“Thanks.” She laughed again and bit down on her bottom lip. “I think.”
“Any time.” Zak kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders and guided her out of the kitchen.
* * *
SABRINA HAD SHARED ALL her secrets with Zak and he’d barely flinched. She was still stunned. He didn’t care about her family connections, about political favors, or about the press coming after her. Well, he did care, but not in the way she’d feared. She was so used to people being her friend because of her family, she still couldn’t believe Zak was with her just for her.
The idea of it left her breathless.
At the café, she enjoyed breakfast with Zak and sensed nothing was different between them, and yet there was something off. She’d bared so much of herself to him and while he was sympathetic, he seemed somewhat distant and aloof.
Sabrina asked Lenny to spread the word about the yoga class location moving to the lodge. She’d have to ask Betsy about staying at her place tonight, then she’d have to fly home tomorrow.
Of course she could stay with Zak, but why draw out the inevitable? The hunters were coming back today, and she was leaving. It was that simple. She had to book her flight back to Fairbanks. She had to make sure everything was in order for the tennis fundraiser. There were so many loose ends to tie up. She had to face reporters, and her parents, and Kyle.
And she had to face saying goodbye to Zak. Her stomach clenched, and she thought she might be sick. She’d been so focused on what she’d been running from at home, but now…there was leaving Zak and what he meant to her.
She couldn’t think about that right now. She wouldn’t think about it, because it was almost time for her yoga class to start.
She placed her yoga mat on the polished wood floor of the lobby in front of the fireplace. Sitting cross-legged, she stared into the flames of the fire. Zak always kept it stoked. The warmth and smell of the burning wood filled her senses. Glancing out the prow-fronted windows, she scanned the snowcapped mountains. This area filled her up with something she’d never felt before. What was it? Contentment? She wasn’t sure.
It was true she’d been without all the amenities her life in California gave her. A driver, a cook, a wardrobe—but she really didn’t miss any of it. Zak and the people of Gold Creek were so genuine. So down-to-earth. She’d never known what the term down-to-earth meant until now.
Betsy was the first to arrive, followed by a string of other people, ten in all. Vince was the only guy, but this confirmed to Sabrina that she could be an instructor who drew in clients. “Thank you all for coming,” Sabrina said with enthusiasm. “This is the perfect venue. Thank you, Zak, for allowing us to use this space at the lodge.”
Zak stood in the open doorway of his office with his shoulder propped against the pocket door. He nodded his head. He stared at her with such intensity she felt a flush of heat wash over every inch of her body.
Quickly, she focused on her group of students, hoping they didn’t notice the lust lingering in Zak’s eyes. “Let’s warm up with some basic twists.”
She moved from side to side, with arms stretched overhead. “That’s right. Nice and slow to start. Feel the oblique muscles stretch. Arms up next to your ears. Nice. You’re all doing great.”
After ten minutes of warm-up stretches, she moved them to downward-facing dog, followed by warrior one. Zak hadn’t left his spot in the doorway. Arms crossed over his chest, he looked content to watch her. This made her nervous, but she carried on.
A low rumbling sounded outside. Everyone in the class turned to look out the three-story windows. A string of six four-wheelers, four of them pulling trailers, snaked along a trail beside the hot springs. Everything, including the four-wheelers, was decked out in camouflage colors. The vehicles blended with the lichen and moss of the tundra. And moose antlers, four sets, stuck out in various places among the convoy.
The blood in her head from downward dog pounded in her ears. She hadn’t truly faced the idea of leaving Zak and leaving the lodge until all these men drove up. To say she didn’t feel a little intimidated would be a lie, but she’d buck up, no pun intended, to the occasion just like Daddy had taught her. “Looks like we have company,” she said.
“Can we keep going?” Robin Ackermann asked.
Sabrina glanced at Zak. He pushed off from his spot in the office doorway, made his way to the lodge’s front door, and slipped outside.
“Yes, absolutely. We’ll keep going. I want to work on some balancing today and have you all try plow pose,” she said.
“What’s plow pose?” Sherry Walker, the post office worker, asked.
“Let me show you,” Sabrina said. “Now, if this is too difficult, there are different variations to try. I’ll show you level one, two, and three. If you’re at a level one, which most of you are, that’s fine, but if you want to try a level three, this is what you do.” She lay flat with her back on the mat. “Bring your legs straight up in the air toward the ceiling, like this. Keep your arms alongside your body. Press your hands down and lift your legs over your head. Like this. This pose is really good for releasing tension on the lower back. Vince, you should at least try this.”
Sabrina heard a few grunts and giggles. From her peripheral vision, she eyed twisted bodies. “If your toes can’t reach the floor behind your head, don’t worry about it, just go as far as you feel comfortable, but not too comfortable. Remember part of the reason we’re here is to push our bodies. You need to keep your neck straight, and it’s probably obvious why this pose is called plow.”
The wide double doors opened, followed by the boisterous sounds of men trekking up the porch stairs.
Sabrina carefully shifted her legs and sat upright on her mat.
“What in the hell is going on here?” A large man with a beard and beer belly chuckled. He swung his backpack off his shoulders.
Zak stepped inside from behind him. “Why don’t you take your things to your room, Troy?”
“Sure I’ll do that, but then can I join the ladies in their exercises?” he asked sardonically.
The other men filed inside with their jaws slack, staring at the women.
Zak opened his mouth, but Sabrina interrupted him. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like, but you have to take a shower first. I can smell all of you from here.”
Troy slapped his thigh and grinned. “I’ll do that.” He toddled off down the hallway.
“The flight carrying our cook is due in an hour,” Zak said. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t disagree with our yoga instructor.” Zak gestured for the men to move on down the hall. “Shower time.”
Another man with Zak’s build, but only an inch shorter, walked through the front door carrying a large cooler. It could only be Zak’s brother, Ethan. Same muscular thighs, same bulging biceps, same thick brown hair, but Sabrina nearly gasped when she saw the scar over his left eyebrow and under his eye.
She’d seen the wedding portraits of Ethan standing beside his wife. This man standing in the lodge looked entirely different from the groom in the photo. The lines in his face coupled with the scar made him appear hardened, cold, and distant. He glanced at Zak with a look that screamed a million questions, probably asking why people were stretched out across the lobby floor, but to his credit he didn’t say one word. He hefted the cooler more securely in his arms and continued to walk toward the kitchen.
Zak’s face was expressionless. She couldn’t decide what he was thinking, but she had a class to teach.
“Is anyone else ready to try plow?” She stood up. “Vince, I really think it would help your back. If you’d like to give it a try, I can help you.”
“I got it,” Vince said and shot his legs upward to the lodge’s ceiling.
“Be sure to move slowly.” She leaned down beside him.
“Sabrina, can I speak to you a moment?” Zak’s voice sounded from behind her, nearly making her jump.
“Just as soon as class is over,” she said and nodded to
ward another student. “You’re doing great, Kiana.”
Vince had introduced his dog handler, Kiana, to her before class. She was an Inupiat Eskimo who grew up in a mushing family. Very young and fit, she had no problem with the poses and was easily at a level two already.
Sabrina ignored Zak, but she felt his stare boring into her back. Kneeling down on her mat, she felt his fingers coil around her upper arm.
“These are paying clients, Sabrina. They have first priority here,” he whispered in her ear.
“They’re all in their rooms right now. Besides, there’s plenty of space here. We’ll be done by the time they finish their showers.” She pulled her arm from his grasp. “Please, just let me finish.” Her first official class, and of course it had to be interrupted.
His expression moved from agitated to accepting and he backed off.
“Now, if you’ll slowly roll back into child’s pose, we’ll wrap things up.” She turned back to Zak. “Will you tell Ethan I’ll move my things out after class?”
“I’ll put them in my room.” He swung around.
“No, I’m staying at Betsy’s tonight.”
Zak stopped his retreat and turned back to her.
“I’ll pack up my things in about fifteen minutes. If you’d just let Ethan know, I’d appreciate it. I’m flying home tomorrow.”
Sabrina waited for him to say something. She swallowed hard at the lump forming in her throat. While she’d known him only a week, she knew what he was thinking. He was analyzing and contemplating what to do next, what to say next. At one point she thought he might ask her to stay, but now he knew everything that waited for her at home.
CHAPTER 12
Zak shoved open the front doors of the lodge. Outside, he grabbed the largest cooler strapped to one of the four-wheeler trailers and hoisted it over his shoulder. He traipsed through the lobby without a glance toward Sabrina and her students, although he wanted desperately to see if she was doing that plow pose again. He pictured her bottom upward, straight up in the air, like before, only naked. He got an instant hard-on and mentally scolded himself for letting his mind wander in that direction. He was angry. Not with her specifically, but at the entire situation. He wanted her to stay, but he knew she couldn’t. She had a life, an important life, waiting for her in California, and it wasn’t a life that included him.
He had known their affair would end, and yet he was still infuriated about it.
He entered the kitchen. Ethan was hunched beside a cooler, moving canned goods from it into the kitchen’s cupboards.
“Dammit, can’t you see I have the shelves labeled?” Zak reached over Ethan’s shoulder, grabbed a can of green beans from one shelf and moved it to another. “This shelf is for fruit. This one is for vegetables.”
Ethan glared at him a moment and went back to methodically placing cans on shelves. “That woman really has you hot and bothered, doesn’t she?” he asked.
“She’s leaving. Don’t worry about it,” Zak said.
Ethan kept stacking cans. “Who said I was worried? Have you even had a girlfriend before?”
“She isn’t my girlfriend, so shut the hell up.”
Ethan closed one cooler and moved to the next. “You’re just gonna let her leave?”
“Of course I’m going to let her leave. She doesn’t belong here. Can’t you see that?”
“What makes you figure she doesn’t belong here? She’s got half of Gold Creek eating out of her hands, near as I can tell. I wouldn’t doubt she’ll have our clients doing yoga by evening. You should ask her to stay.”
Perspiration erupted on his forehead. “You don’t even know her.”
“I know she’s got your panties in a knot,” Ethan said, and he chuckled.
Zak’s hands felt clammy. First cold, then hot. “She can’t even cook. Do you know she nearly burned down the lodge?”
“And your point is?”
Reaching for a can of corn, Zak set it on the proper shelf. “She isn’t made for this kind of life. She’s fragile.”
“Did you see that back bend thing she was doing? She isn’t that fragile.” Ethan shook his head and smiled.
“It’s called plow. She comes from money—she’s been pampered.”
Ethan continued to take cans out of the cooler. “So? Your point is…?”
“Just stay out of my business.”
Ethan deliberately set the can down and flipped the lid of the cooler closed. “Fine. Whatever you say.”
“She has her things in your room. She’ll move them out just as soon as her class is over,” Zak snapped.
Rumbling sounded overhead. Ethan picked up the cooler and stared at Zak for a brief moment. “Sounds like the flight is here. Perfect timing, because everybody is hungry and Travis will want to hear all the hunting stories.”
“Plus we can use his help hanging the meat.” Zak made himself focus on preparations for meat-cutting. Anything to keep his mind off Sabrina.
He made several phone calls. Besides his cook, his housekeeping and front desk staff needed to come to work tomorrow. As well as Marshall, his butcher, who divvyed up the moose meat for his clients and distributed any leftovers to the residents of Gold Creek.
By the time Zak left his office, the yoga mats were rolled up and put away. Couches and love seats were placed back around the fireplace, and clients were busy telling hunting stories to the residents of Gold Creek.
Sabrina was right in the middle of the group. She literally worked the crowd, going from one person to another like she was a freaking rock star. She may as well have been signing autographs and kissing babies. Eye contact never wavering, she spoke with each person as though they were the most important in the world.
Ethan stood off to the side, arms crossed over his chest. He lifted a brow as if to say ‘told you so.’
The doctor from Texas, Troy, who came back year after year, could be heard the loudest: “You know, I never thought about inviting my wife to come along.”
Another client, Mike from Flagstaff, Arizona, said, “I’d rather leave my wife at home. I come here to get away from her.”
Several of the men laughed.
Vince was speaking with another client. “Yeah, my back has improved. Sabrina says keeping things stretched out helps, and you know, she’s god-damned right.” He stretched his arms high in the air, then down again. “I never would have thought I’d have relief this quick.”
Out the front windows, Zak spotted Travis’ truck pulling in. Cook sat in the passenger seat, along with someone else in the middle. The other man was young, clean-cut, but disheveled. Typical lower forty-eighter. Zak knew he didn’t have reservations for anyone, so he wondered what kind of stray Travis had picked up.
Travis sauntered inside the lodge with Cook and the other man on his heels.
“We’re glad to see you, Cook,” Zak said. “We’ve got hungry customers and I was afraid I might have to do the cooking.”
“You’d have managed just fine.” Cook thumped him on the back and headed to the kitchen.
“We’ve got a live one here,” Travis said. “Turbulence was a little rough on the guy.”
“Just don’t mention food and I’m good,” the man said.
The boisterous laughter and voices from the lobby echoed off the walls of the lodge. While Zak was anxious about Sabrina’s departure, he had to admit he’d never seen the residents of Gold Creek and the lodge’s clients mingle like this. Ever.
“Yeah, you’re looking a little green,” Zak replied. “I’m afraid we’re booked full. If you’re looking for a room, I’ll have to send you into town.”
“No. I’m not. I’m…well, let me introduce myself, I’m Nick Ferrantino.” Nick extended his hand. “Can I sit down for a minute?”
Zak stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Nick. Have a seat, if you can find one. What can I do for you?”
Zak ushered Nick to an open seat in the lobby.
Nick sat down and opened his backpack.
>
He pulled out an iPhone. “If you’ll excuse me a moment.”
Zak didn’t like the way Nick looked at Sabrina. Still clad in her yoga pants, she didn’t have any shoes on. Zak eyed her toe ring and remembered the first time he laid eyes on her, soaked to the bone and stumbling into his lodge.
He was so busy reminiscing, he only caught the tail end of Nick’s phone call when he said, “…yep, it’s her. No doubt about it.”
Nick put away his cell phone and pulled out another device from his backpack. A twinge of warning grazed Zak’s spine. He’d been so concerned about the man’s airsickness that he’d momentarily forgotten the general rule to not trust strangers, especially strangers from the lower forty-eight.
The device was a professional-grade camera with a long lens. At lightning speed, Nick pointed the camera at Sabrina. The flash lit up the room, and everyone stopped their conversations to turn toward the light.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Zak asked, and ripped the camera from Nick’s hands.
Nick lunged for Zak. He quickly pulled the camera out of the photographer’s reach. Nick jumped in a useless effort to reach it..
Zak held the camera in the air, away from the intruder. “You can’t come into my lodge flashing photos of people without their permission. What kind of place do you think this is? Who are you and what are you doing here?”
The hardened edge of Zak’s voice reverberated throughout the lodge.
“I’m here to get an interview with Sabrina Tate, of course,” Nick said. He pulled his gaze away from Zak and slithered toward Sabrina like the snake he was.
Zak immediately yanked his shoulder back. “Get the hell off my property!”
Travis shouldered his way past the gawkers to stand before the accused. “You told me you were meeting up with a client at the lodge.”
“I am,” Nick was quick to say. “Miss Tate, I’d like to get a statement from you about the abrupt ending of your wedding and what you have to say about Kyle Gerringer.”
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