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Snow listened carefully to everything I was saying. “Thank you, again, I appreciate it. I think I’ll be fine though. Meeting you guys and hearing your views on sex and relationships has really been eye-opening for me, but I wouldn’t say I’m distressed by it. Just relieved, to be honest. It’s nice to know that there are places where I can be myself, where I can explore things sexually without any guilt or shame.”
“Absolutely. That is our entire goal here, to be honest.”
Snow relaxed on the couch, laying on her side with her legs stretched. It was hard not to admire the view. Sean was right calling her a princess—she was so beautiful, ethereal almost. Delicate, but strong at the same time.
I refused to think about her in a sexual way though, even if my mind tried to go there. She was a guest. It would be wrong to look at her like that so I turned away, focusing on the intricate designs of the Oriental rug instead.
“My dad never let me do anything,” Snow said, her voice soft. “I had a boyfriend, but only at school. I was never able to see him outside school hours or let my dad know of his existence. That’s why… well, it’s hard for me to pick up on red flags sometimes. I second-guess myself, like with Hunter, and I shouldn’t have doubted my instincts.”
“It happens. Wanting to trust that everyone is a decent human being is not a bad thing. You seem like the type of person who wants to believe the best about others.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” she said with a laugh, drawing my attention back to her perfect red lips. “Mostly because I wasn’t allowed to be social so I guess I didn’t really have the chance to see the bad in people. I had my best friend, Rosie—who’s still amazing and always by my side—but that’s it, really. He didn’t let me hang out with other girls, he said they were a bad influence on me. I think deep down my dad was just afraid of people like himself getting to me.”
She rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling, so relaxed in my presence it seemed. I was glad she felt comfortable around me, and I didn’t want to do anything that would change that.
“That’s a curious way of phrasing things. What do you mean by that?”
Again I was no therapist, but in that moment, I sure sounded like one.
She sighed. “He always had a thing for much younger women, women not much older than me. My stepmom, for instance, could be my sister. She’s only in her thirties. They married when my dad was fifty-five.”
“Ahh, I see. So he felt like he had to protect you from men like himself.”
“Exactly,” she said. “He wasn’t a bad dad, just troubled, I suppose? After losing my mom, he didn’t know what to do about me. I think he did his best, or I like to think that he did. Things only went south when Hilda came into the picture.”
“Hilda is your stepmom and now owner of the company, I presume?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbled. “She’s an evil witch, I swear.”
“I’m sorry he left the business to her.”
“You know what the funny thing is? I’m not. I never had any desire to work in boring financial services,” she said, still staring up at the ceiling. “I just felt obligated to, since my dad had told me from a young age that that’s what I was going to do. It’s just wild how one minute that is my birthright and the next, it’s… well, it’s just not. He was so easily swayed by a beautiful blonde woman. But good riddance to that part of my life, once I can find something else that is.”
“You want to be a writer, correct?”
She looked over at me and nodded. “Very much so. I’ve always dreamt of traveling the world and writing about my experiences, sharing photos and insights from different cultures and exotic locales.”
“Well I’m glad you chose our resort to be your first location to write about.”
“It’s not my first, actually. I’ve written a few already and sold them to smaller publications. Mostly local South Carolina ones, nothing fancy, but it’s a start. I was hoping to go bigger with this one.”
Her voice was growing sleepy and her eyes were fighting to close.
“Well, I think I should let you get some rest, so you can discover everything the resort has to offer tomorrow and write all about it.”
“Mmm, thank you, I’m very much looking forward to it,” she said, her eyes officially closing.
“Do you want to sleep here, or I can help move you upstairs?”
“I’m fine here, the couch is almost as comfortable as the bed.” She pulled the blanket up around her and rolled over on her side, curling in to a more comfy position. She opened her eyes, barely, and said, “Thank you again, Christian. And thank everyone else for me too.”
“You’re very welcome, it’s the least we can do.”
I stood there for a moment as she drifted off to sleep, appreciating the beauty that laid before me. Once her breathing had evened and I knew she was out, I slipped quietly from the cottage, making sure the door was secure behind me.
I looked up at the camera nearby. It was facing the doorway to the cottage, which wasn’t the typical position. Gage had kept his promise—he was keeping a closer eye on things, much closer than usual. I had no doubt he’d be sitting in the security room all night, refusing to hand over the reins to anyone else.
We had always been passionate about security and safety before, but something about Snow made us all step up a notch.
