The Rebel

by Jennifer Bernard

  “You know it takes a lot of confidence for a guy to walk naked out of ice-cold water,” Kai was saying.

  “All it takes is fear of freezing,” she pointed out.

  “That too.” He crouched down next to his pile of clothes. The ridge of side muscles—what were they called again?—along his torso tightened. Her mouth went dry.

  “Lats,” she said faintly. She was a health aide, she shouldn’t forget basic anatomy like that.

  “Excuse me?”

  Oops, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “I said, drat. I should have thought to bring you a towel.”

  “Towels are for wimps.”

  Okay then. She flashed on a memory of Roger stepping out of his custom shower stall and wrapping three pre-warmed towels around himself—one for his hips, one around his shoulders, and one for his hair. He owned a special towel-warming rack that heated them to the perfect temperature.

  Why was she comparing Roger with Kai? The two men were such complete opposites, as if they were barely the same species. She shielded her eyes while Kai pulled on his clothes.

  Well, she mostly shielded her eyes. Not completely.

  That brief glimpse of boxer briefs over his firm ass and the black t-shirt clinging to his damp muscles would probably keep her going for several busy nights of fantasizing.

  When he was completely dressed, he came to her side. “I know you think I’m insane for going in that water, but it saved my ass many times growing up. Nothing clears your mind like a dip in icy creek water.”

  “So that was your blanket fort?“

  “My blanket fort?”

  They headed for the trail that led back to the house. “That’s where I went when I had to get away from stress at home. I had a blanket fort that took up one entire corner of my room. I had a beanbag chair under there, a lava lamp. All my favorite books. An emergency stash of Reese’s Pieces.”

  “It sounds a lot more comfortable than an icy creek.”

  She smiled. It was hard to believe that not too long ago, she’d been so furious with this man that she’d hauled off and struck him. Amazing that he was still willing to talk and walk with her.

  “Your father doesn’t give you much benefit of the doubt, does he?”

  He looked at her sharply. “How do you mean?”

  “His first reaction when he saw us was to ask if you’d hurt me. That’s pretty rough.”

  He rubbed his hair, trying to get the water out of it. “I told you, I was a mess for a while. I got into a lot of fights. I can’t blame him for thinking that.”

  “Well, I do. He had it completely backwards. And that was pretty unfair to you.”

  “I can take it,” he said tightly. “I don’t let Max get to me anymore.”

  “Well, except for exposing yourself to the risk of hypothermia. Pretty soon it’s going to be winter and you can’t go plunging into ice water when it’s twenty below out.”

  “Pretty soon I’ll be gone and it won’t be a problem.”

  That was a relief. Or it should be, anyway. With Kai gone, she wouldn’t be so worried about more secrets coming out. He knew about Roger, but so far almost nothing about Birdie or, God forbid, the Summit Group. Those things weren’t really google-able, luckily. Birdie had never been on social media, was barely mentioned in their mom’s obit. And Nicole had no connection to the Summit Group on paper.

  But secrets aside…the truth was that she didn’t want Kai to leave. He made everything more exciting—in a maddening kind of way.

  He glanced her way with a smile. “Or maybe I’ll switch to a blanket fort once winter comes.”

  She laughed, finding the thought of tall, broad-shouldered Kai curled up in a blanket fort completely adorable.

  “So what kind of stuff drove you into your fort?” he asked. “Your father? Your sister?”

  “Oh, mostly the usual childhood angst,” she said lightly. She wasn’t ready to say anything more about Birdie. She hadn’t intended to mention her sister at all—it had just burst out of her.

  “I’m serious. I want to know.” He shot her a teasing glance. “Don’t make me google you again. I learned my lesson.”

  “I didn’t make you google me in the first place.”

  “Maybe you did, by being so mysterious and fascinating.”

  She paused on the trail and frowned at him. Mysterious and fascinating weren’t the words she’d use to describe herself. “I’m a perfectly ordinary person. There’s nothing exotic about me.”

  He stopped along with her. “Then why would I find you so fascinating?”

  She swallowed, a little flustered. He was so powerful and male, standing before her, and yet there was that curious glint in his eye, that warm smile. Damp tendrils of hair curled against the back of his neck. She edged past him and kept walking.

  “You know, I had a hard time picturing you with that hedge fund dude. That’s what threw me off,” he said as he caught up with her.

  “Are you saying you can’t imagine me as a trophy wife?” A meadow butterfly flitted past them, on its way to the nearest wildflower.

  “Trophies are about ski races, not people.” He cocked his head at her. “When I hear ‘trophy’ I think marlins on a wall, or a rack of plastic deer antlers. Not a wife.”

  She laughed at that. “By the way, if I’d married Roger I would have been his fourth wife. And I did sign a prenup. It was a boilerplate agreement, believe it or not. He literally deleted the name of his former wife and put mine in.”

  “He sounds like an ass. I’m glad you didn’t marry him. You deserve better.”

  She tripped over a tree root, and he caught her arm in his firm grip. Everything about Kai was so direct, so strong. But did she deserve better? Was a spy any better than a fortune-hunter?

  Kai bent to pick up a crushed soda can someone had tossed to the side of the trail. “Maybe that’s why I couldn’t picture it. You don’t seem the type.”

  “If that’s a compliment, I’ll take it. It makes a nice change.”

  He threw his head back in a laugh. “I’ve been thinking plenty of complimentary things about you. In between the moments where I wasn’t.”

  Did she want to know those things? Yes, she did. She wanted to know every little detail. But that would be trouble. Don’t go there. Don’t ask. Change the subject.

  “You’re not the only one who can google, you know,” she told him. “I’ve been doing some research too.”

  “Oh yeah?” She heard tension in his voice.

  “Yes, and I have a few questions. Does Max know you rescued an Outward Bound group from a crazed gunman?”

  “No.” He quickened his pace as they drew closer to the lodge.

  “Does he know that you got a million-dollar reward for chasing down a runaway fugitive with your truck?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Of course not? Why not? You’re kind of a hero and it’s like you don’t want him to know.”

  “You’re right. I don’t want him to know.” He stopped on the trail and turned to face her. “And don’t tell him. Please.”

  “But why?” She was completely mystified. Why wouldn’t he want everyone to know all these amazing things he’d done?

  “Because with me and Max, it’s complicated. He thinks the worst of me. That’s his right.”

  Confused, she reached out and touched his arm, which felt tense as steel. “Maybe it’s his right, but that doesn’t mean it is right.”

  “Look. Stay out of it. Do your Max-Whisperer thing, put crystals in the library, whatever. Just don’t get in the middle of me and Mad Max. That’s a guaranteed disaster zone.”

  Tension sang between them, like the vibrating bowstring of a violin.

  Her curiosity was going crazy now. There was some kind of wild story here, something beyond what Renata had told her. But his tense expression, his set jaw, his hard eyes, told her to keep her questions to herself.

  She drew in a long breath. What did it matter? Kai was a distra
ction anyway. She had two jobs here, and neither of them involved Kai. The sooner he left, the better off she’d be. Getting to know him—his history, his heart—wasn’t part of her mission.

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth, those firm lips surrounded by stubble. Kissing definitely wasn’t part of her mission. And yet she’d done it.

  And that kiss was the best thing that had happened here so far.

  She swallowed and tore her gaze away from him, fixing it on a tall spruce tree next to the trail instead. Now that all her wildest fantasies about kissing him had been confirmed, was she just supposed to block that from her mind? Pretend it had never happened? Move along, nothing to see…

  “Should we talk about that kiss?” he asked, as if he’d read her mind—or noticed her staring at his lips. “Or pretend it never happened?”

  “The kiss was a mistake.”

  “Not all mistakes are bad. In fact, I’ve heard it said that there are no mistakes and no accidents.“

  It definitely hadn’t been an accident. She hadn’t tripped over her shoes and fallen into his lips. Although that would have been easier to explain.

  She drew in a long breath. “Okay, let’s talk about it. Clearly, there’s an attraction. But I’m here in a professional capacity so that’s all there is to say.”

  “I’m not your patient,” he pointed out. “There’s nothing standing in the way of us kissing again, if we choose to.”

  “I don’t choose to.”

  That was a big fat lie. She’d love to kiss him again. It was probably written all over her not-very-good-at-lying face. “It’s much better if we keep things on a friendly basis. That’s what’s best for my patient.”

  “So that’s your medical opinion?”

  “Absolutely. I can’t be distracted from my responsibilities. And I wouldn’t want Max to feel neglected.”

  “True. Because Max definitely isn’t the kind of man who would scream bloody murder if he felt neglected. He’s the stoic, suffer-in-silence type.”

  His sarcasm made her laugh. “You know what I mean.”

  “Put it this way. I know what you want.” That phrase, in his rough velvet voice, sent thrills through her.

  “What, then?” She knew what she wanted—she wanted him to toss her over his shoulder and carry her up to his bed. She wanted him to slide his hand under her sweater, up the curve of her waist, to her breasts. She wanted him to tug her against him, press his long body against hers, damp clothes and all.

  “You want to ignore the heat between us. You want to pretend like we aren’t drawn to each other. You think it makes things too complicated. Too hard to manage.”

  A wisp of wind tugged at her beanie. She tucked it around her ears to keep it on. Everything Kai said was true, and yet it wasn’t even close to the whole story. It left out the fantasies she kept having about him. “You’re right. It is too complicated. It’s also incredibly inconvenient that I find you attractive.”

  His smug grin made his eyes gleam. “Sorry to make life difficult. That’s kind of my thing, in general.”

  She rolled her eyes. “On the other hand, you’re obviously doing everything in your power to kill the attraction.”

  “And yet, it lives. Must be some pretty powerful chemistry.”

  She couldn’t deny that, and didn’t try. “Luckily, we’re both grown adults who know that you don’t always have to act on every little attraction you feel. We can follow our better judgement. We can make good choices, do the smart thing.”

  He nodded thoughtfully, with a hot, quick, sweeping glance up and down her body. It left tingles, that look. Delicious, tempting tingles. “Good choices. I like the way you put that.” He winked at her. “It’s good to be a grown adult, isn’t it? We can make all the good choices we want.”

  With one of his charismatic smiles, he set off toward the lodge, waving at a group of hikers just setting out for the woods.

  She hurried after him, feeling out of balance and confused. And at some deep-down level, unbearably excited.

  That night, she filled Felicity in on some of what had happened, though she left out the kiss.

  “He’s been googling me.”

  “Shootskies. Did he find anything connecting you to me?”

  Nicole rolled her eyes. “No, you’re perfectly safe. It was all personal stuff about me. We’re still fine.”

  She swallowed hard, since “fine” didn’t really fit. Felicity had never mentioned that it would feel so sleazy to be a spy. Every word of these calls made her feel like a lowlife.

  “At dinner tonight, Max asked me to put together a presentation,” she told Felicity. “He wants me to show the family my vision for the lodge.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “But that’s a good opportunity, right? That’s what we wanted, to get Kai on our side.”

  “Yes but…” Felicity drummed her fingers on her desk. Still hard at work, this late at night. Nicole marveled at her workaholic ways. “Is Max trying to convince Kai to stay? Is that what he’s up to?”

  Nicole thought about that for a moment. Max would never come out and say that he wanted Kai to stick around. He was too damn proud. But would he try more underhanded methods? Absolutely. “Yes, there’s a good chance of that.”

  “Damn. I knew this prodigal son returning from exile thing would be trouble. Do you think Kai will move back permanently?”

  “He hasn’t said a word about that. I doubt it because he has such a tense relationship with Max. It’s like a tinderbox just waiting to explode.”

  More drumming. “Okay, here’s what you do. You do that presentation. But you present a vision of the lodge that’s so crazy and so far out there that Kai will hate it.”

  Nicole took the phone away from her ear and blinked at it for a moment. “You are the devil,” she told her friend.

  “Thank you. After your presentation—think all your nuttiest New Age stuff—any reasonable proposal will sound good to them by comparison. That’s when the Summit Group will swoop in and make an offer and they’ll be so relieved they’ll jump at it.”

  “Are you drunk? Have you been getting enough sleep lately?”

  “Of course not to both questions. I never get enough sleep and I’m a disaster when I drink. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you sound insane. Why not just present your offer and go from there? They’ll either take it or leave it.”

  “Because Mad Max Rockwell is a tough nut to crack. I mentioned the shotgun, right?”

  “He’s mellowed out a lot, thanks to me.”

  “Well that’s nice but I’m not counting on Mad Max turning into Mellow Max. This will work, Nico. Make a PowerPoint. I’ll send you whatever materials you need. I want all your craziest, wackiest ideas in one place. It’ll be gold.”

  “You’ve lost it, Felicity. You really have.”

  “Bonus for Birdie, remember?”

  “Emotional manipulation, remember?” Nicole ended the call and threw her phone across the room, into a stack of freshly laundered blankets. How, how did she get herself into these situations? How? And how could she get out?

  14

  Kai threw himself back into his trail work. Nicole’s questions about his relationship with Max had rattled him. It reminded him that he and Max still had a huge gulf between them. They’d been getting along only by avoiding awkward topics.

  He kept asking Max about the lodge’s finances, but the frustrating man refused to give him a straight answer. Neither Gracie nor Jake knew much either. Why did Nicole know more than any of them?

  It seemed strange.

  One more mystery surrounding Nicole.

  In the meantime, autumn was coming.

  The days were getting shorter and crisper, the nights more brilliant with stars. Forecasters kept warning about early storms, either rain or snow or even hail. Kai wanted to finish tidying up the trails before the first snowfall. He gave the generator system a tune-up and made sure all the handheld radios worked. Prepping for winter fel
t good, and more than once the thought crossed his mind…what if...?

  He always dismissed the thought before it finished forming. He couldn’t stay. Not unless he and Max cleared the air about a few things.

  A group of birdwatchers booked the lodge for the fall warbler migration. He strolled into the lodge one morning as Nicole was helping out at the reception desk.

  She had a way of lending a hand when it was needed, even if it wasn’t her actual job. He’d seen her helping in the kitchen, doing loads of laundry, weeding in the garden.

  While he poured himself coffee, out of sight, he listened to her chat cheerfully with them. Her friendly manner put them at ease as she handed them trail maps and keys to their rooms.

  Casually eavesdropping, he heard her respond to a question with a light laugh. “No, I know nothing about birds. But my sister loves them so much she renamed herself Birdie. We used to have a hummingbird feeder and she’d watch it all day. One day, she just decided that was her name. Birdie. We thought it was a phase, but nope. She’s Birdie to this day.”

  So Nicole’s sister was named Birdie. The sister in the wheelchair, the one Nicole had never mentioned after that time in the ski room. Should he google Birdie? What was the point? Nicole had no obligation to share details of her personal life with him. She was here to take Dad’s blood pressure, that was all.

  The fact that she raised Kai’s blood pressure just by walking past him, with those long legs and curvy hips, that wasn’t her fault. He had to stop treating her like a threat.

  The deadline for saying ‘yes’ to the Montana job passed. He made no effort to look for another one.

  Did that mean he was staying? He wasn’t sure what it meant, only that he wasn’t going to Montana.

  One day, when he needed a break, he drove into town and met with the fire department guys. They shot the shit about the old days—the kitchen fire that nearly burned down Majestic Lodge, the wildfires that had come so close when he was a kid.