“I don’t like him.” She rubs her shoulder. “I mean, I used to like him but not anymore.”
“Either stop lying or stop blushing. You like him and you’re going out with him.”
“I’m –”
“And I’m dressing you up.”
“No way.”
“Yup.”
Tina looks at me guiltily. “But I don’t –”
“Look, Ryan’s great but…” I repeat what Zach said to me that night in his bathroom while he was dressing my wounds. “But he wouldn’t have made me happy.”
***
I promised Maggie that I wouldn’t break into the main house under any circumstances.
Not to mention, the suite I want to break into belongs to the guy who told me to stay away from him.
But I’m not much of a rule-follower. Besides, I deliberately left my phone in the staff room on the off-chance that it might come to this. If someone catches me, I have a perfect excuse.
So I’m in my stealth mode again. Black hoodie, black shorts and quiet leather boots.
Okay, in my defense, I’ve tried everything else. It’s the dead of the night and I can’t sleep. I should be tired after a full day’s work but I’m not. I even read the books I bought on astronomy; apparently, I’m into reading these days.
And stargazing.
Every night for the past week, I’ve searched for Orion. I looked it up on the internet. It’s a winter constellation, supposed to be only visible from January to March.
It’s winter here – although, all we ever feel is the heat – but I can never see it.
I’m very quietly walking to the door of our cottage when I see a flash of black in my peripheral vision.
I dash to the window and open an inch of the drapes. Someone’s walking across the yard. More stumbling than walking. It’s a drunk walk.
And it’s Zach.
Oh my God, what are the chances?
What is he doing here?
As I press my palm on the window, he turns and looks directly at my cottage. I’m not sure if he can see me peeking at him through the drapes, but he’s frowning at the window, like he’s mad.
Frantically, I look around at the other cottages. They are dark and sleepy. But what if someone wakes up and finds him here?
What is he thinking?
A second later, he falls to the ground and all my thoughts vanish. I’m running out the door before I can stop myself. I practically fall beside his sprawled form.
“Zach? You okay?”
Turns out, I shouldn’t have bothered. Because he opens his eyes and they look clear and alert. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
I sit back on my heels. “Because you just fell. Just like that. Under my window.”
He shrugs. And then frowns as he takes me in. “What are you wearing?”