Page 63 of Trust and Obey

He pointed out the sites, and laughed and commented at the right moments, but it was as if by rote. The spark in his eyes was gone.

He wasn’t running away or putting up walls between us like before… but in some ways, I wished he would. It felt like he was distancing himself by slow degrees just as my time at the resort was coming to a close.

And I was afraid I was falling in love with him.

It was so clear to me now. I had started to realize it the moment Lauren had burst into tears—when I had felt nothing for her.

If Kendall had done the same, I would have been beside myself.

At the same time, I knew Kendall would never try to emotionally manipulate me like that. If he ever cried, I knew his tears would be true.

After all, he had every opportunity in the world to betray me. He knew I was well off, and yet hadn’t tried to take advantage of our fling. Not only had he outright rejected Lauren’s bribery, but he had directly come out and told me about it.

Kendall was a good man. An honorable man. Smart, funny, and hot. I could see myself with him not only at the resort, but back in my real life at home.

God, he would look good in my home. I could offer him so much, and even if he didn’t want to stay with me at first, the city had endless opportunities. With talents like his, he could make a killing as a high-class masseuse.

I knew that I was starting down a dangerous path. Here I was, daydreaming about our lives together, constructing a future for us without even consulting Kendall about it.

Thinking about the end of our time together made me feel desperate. I didn’t want it to end.

I had to find a way to tell him how I felt.

We stopped at a nice lookout point that showed a vista of the dock and beach. The clouds were rolling in thick now—the promised rainstorm had come on fast. Faster than I was used to back home.

Several groups of tourists and a few small families were clustered around information signs. Kendall made a move to go join them, but I gripped his arm. “Wait.”

He turned to me, polite but confused. “Is something wrong?”

No, something was very, very right. I only hoped that he felt the same for me.

My fingers found his. I squeezed his hand, and his confusion turned to mild alarm. He glanced over his shoulder at the tourists, plainly worried they would see something inappropriate.

I didn’t know if I was punch drunk on love or what, but I didn’t give a damn.

“I want to talk to you,” I said.

His expression gave nothing away. He cocked his head, and I could see him bracing for the worst. “So, talk.”

I opened my mouth and the skies dumped down on us.

It was amazing, really. One second it was a rapidly building oppressive gray. The next we were in the middle of an utter deluge. Warm drops of water as thick as my thumb poured down in buckets.

Between the pounding rain and the screams of startled tourists, my words were swallowed.

Immediately, there was a stampede for shelter.

Kendall gripped my hand fiercely. He had to lean into me and shout near my ear to be heard. “We have to get out of here. We can’t be on the mountain during a thunderstorm!”

As if to punctuate his words, the seething clouds above rippled with lightning. Booming thunder rolled over us.

The tourists went from shrieking from surprise to honest fear.

I wasn’t afraid. Not yet. But I gripped Kendall’s hand even harder. “What’s the fastest way down?”

“This way!” With an apologetic look, Kendall released my hand and ran over to intercept the tourists, flagging them down before they could head back the way they had come.

They saw his resort uniform and stopped. I watched with admiration as he expertly directed them with shouts and gestures to stand next to me.

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