“If you have a babysitter in there, they’re probably my co-worker. You have to excuse them first before we do anything else.”
“Oh, shit. Right.” He grinned sheepishly before kissing my nose and setting me down. “You’re right. Here.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a key for the cabin. “Be quiet because my kids are probably sleeping, but slip through there, and I’ll meet you in the living room once the babysitter leaves.”
I sucked on my bottom lip. Were the butterflies in my stomach nerves of excitement or regret? It didn’t matter, I nodded my head either way, and Bastian pulled the screen door open before pushing the door to the living room open.
I hovered there, knowing I only had a few seconds before my co-worker came out to make my decision. Leaving him now might mean throwing away all my dreams of making it big with his signal boost. But leaving now also meant that maybe whatever this was wouldn’t be a one-night-stand or summer fling.
But staying didn’t mean that ithadto be those things either.
“Damnit,” I growled, spinning on my toes as I twisted toward the railing, gripping it tightly as I willed myself to make a decision. I had never been this torn in my life. Everything I did, I did head-long, come-what-may, give-no-fucks.
But now I was worried about what might come and gave surprisingly quite a few fucks.
The screen door squealed behind me, and thud shut ominously. “Sorry, I didn’t realize he had a guest.” There was a smile to the tone of their voice, but my co-worker didn’t recognize me as she made her way off the porch and back to the staff cabins. I stepped back into the shadows lest she turned back and recognized me when the screen door opened again.
“Bexley?”
Bastian’s hand glossed across my shoulders, brushing my hair aside as his mouth found the skin underneath. A shiver crept down my spine as goosebumps rippled along my arms. His other hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me tight against him, and it wasn’t lost on me how perfectly I fit against him.
“Bastian …” I whispered his name, my tone already regretful with the decision I was coming to make.
“Come inside, please. We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable doing. If we spend the rest of the night talking, that’s more than I’ve had in four years. But I want to spend more time getting to know you, Bexley. However, you want me to know you.”
I twisted around to face him, but his grip on me never left, and I was glad.
“I don’t know what’s happening here, Bastian, but I’m nervous.”
“Do I make you nervous?” He seemed concerned, and my choice of words wasn’t the best.
I laughed. “God, you make me more nervous than I’ve ever been in my entire life. I want to kiss the hell out of you and pull these clothes off so I can explore every inch of your body and you mine. But then I’m terrified I’ll just be another girl if we do that. And honestly, that sounds worse than walking away now.”
Sebastian stared at me for a long time, processing what I was saying before he finally let out a breath and cupped my face. “I meant what I said when we got here. Whatever I felt when I saw you, it’s the most real thing I’ve felt in a long time. And you aren't just another girl. You couldn't be—I don’t want you to be. Do you understand?”
Chapter5
Bastian
With the babysittergone and the kids safely tucked into bed, I grabbed a bottle of wine to waste time while I tried to figure out what I was doing. Asking her back to my cabin was a huge step, considering we’d known each other for all of two-point-five seconds.
Yet, something inside called for her like it knew her from a time before—maybe even before this lifetime. I wasn’t exactly a spiritual man, but I did believe in soulmates, and up until I met Bexley, I’d thought Eleanor was mine.
Could it be I was wrong? Or was it possible to have two great loves in your lifetime?
“How’s that bottle coming?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the playful grin on her face as I spun to face her, cracking it open with a twist.
She laughed and shook her head. “I’m glad I’m not the only one with nerves.”
“It’s stupid because I asked you here.” I walked over to her and sat next to her on the small sofa. After carefully pouring a glass each, I looked at her and smiled. “I’m out of practice. I haven’t dated in a long time. The last time I was with a woman ….” My words stuck on my tongue as memories of Eleanor and I flashed through my mind.
Bexley drew me back to her as she touched my thigh. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about her.”
“I should. We are trying to get to know each other, and you should know about my past.”
She leaned forward and picked up her glass of wine, taking a slow sip before she nodded. “Alright, but I think I should tell you something first.” My stomach knotted uneasily as I prepared for whatever was about to come. I anticipated it wasn’t going to be good. How could it be? In the history of … forever, no woman had ever said, “I should tell you something first,” and it was a good thing.
“I’d like to go first,” I managed to mutter.