In this dark, stormy night while we were cocooned in our own space, I forgot the weight of everything I carried inside. I’d also greatly underestimated the effect Daphne could have on me.
Her skin was silky and warm. The temptation to take things further was nearly impossible to resist. I called upon every ounce of discipline I had and shoved against it.
Rising on an elbow, I all but yanked Daphne’s T-shirt down and folded her into my arms. I could feel her heartbeat where her rib cage pressed against my chest. As hers beat a rapid pace, mine echoed through my body, and I slowly caught my breath.
Jesus fucking Christ. We hadn’t even taken things further. I hadn’t even buried myself inside her, but I knew the very core of her was welcome, slick, and clenching. I was out of breath, stunned, and rattled beyond measure. My control was absolute. Except, apparently, when it came to Daphne.
When Henry commented it was lucky we could share a room, mistakenly thinking Daphne and I were a couple, I’d almost wanted to argue the point. When he mentioned further it was the only room available, I didn’t want to make a scene. I wasn’t about to freeze my ass off and sleep on a wooden floor, nor allow Daphne to do so. I figured with the barrier of pillows she put between us at the start of the night, I would have no problem. It was just sleep, after all.
Yet, sleep suddenly felt deeply intimate. If I shoved Daphne away now, I knew there would only be questions, so I would play it cool.
“Flynn?” Daphne’s voice was soft and frayed on the edges.
I silently reminded myself to stay calm.
“Yeah?”
“I feel selfish.”
“About what?”
I felt her eyes on me in the darkness and opened mine. The moment I met her gaze in the shadowy room, my heart felt physically pulled toward her, and there was a tug low in my gut. An overwhelming rush of uncertainty washed over me.
I steeled myself, and repeated, “About what?”
The light was too dim for me to know for certain, but I was pretty sure she blushed. And, I knew just how fucking cute she was when she blushed. “Yes princess?” I prompted.
She sighed and elbowed me lightly in the side of my ribs. “When I said I wanted you, I didn’t mean for it to be a one-way street,” she finally said.
Damn. This woman. Although she was guarded and uptight, she was so damn honest that it chipped away at the ice around my heart.
“I know, but I don’t think we should take things further.”
I could feel her eyes searching mine. I didn’t quite understand how she could see so deeply inside me. It felt as if she climbed right into my heart.
No matter what she understood, she didn’t comment on it. “Oh, okay.”
She held my gaze for a long moment, something flickering in her eyes before she nodded and let her head fall back against the pillows.
So it was that I fell asleep with Daphne curled up beside me. Although I tried to tell my brain this was a bad idea, I couldn’t bring myself to let her go.
She felt so exquisitely good. And I was so incredibly tired of holding everyone at bay.
Four days later
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Cat, my sixteen-year-old sister with an attitude about twice her size, gave me a saucy shrug paired with a roll of her eyes. “Nope, not kidding.”
“Fuck!”
My other sister, Nora, came striding in the kitchen at the lodge and cast me a pointed look. “I thought we were trying not to swear so much.”
Cat burst out laughing. “It’s a lost cause with Flynn. I think we should have a swear jar so I can at least make some money out of this.”
“Please, go get ready for school,” I muttered, resting my elbows on the counter and tunneling my hands through my hair.
Blessedly, Cat left the room. Lifting my head, I met Nora’s gaze.
“What happened?” she asked.
“That woman I hired to cook quit. Just fucking left.”
“You mean Tanya?”
“Yeah, Tanya. She up and left this morning without even cooking breakfast.”
I eyed the clock above the door. It was going on six thirty a.m. Pretty soon, we would have guests coming downstairs and expecting food.
Nora crossed her arms and gave me another pointed look. “Sometimes, you’re an asshole to work for.”
“I just need a cook. Is it that hard?”
I spun away from my sister just as Daphne entered the kitchen. She looked from me to Nora and back again. Meanwhile, I was busy trying to lock down the crazy that happened to my body anytime she was nearby. The moment Daphne stepped into the room, every hair on my body stood on end. It felt as if electricity zipped back and forth in the air between us.
“I can cook,” Daphne said.
In the four days that had lapsed since our night at Henry’s lodge and the interlude that had literally been burned into my brain, Daphne and I had settled into a silent agreement to pretend it never happened. Small problem, though. There was no ignoring the chemistry that just wouldn’t quit.
I had plenty to do to keep me occupied and plenty of other guests at the lodge to deal with. Of course, I also had my nosy, opinionated, and way too perceptive for my own sanity siblings to handle.
Speaking of. Nora caught my eye with a knowing glint in hers. I ignored it. Maybe it was crazy to take Daphne up on her offer, but I didn’t have time to figure this out. In the next twenty minutes, I needed to be out the door for a flight seeing trip. Those trips made us money, the money I needed to send all three of my siblings to college and clean up the financial mess my mother had left behind when she died. Fucking money.
“Can you really cook, princess?”
“Does he call you princess all the time?” Nora interjected.
Daphne was unfazed and shrugged when she looked at Nora. “Not all the time, but sometimes.” Her eyes met mine again. “Yes, I can really cook. It might shock you to learn that some people say I’m excellent at it. I used to run a bakery.”
I had questions. Lots of them. Because despite my best efforts, I was relentlessly curious about Daphne. Even before that night, it hadn’t slipped my notice that she’d make a damn good poker player. She held her cards close to her chest all the time. I sensed there was more than a typical story behind her choice to come to Alaska on her own. If I lost the battle to my curiosity, I’d find out all her secrets. Not now, though.
“All right then. If you can cover the meals for today, I would seriously owe you one.”
“What he means is he’ll pay you,” Nora chimed in helpfully.
“I’ll take care of it. Are you—” I began.
Daphne was already striding into the massive pantry and waved dismissively over her shoulder. “Flynn, I’ve got this. I can whip something up in no time. I don’t need instructions or any help. I promise.”
My sister snorted a laugh, and I cast a glare in her direction.
Following Daphne to the pantry, I leaned my shoulder against the inside of the doorframe. “Thank you.”
She already had a bag of flour hooked in an elbow and was rummaging through the industrial-sized refrigerator. Straightening, she closed the refrigerator door and looked in my direction. “You’re welcome. I promise, the kitchen is where I’m most competent.”