Page 20 of The Last Resort
This morning was her first time alone at the Green Tree Resort. Dan had offered to come out to the site with her, but she wanted to be by herself. To let her inner designer get thefeel of the place. She couldn’t do that if her brother-in-law was hanging around.
Maybe I should have said yes. Out here would be the perfect place for Dan to have his own little accident. All I’d need was somewhere to hide his cheating ass of a body.
She retrieved her satchel from the front passenger seat and slung it over her shoulder, then grabbed her coffee and takeout bag of food, before locking the car.
“Okay, I think I have everything.”
On her way out of town, she’d dropped off at theManhattan Escapeeand picked up a hot coffee and a spinach quiche muffin.
I missed seeing your smiling face this morning, Matthew. Hurry back.
Thinking of his face, brought back the memory of that kiss. He’d kissed her. Rachel let out a slow breath.
She now had his number but felt awkward about sending him a message. They were friends, coffee companions. She wasn’t sure what else. And what would she say?
Hi, Matthew, I can’t stop thinking about that kiss.
The kiss they’d shared yesterday morning, wasn’t the sort of kiss that mere friends shared. It had been tender and brief but edged with the promise of both of them wanting more. Matthew had to have known how much it had affected her.
And he wasn’t going to be back in Aspen until Wednesday.
That’s it, I’m messaging him. I can’t resist.
Inside the lodge, Rachel set her coffee cup and muffin down on a window ledge. Using the boarded-up window as a background, she took a photo and sent it to him.
Going out on a limb here
OK???
Spinach muffins are better than zucchini
Rachel laughed when the reply zinged back.
Shocked. Outraged.
Missed U at the cafe
She hesitated before sending that last message. Matthew and she were in the early stages of a something, and she wasn’t entirely sure where this might all lead. Or how he saw things.
But he kissed me. That has to count for something.
There was a full two-minute delay before a reply pinged back.
Missed U too. Hope I didn’t overstep with the kiss
Her teeth scraped slowly over her bottom lip. He’d missed her this morning, and he was thinking about their kiss. She couldn’t get that moment out of her mind either.
Unexpected but perfect
Something that was uncomfortably close to a teenage rush coursed through her body, and she swallowed deep. He had her feeling giddy.
Get a grip, Rach. You barely know the guy. One or two kisses don’t make a relationship.
The past year had been nothing short of traumatic—she’d be a fool to go clinging emotionally to a man she’d only just met. Her new life might be a blank page, but who was to say Matthew didn’t have his whole future already planned out? Aromantic liaison might not figure in his wants or needs. She should reset her expectations.
But it would be nice if it could be more. If he turned out to be one of the good guys.
She pushed that enticing thought, along with the memory of Matthew’s lips, to the back of her mind. Leaving the phone resting on the window ledge, she drank her coffee and ate the still-warm muffin. Taking in the once elegant lobby of the ski lodge, Rachel gave thanks for the recent changes in her life. She had a roof over her head, a short-term job, and as of late Friday afternoon, money in her bank account. She’d been able to negotiate an advance part payment of her success bonus with Dan’s parents. In her privileged old life, ten grand would have been barely a drop in the ocean, but right now it was a small fortune.
