“What about the lunch service?” she asked.
“All ready to go,” he said. “You were completely zoned out this morning. I did it all with you right there in the room. The only thing Kat needs to do is lay it out, and I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
He glanced over in time to see her lips twist. “Kat’s your boss, right?”
“Yeah.” Where was this going?
“You must have known her for a long time.”
“Three years, give or take. Ever since I moved back from the States. She’d been here for a year or so already. Long enough to have a couple of rooms in the lodge ready for guests.”
“Ah. That explains why she lets you get away with so much.”
He laughed. “Excuse me?”
Her shoulders hunched, as though she regretted what she’d said. “I just meant that your job seems to be very flexible. I’m a little jealous, to be honest. My bosses have always been demanding and impatient.”
He took the stairs to his cabin two at a time, unwilling to admit that his job was simply a means to keep boredom at bay, and that he had enough money in the bank to live several lifetimes without needing to work.
“I didn’t mean that as an insult,” she said, sounding worried.
Finally, he turned to her. “I know, and I didn’t take it that way.” Much. “Wait out here. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
Shucking his shirt, he tossed it on the floor and stepped out of his shorts. He turned the shower on and stepped under the blasting water. The high pressure shower head had been one of his few indulgences when he built the cabin. He allowed the sweat to rinse from his body, then soaped, toweled himself dry, and dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt.
On the way out, he caught sight of his liquor cabinet beneath the counter and recalled the dozen or so bottles of spirits stored from when he’d first moved to town. He’d never opened them, taking it as a personal challenge to ignore them for as long as possible, but he’d passed whatever test he’d set himself, and they should be used. There was no point in them sitting in his cabinet for another three years.
“Hey,” he said as he closed the door and joined Megan on the deck. She was leaning on the railing, looking out over the garden. The sun touched her blonde hair, turning it golden. She could have been an angel. “I’ve got some alcohol you can use for those cocktails tonight, if you’d like.”
“Really?”
He went to her side. “Yeah. From memory there’s vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, and a few other things.”
She glanced over at him. “It’s very kind of you to offer, but I don’t want to use up your stash.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t touched the stuff since I moved here. You may as well take advantage of it. No one else is going to.”
She squinted, and pursed her lips, assessing him in a way that made him squirm. “Okay, if you’re sure. That would be lovely, thank you.”
“No problem.” He straightened and jangled his keys in his pocket. “Shall we go?”
She nodded. “Let’s.”
18
As they passedover the bridge, Tione sensed Megan’s tension ratchet up a notch, but she didn’t say anything. He switched the radio on to Tahu FM for the short drive to The Shack. When he couldn’t find a park, he pulled over a couple of blocks away and they walked side by side along Marine Parade to the ice cream parlor. There were only two customers browsing the options, so they headed straight for the counter.
Faith beamed, her hazel eyes sparkling behind black-framed glasses. “Emma Watson, delightful to see you again.”
“Alexandra,” Megan replied with a smile. “Do you have a minute?”
“For you, I have ten.”
“Excellent.” Megan looked down at her hands, and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. She was nervous, he realized, and totally enchanting. Didn’t she know that nobody could refuse her anything? Especially not when she resembled a little girl about to ask her crush to the Sadie Hawkins dance.
“I, um, made some cupcakes earlier,” she said. “They’re cocktail themed, and I have frosting and fondant to decorate them with. I was wondering if you’d like to come around this evening and do that with me? We could have actual cocktails at the same time. Tee has volunteered to share his stash.”
Faith’s gaze flitted to him, and she raised a brow. He winced. She knew that he was hardly an altruistic guy, and now she was onto him. He crossed his fingers behind his back and hoped she wouldn’t call him on his obvious attraction to Megan.