Although, nothing could’ve reinvigorated me more than the sound of his response.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Just for a little bit, though; I’ve got work in the morning.”
To my surprise, inviting him in was the easy part. Once I had the door closed behind us, I didn’t know what to do; it was as if I’d never been around a guy before. Rather than act cool, I pointed to the sofa that sat only a few feet from the front door, basically ordering him to sit like I would command a dog. And still, without saying anything, I dropped my cabin key onto the table in front of him and walked into the kitchen, which wasn’t far thanks to the open floorplan of the small space.
“What would you like to drink?” I opened the refrigerator and bent over, peering inside in the hope it’d cool off my overheated cheeks. Thanks to my fair skin, I tended to wear embarrassment the way most women wore makeup. “I have water, soda, and wine coolers.” I peered over my shoulder at him, forcing myself to ignore the heat in his gaze as he stared at me. “But if I’ll get in trouble for having alcoholic beverages, then no…I don’t have any wine coolers.”
The hardness of his features from only a moment ago fell away as his shoulders jumped in silent humor. “Have you already forgotten the beer I gave you on the dock?”
“Technically, you didn’t give them to me. I took them out of your cooler; you just didn’t say anything about it. I thought maybe you didn’t notice,” I teased. Flirting with Drew felt so natural, as if we’d been doing it my entire life.
“I was wondering where half of my six-pack went. I started to question my sanity, thinking I drank them without realizing it.” Amusement filled his every word as he played along. “But I’ll take water now, thank you. I have to go in early tomorrow to get caught up on paperwork, and I’ve learned from past experiences that too many drinks the night before leads to frequent discrepancies in my math.”
I set the bottle of water on the coffee table and took a seat next to him, tucking my feet beneath my bottom to get comfortable. Well, at the very least, to appear comfortable. I doubted there was much I could do to relax and ignore the carnal urge I had to run my fingers through his messy, windswept hair. His dark locks—long enough to sweep over the tops of his ears and hang over his smooth brow without looking overgrown—begged for attention.
It was the epitome of sexy chaos.
The last thing I wanted to do was run him off by spending the entire time gawking at him, but the magnetic attraction was hard to ignore. I took a long pull of my fruity drink and desperately tried to come up with something intelligent to say. However, the only thing I could think about was how hot he was, which made me wonder why I hadn’t seen him when I’d checked in earlier today. “You said you have paperwork to do in the morning…does that mean you work in the office?”
“Sometimes…but I mostly do other things.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you normally do?”
“It’d be easier to list the things I don’t do,” he said with laughter rippling through his gravelly baritone. “I work a lot in the restaurant. Well, I guess I should say manage, not work. When the orders get backed up, everything falls apart. So that’s where I prefer to be, overseeing it all.”
“Do you do any of the cooking?”
“None.” His easy smile made his earlier statement of knowing each other resound in my thoughts. There was absolutely no way we’d ever met before today, except that didn’t stop the feeling of familiarity from settling into this conversation, as if talking to him was the most natural thing in the world. “I keep the kitchen running smoothly while taking care of the maintenance tickets and tracking the inventory.”
“How did you manage to get the night off? I walked past the restaurant earlier, and they were packed. I’d imagine they would’ve needed all hands on deck tonight.”
He shrugged and cocked his head to the side, staring straight ahead as if contemplating his response. “I’m sure they probably could’ve benefited from having me there—not because they can’t do it without me.” He swung his attention my way and lifted one corner of his mouth in the sexiest smirk that had ever graced a pair of lips. “But running this place comes with perks, and deciding when and where I work is one of them.”
Drew seemed to be full of confidence without the arrogant edge that most guys I knew had. In fact, it was a kind of confidence all of its own, unlike any I’d ever seen. There was a hint of humor in the things he said as if it were a joke, though if I had to bet, I’d say he meant every word.
I’d never met anyone like him.
“Are you, like, the manager of the resort?”
He shifted in his seat, twisting at his waist so that we were face to face. And, oh my God, my lungs refused to expand as everything came to a halt. His dark eyes—so dark that, even with the light on, I couldn’t distinguish between his pupils and irises—sucked all the air out of the room. They were just endless abysses of onyx crystals.
Like two shields of armor keeping anyone from seeing his soul.
“Technically, my dad owns and operates Black Bird Resort. But ever since his heart attack a few years back, I’ve had to help him run nearly every aspect of this place. We have employees, but it’s mostly Dad and me who manage everything.”
“So if you do all that, what does he do?”
“He mainly works in the office, writing the schedules for everyone, finalizing The Feeder menu, keeping up with the boats—fuel, tune-ups, oil, regular upkeep. That sort of thing. He’s also in charge of making sure the guests are happy…so if you have a complaint, feel free to let him know. But on the flip side, if you’re really happy with something, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.”
I shook my head in amusement while laughing under my breath.
He’d mentioned that his dad worked in the office, but the guy who had checked me in this morning couldn’t have possibly been his dad. He couldn’t have been anyone’s parent. Well, unless it was possible to father a child while still in diapers. Drew did say that they had employees, so I assumed it was one of them and moved on.
“At least you guys seem to be doing well for yourselves.”
“Not really. Sure, the tours are full, the cabins are booked solid, and the restaurant and bar never slow during this one week of the year. But after this weekend, it won’t be like this again until the next Fourth of July.”
I became thoroughly invested in this conversation, as though the success of this resort somehow affected me. Either that or I was simply baffled by the news that they weren’t this busy every week. I simply couldn’t imagine that. “Why is it so slow the rest of the year?”
“Just is. People ’round here don’t care about the lake’s conception or the history buried beneath it. They only come for the festivals and celebration of Independence Day, so this is the only week that people flock to us. Any other time, they stay for the day or come for dinner.”
“It’s always been this way?” I couldn’t imagine how a resort could survive like this.
“Pretty much, which is why most of the tasks fall on us—well, mostly me.”
I picked at the soggy label on my bottle, not knowing what to say. Finally, unable to deal with the silence much longer, I shrugged and whispered, “It just seems like a lot to put on one person.”