Page 9 of Staying for You

He turns his head to the side and narrows his eyes. “City girls know how to start fires.”

I let out a breathy laugh and shake my head, eyes wide. “This one doesn’t.”

He shrugs, coming around the counter and joining me. “No big deal. I’ll show you how to start one so you’ll know.”

That’s it. No teasing me that I don’t know how to do something that comes so easy to him. Scott would have called me stupid or an idiot and grumbled about having to help.

“Thank you. That’s very nice of you,” I whisper. He watches me closely then nods once.

Owen picks up the baby monitor and the keys, opens the front door, and steps to the side. “After you.”

My steps pause. Scott would have pushed through the door first and not cared if it slammed in my face rather than allow me to walk in front of him. Opening a door for me would have been too much effort. I hate that I gave that ass so many years of my life. I straighten my shoulders, determined that I won’t give him a second more. Not even in my thoughts.

Chapter Three

Owen

There’sa reason this woman is here at The Escape and something tells me it’s because of the fact the wedding ring that so obviously once sat on her left hand based on the indentation I see, is now missing.

I watch her closely in case she loses her footing as we trudge through the snowy ground to the lakeside cabins, stopping at the first one we come to. It’s impressive, really, to see how she maneuvers her way over the unstable ground that she’s made it clear she’s not used to, being a “city girl”, in her words.

“Want to be this close to the lodge?” I ask. I know she mentioned that she needed to get away which tells me she needs and wants privacy so it’s possible she’ll want to be in the cabin the farthest away.

“That might not be a bad idea, actually.” She bites her lip and looks around nervously.

I shrug, trying to do my best to look relaxed even though her presence is causing every neuron in my body to fire. Is it neurons? Atoms? I have no idea and I’m really not sure why I’m worried about it right now. But it’s helping to keep me distracted from the way those leggings mold to her legs and the fruity scent of her shampoo I got a whiff of when I was standing next to her earlier. “Up to you, really. Let’s take a look inside, you can see the view and we can easily go into the others and check them out.”

“Okay.”

I unlock the door and push it open, allowing her to brush by me to go into the cabin. It’s been a while since I’ve been around a woman I wasn’t related to and her presence is making me notice everything I’ve been missing. The light brush of her arm against mine as she walks into the cabin. The faint scent of her perfume that tingles my senses. It’s flowery but not in a heavy way and even without knowing her, it somehow fits her. Not to mention her beauty. I made an effort not to pay close attention to it earlier, but once the kids were down for a nap, I only had her to focus on and I couldn’t stop my greedy eyes from taking in every beautiful — which deserves a second, maybe tenth mention — inch of her.

She’s skittish, I know that much. I could see her surprise when I held the door open for her at the lodge, like she’d never been put first or taken care of before. I would also say she’s even a little frustrated or irritated because of the way I’ve seen her huff a few times or catch herself from speaking her mind — or maybe her truth. I also saw her check her phone when on the way down here after it alerted her of what I assume was a text and didn’t miss the eye roll that she gave and exasperated grumble:just leave me alone already.

She’s my guest, and it’s not my job to fix whatever brought her here so I push her beauty and the fact that it’s been anincrediblylong time since a woman has stirred up desire within me out of my mind. But it’s hard to ignore. Trying to be discreet as possible, I watch as she inspects the small quarters, wondering what she sees. What she’s used to.

Just like the rest of my cabins, it’s decorated simply, basic, even. A plain dark blue couch and chair in the living area that faces a small fireplace, square wooden table and four chairs in the kitchen. The kitchen has everything she’ll need, though a lot of it is mismatched pieces. The bedroom has a queen-size bed, nightstand, and closet, the comforter admittedly one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen in a flowery print that no doubt came straight from the 90’s. The cabin we’re standing in is one of the original cabins that was already here when I purchased the resort. I’ve focused on building new so I didn’t lose any places for guests to stay and will then backtrack and update the others to match the new cabins.

There are a few rugs by the doors but the flooring is all linoleum. When guests stay here, they’re typically coming in from the lake after a long day of fishing. Not to mention how rocky and sandy the terrain is around the resort. I learned quickly that putting carpet on the floors might make for a slightly more comfortable stay if people want to walk around barefoot, but it’s a son of a bitch to keep clean and not worth the expense it takes.

Cami peeks her head into the bathroom and looks around the small area. The tiled shower stall has a few cracks in it and a small seat in the corner. There’s a cabinet that holds extra towels, toilet paper, tissues, and a few cleaning supplies. The cabin she’s in is meant for just two people which means the cabin in general is a little smaller than some of the others that have two or three bedrooms. But there’s still plenty of room for her.

She turns, looking around the space one more time before she nods her head, hands to her hips. Biting her bottom lip, she glances away from me quickly and spins on her heel.

“You said there’s a deck so I can see the lake?”

I scrunch my eyebrows at the question that seemed to come out of nowhere — especially considering that she would have seen the screened-in deck right when she walked in the room because it’s not as if the room is large enough to miss anything.

“Yeah, it’s right there,” I tell her, pointing over her shoulder, even though she’s facing it now.

I want to ask if she’s okay but fear over her response has me holding my tongue.

Again, she nods, takes a step toward the deck, and looks back. “Can I go out?”

Is she asking permission to go outside? How strange but… “Yes?” I try hard not to give her a strange look.

She slides the glass door open and steps out, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill.

I hear a squawk come from the baby monitor and look at it in my hand, waiting to see if one of the babies has woken up. Whoever it was, quieted right down so I step closer to Cami, joining her on the deck.

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