CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

AVERY

I shoot a frantic text to Elsie, praying she hasn't left the lodge yet, as I race to the safety of my hotel room. The party will end soon, and despite what I mumbled to Dominic before running away like my heels were on fire rather than my pussy, Louise doesn't need help with clean-up. Hearthstone Lodge staff will take care of it.

My phone dings with an incoming message. "Please be here. Please be here," I muttered, stabbing the UP elevator button. I need Elsie to explain what the heck is wrong with me. The hottest experience of my life just happened, and was it with my boyfriend? A man who doesn't get under my skin?

Nope.

It was with Dominic Stone.

"Ugh! You're smarter than this." At least I thought I was. I've never actually felt this out of control before. Never been tempted past the point of my strict boundaries. Leave it to one rude and exasperating man to blast through the previously impenetrable walls.

After ripping off my dress and changing into comfy pajamas, I flop onto the queen-sized bed decorated with a million throw pillows. The exposed wooden beams of the ceiling gleam back at me in all their rustic glory.

All my plans for a relaxing staycation are ruined. How can I sink into the huge clawfoot tub and read when my brain is fixated on Dominic and his talented mouth? And hands. And the firmness of his thigh between—

Grabbing a pillow, I shove it over my face and scream.

That's when there's a knock on the door.

Finally!I quickly unlocked the door and let Elsie in before returning to my former position on the bed. Elsie sits at the end of the mattress, her phone on speaker so Grace can weigh in on my debacle, too. The three of us became friends in college and have remained close throughout the years. Grace even mentioned moving back to Suitor's Crossing to get the gang back together.

"What"s wrong? Why the urgent SOS?"

Details of the last hour spill out in an avalanche of flustered sentences. "I don"t even like him!" My fist pounds into the comforter at my side. "So, why does this keep happening?" I ask, angry at myself for letting things go too far… again.

My stupid body needs to listen to my stupid head instead of doing its own stupid thing.

Elsie sighs, her nails picking at a curl of thread protruding from the blanket. Her mouth twists as if holding something in, and the pulse of anticipation heightens the longer she remains quiet.

"Just say it, Els," Grace's voice crackles over the line. "Can't be worse than what Ave's already thinking about herself."

They"ve obviously discussed my situation when I wasn"t around.

"No one likes the girl who keeps denying what"s right in front of her face. You like him, so what? Get over it already and enjoy the ride."

Well, that wasn"t sugar coating anything. Propping up on my elbows, I argue, "I can"t like him! He"s rude. Aggressive. Bullheaded. Why would I be attracted to someone like that?"

"He's also been kind to you," Grace says. "Remember when he came by with a mini pharmacy when you weren't feeling well? Plus, no one else has ever made you feel this way. If that"s not worth exploring, I don"t know what is. So, what if he can be a bit abrupt with people? It"s called flaws. Everyone has them, including you."

With that piece of wisdom delivered, Elsie agrees and pats my leg before they both have to go, leaving me to my thoughts.

Maybe they're right.

Maybe I'm judging Dominic too harshly.

But he isn"t who I expected when it came to the type of guy I"d end up with. Not who I imagined could be my heart spark—but still. Maybe I need to stop overthinking everything and go with the flow. See how everything shakes out.

Easier said than done.

I"ve overanalyzed everything in my life. Tried to make the right choices.

Yet look where it"s gotten me. A dead-end job and a triangle as a support system. One line to Grace and another straight to Elsie because we've become homebound old ladies years before our time. Heck, I act more Louise's age than she does, and how pathetic is that?

My life hasn't been happy since I graduated college.

Maybe it's time to let go of my bubble of safety and see what happens when I take a risk.