by Holly Jaymes
“Like you’re looking at me naked.”
“I can’t help it,” I said, drawing closer to her. I couldn’t help that either. It was like a magnet.
“You’re my boss.”
“It’s after hours.” I moved closer, my lips millimeters from her. Her scent enveloped me. It was intoxicating just as it had been last week.
“I don’t think that matters.” Her gaze drifted down to my lips.
“Do you think of me naked?”
She looked at me again. She gave me an imperceptible nod.
Fuck it. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I closed the distance between us. Instead of a soft, exploratory kiss that I would have preferred, I consumed her. If this was my one and only shot, I wanted to make it great. My neurons all fired as an onslaught of her taste and scent bombarded me. I groaned, pulling her tight against me, drinking in the essence of her.
Her fingers gripped my shirt, holding me to her. Thank fuck, because I didn’t want to be sued or fired for harassment. I could still be fired for fraternization, although I had to admit, this kiss was so worth it.
Chapter 7: Skirting Disaster
Sasha
I was kissing Reece again. Or, actually, he kissed me, but it only took a nanosecond for me to be on board with it and kissing him back. All the memories and sensations of our night together flooded back. My clothes felt too hot on my body and I wanted to rip them off, and rip his off, and take what his lips were promising me.
He let out a frustrated growl as his fingers gripped my hips and he tore his mouth away from me. We stared at each other, our breaths heaving.
“This isn’t a good idea,” I managed to say.
He shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”
We stared some more.
With a growl he stepped back, turned away, and ran his fingers through his hair. I sort of felt like I should apologize for tormenting him, except he kissed me first.
He turned back. “You know, I didn’t want to come here.”
“To my office?” I moved back to my desk, taking the same space to compose myself as he had.
“No, to xx Eden Lake. I was sitting in that bar feeling pissed that I had to come here.”
I frowned. “What’s wrong with Eden Lake?”
“Nothing. It’s just me. I had a life in L.A. The point is, Sasha, I wasn’t eager to be here and then you sat by me at the bar. After that, I was fucking excited to live here, and then you walked into the meeting.”
I nodded. I understood how he felt. “I didn’t want you to be here either.”
He looked down. “I didn’t apply for this job, Sasha. I was assigned.”
“In the end, as long as you’re my boss…heck as long as we both work for Sterling Starr, the kissing has to stop.”
His lips twitched upward. “That’s a damn shame, because I like kissing you. But I need my job and you like your job, so I guess we have to prioritize that over the kissing.”
I nodded. “Yes. I think that’s wise.” I was glad he wasn’t suggesting that we sneak around, because I was fairly certain I’d agree to it. It wasn’t worth losing my job, and yet my libido was ready to risk it all.
“Listen, I still need someone to help me adjust to this office and city. Clearly, I need that and you’re the best one for it.”
It didn’t seem wise to be his office adjustment mentor, and yet, he was right. He couldn’t do things like he did in L.A. here.
“You have to help me tone down the slick,” he said with a lopsided grin.
I laughed. “I don’t know. You’re pretty shiny.”
“All the more reason, I need your help. I promise not to kiss you.”
It was surprising how disappointed I was in that. The wise thing to do was to say no because even if he didn’t kiss me, my hormones went haywire around him. Chances were that I’d kiss him. At the same time, it sounded like he saw this job as a short-term thing, in which case, maybe I could get promoted with his help. Isn’t that what he said when we started working on the wellness retreat?
“Okay.”
“Great.” He backed up to the door. “I’m heading out. Will you be okay here by yourself?”
“Yes. I’ll lock up when I’m done.”
He opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow.”
When the door closed, I blew out a breath and sank to my seat. I’d been attracted to men before, but I had to admit there was something different about Reece. It probably had to do with the magic of the night we spent together. It was like taking a step out of real life to live a fantasy for a few hours. But as nice as it was, it wasn’t real, and I needed to stop letting that fantasy control my hormones.
The next few days, Reece and I didn’t have much contact. He focused on some of the other planners’ projects, and I was busy with a few events set to occur within the next few days and weeks. I figured he avoided me on purpose, like I avoided him, as a way to let our lust cool down.
The following week, he stopped by my office to ask about the wellness retreat. I gave him an update on what had been confirmed and items I needed to talk to Allie and Mason about.
“I’m meeting with Allie at Paradise Java this afternoon,” I told him.
“Can I come?”
I looked at him, wondering if it was a good idea.
“I’ll behave. I want a scone.”
I laughed. “In that case, okay.”
That afternoon, we rode together to Paradise Java. I did my best to make it look quite professional as we walked out of the office together.
I ordered a hot spicy mocha and Reece got a coffee and a scone. When we sat down, Allie walked in. She picked up a tea and joined us.
“I’ve got some good news,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Well, I convinced my sister to donate some of her most excellent skin care and the hiring of a few facialists for the event,” she said.
“Allie’s sister is Victoria Sinclair—” I started to explain to Reece.
“Maddox,” she corrected me.
“Right. Maddox. She owns an organic beauty company. She just got married on a tubing hill to Pax Ryder.” I arched my brow at him as a tease to his response that wedding.
“Oh my God, wasn’t that something?” Allie laughed. “You know he called me one day wanting to know something fun to do, and I knew they couldn’t go skiing—”
“Why not,” Reece asked.
“Because he’s Pax Ryder and he needed to be incognito. You can’t have that at the resorts. So I suggested tubing at the little place locals use. I think I said something about it bringing out Victoria’s inner child. She’s so tightly wound sometimes, but she does love tubing.”
I laughed. “Now I understand when he kept talking about his inner seven-year-old.”
“That was a great wedding. You did a great job,” Allie said, taking her tea bag out of the mug.
“Can you say that again in front of my boss.”
He smirked at me.
“She did a great job. On mine as well. I know Wyatt and Lily were happy with theirs too. I’ll give a testimonial if you want.”
“I get it. Sasha did a great job.” He mimicked taking a note. “I’ll be sure it goes in her file.” He leaned forward. “I don’t get how your sister’s married name is Maddox.”
Allie’s eyes widened. “You work with celebrities so you know discretion, right?”
He nodded. “The stories I could tell.”
I looked at him curious to the stories.
“Maddox is his real last name. He and Lily Maddox, now Dalton, are twins.”
He sat back as if taking it in. It didn’t shock him, but again, having worked with celebrities, he probably knew many that had personal things about them that they hid.
By the time we finished the meeting, it was just after five on Friday. “Do you have plans for this weekend, Sasha?” Reece asked as we rode back to the office.
I glanced at him. “No. I
have this weekend off. Why?” I usually worked weekends, but Carolyn insisted that I take more off to avoid burnout.
He shrugged. “I was thinking of doing a tour of historic sites in the area. Maybe you could be my tour guide.”
That sounded like a terrible idea. Sitting next to me in my car, I could smell his cologne. I could see the green and gold flecks in his hazel eyes. As professional as I’d behaved, I still occasionally saw him naked when I looked over at him.
Danger, danger, danger sounded in my brain at his idea. “Sure. Okay.”
That warning bell was clanging the next day when I met him at his house. I hope to God no one saw me at his door, including my aunt and uncle.
“Hey.” He said with his sexy lazy smile when he opened the door. “Come in. Do you want coffee?”
“Sure.” I stepped into the house. The basics filled his living space; couch, chair, side tables, lamps. But there were boxes everywhere suggesting he hadn’t finished up packing yet. “What did you have in mind for today?” I asked as I followed him to the kitchen.
“I understand there is a mine not far from here. The mine that the founders found gold in.”
I nodded as I leaned back against the counter. “It’s not too far, but this time of year you can only get to it by ski or snowmobile.”
His face dropped as he handed me coffee. “Oh. Huh.”
“We have snow usually through April. Sometimes it snows in May.”
He frowned. “What about the wellness retreat?”
“Mason and Allie know it’s a risk, but she’s expecting a baby in June so they pushed it up.” I sipped the dark brew, liking the strong taste. Reece knew good coffee, another tick in the plus column. Too bad the one negative, he was my boss, was too big to overcome.
“I see. Well…there’s a museum.”
“Uncle George has a snowmobile if you want to go to the mine,” I said, not sure why. Maybe it was because Reece looked so disappointed at not being able to go to the mine. Or maybe I was showing off.
“Can we all fit?” he asked.
I made a face. “You and I can fit, and yes, I can drive it.”
His grin was too sexy for his own good. Thank goodness for the coffee mug in my hands or I might have thrown myself at him.
Forty-five minutes later we’d picked up the snow mobile borrowing my uncle’s truck to transport it out to the far side of the lake. I backed it down the ramp.
“Get on,” I called to him.
He straddled the seat behind me, settling in close enough I could feel his warmth from my ass, up my back and along my neck. He put his glove covered hands on my waist and I wondered if this was a good idea after all. Too late to change my mind now though.
I wove through the trees with only the snowmobile engine making noise. We reached a clearing that during the summer was a large meadow.
I slowed, stopped,
and pointed across the snowy field toward hills on the other side. “The mine is over there.” Feeling mischievous, I said, “You should hold on.”
His brow arched, but his hands held me tighter.
I revved up the engine, and started across the meadow, picking up speed. Faster and faster.
“Holy shit,” he yelled behind me, wrapping his arms around me.
I laughed, loving the feel of the cold whipping my cheeks and the hot man holding on to me for life. It was a sunny day, the sky brilliantly blue making the snow sparkle and gleam.
We finally reach the other side of the meadow and entrance of the mine.
I stopped the snow mobile, and with the motor off, there were just the two of us in the middle of mother nature’s glory.
As if Reece knew it too, he sat quietly. I turned my head back to look at him. His head was lifted to the sun as if he was taking its warmth.
“Are you okay?” I asked. By
“My life flashed in front of my eyes.” He grinned. “That was fucking awesome. I should have known you were wild.”
My body got warm at the idea that he was probably talking about bedroom games as much as he was talking about snowmobiling at top speed across a meadow.
We dismounted and walked toward the mine. Cross country skiers and other snowmobilers had been out here so the snow was somewhat packed as we approached the opening.
“It looks like a cave,” Reece said as we got to the large rock opening.
“It’s a lot like a cave. We can’t go in very far. For safety reasons, they’ve blocked off most of it. During the summer though, there are tours out here, and guides take people in deeper.”
We stepped just inside the mine, and out of the sun, the air cooled significantly.
“Is this the one Haynesville staked?” he asked as he studied the walls.
“Yes. There are other mines, but he owned most of them. This was the one that started it all.”
“It’s amazing how money can ruin a friendship. My research suggested the two men grew up together, made the long trip out here together, and then turned on each other.”
“I don’t know, I think history is littered with the remains of broken friendships because of greed.”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “I suppose you’re right. It is surprising the feud continued through the generations, though.”
I shrugged. “Eden Lake isn’t that big and the Haynesville and McLeans butted heads a lot through the years. For a while though, they’d all left. Then Mason returned, and then Willa. Now Tucker is back too.”
“It’s crazy how all this is out here. It’s a different world only two hours from Los Angeles.”
I rolled my eyes. “The rest of the world is different from Los Angeles.”
He laughed. “You’re probably right.”
We stepped back out into the sunlight. “If you’re going to stay, you’ll need to learn to ski, at least cross-country ski. And of course, you should go tubing.”
He laughed. “Believe it or not, I’m not terribly coordinated.”
I didn’t believe it. I’d spent a night in bed with him. I knew he was very coordinated. I turned away to look out over the meadow to keep from saying that.
“If you can walk, you can cross country ski. Tubing just requires sitting and riding down the hill.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Is there anything else out here?”
“We can ride around.” I got back on the snow mobile.
“Let’s go speed demon,” he said, sitting behind me.
I drove us along the hill toward the lake. Eventually we were back in trees, and I wove through until we could see the lake.
“Is that the lake?” he called over the snowmobile engine.
I cut the engine. “Yes. Over there,” I pointed to an area that had the stone fireplace remnants of a home. “That used to be the old McLean home.”
“Is that a fireplace?”
“Yes. It’s been gone for some time but it’s a well visited place by locals.”
“Oh?”
“It’s called McLean’s Corner.”
“What is that, some sort of lovers lane?”
I turned my head to look back at him. “Yes. Rumor is every McLean in Eden Lake was conceived there.”
His brows lifted. “Even Tucker and his brother.”
I shrugged. That was the thing about old stories; there was usually a kernel of truth, but also, embellishment.
“I wonder if Tucker will bring Emma out here when they decide to have kids.” I pointed to the hills running along the lake further past McLean corner. “Up there, where you see charred trees? That’s Haynesville Ridge. All the wealthiest families lived up there. A fire took many of the homes including Willa’s parents’ house.”
“I guess people weren’t feeling too sorry for them.”
“Fires are scary and not something we typically make light of. As far as Haynesvilles, I think some believe they finally got their comeuppance after a century of lording their wealth and power over the town, and in particular the McLean family. Willa is
great though and really involved, which has gone a long way to ease people’s opinions of the Haynesvilles. Now it’s lore we tell the tourists.”
He was quiet for a minute. “What’s your history, Sasha?”
I was going to tell him again that it probably wasn’t wise to get too personal, but he was sitting behind me, his body intimately pressed against mine. It was pretty personal.
“My mom died when I was eight. She was a ski instructor. She got caught in an avalanche.”
“Jesus. That really happens?”
I nodded.
“And your dad?”
“He was some slick guy from Los Angeles.”
I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses but he lowered his chin to my shoulder. “No wonder you don’t like slick.”
I shrugged. “We get a lot of slick out here at the resorts. My mom was seduced by one and got pregnant.”
“And he didn’t want a kid?”
“I don’t know the details. The end result was she decided to raise me on her own. My aunt and uncle helped. You know my mom saved the life of a couple of kids the day she was killed.” When I was a child, I blamed those kids for my mom’s death. Now I was proud of my mom. I knew she was probably thinking that she’d have wanted someone to save me if it were my life on the line, so she had no choice to save those kids.
His hands squeezed my waist. “She sounds like she was a brave woman.”
“Your turn, Slick.”
He inhaled a breath. “I told you, my old man ended up in prison. He was a drug dealer to the stars. My mom took off after he went to prison.”
I twisted in my seat so I could get a better look at him. “How old were you?”
“Thirteen or so. I went into foster care. It’s about as shitty as people say, but I had a teacher that noticed I had a knack for writing. He was like a mentor or big brother to me. He’s why I’m not a drug dealer or in jail like my old man.”
“How’d you end up in event planning?”
He laughed. “I was a struggling screenwriter when I met one of my dad’s old clients. They’d been clean for a few years and knowing I needed some help, he pulled some strings and got me a job. Turns out I’m good at that too. It’s all storytelling really, isn’t it?”