“Maybe,” I hedged, taking a sip of my own water.
She laughs. “I blame it on my big ole feet. My dad calls me grace. Well, when he’s not calling me dreamer.”
“Dreamer?” I ask.
“Yep, I tend to have my head in the clouds. I love clouds, don’t you?”
“I, uh, guess I’ve never thought about it. They’re just… there.” I swirl a finger in the air.
“There’s a hill behind the resort. I’m thinking of going up there to do some cloud gazing. You want to come with me?”
I’m taken aback. And tempted. But I shake my head and lie. “I have plans today.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going today. I have a lot of writing to do. I was thinking tomorrow.” Her aqua eyes flash up and down my body in a quick assessment. “Unless you don’t think you’re physically able to climb a hill. You look kinda out of shape.”
I bark out a laugh at her blatant goading. And is she flirting with me? Yeah, the flash of humor in her eyes and the bite onto her bottom lip tells me she is. So I fucking flirt back.
“I can promise you,allmy physical abilities are superb, Juliette.”
She lifts one sardonic eyebrow. “I guess we’ll see. If you’re brave enough to go with me.”
I glance down at her arm and see the pineapple bracelet there. The bracelet that tells me she’s into the swinging lifestyle. I’ve learned that after you’ve been burned, you don’t stick your hand back into the fire. But in that moment, with this gorgeous woman staring expectantly at me, I jam my entire hand directly into the flames.
“You’re on. What time?”
“Afternoon? I’ll probably sleep in because I’m a night owl and get my best writing done at night.”
I finally remember I have an entire meal in front of me and pick up the fork I’d hastily dropped earlier. I take a bite, savoring the sweet and spicy combination of the chicken dish.
“What kind of writing do you do?”
Juliette takes a bite of her own food, a grilled fillet of fish with some kind of creamy sauce over rice. “I’m a romance author.”
Leaning forward, I lower my voice. “Do you write those spicy novels I’ve seen on TikTok?”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “I do. The spicier the better. Nothing like a dirty-talking man.”
Fuuuuck.
“How many books have you written?”
“I’m working on my twenty-fifth right now. That’s actually why I came here, to get away from the distractions of home.” She makes little circles in the air with her fork as she ticks them off. “You know, neighbors, family, job.”
I’m a bit flabbergasted. “You’ve written twenty-four books, and you work too?”
Juliette nods and takes a bite of her broccolini. “Yep. I’m a librarian in a small town.”
Visions of a cardigan sweater, pearls, and a tight skirt pop into my mind, and I have to shift in my seat. “Do you wear glasses?”
Her grin widens. “Do you have a sexy librarian kink, Reno?” she asks sweetly, and I chuckle.
“Maybe.”
She darts her tongue out to wet her lower lip and drops her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I do wear glasses sometimes when I’m writing for a long time.”
“Dear god,” I sigh dramatically, enjoying this flirting game we’ve got going on. “Tell me more.”
“I also make notes in my notebook, so I usually have a pencil behind my ear.” She leans closer, and her voice turns even more sultry. “And sometimes I chew on the eraser when I’m deep in thought.”
