Chapter Seven
Scarlett
The next morning, the few guests we had at the hotel were all ready to leave. All, that is, expect Dan. I was sitting in the lounge after checking them out, and when he came downstairs, he found me there.
“Morning,” he said brightly, grinning.
I blinked, surprised because it was pretty early and he looked pretty fresh and ready for the day, while I felt exhausted.
“Hey, there,” I mumbled, waving a hand at him.
He tilted his head at me curiously. “Why do you seem so dead beat? Did something happen?”
I sighed. “I guess there was no way for you to find out. The other guests are gone. So, now it’s really just you and me.” I shrugged.
Dan was silent for a moment. Then, he moved to sit next to me. Because I was relaxing, I’d taken my shoes off and had them up on the seat. I didn’t feel the need to be formal with Dan, so I wasn’t hurrying to right myself, like if it had been a different guest. But it still made me jump when he suddenly lifted my feet as he sat down, setting them on his lap. He didn’t do anything afterwards, just turned to look at me, so I calmed down almost immediately.
“That means you don’t have anything to do, right? Wait, did I miss breakfast?”
I shook my head. “No to both. You didn’t miss breakfast; I just sent the other guests off with complimentary gift baskets filled with some food. I have some in the kitchen if you’d like.”
My legs tensed as I was ready to jump up and go get the food. I was more relaxed with him, but he was still a paying guest. But then his hands were on my ankles, keeping me in place, and I went still. His hands were large and warm, and the touch sent shivers through my body that I hoped he didn’t notice.
“That’s fine,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “First of all, tell me what there is to do around here, something interesting. Let’s do that today.”
My heart jumped, because he wanted to spend time with me. Almost immediately I was reprimanding myself for reading too much into it.
There was that kiss from yesterday…
But you don’t know what that meant, either!
Trying to clear my mind, I shrugged my shoulders, making the move very casual.
“Not really much besides taking walks, experiencing nature, and all that. Or going into town, but I can't go too far from the hotel, because I'm the only one here. There’s a lake nearby, though,” I added as an afterthought.
His eyes seemed to light up at that. “Ah, a lake! That takes me back. My dad and I used to go fishing a lot when I was a kid.”
I didn’t really care much for the activity, though of course my dad had tried to rope me into it, along with my brother. Ben was way more into it than I could ever be, though. Still, Dan looked so excited…
“Well,” I started slowly, “if you wanted, we could try to catch some? The lake is pretty close, and the hotel’s quiet, especially now that there’s no one around. There’s a fishing boat by the lake, and there are some supplies ready.”
His grin grew so wide I thought it would split his face. Just like that, it was decided.
I got everything ready, and he helped. Technically, if guests came up for fishing, they brought their own gear. But Dan didn’t have any, and I didn’t see any problems with using my dad’s gear. He went fishing pretty often still, so everything was in perfect shape.
In less than half an hour, I found myself on our little boat by the lake with Dan. It had a motor, and Dan actually knew how to steer it. Once he had it on, he led us further into the lake, and I felt my heart lurch. I hadn't been out on the boat much, the few times only because Dad had insisted to the point I felt guilty for saying no. suffice it to say, I didn’t like it.
“I really can't be away too far,” I said apologetically. “And I can't be away for too long.”
“I understand. We can just stick around for an hour, see if any fish are biting. Then we’ll head back inside, if you’d like.”
My lips stayed sealed, though I was very much tempted to tell him it was too long. I hated fishing, and I didn’t like being so far out on the lake. I could swim, but the water was freezing. I’d fallen in once, and I’d thought my heart would stop. It wasn’t summer yet, so the water would be extra icy, and I just shivered thinking about it.
Calm down, I told myself. It’s not like it’s a guarantee that you’ll fall in.
Still, my hands tightened around the edges of the boat. Dan didn’t take us too far, thankfully, just a few minutes in.
“This should be a good spot. Let me know when you want to head back in, all right?”
One thing my dad had tried to teach me about fishing, was that it required silence. There was a short interval where we were fixing the bait, and I watched Dan discreetly because I didn’t remember a lot about that part. Then the lines were tossed out, and we sat in silence and waited. It was, surprisingly, comfortable silence.
A minute later, something tugged on my line.
“I got something!” I said, more in surprise than excitement.
Dan was excited, though, waiting for me to reel it in. we were only out there for just under an hour, as promised, and within that time, I’d managed to catch five more fish, one of them being too small so that I’d had to send it back. Dan caught none.
“The fish seem to like you,” he teased as we made it back. “Is it because I’m not from around these parts? Or you’re just that appealing.”
I laughed. “I don’t know how to feel about being appealing to fish!”
I definitely wanted to be appealing to him, though.
We made it back to the hotel and started up a barbecue. Next, came the disgusting part about dealing with freshly caught fish. I watched in disgust as Dan cut them up and cleaned the fish. I stood at the grill and did the roasting, the part of Dad’s fishing expeditions that I was usually involved in.
No one came, and we laughed and talked as we ate. Time passed away faster than I thought, and it was time to get inside as the day started to grow chill, even with the sun still out. We fell back into the couch we’d started the day on, my feet on his lap.
“I love it up here.” He sighed, tipping his head back. “Everything’s been so dull for some time, I just feel alive being here.”
“It’s why we get some business around here, especially when it’s warm, but not as much as we should do." I didn't know why I always found myself just confessing the truth to him. I didn't want him to ask any more questions, so I said, "The atmosphere is pretty calming.”
Dan hummed, raising his head to fix me with a look. “It’s not just the atmosphere for me, though. Most of it is you.”
My face warmed in a blush as he said so, and a smile grew on his face.
He looked down, his hands grasping my ankles. “I’d like to know a little more about you, Scarlett.”
My face still burning, I shrugged. “Not really much to tell. I’ve been here all my life. All my friends went off to college, and I stayed to work for my dad for a small allowance. My brother joined the Navy. And I didn’t feel right about leaving my dad alone, too much guilt. That is, until he got a girlfriend, but now I just…don’t really think of leaving too seriously.”
As I outlined my life, I felt pretty pathetic. I really could have tried more. It wasn’t like my dad would have been devastated if I’d left. He would have understood. But the thought of leaving him alone up on these mountains just never sat well with me. Of course, now…
“What happens if your dad goes,” Dad said, as if reading my thoughts. “If he leaves, and you get to be the one to stay here. What would you do, then?”
I sighed. “I…don’t really know. I’ve been thinking about it, worrying really, but never really come to a conclusion myself.”
I wasn’t paying attention to what his hands were doing. So when I suddenly felt his hands on the underside of my knees, I jumped a little. I looked up, meeting Dan’s eyes, and immediately, my body grew hot. His hands slid higher, spreading my legs. I parted them easily, watching him intently as he shifted so he was kneeling on the couch between my legs. My breath sped.
“I kissed your mouth yesterday,” he murmured. His hands were pushing the skirt of my dress slowly up, eyes intent between my thighs. I could feel myself grow wet and start to throb form his gaze alone. “I’d really like to try kissing you somewhere else. Would that make you feel better?”
All I could do was whimper.
Dan pushed my skirt all the way up, then grabbed the sides of my panties and pulled them down my legs. I lifted them to help him, feeling only a moment of apprehension, glancing toward the door.
“Dan, anyone could come here.”
His eyes met mine. “They’d be in a car, though, right? We’ll hear it.”
I wasn’t too confident, but then he had his hands pressing on the inside of my thighs, keeping my legs spread, and his mouth was on my sex, and instead of a protest, I let out a moan. I grabbed fistfuls of his hair, holding him in place as I rolled my hips into him.
“Don’t stop,” I panted.
He didn’t. He made me come twice, then I fell asleep on the couch with his arms around me.