Page 57 of Tempted To Be Mine

“Actually, I’m going to stay back today.” I kept my voice casual. “I’ve got a lot of work piling up. Emails, contracts, the usual. You don’t need me there and I really need to catch up on things.”

“Are you worried about getting stranded?”

I smiled. “No.”

“Yesterday was a fluke. I should have done a better job checking the snowmobiles. I promise you that will never happen again. I had the staff check everything this morning.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I just really need to handle some things before Thanksgiving break.”

Bernadette nodded. “Makes sense. You’ve got your radio if you need anything?”

“In my cabin.”

“Good. We should be back by late afternoon. The weather’s supposed to hold, but you never know out here.”

“Have fun,” I said with a cheery smile. “That backdrop is truly stunning. You’ll get some great shots.”

“Thanks. See you around.”

I hightailed it back to my cabin to avoid running into Jeremy. I would hit the dining hall after they were all gone. I was committed to my new chickenshit personality.

Coward. The word echoed in my head as I walked back to my cabin. I was absolutely being a coward. But I wasn’t ready to face him. Not yet. Not until I figured out what the hell I was supposed to say.

The cabin felt too quiet once I was inside. I made myself a cup of coffee from the little machine on the counter and then waited.

I watched the convoy of snowmobiles disappear down the trail, Jeremy on the back of one of them. He hadn’t seen me. I’d made sure of that. I wondered if he would be relieved I wasn’t going. Probably. I was saving us both a lot of stress by hiding.

I waited ten minutes, making sure they were long gone before I made my way to the lodge. I hadn’t eaten last night and I was famished. I loaded up with two breakfast burritos, another cup of coffee, and some fresh fruit.

Back in my cabin, I settled onto the couch with my laptop. Work. I needed to focus on work. That was what I was good at. That was what made sense.

I ate the first burrito while I read through the mountain of emails. Jeremy was in high demand. Most requests would be rejected. They were cute offers for a starting model but Jeremy could demand the highest rates these days.

My photos from my phone backed up to my cloud. I couldn’t resist checking them out. The frozen lake. The mountains. That stupid cabin that I would never be able to look at the same way again. I selected the best ones and composed a message to my grandmother.

Hi Gram,

Alaska is beautiful, even if it’s trying to kill me with cold. Here are some pictures from one of the locations. The mountains go on forever. I thought of you when I saw them.

Miss you. Love, Lucy.

I sipped the second cup of coffee and got back to my normal work stuff. I felt good. I was a good manager and could juggle all the demands for my client.

I opened the first email and started reading. Three sentences in, my mind wandered back to the cabin. I shuddered thinking about the way he’d said my name. That low growl. The look of pure passion on his face.

I shook my head and forced my eyes back to the screen. Focus.

A watch brand wanted Jeremy for a spring campaign. European locations, mostly. Italy, Switzerland, maybe Monaco. I started drafting a response, outlining his availability and our standard terms for initial discussions.

Halfway through the second paragraph, I stopped typing.

What was I doing? Pretending everything was normal when nothing was normal? Acting like I hadn’t just slept with the man whose career I managed? I was planning his upcoming year and I had no idea how I was supposed to travel the world with him and not think about that damn cabin.

I closed the laptop and leaned back against the couch cushions, staring at the ceiling.

I kept waiting to regret it. Every time I replayed what had happened, I braced myself for the wave of shame or embarrassment or oh-God-what-have-I-done that should have been crashing over me.

It never came.