Page 2 of Summer Savory

Chapter Two

Reese

Listening to her would’ve been the smart thing to do, but whoever said I was smart? I took my time eating the breakfast she made for me and ended up having two more cocktails, along with what was sure was a gallon of coffee. Not that I needed refreshments, it was just that I didn’t want to end our conversation. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I found myself drawn to her like no other woman I’d ever met before.

Not only is she beautiful, charming, and accomplished, she’s smart, funny, and irreverent. Qualities I’d always found to be irresistible. Unable to take my eyes off of her as she kneaded more loaves of bread than I’d ever seen in my life, I smiled for the first time in a long while. Well, smiling and genuinely meaning it. Fake-smiling was my job. Smiling. Pouting. Posing for the camera. Traveling across Europe as the minor celebrity, I am left little time for actual relationships. Ones that normal people have and enjoy were foreign to me.

“So, what brings you to Mountain Ridge Resort?” she asked.

“My family used to vacation here when we were kids. After our parents died, my sister wanted us to come back in their honor. She’s been bringing her husband and kids here for years and my brother tagged along too. This is the first time I’ve been stateside for a couple of years.”

“Do you travel for work?” I nodded, dreading the next question I already knew was coming. “What do you do for a living?”

Breathing in and out for a couple of seconds didn’t do as much for my anxiety as I’d hoped, but she didn’t seem to be the type of woman who’d let a man get by with lying, even a little white lie. I had to tell her the truth. “You’ll laugh.”

“I won’t,” she said, but I wasn’t convinced.

“You will. Everyone else laughs when they find out. I should be used to it, but it still bothers me.”

“I promise I won’t laugh.” She made a little cross over her heart, brought her fingers to her lips, and kissed them while glancing up in the air.

“Fine. I’m a model. I split my time between Paris and London, but I work mostly in Paris.”

Her face twitched, and she avoided looking me directly in the eyes. She returned to kneading the dough with a flourish. “That’s an interesting career,” she said, a catch in her voice.

“No, it’s not. It’s a job, and it pays the bills. And if you ask me if I have a signature look like that guy in that movie, I’m outta here! You can laugh. I can tell you can barely restrain yourself. Besides, you have a beautiful smile, even though you haven’t shown it to me that much.” She laughed, but it was almost embarrassment as anything else. “You don’t smile often, do you?”

She gave me a curious glance. “I smile. I suppose it’s not that often, but I do it. How did you get into modeling? It sounds like a fascinating career.”

“No, it doesn’t. You don’t have to be nice. It’s a job. I started doing it with my sister when I was a freshman in high school at fashion shows at the local mall. It was her idea. She was serious about it and wanted to do it professionally. I thought it would be a good way to meet girls. An agent showed up at a show one day and approached my parents about signing me. My sister was devastated, but she finally forgave me once I scored an invitation to her for Fashion Week in New York. She went off to college, and I went to the runways. Because I was so young, my dad came with me. That’s basically when our summer vacations here at Mountain Ridge Resort stopped. We didn’t make it home often, and even when Dad and I came home for the summer, we were usually tired of traveling and just wanted to stay home. Everyone else hated that, but they didn’t argue too much about it.”

“That seems sad.”

“Yeah, I suppose. But everyone figured I was making too much money and didn’t want to upset me. I can’t really blame them. I had a pretty big ego back then.”

“I’ll bet you have a pretty big ego even now,” she chuckled. “So, that’s how you came to know Mountain Ridge? And you’re here with your family now?”

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Give me a break! You barged into my kitchen, begging for sustenance. The least you could do is answer my questions to ensure you’re not a serial killer. I am here alone with you, after all.”

“One: I’m not a serial killer. Two: You threatened me with a rolling pin a short time ago. Three: There are large and very sharp-looking knives on the table behind you. And you seem to be a lady who knows how to use them.”

She made a dismissive noise, which I found to be highly attractive, and my cock stirred. “Don’t forget about my trusty cast-iron skillet. That’s usually my weapon of choice, but I couldn’t get to it fast enough when I heard you creeping outside the door.”

“I wasn’t creeping.”

“You were creeping. Now, you’re here with your family?”

I took a cleansing breath, unsure why I was hesitant to tell her anything else. But, I continued anyway, “Our parents died a few years back.” She started to say something, but I didn’t give her the chance. I didn’t want sympathy. “My sister wanted us all to come here every summer on a big family vacation, the way we used to do as kids before the craziness of our lives started. Sort of in homage to them. I couldn’t come home, but she and my little brother came with their families.” My voice hitched momentarily on the word “couldn’t,” and her expression showed me she caught it. I moved on as quickly as I could, hoping she wouldn’t feel the need to ask me why. “So, they’ve been coming for the last few years and this is the first year I’ve been able to join them. My sister was upset that I had arrived late. I couldn’t take all the family time, so I left after a while. I love my nieces and nephews, but-”

“You’re not used to being around children,” she interrupted, not really as a question. More of a statement of fact.

“Exactly. They’re great, but they’re a bit much, especially since I haven’t seen them in a while. I’m hoping that they’ll grow on me while we’re here and I can actually enjoy them before we have to leave.”

“And when will that be?”

The inflection in her voice did something to me. There was a hope or anticipation in her tone that made me wonder about possibilities. My heart and my body responded, and I was glad to still be sitting. I was a little too soon since our meeting for her to spot my growing erection. “We’re staying a month. It should be fun, right?”

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