"How do you know she has a stash if it's secret?"
Ollie's mouth formed a sly smile. "Sometimes I help carry her groceries into her house. I saw boxes of cookies once and asked her about it. She swore me to secrecy, said she'd replace my insect repellent with sugar water if I told anyone." He waggled his eyebrows. "She must really like you if she let you see her cookie stash. It's like her own little pirate treasure. Keep expecting her to install a security system on that cabinet like something a museum might have to protect a huge diamond."
Eve didn't share her cookies with anyone, but she'd shared them with me. She'd crumbled them in her hands, sprinkled them onto my chest, and licked the crumbs and chips off my skin one by one. Her tongue had been velvety and warm, her licks gentle and—
My dick was stirring to life again.
I changed the subject quickly by asking Ollie what he did for a living. For the next five minutes, I listened to every detail about his work as a computer systems engineer. It bored the fuck out of me, but Ollie clearly enjoyed talking about his work. I liked him, and I liked all the other guests, but I despised Eve's former handyman. Good riddance, I said.
But I didn't say that to Eve.
"How long are you staying at the resort?" I asked Ollie.
"Six weeks."
"That's a long stay. Your employers must be generous with vacation time."
He bunched his shoulders, staring down at the ground with his lips pinched. "Yeah, they're real generous."
The tone of his voice implied they weren't generous at all. I might've asked him more about that, but it wasn't my business.
Ollie waved to some of the other guests. "How about a round of miniten?"
My conversation with Ollie ended there since I didn't feel like donning a thug to whack a tennis ball back and forth over a net. I wanted to get Eve alone. Preferably with cookies. Maybe chocolate syrup too.
I had to wait for my chance, but after lunch, Eve and I retreated into her house for more private time. We enjoyed each other in every room in the house until a vehicle pulled into the driveway and Eve announced it was dinnertime. She had ordered Italian food from a local restaurant. I would've preferred to have dinner with her alone in the house, so I could eat my fettuccine alfredo off her body, but she insisted on socializing with the other guests.
"I've been ignoring them," she announced while I watched her dress. "Spent most of the day having sex with you instead of tending to the needs of all my guests."
"My needs are the most pressing." I was lying on the bed in her room, where only ten minutes ago I'd been ravishing her. She stood in front of her dresser. I loved watching her get dressed, if only so I could look forward to stripping her later. "I don't think I can survive an hour without fondling your body."
She dropped onto the bed beside me and patted my cheek. "I think you'll live."
I did survive dinner, though I couldn't stop looking at Eve. Sylvester and Ruth teased me about it, but I was immune to that kind of harassment. The entire world had seen me naked, on the football field and in a sex tape, and those incidents had eradicated what little shame I'd had before that. At least Sylvester and Ruth were kind people who teased me out of affection, not paparazzi hounding me or comedians turning me into a nasty joke.
Being here with Eve and her guests, I didn't feel like a notorious scoundrel anymore. I liked the way I felt here. I'd become an almost-normal human being.
Once dinner was over, Eve invited me into her bedroom again. We were lingering in the hallway near the door to my room when she posed the question.
She hunched her shoulders and angled her head down to peek up at me through her lashes. "Would you like to come into my bedroom?"
"I'd love to, but I'm exhausted." I skimmed a hand up and down her arm. "You must be exhausted too."
"Yeah, but—" She bit down on her lower lip and stared at the wall next to me. After a few seconds, she forced a smile. "Never mind. You're right, we're both too tired. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Val."
She all but sprinted toward her room.
"Good night, Eve," I called after her.
The door to her bedroom swung shut.
Her shyness about inviting me into her room had been adorable, but I couldn't understand why she'd felt embarrassed. Had she wanted me to sleep with her more than I'd thought? I'd assumed it was a casual request. Maybe she'd meant it as more and surprised herself with that realization.
Did I want more?
Of course not. Neither did she.
I ambled into my room but left the door open. Part of me hoped she might sneak in here in the middle of the night and crawl under the covers with me. Why was I wishing for that? We were having sex, that was all. I didn't need to feel her warm, supple body tucked against mine while I slept. I didn't need to wake up and find her head on my chest, and I absolutely did not need to dip my nose into her hair and inhale the sweet, fruity scent of her shampoo.