She was paying minimal attention to me, and that had to change.
I propped my ankle on my knee. "May I call you Evie?"
"Uh-huh."
"All right, Evie. I wanted to fuck you in the hot spring, but since you won't stop working, this desk will do."
She froze. Though her head did not move, her eyes swiveled toward me. "What did you say?"
"I want to fuck you,linda. Right now."
Chapter Five
Eve
"That's what I thought you said." I slumped back in my chair, considering the man who'd announced in a matter-of-fact tone that he wanted to fuck me on my desk. "You weren't kidding about being shameless. And you seem to have confused me with someone else because my name is Eve, not Linda."
"Lindameans beautiful in Portuguese. You are beautiful, Eve, and we need to fuck."
"Sorry, but I don't sleep with guests anymore. It's way too complicated."
"Because two men once fought over you."
"Who told you about that? It must've been Ollie or Ruth." I shook my head, trying to frown but not pulling it off. I couldn't really be mad at them. They meddled out of love. "I knew I should've had them sign a nondisclosure agreement."
"Ruth thinks we're a cute couple." He held up a hand the second I opened my mouth to speak. "Not that I agree with her. I'm not interested in a relationship, and if we have sex, I won't get into a fist fight over you."
"That incident was the last straw, yes, but I'd already started to think getting involved with guests was a bad idea, business-wise."
He rested his arm on the corner of my desk. "I've been told you don't date either."
"Who said that?"
"Your guests."
Ruth and Ollie, no doubt, blabbing again about my personal life. I appreciated their concern for my happiness, but it was misplaced.
"Were they mistaken?" Val asked.
"No, but not dating isn't a conscious choice. I live way out here and always have guests to take care of, even in the winter. Hunting for men isn't a priority." I picked up a pen and braced it between the index fingers of both hands, my elbows on my chair's arms. "I tried online dating, but men are such cowards these days. They only wanted to talk to me through what they saw as anonymous messages on the dating sites."
"What about the town near here?"
"I go into town to buy supplies, not troll for dates." I toyed with the pen, lifting one end and then the other repeatedly. "Besides, guys who aren't perverts or losers are like Bigfoot. Even if they exist, you're never going to catch one."
Val drummed his fingers on the desk, studying me with a curious expression. "Relax, Eve. I don't want to date you."
"You want sex. Yeah, I caught your drift earlier." I tossed the pen onto the desk. "Why did you say you're infamous?"
"Because it's true. Haven't you looked me up online yet?"
"I don't invade the privacy of my guests."
"Anything that's online isn't private."
"Most of it should be. The world really doesn't need to know what everyone ate for lunch today, with close-up pictures of the food."
"True." He studied me again, studied my face. "A young, beautiful woman like you should have a lover."