rental business when the first snow sticks. Three blocks later, I’m walking through the side garden and up the back porch of the manor.

Charlie waits for me at the door with his tail curled around his feet. “Meow?”

I shake my head. “I’m alone.”

He follows me into the kitchen, and I stop when I see Winter standing at the counter, fully dressed, with a cup of coffee in her hands. It smells like pumpkin pie.

Her eyes slide over me, and she smiles. “Good morning, Cinderella,” she says. “You missed midnight by about seven hours.”

I kick off my heels by the door and head for the coffeepot. “Where’s Josie?”