My pulse flutters. Is there someone around to catch me if I swoon? I open my mouth, close it again, unable to come up with a snappy retort that seems appropriate. Maybe snappy isn’t the way I want to go at all. After everything I’ve found out in the last twenty-four hours, I at least owe him honesty.
If I didn’t know it before today, I do now. There’s some quality to Will—a vibe between us, a shimmer he brings out in me—that no one else did before him or has since.
I swallow hard. “I’ve missed you too, Will Cassidy.”
My voice comes out quiet, but his smile returns at the words. He touches my cheek and kisses me, quick but sweet enough that the flutter expands through my chest.
“Later,” he says, and heads off to handle whatever catastrophe the resort is on the verge of. That promise is both thrilling and potentially ominous.
I stand there in the middle of the lobby for a minute, catching my breath. Some part of my brain has short-circuited. What am I doing? Is whatever I’m doing really such a good idea? I can’t quite piece together an answer while my nerves are still buzzing from Will’s presence. All my body seems to want to do is fast forward to whenever that later is going to be.
I’m definitely not an impartial judge of the situation. Outside opinions, that’s what I need. Can I hope that Brooke is done with wedding business for the day? I don’t know if I can stand to stew over this all the way until dinner.
I wander around the resort long enough to determine that my bestie is not in any of the restaurants, the pool, the yoga studio, or the spa waiting room. Then inspiration strikes.
I catch a hotel employee who’s crossing the lobby. “Excuse me, where is the, er—the baking area?”
He gives me a quizzical look. “I’m going to help with the wedding cake preparations,” I add. Yes, if Maggie will advise me, I will happily stir batter and drizzle icing for the rest of the afternoon.
“Ah!” The guy nods. He leads me down a couple halls and into an enormous kitchen.
Staff in resort uniforms are bustling around the stainless steel counters. Maggie appears to have commandeered the entire back section, which is now dusted with varying colors of flour and other powder to the point that it’d be hard to tell whether she’s dealing in cakes or cocaine. Although given how tasty her cakes are, maybe there’s not much difference.
Maggie is pretty dusted herself, from her dark locks to her tennis shoes, as if the mess has exploded from her apron. To my delight, as I hurry over I see Brooke perched on a tall stool just past the oven. She’s chewing with a thoughtful expression, a fork poised in her hand.
“I think the last one was the best,” she says. “But they’re all good. You can stop worrying.” Then her gaze finds me. “Ruby! What have you been up to all day? I asked at lunch and no one had seen you.”
“Hmmm,” Maggie says, looking me up and down. “I have a few suspicions. Considering who offered to let you know I couldn’t make it, and also wasn’t around at lunch time.”
“What?” Brooke says, and hops off the stool. Then her eyebrows rise too. “Wait. I didn’t see Will at lunch.”
Maggie wipes her fingers on a towel and tosses it onto the counter. “All right, Ruby. Spill.”
I raise my hands in submission. “Okay, okay. He offered to take me on a little tour since you couldn’t join me. And, you know, now that I know he wasn’t actually a jerk in the whole letter debacle, I thought it wouldn’t hurt anything to see how things went.”
“And . . . ?” Brooke says with rapt attention.
“It was good.”
Maggie snorts, and I make a face at her. “He was a total gentleman. I mean, while still being Will. We talked, we ate lunch, we had fun. It felt like old times. Like when we were friends.”
“Like when you were madly in love with him, you mean?” Brooke teases.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I’m buying the ‘just friends’ story,” Maggie says.
“Well, no, I didn’t mean—” I bite my lip. This is what I wanted advice about. I’ve got to say it. “There are definitely some more-than-friendly feelings in the mix. On both sides, this time.”
Brooke gives a little cheer. “Go Ruby! What’s that line—all’s well that ends well?”
“I don’t know where we’re going to end up yet,” I say. “So there are feelings. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to act on them.”
“What’s the problem?” Maggie says. “Sexy guy wants to jump your bones, you want to jump his. Sounds like a no-brainer.”
“I don’t know.” I groan and lean back against one of the cupboards. “No, I do. I have no idea how much he’s feeling. I mean, sure, there’s a spark, but he probably still sees this as a fun fling. He’s noticing me that way for the first time. I was pining after him years ago! It seems like a recipe for disaster.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Brooke says.
“I start falling for him all over again.” Like I already am. “And my heart gets crushed all over again, not because he’s a jerk but because he just isn’t looking for anything serious. He outright told me he’s been keeping relationship stuff casual because he’s so busy with building the business.”
Brooke shakes her head. “For starters, I think you’re stronger than that. No one’s going to crush you.”
Fair point. It’ll hurt, but if what happened in college didn’t kill me, this isn’t going to either. I stand up a little straighter. “Okay. I’ll give you that. What’s after starters?”
“Well, are you really going to feel better knowing you had the opportunity to at least see what it’s like being with him—”
“Getting all up in his ‘business,’ ” Maggie smirks.
“—at least for a little while and not taking that chance?” Brooke finishes. “Don’t people always regret what they didn’t do way more than what they did? ‘It’s better to have loved and lost,’ and all that.”
That . . . is also a really good point. This is exactly why I love Brooke. “You know what? You’re right. It feels pretty amazing just being around him. It’s kind of hard not to wonder how much more amazing it could get. If I back away now, I probably am going to spend the rest of my life wondering.”
“So change the recipe,” Maggie says. “Focus on sexy guy and feeling amazing and don’t let the heart stuff have too much say. Go in assuming it isn’t leading anywhere, and there’s nothing to get hurt about. Just lots of good old-fashioned fun.” She gives me an exaggerated wink.
I can’t help laughing. “All right, all right. I’ve been waiting more than five years to scratch that itch. Maybe it’ll be easier to let go once I’ve gotten him out of my system.”
“That’s the way.” Brooke swats my arm playfully. “Go show him what he’s been missing.”
Certainty settles over me. A weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying fades away. “I’ll show him, all right,” I say with a grin. “Here I go—full speed ahead.”
And I mean it enough that I don’t even care when Brooke rolls her eyes at the Star Trek quote.
Chapter Sixteen