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“I’m trying,” I say, and he snorts a laugh.
I arch an eyebrow at him. “You shouldn’t have offered to take someone’s picture. That’s what they make selfie sticks for. This is a good lesson for them that next time they should be better prepared.”
He brings our clasped hands up to his mouth and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “Nah, Eli. Gotta be friendly.”
And then, one by one, he pries my fingers from his.
My hand flops to my side, depressed and lonely. So, I shove it into my pocket. No one needs to see how obviously pathetic it is.
Luke snaps the picture for the family, and then my hand, like a magnet, snaps right back into his. It’s appalling.
I blush and fidget, but my hand wants what it wants. There’s no controlling it.
Luke doesn’t remark on it. He just pulls me down the trail.
“Denise and I climbed that rockface over there yesterday,” he says, pointing to his right. I eye it and then purse my lips.
“She seems like a bad influence.”
“Nah, she’s just a nice lady who likes to make her own granola bars.”
“That may be true, but I think she’s unsavory.”
Luke laughs. “What the fuck are you talking about, Eli? Denise is fun, and let me tell you, those granola bars are life. Just the right amount of crunchy and chewy with nuts and chocolate. I told her she should market them, but she just said, ‘Fuck the man’. Dunno.”
I sigh. “It’s just that you only just met her. You don’t know her.”
“I know her just fine,” Luke replies and then eyes me. “Why are you going on about this? You jealous, Eli?”
“Absolutely not. I don’t get jealous.”
I get jealous. I’m a big fat liar. It’s not a feeling I usually experience, but for some reason, it seems omnipresent with Luke. I was jealous of the flight attendant fluffing her hair in his general direction. I’m jealous of granola bar Denise, and I am even jealous of those towels Luke wears around his waist after he gets out of the shower.
I’m a lunatic.
“Nah, I think you’re jealous of me hanging out with Denise, but you don’t need to be. She’s just someone I met while climbing, just a friend. You have to know that all I see is you.”
I sniff and press myself a little further into him. Fine, so maybe that placates me a little. As long as I’mallhe can see.
When we return to the hotel, Luke and I strip out of our winter jackets and face each other. Something electric snaps in the air between us, and I plaster myself to the wall and inch along it to stay away.
I will not stick myself to this man. I have some self-restraint left in me––just a sliver, but I cling to it.
“Got a surprise for you,” Luke says as I grab a water bottle from the fridge and twist the cap off. I’m trying to distract my magnet hands. They need to do something else besides trying to attach themselves to him.
I’d like to maintain some sort of dignity, despite my body rebelling at every turn.
“Is this surprise on the itinerary?”
“Nah, Amanda said to leave it off.”
Oh dear god, this cannot be good. This is going to be very, very bad. I can hear her cackling at home right now, knowing exactly how this “surprise” will go down.
I’m going to fire her when I get back. Kick her to the curb.
Oh, who am I kidding? That woman won’t leave. I’ve fired her multiple times, and she just glowers at me. I’m stuck with her for all eternity. Even when I make it to hell, she’ll be down there glaring at me.
I lean against the wall and fiddle with the plastic bottle some more. My traitorous body still wants to squish itself to Luke, who is pulling his shirt off and revealing his gorgeous chest. However, I remain at a respectable distance, hoping I’ll be able to resist the pull.
