I widen my eyes in mock horror. “No. Twinkies are the opposite of a fresh-baked good. They’re cake shot full of so many preservatives they could outlive humanity.”
She laughs. “Not that bad. I dip them in milk because the cake crumbles away and then there’s just frozen cream. It’s such a mess, but it’s so good. And then I drink the milk with all the crumbs at the bottom.”
“Blech. This I gotta see.”
“It’s not pretty. I’ve been eating them that way since I was a teenager, and even though I make really good homemade stuff, sometimes you just gotta have your frozen Twinkie in milk.”
“I hear that. It’s like me and my kale smoothies.”
She eyes my chest and then my shoulder. “You drink kale smoothies?”
“Nah, that’s Caleb. I was trying to come up with something as gross as your frozen Twinkie disintegrating in milk. I stick to food I can chew. Real food.”
She bumps my hip playfully. “So tell me your weird thing you like to do.”
I squeeze her hand. “I like to kidnap beautiful women named Jenna Larsen and not have sex with them.”
“That is weird!”
We crack up.
Jenna
There’s no nightlife here, which means after dinner in the lodge dining room, we go back to our suite. We had this amazing maple whiskey cider at dinner—I even got the recipe—so I’m thinking inhibitions are nice and low for the rest of our evening. Eli unlocks the door and holds it for me to go in first. Lucy barrels toward me, and I leap back.
“Lucy, sit,” Eli commands.
She halts, looking unsure.
“Sit,” he repeats.
She sits, her tail wagging hard. He pets her, and I move forward into the room, giving her a scratch behind the ears. She leans against my leg for a moment before trotting over to Eli, who’s closing the curtains by the patio.
He crouches down and pets her before looking up at me. “I probably should train her to stop leaping into my arms when I come home. She almost did it with you, and she could knock you off balance.”
That implies he expects me to be around his house enough to make training Lucy properly a priority.
“But it’s just two days,” I blurt.
“She still needs to be trained properly for other people.” He pets her with both hands, rubbing behind her ears. “But it’s so damn fun, isn’t it, Lucy girl?” She wags her tail so hard, her entire back end wags. He stands. “I’m going to take her out for a quick walk, and then we’ll play poker. Unless there’s something else you’d like to do.”
I glance toward the bedroom automatically and turn back to him. “Poker’s fine.”
His smile is slow and sure, his eyes knowing. “Cool. See you in a bit.” He gets Lucy’s leash and leads her out through the patio door.
I wander into my room and figure I might as well get ready for bed. What else is there to do? I grab my toiletry bag and head into the bathroom. I’ll be minty fresh if we kiss, which could lead to more. That’s only natural. No one could blame me for hooking up with him in a kidnapped overnight situation. Actually, no one would ever know what happened here besides Lucy, and she’s not talking. The thought is liberating. At the same time, I know I need to be careful not to get too close. I already like him too much. I can’t risk a deep attachment that gets ripped away.
Lucy’s great too. I’m glad he brought her. I should get a dog. I just never went there after losing my dog as a kid to my parents’ divorce. God, I even deny myself the company of a dog because of what they did. I have to stop punishing myself.
I’m punishing myself.
The thought makes me suddenly unsteady, and I grip the bathroom counter, staring at my pale reflection in the mirror. I never thought about it that way. Punishment for something I logically know isn’t my fault, but some part of me—some deep down angry little-girl part—believes it is.
I splash water on my face. That’s it. I’m getting a dog. Not the kind I had growing up. Something completely different. Maybe I’ll get a pit bull like Lucy, and then they could play together. My heart races at the thought. A future with Eli and Lucy in my life.
Two days. That’s all this is. Eli is not thinking like that. Don’t be foolish.
Tomorrow I go home, back to my real life with my friends, my shop, and my cozy apartment. It’ll be like this trip never happened. Except I find myself wanting to hang onto every moment with both hands. To have memories to look back on during lonely times.
I finish up in the bathroom and go to my black wheeled suitcase for my pajamas. Audrey didn’t pack any lingerie for me. It’s my usual girls’ night in outfit of a navy Yankees T-shirt with matching plaid flannel pants. Guess Audrey wants me to focus on getting to know Eli, or maybe she knew he was a big Yankees fan and hoped it would entice him. Sex is easy; sharing intimacies is hard.
The only people who know my deep dark self are my closest friends. I’ve never shared anything like that with a guy. Mostly because nothing with a guy ever lasts long. It’s not that I always choose the wrong guy, it’s that after accidentally breaking hearts, I’ve learned to tell guys up front I only want casual. That way no one gets hurt. Most guys are relieved. With Eli, it was reversed. He told me how it would be after kidnapping me. I find myself smiling. I still can’t believe he did that.
I walk out to the living room and take a seat on a small maroon floral sofa. There’s a TV on the wall across from me. I guess we could always watch TV if we run out of things to say.
Eli arrives a short while later. Lucy bounds toward me, and I tell her to sit so she doesn’t leap at me. She does, and I pet her. She pants happily. What a good dog.
Eli slowly removes his jacket, checking me out. “Those pajamas are hot. I don’t think Audrey could’ve picked a better outfit.”
I laugh. “Right. I’m sure the flannel pants really do it for you.”
“You’re a Yankees fan. That does it for me. Score one for Audrey.”
I shake my head, smiling. “Ridiculous.”
“Hold on.” He goes into his room and returns with a deck of cards. “Here, shuffle these while I get changed.”
“Okay.” I shuffle a few times, my mind wandering to how tonight will go. Will he grill me for all my secrets? I’ve never had a slumber party with a guy before.
A few minutes later, Lucy leaps to her feet and rushes forward to Eli.
He commands her to sit. My mouth gapes. He’s wearing a gray T-shirt and the exact same plaid Yankees sleep pants as me. He gives his pants’ leg a tug. “Looks like we’re a matching pair.”
I groan. “Too weird.”
He sits next to me, puts an arm around my shoulders, and gives me a squeeze. I flush hot, but he doesn’t do anything more, just grabs the cards and deals them. He holds his cards close to his chest. “How’re your cards?”
I scoot back. “Terrible.” I’ve got a great hand, but I can’t let him know. That’s like poker rule numero uno.
One corner of his mouth lifts. “I’m glad you have a bad poker face. That means you’re honest to a fault.”
“And you’re not honest?”