Page 33 of The Caretaker
“Yeah. Sure.” I slammed the binder shut, then reached for my tea, hoping it hadn’t gone cold. Maybe cold was what I needed right then. Something to cool off the heat in my blood, the blood traveling south through my veins.
“Great,” he said. “How about we fire up the pit out back and make s’mores like we’re in our teens instead of our thirties?”
I loved s’mores. “Sounds like heaven.”
“Hear that, Gavin?” he asked, gazing heavenward.
“I bet he heard it loud and clear,” I whispered.
“Do you always say the right things?”
“Have you not met me?”
“Pretty sure I have.”
“Most times I blurt out the opposite of the right thing.”
“Ah, that wonky filter right?” he shot back with a lopsided smirk.
“Correct. But saying the right thing helps when I’m talking to the right person.” We were building a rhythm with our back-and-forth exchange, which felt a lot like flirting.
“Did you just make that up?” He raised a skeptical brow.
“I did. Was it cringy?”
“Extremely so,” he answered. “Speaking of talking,” he continued without missing a beat. “How about we do nothing but that for the rest of the day?”
“How about the rest of the week?” We’d both turned to face each other on the couch, our knees now touching. The rapid-fire banter made me breathless in a good way. I never wanted it to end, even as something like terror began to creep in.
“You should give up your room at the inn.”
“I should stay here.”
“You should,” he agreed.
My heart hammered against my chest, my fingers seeking out his hair. The braid had come loose some time ago. “And we should do nothing but talk, sip beer—or wine—and make s’mores all day—”
“What happened to all week?” he asked, the lump at his throat moving up and down with his hard swallow.
“I like Easy Breezy Solace,” I breathed.
“Just trying to keep my adjectives well-rounded.”
We panted into the small space between us, long enough for my terror to gain ground.
“What are we doing?” I asked, releasing his hair. My fingers itched to recapture the silky strands, and other parts of me suddenly begged for more.
“Whatever the moment calls for.” He caught and held my hand before it fell to my lap. “No comeback?” he asked when Iremained quiet. Things could only escalate from here, and while I didn’t want this moment or the next one to end, I wasn’t ready for what his timid but heated gaze suggested. I didn’t care if my body disagreed.
“I win,” he whispered after I’d taken too long to continue our game of verbal ping-pong.
I cleared my throat and jumped to my feet, walking over to the fireplace. The loss of his skin on mine felt agonizing. I stared down at the hand that had been holding his, to make sure it was still attached to my body, because it felt like I was the one missing some part of me now, like I’d left it on the couch with him.
“We can get the rest of my things tomorrow,” I said with a steadier voice. “I should probably check in with Leland as well. I wouldn’t put it past him to form a search party to come looking for me.”
“What if he asks when you’re coming back? What will you say?”
“Never,” I answered too eagerly, then amended, “I’ll tell him I’ve still got some things to sort out before I head back.”
