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Part of this was my hospitality background and my upbringing. It was in my blood. I was raised to cater to the needs of tourists. My life and the lives of everyone in this town were dependent upon people enjoying themselves while in Wakan. But the other part was something else.
I liked her.
I wanted her to like coming here, because I wanted her to come back. I knew the second I saw her pull into my driveway that this couldn’t be the last time.
If all she wanted was sex for now, it could be just sex. I preferred sex with someone I liked and looked forward to seeing. This worked for me.
But there was a connection. I’d sensed it before, and it was the same now. I couldn’t explain it. I didn’t know if it meant anything or if it would lead to something else. Probably not, all things considered. All I knew for sure was that she needed to come back.
“What are we watching?” she asked, sitting with her legs crossed under her.
“We can pick. Here are the options,” I said, swiping open my phone to read the text Brian sent. “Okay, we’ve got Gremlins, Pretty Woman, Breakfast Club, Princess Bride—”
“Princess Bride,” she said quickly.
“As you wish.”
She smiled, and I shot a text to Brian, who was waiting in the projection room above the closed snack bar. A moment later the movie flickered to life.
A message came up on the massive screen:
HE MUST REALLY LIKE YOU. HE BEGGED ME TO DO THIS. ENJOY THE SHOW.
Alexis laughed.
Fucking Brian. I felt my cheeks heat. I was grateful for the dim lighting.
“You begged him, huh?” She smiled.
“He didn’t fold until I cried.”
She shook her head, still laughing.
The screen went into a pre–movie reel. Silent ads for places in town that were closed until June.
Black bugs zipped around in front of the screen.
“What are those?” she asked, nodding at them.
“Dragonflies,” I said, wiping my hands on a napkin. “Though it’s a little early for them. It’s been kind of warm this spring.”
She squinted at them. “There’s so many.”
I leaned back on my hands. “My grandma used to say that dragonflies mean change is coming.”
She went quiet for a moment. “Must be a lot of change.”
“It must.”
I kept glancing at her while we ate in the white glow.
She was so beautiful. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten her to come back here. Made me a little proud of my sex skills.
“Does Brian own the drive-in?” she asked, eating a dried apricot.
I nodded. “That and the grocery store.”
“And you’re the mayor, and you run a bed-and-breakfast?”
