Out Of The Blue (The Wrong Bed #12)(30)

Different as in if he wasn't a cop? Or if she didn't live so far from his work? Different as in if they both weren't afraid of facing their emotions? Would they be able to make a go of the wonderful and inexplicable feelings between them then? "Yeah," he finally said. "It could have been more."

Much more.

"Maybe you could talk to her about it." Alexi nodded toward the bluffs, where Hannah had appeared.

Her hair whipped about in the light wind, and the sundress she wore danced around her long legs. She walked the path away from them. Just watching her go caused a deep ache. A need.

And only she could fill it. "We don't really have anything to talk about," he said.

"I'm betting you do." Alexi rose to leave, but she stopped to give him a kiss. "Love you, Zach."

Then he was alone, on the sand, with Hannah fifty feet away. As if she sensed him, she slowly turned, then looked right at him.

He walked toward her. "Hey."

"Hey." She sent him a small smile. "Alexi pestering you again?"

"As always. She's opinionated, especially about…"

"About…?"

"Us," he said bluntly. "She's fond of meddling."

"Does she know about the other night?"

"She's trying to figure it out."

"She just wants to know if she lost."

"Lost what?"

"Oh…" She bit her lower lip. "Some silly bet."

"About?"

"About … toilets."

"You guys had a bet about toilets?"

"It was nothing, really. You see, Tara and Alexi started this stupid bet on who could get unsingle for the summer."

"Unsingle."

"Yes. It seemed so easy—only it wasn't easy at all, not for me, because I never date. So I decided to make my own personal goal." She gave him a rueful look. "And I think you know what that was."

"This … was all about a bet?" Any warm and fuzzy feelings he'd been secretly harboring pretty much disintegrated on the spot. Never mind that he'd been worrying she would want more from him, when he couldn't give it. The idea that what they'd shared had been all because of a bet hurt more than he could have imagined. "So what did you win?"

"Zach, it only started out that way, I—"

"What did you win, Hannah?"

"Nothing, because I didn't tell them what … happened between us."

"What will you win when they find out?"

Remorse flashed across her features. "Well, that's the thing. It's not so much a winning, it's what happens to the loser."

"And what would that be?"

"They have to clean the toilets—all of them in the lodge—for the entire summer."

"So I saved you a bottle of disinfectant and some elbow grease?" he asked in disbelief.

"I honestly figured I'd lose," she said earnestly. "But then you showed up—"

"And you decided the heck with cleaning toilets, I'll just sleep with Zach. He'll oblige me."

"No! No, it wasn't like that at all. When I saw you again, after all that time, it brought back feelings I'd had for you…" She hesitated, glanced at him to see how he was taking this, and clearly decided he wasn't taking it well at all, so she speeded up. "It was awful."

"Awful," he repeated dully.

"Yeah, but not in the way you think."

"Maybe you should explain."

"I'm not sure I can. It's just that I looked at you and something … happened." She blinked at him, as if willing him to understand. "I felt as though we were the same, both lonely and aching for something, but not knowing what. It was so good to see you again," she said simply. "It was like the homecoming I didn't know I was missing. I didn't know how to react."

"So you slept with me."

"Well, it wasn't easy," she said with a low laugh, but her smile disappeared when he didn't smile back.

"Okay, yes, so I slept with you." She sighed. "I was tired of being a virgin, okay? Tired of wondering what it would be like to be held and kissed and wanted by a man. By a man who maybe cared about me just a little."

"Well you got that last part right at least," he told her grudgingly. "I care about you, and more than just a little."

"Really?"

God, the look in her eyes hurt. "Really, but—"

"But we both agreed this was only temporary, from the very beginning. I know, I remember." She watched him very carefully. "Would you have wanted it to be … more?"

"No." But wasn't that the kicker? He was no longer sure about that.





* * *





Chapter 11


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"So … did you do the deed with Zach yet?"

The three of them, Hannah, Alexi and Tara, were in the kitchen for their nightly ritual—junk food.

Hannah stared at Alexi, thankful she'd already swallowed the last bite of her brownie, which was tonight's dessert of choice.

The three of them had been meeting like this since they'd opened the lodge. It was their favorite time of the day. Usually they discussed the comings and goings of the guests, or their employees, or even financial stuff, but mostly they just sat around and enjoyed each other and the peace and quiet.