Page 22 of Choosing You

“That’s very sweet of you, Will. Thanks.”

He took her hand again as they began to walk toward the resort building. “I know you’ve been up here for the festivals, but have you ever checked out the inside of the hotel?”

“Sadly, no. I usually came up here and played the games, rode the rides—although I never did the ski lift during any of the festivals because the lines were always so long—and once I did all that and kissed you, I’d leave.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Seriously. Sometimes it would annoy my cousin, but…” She let her words trail off before glancing over at him. “Kissing you was more exciting than any attraction here.”

He stopped walking and gently tugged her a little closer. “Then you should have stuck around because we would have set off fireworks of our own that would put the actual show to shame.”

Was it Will’s imagination or did Sloane just make a sexy little sound at his statement? It was like a cross between a soft moan and a purr.

And he desperately wanted to hear it again.

Images of the two of them tangled up together raced through his head. They were already walking up to the hotel; would it be wrong to maybe suggest…

The sound of a phone ringing brought him out of naughty reverie. He glanced around and came to a stop as Sloane whispered an apology and pulled her phone out of her purse. “I need to take this,” she told him. “Why don’t you head up to the hotel and I’ll meet you there in a minute?”

“Um…yeah. Sure. No problem.”

She smiled as she swiped her screen before saying, “Hey! What’s up?”

Part of him wanted to linger and hear who she was talking to. Was it her cousin? The one who lived in Sweetbriar Ridge that she wouldn’t name? But when she glanced at him over her shoulder, he knew he needed to walk away or he’d look like a complete jerk.

So, he made his way up the path and sidewalk and casually walked into the lobby. It was a little crowded, but that wasn’t unusual for a Saturday. There were two restaurants inside—one casual and one formal—and he figured they’d eat at the casual one. Making his way over to the hostess station, he asked if there was a wait and she told him it would be about ten minutes.

“Can you put my name on the list? For two people?”

“No problem, Sir,” she assured him. “Can I get your name?”

“Sure. It’s Will. Will Campbell. Thanks.” Then it was back to strolling around and waiting for Sloane.

It took another five minutes before she walked into the lobby, looking around in wonder. Will couldn’t help but grin as he watched her, and when she spotted him, she practically skipped over to him. “Hey! Sorry about that. Was I gone a long time? I feel like I took a long time.”

“It’s fine, Sloane. Really. Is everything okay?”

“What? Oh, um…it was just my sister. She was curious when I was going to be back home, that’s all. No big deal. I promised I’d be back in time for dinner.”

“Your sister lives here too?”

He noticed how wide her eyes went as she seemed to stumble over something to say. And just when he was about to push her for an answer, the hostess called his name.

“Campbell, party of two! Campbell, party of two!”

Sighing, he looked at Sloane and gave her a half-hearted smile. “That’s us.”

“You know…maybe we should…”

Taking her hand, he forced himself to relax and stop being so suspicious. “We should go into the café and talk some more. Is that okay?”

She nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before nodding.

Relief washed over him again as he placed his hand on her lower back and gently nudged her to follow the hostess. They were led to a booth near the back and once they were seated with their menus and alone, he decided not to push about her family. There had to be a reason she didn’t want to talk about them, so it wouldn’t be right to make her. Instead, he focused on the menu.

“Are you hungry?”

“I know I shouldn’t be. I had a muffin and a cup of coffee at Books & Beans, but sometimes that’s just like hitting the launch button. Most days I don’t eat breakfast and I’m fine until lunch. But if I eat breakfast, it’s like I’m hungry all day. Crazy, right?”

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