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“Dinner,” Lawson says, patting his flat belly as he puts his feet up on his porch railing, “was great.”
I smile agreeing with him as I stare between him and my best friend. I love these people, Dakota especially. I just wish, well, I wish Leland wasn’t here.
But he and Lawson are as close as I am with Dakota so, of course, he’s here.
It’s been a few days since the official opening, and this is the first time off we’ve had, and I’ve been so damn grateful for the business. It’s kept me busy enough I haven’t had to think of anything else.
It most surely helps in keeping certain thoughts at bay as much as possible.
It also gives me a much-needed excuse to avoid Leland.
Or did, since we’re both here.
The cool breeze ruffles my hair and Dakota says, “It was a group effort. I just made the salad.”
Lawson catches her hand and pulls her down on his lap, and she loops her arms around his neck.
“Yes, but what a salad.”
She laughs, and their ease and love is just so right that it makes my heart squeeze, and somehow, I catch the dark, unreadable glance Leland sends my way.
I went to my room making the excuse of having a headache after the kiss and never have I wanted to get myself off to the fresh memory of a kiss.
He’s intoxicating, dangerously so.
And we haven’t said a word about it.
He wants to. I can tell he does. He wants to go there again, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to. But that’s why I have to keep away. I can’t take the chance. Not with him.
“It was good, wasn’t it, Sarah?” Leland joins in the conversation, his voice seeming so intimate, and it does something to me.
I take a shaking breath and get to my feet. “It’s getting late. I should probably be getting back and checking on things before going to bed.”
It isn’t, but suddenly, I need to get out of there. Being around Leland is nearly too much.
Dinner wasn’t so bad when others were here. This doesn’t mean Leland’s presence hasn’t affected me. It always does, and it’s getting harder to be around him without caving into the desire I have for him. But I know what will happen, just as I know he’ll leave once he’s had his fill.
Lawson sighs, ignoring my statement about needing to leave. “I should send some leftovers to my sister. She loves lasagna.”
Rose couldn’t make it tonight. Isaac has gone home with London, as it’s a school day tomorrow, and Mack’s left for a date. It’s just the four of us, and I know I should have left when Isaac did.
The leftovers is the perfect reason to leave. “I can take them. I’ll drop them off with her.”
“I’m heading that way, myself,” says Leland in that very same tone. “The resort is out of the way for you.”
Great. He’s going to take them and he’s not going to try anything with me.
“Well,” I say brightly, “you take them. Still, I should go. Work is never done for us, and I don’t want to get behind.”
They turn to me, and Dakota protests, but I get to my feet.
“I’m sorry. I just like to stay on top of things. You know me,” I say, giving a smile that I know is fake, and Dakota can see right through it.
“Okay.” Dakota rises too. “I’ll walk you out.”
We go through the house, but she drags me to the sofa and sits us both down.
I swallow. “What?”
