Page 181 of Falling Just Right

Nope, not him, absolutely not him—

But because of everything else.

I had responsibilities.

Guests booked for spring and summer.

Trails to scout.

New gear orders to prioritize.

Animals to keep out of the lobby.

A lodge relying on me to do my job.

I wasn’t the kind of person who bailed when things got difficult.

I wasn’t a runner—

…except for every time something emotional happened.

Then I was an Olympic sprinter.

And now?

Now I was dealing with the one situation guaranteed to trigger both my fight-or-flight impulse and my libido at the same time:

Sleeping with Carson Reed.

God.

I covered my face with both hands and groaned into my palms.

I didn’t do this.

I wasn’t this girl.

I didn’t hop into sleeping bags with men I barely knew.

I didn’t jump the intimacy line like it was a crosswalk and bolt into the traffic of feelings.

I was responsible.

Careful.

Emotionally avoidant in a dignified way.

But apparently, present-day Sienna had tossed those rules straight into the lake.

Because I had slept with him.

The man I barely knew.

The man I had been assigned to work with for six months.

The man who had held me in the morning, as if he didn’t want to let go.

And worse—