out some equipment, please wait for me at the shack.”
“Fine,” the woman said, “but don’t keep me waiting too long.”
“Sorry about that,” Lael said, once the woman was out of earshot. “Some of these women—”
“It’s okay,” she said, cutting him off. She didn’t want to know what he did with any of the perfect women who were dotting the beach or hanging around the shack. “I know you’re busy. You’d better get back to work.”
He looked down at her and hesitated. His frown was still in place, and it looked like he wanted to argue, or say something else, but he finally nodded and took a step back.
“I’ll pick you up at five.”
“If you have other plans—”
“I don’t.”
And then he was gone.
Stacey stood there for a moment, watching his retreat, as she turned over his words in her mind. His declaration that he didn’t have plans came out like a low, possessive growl, but she wasn’t sure how to interpret the words.
Was he angry that he had to spend time with her? Did he want to make plans with the other woman instead? That would have been fine with her—more than fine actually. She wanted to tell him that, so that he didn’t think he had to chauffeur her around, but when he reached the shack, she started walking toward her cabin and didn’t look back.
She didn’t want Lael—he definitely wasn’t her type—but that didn’t mean she was okay with watching him flirt with someone else. Not that she would ever admit it. No, the only thing she had to do was get through this night, and then she could go back to trying to avoid him.
Although, in fairness, she wasn’t sure that plan was a viable one.
Lael plugged the cord into the wall, and then backed away, studying the placement of the fan. The appliance was light-weight and not that big, so Stacey could carry the thing into the bedroom at night if she wanted, but she’d probably use it in the living room most of the time, so that’s where he’d decided to place the unit.
In reality, he’d only insisted on unboxing and plugging in the fan to make sure it was working properly, but after several attempts at trying to stop him—trying to shoo him away—Stacey had given up, letting him do what he needed to do, and he had taken his time with the task.
Satisfied with the fan’s placement, he bent down and turned the knob to the lowest position. Cool air circulated through the small living space, but hardly any sound lingered in the air, and after turning the knob to the highest setting with the same result, he was confident the appliance would work as it should.
“Okay,” he said. “It looks like it’s working correctly, so you should be cool tonight. Don’t hesitate to move it into the bedroom—or anywhere else—if you need to, but this is a great place because the window is nearby. If it gets too warm, you can set the fan in the window and slide the glass until they are touching to hold it in place. That will pull in some fresh air, but still keep it cool in here. Or as cool as possible, anyway. It sucks that these cabins aren’t air conditioned.”
Not that he’d ever cared before. He and his siblings had given each cabin electricity and running water, but under normal circumstances, he thought air conditioning was too far, and it definitely was. Especially since most of their tourists spent the majority of their time outdoors. They played and lounged in the sun all day, and then they stayed up most of the night gathered around one of the fire pits.
But, Stacey wasn’t just some tourist, and he wanted her to have everything. Including air conditioning. In fact, what he really wanted was for her to move into his cabin, but he knew it was way too soon. Aside from a few brief conversations, and their recent trip to the mall, they had a ton more to learn about each other, but luckily, he knew exactly how to change that.
“I had fun tonight,” he said.
“Me, too, Lael. Thank you for showing me how to get to the mall, and for buying me dinner. Are you sure I can’t pay you back? I know I probably ate more than the other women you…,” she cleared her throat. “I mean, I’m sure I ate more than you expected, and it’s not a problem for me to cover it.”
“It