Page 18 of The Seascape Between Us

“You wanted to talk about the hotel?” he said with as much enthusiasm as an inmate marched down death row.

“I did, but not here in the parking lot,” I said. But not in his office, either. I knew it pissed him off when I sat at his desk and used his computer, and while a pissed-off Daniel was kind of funny, getting under his skin wasn’t going to work to convince him to stop avoiding me and get involved with the plan for the hotel. “Come back to my room,” I said. “We can go over things there.”

Together, we made our way through the hotel to the second-floor walkway outside my room. The sun had dipped behind the horizon, streaking the sky with gold, purple and turquoise, the colors reflecting in the dark water.

I unlocked my room, and he followed me inside.

“Have a seat.” I nodded to the table and chairs next to the front window while I switched on the lamp next to the bed. Daniel slowly lowered himself into one of the chairs, still looking like he was expecting to be tortured.

“Here’s the thing,” I started, after sitting down opposite him. “I’ve noticed I haven’t seen much of you over the last three days, and I’m concerned you’re avoiding me.”

“Avoiding is probably a strong word,” he said, his expression giving nothing away.

“Whatever you’re doing, there’s a lot to do to get this hotel into shape before the Grand Re-opening. I can’t have you sulking in the shadows. You need to get involved.”

“Sulking? I’m not sulking. I’m runningmyhotel. You were very clear about what you needed from me for your big Grand Re-opening.” The eye roll was a little much. Irritation stiffened my spine.

“You currently have no guests. What are you running, exactly?”

Something flashed in Daniel’s light eyes, and he shifted in his seat, leaning closer. “Maybe, if you knew anything about running a hotel, you would also know what was required on every day—guests or no guests.”

“And if you were such an expert, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Fuck this.” Daniel stood as if to leave.

He didnotthink I had spent the better part of two hours watching him deliver groceries to seniors for him to get up and walk out now. I stood with him. “Where the hell are you going? We need to talk about the plans for the Grand Re-opening, the renovations and everything that needs to be done over the next six weeks… Five and a half now, actually.”

“You told me how you wanted me involved. I believe it had something to do with getting you coffee.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t serious.” Daniel could be such a child sometimes. “You can’t just ignore what’s happening for three days because you’re pissed off. Especially when we have to go over the rather considerable list of things this hotel needs—”

“You have got to be kidding me. I’ve been working at this hotel since I was a teenager. I don’t needyouto tell me what this hotel needs.” His mouth twisted with furious disdain. “You spentone summer here almost twenty years ago, but now you’re an expert? Anything you know about this hotel,Itold you.”

“You may have a point,” I conceded, my voice deceptively quiet, frustration having long given way to anger. “Which is all the more reason you should involve yourself more in this hotel now.”

“I have nevernotbeen involved in this hotel—”

“I wasn’t done.” I cut him off and took a step toward him. He stepped back. “I may not be anexperton hotels…yet, but I am an expert in running a successful business. Something you can’t say the same.”

“You’re a dick.” He started to turn toward the door, but I blocked him. His eyes narrowed.

“And you’re a stubborn ass!”

Daniel stood a good four inches taller than me, his broad body wider across the shoulders like a wall of solid muscle. Still, when I stepped into his space, closing the small gap between us until my chest was nearly flush with his, he stepped back. And I kept pushing forward until I backed him against the wall.

“What are you doing?” His voice dropped, low and raspy, barely more than a whisper.

Honestly, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Maybe I thought I could shut him up and stop the argument. Maybe I’d hoped to convince him to see my point. But the truth was, what I did next was about more than any of those things. For three days, Daniel had been so close, and for three days, all I kept thinking about was what it would be like to touch him again, taste him, until I almost ached with need.

Don’t do this, some distant voice whispered in the back of my head. One last trace of rational thought. I should stop, walk away, lethimwalk away.

My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I pushed closer, pressed my body against his solid frame, and then caught his mouth in a furious, hungry kiss.

Chapter Seven

Daniel

Ididn’t know what the hell had just happened. A minute ago, Grey and I had been at each other's throats. I’d been on the verge of storming out, half tempted to tell him to sell the Seascape. I could barely stand three days in close proximity to him. How could we go on with renovating a hotel and then managing it together for who knew how long?

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