I pursed my lips and pondered his question. “No, but I’m certain you’re going to tell me.” I was walking a dangerous line. I didn’t want the guy to come back to my camp, but I also didn’t want him to leave a bad review. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. He definitely looked like the kind to leave a bad review, so that ship had probably already sailed. Yelp. Google. Campground.com. He probably already had his minions spreading the word on all of them.
“Five hundred bucks!” he exploded, throwing his arms up again.
I raised a brow at his outburst. “Dude, maybe you should drive a car with cheaper tires. That’s insanity,” I said. “It doesn’t matter, Beast didn’t ruin your tire. You did that all on your own.”
He took another step closer and that’s when I remembered I stood there in the middle of my hallway wearing nothing but a towel. I tugged it closer to my body. “How did you get in here anyway?”
“The door was open.”
I shook my head adamantly. “I locked the store door when I came in with Beast. I know I did.”
“The back door.”
I blew out a breath. Dammit, forgot to lock the back door again. Typical Mercy.
“Listen, I’ll help you get the tire repaired tomorrow. In the meantime, I guess you’re stuck here.”
“There’s no repairing that tire. It’s going to have to be replaced. Not just everyone stocks those tires, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know, but you must have insurance on that ridiculously expensive Mercedes. Call them.”
“Do you have insurance that covers your dog chewing on a guest’s tire?” he asked. His eyes pierced every inch of my skin as they traveled the length of the towel, down to my bare legs, and back to the rise of my breasts under it. I was instantly glad I had the wherewithal to shave my legs. To say his gaze was inappropriate would be an understatement. It was filled with lust and bordered on pornographic. Honestly, I was a little turned on, until he opened his mouth again. “I’m not paying for the new tire, you are,” he said, poking my bare chest.
“Dude, my dog didn’t pop your tire. You must have run over a nail or something. Sure, he chewed on it, I’ll admit that, but it was already flat. Come daylight we’ll find the offending nail and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll gladly split the cost with you fifty-fifty, but Beast isn’t the reason it went flat.”
“Fine,” he said, his finger still on my chest.
I knocked it away. “Fine. You can leave now.”
“Jesus, what happened to your hand?” he asked, taking a step back.
I glanced down at my missing right hand and gasped, my other hand going to my face. I let out a squeal that brought Beast running. “Oh my God, my hand! Where’s my hand?” I shrieked and waved what was left of my arm around in the air.
His eyes, however, weren’t on my arm. My eyes followed his until they met the sight of my towel pooled at my feet. I was standing butt naked in front of Mr. Hayes Wheeler, a.k.a. Mr. I’m Definitely a Dick. By the looks of it, he had a nice one, at least according to his now perfectly tented pants.
I bent down and grabbed the towel, holding it in front of me. “Like what you see?” I asked sarcastically, refusing to turn tail and run. That would only serve to show him my backside, too. “Would you like to take a picture? They last longer,” I snarked, falling back on the old childhood barb. I was sure my cheeks were flaming red, both from embarrassment and shame, but I held my ground.
He took one last look, spun on his heel, and stalked away. As soon as I heard the back door close, I sank to the floor and put my head on my knees.
Hayes Wheeler – 1
Mercy – 0
CHAPTER FOUR
HAYES
I shook my head at myself, something I’d done too much since I arrived in Cashmere Camp. I tied my boots, stood, and bounced twice on my toes. I couldn’t believe I was going running in hiking boots. This should be productive. I sighed while I pulled a sweatshirt on and stretched my legs against the couch. I would rather pound my feet on the snow and gravel than my head on the wall, which is what I’d been doing for the last two days. Partly due to work, but mostly due to the woman in cabin zero. When that towel fell, I forgot how to breathe. Her chest was mesmerizing but when my eyes traveled south to her triangle, I went hard instantly. I couldn’t hide it, and she knew, but all I could do was hope she didn’t take offense by it.
“Ha, yeah, she’s not offended that you saw her naked. I’m sure she allows all her guests that opportunity,” I said to the empty room.
I rubbed the ache in my groin and closed my eyes. Just thinking about the image of that towel dropping to the floor in slow motion had me at half-mast. My hands wanted to run over her smooth alabaster skin from her waist to her ribs, across her belly, and up to her perky breasts.
Dude, get a grip. It’s going to be impossible to run if you have a raging boner.
I opened the door of the cabin and jumped down the stairs, praying the cold air would help ease the sexual tension building within me. Honestly, the gentlemanly thing to do would have been to turn my back, but I never claimed to be a gentleman. That’s not true. I always claim to be a gentleman, but lately, I’d forgotten how to be a decent human being in general. This work project had me crabby and constantly frustrated, which only added to the emotional and sexual frustration I carried around on a daily basis. Add in the grief, and you’d see nothing but my picture as the definition of hot mess.
This little trip was supposed to help me get it together, but so far, it wasn’t working. I was still biting people’s heads off, just over the phone instead of in person. I was still stuck on the processes of the project, and had no access to my models. Above all, I was still horny as hell. I took off at a slow clip, considering the boots, and turned left down the circular drive. The air was cool, but not as cold as it had been the last few days. It didn’t freeze my lungs the moment I breathed it in. Running was my exercise of choice, but in the winter, I tended to do it in a climate-controlled gym on a speed-controlled machine. The monotony was soothing, calming, and let my mind shut down for that hour I was on it.
Out here, you don’t have the luxury of tuning out. Running on this terrain could spell disaster if you tuned out too long. Considering the wild animals that called the land around the camp home, it could also be a death sentence. I may not be a big outdoorsman, but my IQ was high enough to see the danger in my surroundings. While I ran, my mind automatically went to the woman at the helm of this ship. She was danger with a capital D. I felt it in my bones. She was a danger to my body, my work, and my sanity. How much of a danger she was to the rest of my empire I didn’t know, and I didn’t care to find out. I’d finish out my week here and go home, where at least life was predictable, if not boring. Beyond boring, actually. Even if you take into account all the places I had traveled in my lifetime, I’d never run across a woman like Mercy before.
She’s missing an arm, man. Don’t go there, my subconscious warned.
My feet stumbled when the thought ran through my mind. It turned out Ange was right. I actually was a dick. Of the dozens of times she’d run through my mind in the last two days, not one of those times did I remember she was missing half her arm. She wasn't born without it, either. Something had happened to her, there was no doubt in my mind when I noticed the ragged scar that ran across it. I suspected convincing her to tell me what that thing was, would be harder than it appeared on the surface. She was guarded, bitchy, and carried a big stick. Again, she wasn’t born that way. Someone made her that way. She learned that behavior somewhere.
I approached the parking area and slowed my feet so I could inspect my car. The tire had been replaced yesterday and they told me to check it today and make sure there were no problems with it. I made sure to do it, too. I didn’t want to get stuck here for any longer than I’d already signed up for, that much I knew. It was quiet here, too quiet, unless Mercy was running around on that ATV, or her beastly dog was barking up a storm. I also wasn’t all that ke
en on hauling in firewood three times a day. At home, I flipped a switch and the fire flared to life. Not so here. Here I had to keep the fire burning or run the electric heater. I was okay with the heater in the bedroom, but since it wasn’t big enough to heat the whole cabin during the day, I didn’t have much choice but to keep a fire stoked while I worked. When the website claimed rustic accommodations, I didn’t realize quite how rustic it would be.
I stood up and started jogging again. If my feet had their way, I’d be running back toward the store and the beautiful woman behind the counter. Since my brain wasn’t frozen, and was well aware what a bad idea that would be, it forced my feet toward the road where there would at least be plowed shoulders to run on. I was barely past the cars when a streak of grey and black came flying at me. I braced myself, but when it hit me, I went down anyway. I rolled over, throwing my arms over my head while the dog barked, pounced on me, and generally made a pest of himself.
I pushed him off and stood up, brushing my clothes free of the snow. The beast sat staring at me, his tongue lolling out the right side of his open mouth, and laughter bubbled up inside me.
I rubbed his giant head with vigor. “Quite proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I asked, scratching his chin. “You saved her from the big bad jogger. Good boy!” I teased, my voice two octaves higher in that doggy pitch every single one of them loved. “Should we go running?” I asked, patting my thigh.
I took off and he followed, barely having to trot to keep pace with me. Since I couldn’t take him on the road to run, I looped around the equipment shed and down the old boat landing to the lake. There were plenty of snow machine paths across the lake I could run on, so I’d take advantage of them. I inhaled deeply, the fresh air and sunshine enough to lighten my mood and remind me I was alive. It struck me that I should probably enjoy it. A person never knew how long they had left on this earth at any given moment.
I paused at the edge of the lake and glanced over at the dog. “I’ll race you!” I hollered and took off at full speed across the frozen water. Beast gave a bark and was gone, all four legs flying around him in a show of fur and fury. He ran full tilt, stopping every so often to see if I was still following. I laughed freely for the first time in three months and then gave chase.
Birds swooped through the trees and across the lake, rabbits hopped along the side of the bank, and deer stood majestically near the tree line. It wasn’t lost on me that the last time my head was held this high, and my shoulders this straight, had been over a year ago. The fresh, cold air burned my lungs, but much to my surprise, I was actually enjoying the run.
My eyes turned to the sky and the blustery wind blew across my sweaty face. When was the last time I felt this alive? I couldn’t remember. Maybe never. I spun in a slow circle on the desolate lake and took it all in. In that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder if this frozen wasteland would end up being my salvation.
CHAPTER FIVE
MERCY
I rested my head on the pillow after pulling the comforter up around my neck. Beast was stretched out along my back, something he’d done since he was a new puppy. Considering how cold it was tonight, I wouldn’t complain. As Christmas approached, the nighttime temperatures kept dropping further below zero. Beast was warm, but I imagined being under the covers with the sexy, well-built, yummy smelling man in cabin four was probably a lot more exciting.
I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. “Stop it, Mercy. You’re never going to sleep with Hayes.”
Never say never, my mother’s voice said in my head.
I groaned, pretending she didn’t exist so I could get some shut-eye. Avoiding Hayes was hard enough when I was rested, much less when I was running on empty. I snuggled under the warm blanket and my eyelids got heavier and heavier until I couldn’t hold them open any longer. Sleep, blissful sleep, was about to take me away from Mr. Hayes Wheeler…
I stopped running long enough to crouch down behind a shed and catch my breath. My feet were wet and freezing inside my low budget tennis shoes, which happened to be what I was wearing when I left the house. I pulled my coat around me, grateful I grabbed that off the rack on my way by. I was also thankful my mother taught me at an early age to keep gloves in one pocket and a hat in the other.
I tugged the black stocking cap down further over my ears and shivered. My watch said it was one a.m., which meant I’d been running for a good hour. Following the lake was easy, and I was surely in the next town over by now. There had been no sirens or any other indication that the gunshot raised anyone’s suspicions. Then again, when you live in the wilds of Minnesota, miles from the next house, no one is going to get out of bed for a gunshot.
In the backwoods of northern Minnesota, you heard gunshots every night. Farmers would hang out their front doors wearing nothing but tighty whities and a pair of woolen socks while they lambasted the coyotes, wolves, or bears that messed with their herds. Tonight, it wasn’t a farmer lambasting anything. Tonight, it was the prey shooting at the predator. No one was going to find my husband until morning, and by then, I’d be long gone. First, I had to warm up. I couldn’t risk losing a limb, which meant I also had to find a pair of boots instead of these stupid tennies.
I snorted derisively and glanced around the wide-open space. That was going to be next to impossible around here. I bit my finger and gazed up at the sky. Now what? Once they found Moses, they’d come looking for me.
The last wisps of clouds blew away, opening the moon up in all its glory to shine down on me. It would make it easier to see, but if the skies cleared, the temps would drop even lower than the current ten degrees. I had to make a decision and move, now. My eyes scanned the shoreline for somewhere to get out of the wind and start a fire, but the shores had long ago been cleared of brush and trees to make room for the million-dollar cabins.
Get up girl and get moving. Didn’t you learn nothing from me? My mother’s voice asked from inside my head.
I shot straight up in the air and shivered. I was exhausted, but she was right. Time to move.
I took off for the tree line, the cold stealing my breath, but the gun at my back burning like fire. My feet slowed and I came to a stop in the middle of a cold, barren lake. My head turned to the sky where the moon shone down upon me and the stars twinkled, regardless of the cold.
Why are you doing this? A voice asked. It wasn’t the voice of my mother this time. I didn’t know this voice.
You’re doing this to save yourself.
Ahhh, there she was.
Save yourself from what? The other voice asked.
I stepped forward and paused, waiting for her to respond, and she didn’t disappoint.
Save yourself from the family legacy.
I sucked in a deep breath of cold air and closed my eyes. The family legacy. If the family legacy meant living like a hunted animal, I wasn’t sure I wanted it.
I took another deep breath of the soul-cleansing air. “Maybe it’s time to resurrect Mercy Jane Denfield, mother,” I said, and then I turned and walked calmly back into hell…
I woke with a start, my heart pounding and sweat running down my back. My eyes traveled to the clock on my nightstand and it read four thirty-three a.m. I ran my hand down my face and sighed. I guess it was time to get up and start my day, because there was no way in hell I was going back to sleep now. I trudged to the bathroom for a shower but the dream hung in the background of my mind. Only I knew it wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare that I had lived while very much awake.
I had managed to avoid Mr. Wheeler for days, up until he emerged from cabin four in a way that I couldn’t avoid him. I’d seen him with Beast the last two days running on the lake, but I’d made sure to steer clear of him at all costs. Sometimes it involved ducking below the windows in the store and pretending I hadn’t just been watching his sexy, strong, corded legs carry him across the lake. Sometimes it involved ducking behind the store counter until he decided I wasn’t around and left. Whatever I had to do to avoid hi
m was worth it. I was still dying of embarrassment from the other night. I didn’t want to hold an entire conversation with him knowing he was thinking about what was under my clothes.
At least today I was fully dressed, including a winter parka and scarf around my face. He stood on the small stoop of his cabin and watched me plow the drive. When I passed by, he’d raise his hand to wave, a luxury I didn’t have since I was driving, so I’d wave with what was left of my other arm, the sleeve of the jacket flopping in the wind like a Wacky Wavy Air Dancer.
My face flamed again at the thought of that towel on the floor and his eyes all over me. The only satisfaction I got out of the situation was knowing he walked away hard as hell. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was sexually frustrated to have reacted that way instantly, but I knew better. I knew who he was and there was no way the real Hayes Rutherford the Fourth was sexually frustrated. He had opulent women throwing themselves at his designer shoe clad feet every second of every day.
Regardless, he’d seen me in my entirety, including the part of me I try to hide from public view, and I’m not talking about my lady parts. It was fine. Whatever. Seriously, like I was never going to see him again, so what did it matter? He wasn’t coming back to Cashmere Camp and I wasn’t sleeping with the guy. He saw me naked. Whoopie. Get over it, Mercy, I scolded. He doesn’t want your used-up body when he can have exquisite women any day of the week.
I kept my head down and even pretended I didn’t see Mr. Boling walk up from the lake. He waved me down and I slowed the ATV to an idle. When he leaned in, the smell of fish emanated from him in a way that was overpowering and made me want to gag.
“Great night out there!” he exclaimed, tossing his head toward the lake. “You wouldn’t believe how the fish are biting.”
The Secrets Between Us (Billionaire CEO Romance) Page 3