Loving Reese (Tremont Lodge Series Book 2) (3 page)

I’m not used to guys being embarrassed around me, but it’s kind of cute. “No, you’re fine. I hope this is a step up from my navy blue suit.” I laugh, and he relaxes his shoulders. “So, I’ll show you to your room. It’s in the next building over there.” I point to building A, and he follows me up the stairs. We pass Finn’s room on our left. Two doors down I set down the bag I’m carrying and motion for Anthony to open the door. “I really think you’re going to like it over here. It’s a fun, relaxing vibe,” I say.

“I’d love to be staying here. Relaxation is exactly what I’d prescribe myself.”

“I don’t understand,” I say, following him into the room.

“Oh, I’m a doctor, so, you know, the whole prescribing….”

“No, I mean, I thought
you
were staying here.”

“I wish, but for some unknown reason to me, Sam is insisting that she wants to stay at the dormitory, which is truly counter to everything she loves, like soaking in the hot tub or getting a facial at the spa. But if it makes her happy to separate herself from the rest of our guests by staying here, then I’ll sacrifice my state of mind for her.” He smiles and sets his bag on the desk at the end of the bed.

The weight of my fears pounds against my chest. Samantha is bunking two doors away from Finn—on purpose. Does he know? Does he care? Does it matter?  “I…I have to go, Anthony. Please tell Samantha if she needs anything, to…to call the front desk. I’ll see you both tomorrow afternoon at the wedding planning meeting.” I slip past him and nearly trip over my feet as I run down the back stairs and toward the lawn where I very much hope that I will
not
run into Samantha again.

Finn is walking toward the recreation department office, and I run to catch up with him before he has a chance to talk to Bobby and learn about my afternoon. “Hi, stranger,” I say, grabbing hold of Finn’s waist and spinning him around to face me.

“Reese! You got off work early. That’s awesome.” I just smile. He reaches down and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. I try not to read into it, though Finn has never been one to shy away from PDA. “Let me take my guitar back to my room and change. Then we can grab some dinner.”

“Uh, can’t you take your guitar up the mountain with you? I’m starving.”

“I can do that, but it’s hotter than hell out here, and I really need to shower.”

“You look fine,” I say, trying to keep him as far away from the dormitory right now as possible.

He looks at me oddly. “You’re acting weird,” he says. “I’ll be done in ten minutes. It doesn’t take me hours like you and Tinley.”

I slug Finn on the arm. “Hey, not fair. I do
not
take nearly as long as Tinley to get ready.”

“I bet you did today.” He runs his eyes up and down my body which gives me the good kind of chills. “Not your dress, is it?”

“You don’t like it?” I curtsy and spin in a circle for his viewing pleasure.

“Now, I didn’t say
that
, did I?” He sets down his guitar and pulls me in closer, a sea of people passing on either side of us as they scurry to the next agenda for the holiday weekend. I arch my body against his and let the sun bathe my face as I lift it toward Finn’s for a more proper kiss. He doesn’t disappoint.

“Now, let’s see about that shower,” he says, grabbing my hand and leading me across the cobblestone road, past the shops outside the lodge, and up the stairs to his room at the dormitory. At least the back stairs are the closest option, so we don’t see Anthony again.

I am scrolling through my phone reading the latest Facebook status updates for the past week that I haven’t had time to read when there is a knock at the door. The shower is still going, so I get up to answer it.

I about lose my lunch when I see who is standing on the other side of the door. “Lawson.” The name lingers on the tip of my tongue, barely coming out as a whisper.

“Damn. Reese, what are you doing here?”

“No, what are
you
doing here?” I ask, closing the door to put more separation between the two of us. The last time I saw Lawson he’d just shoved me onto a bed, knocking my head against the nightstand, and sending me to the hospital with a concussion.

“I’m here to see Finn,” he says, putting his hand back on the door to keep me from completely shoving it in his face. “And I’m not causing any trouble,” he adds.

Lawson avoided any real jail time after our last encounter. A lenient new female judge took note of his clean criminal record and slapped him with jail time served, which was only three weeks, and put him on probation for a year. I didn’t even get to testify since he pled guilty. It’s not that I was mad that he didn’t serve more time. I just didn’t expect him to come back to Tremont Lodge. But, really, where else does he have to go? Even though Ted’s not really his biological uncle, he’s got no family left. Tremont Lodge is home, and home is where you can always land safely no matter how far your fall, I suppose.

“Finn’s in the shower,” I say.

“Do you mind if I wait? It’s really important what I have to say to him.”

“Maybe you should come back in fifteen minutes.”

A commotion in the hall gets the attention of both of us. “Can’t you do anything right? Dammit, I
told
you I needed my Chanel bag from the car. It’s got all my makeup in it. How am I supposed to get ready without my makeup? If I hadn’t seen you with your nametag at the hospital myself, I’d have sworn you were nothing but a stupid ass orderly with brains about as grand as a stiff in the morgue. Well, don’t just stand there.
Go get my bag!
” Lawson and I both watch Anthony run past Finn’s door and to the stairs, the same look of shock on our faces.

Then the bathroom door opens. “Hey, babe, what do you think I should wear tonight?” Finn is standing in the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, warm drops of water trickling down his bare chest and back. I think of all the things I wish could be happening right now instead of all that has to happen instead, all because I opened that stupid door. He wipes his face with another towel and shakes out his hair over the carpet.

“Uh, we have company.”

“Finn! You have no idea how good it is to see you.” Finn, Lawson, and I all turn toward the open door to the hallway, through which Samantha is walking, her arms outstretched to hug Finn for the second time today.

“Sam, what are you doing here?” He holds up a hand to keep her away before she embraces his rock hard, nearly naked body. Then he looks at me, looking at her, and starts to say something before seeing Lawson standing behind me, leaning against the doorframe and smiling. It’s the kind of snarky, amused smile that defines Lawson so well. I guess he hasn’t changed much after all. “Lawson?”

“
Lawson?
” Samantha whips her head around so fast, her blonde ponytail hits me in the face. She is standing directly in front of Lawson, her blue eyes blazing. “What the hell are
you
doing here?” She shoves Lawson in the chest. He doesn’t budge.

“I would love to know the answer to that question, too,” I say. “But right now, you both need to leave.” I point to the door. Then I look at Finn. “Finn, here.” I pull a red v-neck t-shirt out of his closet and a pair of khaki shorts and green boxers out of his drawer. “Go into the bathroom and get dressed. I’ll take out the garbage.”

He takes the clothes from my hands and slips the t-shirt on while still in the room. “You two have met?” he asks, pointing at Samantha.

“Yes, we met in the lobby.”

“The lobby? I didn’t meet you in the lobby. I have no idea who you are.” With every heave of her ample chest, she moves closer to Finn. “Finn, make these people go away. I told you I was owed a dinner, and I’m simply trying to collect on your promise.”

I move to stand in front of Sam, blocking her view of Finn. “He has dinner plans, and you have a fiancé waiting for you.” Her eyes shoot imaginary daggers in my direction.

“How do you know I have a fiancé?” she challenges.

“Because I’m your wedding coordinator, and I scored you that little room so you wouldn’t have to lose your innocence with your husband-to-be two nights before the big day, but seeing as you’ve slept with both of the men in this room, I hardly think that’s going to be a problem after all, now is it?”

I don’t realize I am even yelling until Bree pops her head into the room. “Uh, is everything okay in here? People are starting to crowd the halls to catch a listen.” She looks ridiculous standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by Lawson and Finn and Sam and me, all five feet of her stretched to the max as she surveys our faces. I wish I found it funny enough to laugh out loud, but I don’t. Nothing about this situation is funny at all.

“I was just leaving. Call me, Finn.” I half-heartedly wave
goodbye
as the crowd of people parts to let me out of the room, the air outside a welcome reprieve from the suffocation inside.

Bree follows me outside. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Bree asks.

“I wish I knew.”

Finn has been texting me for the last hour and a half. I don’t care if he doesn’t understand. I needed a break from the lodge, and Bree was a willing dinner date at the Mexican restaurant in Tremont City. Man, did it feel good to get off lodge property for a while. This place has been sucking me dry.

“You can’t ignore his texts forever,” says Bree as the phone dings for the fifth time when I’m pulling back into the employee parking lot at the dormitory.

“I won’t, but it still makes no sense. Why on earth would Samantha want to get married at the lodge when she has a history with Finn here? And what about Lawson? There has to be a hidden agenda.”

“Like I told you at dinner, you’re overthinking it. Call him.” She picks up my phone from the dashboard of the car and hands it to me while whistling
Payphone.

“You’re right. Thanks for the date.” I give Bree a quick hug before hopping out of the car and dialing Finn on my way back to the dormitory.

“Dammit, Reese. Why didn’t you return my calls?” he asks.

“I’m sorry. I just needed to clear my head.”

“I’m starving. Let’s grab a quick bite before going to the party.”

“I’ve already eaten with Bree.”

He sighs on the other end of the phone. “Fine. I’ll have a couple Power Bars. Come up to my room.”

“Are you alone?”

“Don’t be a jerk, Reese. I didn’t do anything wrong. Quit treating me like I have.”

“I think you’re being the jerk now. I’ll be up in a minute.” I hang up before he can say anything more.

I open Finn’s door and find him sitting on his bed finishing off a Coca Cola with his Power Bars, and I feel a little bit guilty. “It’s just weird. All of it,” I say.

Finn pats the bed beside him. “I didn’t know Sam was going to be here. You have to believe me.”

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that doubt clouds my mind, but looking at Finn’s face and the way he’s focusing his full energy on me, I know he’s telling the truth. “I do.”

“I still have no idea why Lawson was in my room. As soon as you bailed, he left, too.”

“You mean you and Sam were left alone?”

“Seriously, Reese, this is what we’re going to do on a rare night off?”

“I have the night off because I sent a guest away in an ambulance, and I pretty much suck at any kind of supervisory job.”

“You were fired by your father?” He raises his eyebrows at me.

“
Don’t
call him my father. He hasn’t done anything to earn that title. And no, I did not get fired. I quit.”

Finn shakes his head—nothing but disapproval flying through the air. “I stayed at the lodge this fall because of you. You can’t walk away.”

“I know. I’m just…just overwhelmed. Do we really have to go to that party with all those people?” I trace the outline of the butterfly on his neck, and he tenses at my touch.

“Maybe we can be a little late,” he smiles back.

When Finn kisses me, the anxieties of the day fade away in a fierce rush of desire, and I let him kiss me hard and long, his hands softening the tensions built up inside as they run over my body. I tell myself to breathe lest I pass out from the need of his touch. “Tell me everything’s going to be okay,” I whisper.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispers into the side of my hair. But I’m not sure I believe him. My whole life, I’ve been the strong one because I had to be. Who else was going to take care of Blake? At first it was liberating to learn the truth, but all I’ve felt since I started working for Ted in my new roles is inadequacy and self-doubt and fear. Maybe living in a perpetual state of ignorance was easier after all. But when Finn lowers himself on top of me, enveloping me with not only his body but the promise of his heart, a part of me melts away the doubts and insecurities, at least long enough to enjoy this night with my boyfriend.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper into ear, and what I really mean is
don’t stop loving me
because I can't take any more heartache.

When Finn and I step off the chair lift at the top of the mountain, the party is in full swing. The bass of the music playing from a makeshift DJ stand on the patio next to the old restaurant is making the ground vibrate. Tinley and Murphy are making out in a booth inside the restaurant, and though they are in plain sight, from the floor-to-ceiling windows, they don’t care. “Hey, maybe we should try that someday,” says Finn, jabbing me in the ribs and pointing at the window.

“In your dreams,” I say, laughing.

“Honey, that would be a tame dream for me.”

“You wish,” I say. “Come on. Let’s get a drink.” I drag Finn toward the bar and order two beers. Bree and Jeremy are playing horseshoes. The last thing I need is a tongue-lashing from Jeremy right now as I’m sure Bobby has called him about my early exit, so Finn and I go inside the restaurant.

“Hey, break it up!” yells Finn at Murphy and Tinley when we settle into a booth in the back of the room. Neither of us can stop laughing when Tinley frantically scrambles up from the booth, tugging her bra back into place.

“Oh, it’s just you! You heathen! You scared me to death.”

“
I’m
the heathen? Man, I’m going to miss you,” says Finn, smiling.

“Well, for your information, Finn. I am going to miss you, too. She walks over to the table and plants a big kiss on Finn’s cheek followed by mine. “You crazy kids have fun. We’ll catch you outside.” She grabs Murphy’s hand. He follows her out the door like a puppy being led by its mother.

“That guy is going to be a wreck when he has to say
goodbye
to that girl,” I say.

“I heard he’s going to try to transfer to a community college in LA.”

“I don’t doubt that he could get into the school. He’s smarter than he lets on, but no way is he going to be able to afford living in California,” I say.

“Maybe Tinley’s parents will let him move into their mansion.”

“Ha! Like that would ever happen.”

An awkward silence floats between us. Finn reaches across the table and twirls a strand of my hair around his fingers, his green eyes calming my beating heart. “Tell me,” I say.

“About what?” he asks.

“Tell me about your relationship with Samantha.”

Finn sighs. “I told you already, Reese. We dated a few times when she’d visit every summer with her family when she was in high school. She’s a couple years younger than me. Then, the summer after her senior year, we tried being more serious. It didn’t work….”

“Because she slept with Lawson?”

“Yeah, that was kind of a buzz kill.”

“But if it hadn’t been for him, do you think you’d still be together?” I ask.

“Who knows, Reese? Does it matter? I’m with you now.” He grabs both of my hands and squeezes them tight as he caresses them with his thumbs.

“Tell me what you liked about her.”

“Seriously? You’re starting to piss me off.” Finn releases my hands and sits against the back of the booth.

“I’m sorry, but I think she has some sort of ulterior motive for being here that involves you.”

“Well, you’re wrong, and even if you were right, you’re not giving me any credit for doing the right thing.”

We both look in the direction of the front door when it opens and Lawson walks in. He looks around the room before settling his eyes on us.
Great.
Here we go.

Finn stands up from the table and blocks my view like he’s my bodyguard. “Don’t make any trouble, Lawson. Nobody wants you here.”

“Look. I came to see you this afternoon, and I didn’t get a chance to tell you what I have to say.” He laughs. “I guess you could say we have a common problem prowling the grounds, but I digress.”

“Get the hell out of here.” Finn shoves Lawson in the chest, and he stumbles backward toward the adjoining booth.

“Hey, whoa—listen, I’m here to apologize, asshole, not to fight.”

I move Finn to the side so I can see Lawson. “Both of you cut it out. You sure have a funny way of apologizing, Lawson, when the first chance you get, you insult my boyfriend.”

“Well, I guess old habits die slowly,” he says. “But I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you, and it won’t happen again.”

“Damn straight it won’t,” says Finn.

“Yeah, sure, I guess you’re not going to hear me anyway. I’ll be outside if you want to carry on this conversation. I have a hot blonde—who’s a hell of a lot more stimulating than this conversation—waiting for me to pitch horseshoes. You two participating in the tournament?”

“We might watch,” I say.

Lawson smiles, his eyes twinkling. “I promise to put on a good show then.” He turns back toward the door before Finn has a chance to respond.

“That guy’s a real dick,” he says.

I pull Finn into the same side of the booth as me and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing the tips of the wings on his butterfly tattoo. “You’re hot when you’re jealous,” I say.

He looks at me. “I am
not
jealous of Lawson Oakley. I just don’t like to share the same air space.”

“Then share my space instead.” I pull his face close to my neck until his lips find the sweet spot that makes my palms sweat. When I’m with Finn, there is nothing else I want to fill my mind. I wish these times could last forever.

We walk outside holding hands. The air still holds onto humidity that hangs thick in the night. A small group is jamming to Maroon 5 songs that blare from someone’s iPhone. Another group lingers around the bar, a ready drink within reach, while others watch the couples’ horseshoe tournament in the sand pits behind the old restaurant. Lawson is apparently pitching horseshoes with some success as he is high-fiving the guys around him and planting kisses on the blonde bombshell who plays opposite him. She’s not staff. I wonder if she lives in Tremont City.

Finn stands up to get me a drink. I close my eyes and will myself to relax and enjoy the evening. Then my phone dings. I glance at the screen, not recognizing the number of the text.

I think you look beautiful.

What the hell? I look at Lawson, but he is pitching a horseshoe while holding another in his other hand. He seems oblivious to my presence. No one else is staring in my direction. Probably just a random wrong number. I click off my phone and put it in my purse, taking the drink from Finn when he returns, a strawberry daiquiri in a plastic cup.

“Wow, finery,” I say. “It will go great with my bag of pretzels,” I say, holding up one of the
treats
sent up the mountain for the college staff tonight.

“Nothing but the best for staff on the last weekend of the summer.”

“It just doesn’t seem real that most of these people will be gone in a couple of days. It’s going to be so weird.”

“And quiet,” adds Finn. “The entertainment on the lawn will close down except on weekends, and half the cleaning staff won’t be needed because the rooms will be empty, but give it a couple more months. Come December, this place will be crawling with tourists again, though the winter vibe is entirely different.”

“How so?” I ask.

“Sure, there will be guests wanting to chill at the spa, but there will also be a lot of serious visitors wanting to tear up the slopes. The lodge will be quiet during the day, but at night everyone will be nursing body aches and pains and living life grand at the local bars.”

“I suppose the underused library will be hopping, too.”

“Yeah, there’ll be a roaring fire all day and night. You won’t get much private time there.”

I settle back against Finn’s side and take a sip of my daiquiri. “I’m really glad we met, Finn.”

“Me, too, Reese.” He tips up my chin and kisses me on the lips. I close my eyes and listen to the calming rhythms of the guitars strumming nearby. When my phone dings again, I ignore it. Nothing could be more important than this moment on this mountain with this guy.

“Are you going to get that?” he asks.

“Nope,” I say.

“Good.” Finn pulls me closer as we settle in for a peaceful end to a stressful day, letting the background noise of the crowd and the music soothe away any worries that try to take up rent in our minds. Later we might play euchre or even try a hand at horseshoes, but I don’t really care. As far as I’m concerned, this is the perfect start to the end of the last weekend of my rollercoaster summer at Tremont Lodge.