Chip flopped into the chair across from Wes’s desk, the amused look in his eyes now coupled with a smirk. He stretched his long legs and clasped his hands behind his head. “How can a guy who’s overprepared for anything outdoors be so frickin’ unorganized with paperwork?”
“Either tell me where they are or get out.” Wes went to the file cabinet near the window and tugged the top drawer open.
“Dude, you do this every other week. Just admit it: You have an aversion to paperwork.”
“Shut up.” Wes slammed the file cabinet closed. He peered out of his office and hollered down the hall, “Clarissa?”
“I don’t have them!” Clarissa Simmons, their secretary and bookkeeper of three years, hollered.
Chip laughed.
Wes slid him another narrow stare. “If you’re not going to help me look for the damn things, get out.”
Chip pushed to his feet. “Did you look in your put-off-until-later pile? That would be my guess.” Chip lifted his chin toward a pile of papers currently holding down the edges of an open map on top of a table in the opposite corner of Wes’s office.
Wes stalked across the floor and snagged the top file in the stack. The itineraries.
“I’ll refrain from telling you I told you so.” Chip snickered as he glanced over the map, checking out Wes’s trail for the overnight with his group. “You’re all set for your days in female hell?”
“Yeah. You want to take them?” Wes loved running the dude ranch and he enjoyed taking charge of the outings, but they’d recently lost Ray Mulligan, a key employee who ran a third of the overnight trips, which left Wes and Chip to pick up the slack until the position was filled. They had flipped for the lead on this group, and Wes had lost.
Chip held his hands up in surrender. “I’m taking the day trips, remember?” He tapped his finger on his chin. “I’m thinking big burly broads who are out to show you how little you know.” He shrugged. “You know, out for a week of fun.”
“Or four women who think that I’m part of the package.” As much as Wes loved women, fending them off during the outings had lost its charm about two months after they opened The Woodlands. He realized exactly what women must feel like when guys like him sized them up for a quick lay.
Wes slapped his leg twice, and Sweets lazily stretched, then scampered out from under the desk and came loyally to his side. She tried to climb up Wes’s legs.
“Down, Sweets.” Wes placed the pup’s paws on the floor and loved her up again. “See you up there,” he said to Chip.
He stopped by Clarissa’s desk on his way out.
Sweets’s nails clicked on the hardwood floors as she walked around Clarissa’s desk. Clarissa glanced up from the spreadsheets she was studying and eyed the file in Wes’s hand. Her dark hair curtained her serious eyes. Though she was seven years younger than Wes’s thirty-two and probably weighed about a hundred pounds soaking wet, she ran the administrative side of The Woodlands with an efficient iron fist.
“Found them, I see.” She bent to kiss Sweets.
Sweets tried to scale her legs and climb into her lap.
“No, Sweets.” Wes shook his head. “I found the file in my procrastination pile.”
Sweets whimpered, then sat at Clarissa’s feet while she petted her.
Clarissa sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was smart as a whip and cute as hell, with long dark hair and a slim figure. More importantly, she was organized and efficient, and though Wes’s siblings thought they’d hook up—given his penchant for cute females—she was a little too tough for his liking, and he’d never seen her in an amorous way. Not to mention that she seemed to have eyes only for his anally efficient partner, who happened to saunter into the room as if on cue.
“You’re still here?” Chip sat on the edge of Clarissa’s desk, and her eyes took a slow roll down his torso.
“Heading out in a sec.”
Chip glanced at Clarissa, and their eyes held for a split second too long.
Clarissa lowered her eyes and began shuffling papers on her desk. “All set for the group?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Wes ran his eyes between Clarissa and Chip. The air practically sizzled between them, but every time Wes brought up the possibility of Chip going out with Clarissa, Chip refused to acknowledge there was even a spark of interest. “Do you have my cheat sheet?”
Clarissa grabbed a piece of paper from the corner of the desk and pushed it across to Wes.
“Kathie Sharp, Bonnie Young, Christine Anderson, and Calliope Barnes, midtwenties, three married, one single, all experienced with high school sports and hiking, yada, yada. No medical concerns, no worries.” She looked up at him from beneath her long bangs. “You’re doing the overnight, right?”
“Yeah.”
Her eyes widened. “Four twenty-something women and one hot wrangler, tents, moonlight, margaritas...”
Wes didn’t live by many rules. And though it wasn’t an official rule, he refrained from hooking up with Woodland guests, much to several sexy guests’ dismay. He slapped his thigh, and Sweets came to his side again. “Have a little faith. The last thing I need is some woman suing me for my trust fund, my resort, and my dignity. No, thanks.”
She rolled her eyes and pointed her pencil at him. “Wes, what if one of them is your soul mate? I wish you’d at least leave that door open a crack.”
“Colorado’s a big state. Too many pretty horses in the corral to be roped to just one.” Wes turned and headed for the door with Sweets on his heels.
Sweets jumped onto the front seat of Wes’s pickup truck and settled onto the plaid blanket he’d bought the first night after he’d found her. She rested her head on the books he’d gotten from Callie and looked up at Wes with another yawn. Wes picked up the book on the top of the stack. Dark Times. He ran his hand over the cover, thinking of Callie and knowing he’d never have time to read three books with the busy days ahead of him. He usually got through at least one of the books she chose for him. She had good taste, and even if he didn’t get through a single book, he couldn’t stop himself from going back for more. He smiled as he set the book back down, thinking of her curvy little body in that tight black skirt and how flustered she became every time she saw him. She was sweet and proper and nothing like the women he was usually attracted to, and as he drove out of Trusty and headed into the mountains, he couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to take her hair down and run his fingers through it—and he was powerless to quell his desire to climb beneath her conservative facade and help her move from women’s fiction to erotica.
Chapter Two
“THIS IS INCREDIBLE. I’ve never seen a spa like this.” Callie stepped from her friend Kathie Sharp’s Toyota FJ Cruiser and stood beside Bonnie Young. Bonnie was tall and blond and had been Callie’s roommate in college her freshman year, and when they pledged their sorority, they’d met Kathie Sharp and Christine Anderson. The four of them had been best friends ever since.
Kathie and Christine exchanged a look. Christine tucked her short, pin-straight blond hair behind her ear and grabbed her bags from the truck.
Bonnie gripped Callie’s hand.
“Honey, this spa is a little different,” Bonnie explained in the calm, mother-hen tone she was known for. She was their voice of reason and the chosen one of the group to dole out bad news.
Callie took a hard look at the property. Acres of pastures and paddocks surrounded a cedar lodge. She turned back toward the road and noticed that they’d driven beneath a wooden arch. As she turned back toward her friends, she caught sight of two log cabins set up high on a hill. At the foot of the hill, horses grazed by a wooden bridge crossing a stream.
“What exactly do you mean by different?” Callie asked. “Are we staying in the cabin instead of the lodge? Because I totally don’t mind.”
“Oh, that’s great. Yes, that’s what she meant.” Kathie picked up Callie’s quilted bags and handed them to her, then slung her own designer b
ag over her shoulder and carried the smaller one. “Christine, Bon, why don’t you check us in and we’ll start up toward the cabin? The reservations are for cabin two.”
Kathie stopped on the bridge to admire the view. She was a historical fiction novelist, and she found inspiration almost every place they went. “This would make a great writing retreat, wouldn’t it? I could sit right here with my laptop and write about the Wild West.”
“Or the perfect reading retreat, although the Wild West isn’t really my thing.” Callie took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. “I can’t wait to get a massage and lay out by the pool. They have a pool, right?” Callie surveyed the grounds again, cataloging the barns just beyond the lodge.
“Kath? Where is the pool?”
Kathie flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and pressed her crimson lips together. “Oh, they definitely have someplace to swim, not to worry.”
Callie breathed a sigh of relief and smoothed her skirt. “Good. It’ll be nice to relax. I miss you guys so much. Thanks for planning this trip for us. I swear this doesn’t look like a spa at all. Must be a Colorado thing to look ranchy.”
“Oh, look, here they come.” Kathie pointed to Christine and Bonnie heading in their direction. She smiled at Callie. “We miss you, too, Callie.”
Bonnie held her camera up to her eye and stopped to take pictures every few steps. She was a nature and wedding photographer, and she was forever documenting her surroundings. She waved at them, and Kathie and Callie waved back with ready smiles for the pictures they knew she’d take.
“I feel a little overdressed. You guys are all wearing jeans.”
Kathie narrowed her baby blues again. “We had time to change before picking you up. You did bring clothes for the outdoors like we told you, right?”
Callie ran her finger along the wooden railing. “Of course. I brought sundresses and my bathing suit, oh, and that cute little skirt you gave me for Christmas last year. I love that. And I brought sandals and boots. I finally have someplace to wear my regular fun clothes instead of my work outfits. Is there a town near here? It might be fun to go shopping. Since you refused to tell me where we were going, I couldn’t even Google it, but I thought Christine said there was a town nearby.”
“Oh boy.” Kathie picked up her bags when the others joined them and crossed the bridge.
“Oh boy? What? Is there not a town nearby?”
Kathie flashed her an oh-shit look that made her stomach lurch.
“They’re here. Hey, Bon!” Kathie plastered a fake smile on her pretty face.
Oh God. What am I in for?
“You were right. Cabin Two, on the hill.” Bonnie pointed up the hill toward a log cabin. Bonnie had grown up on a farm, and like Kathie and Christine, she had grown up camping, fishing, and doing all the outdoors things Callie never had.
Callie wondered if they’d picked a spa that looked like a ranch on purpose because it reminded them of all the things they loved. When Callie wasn’t working, she was usually in her apartment experiencing life through the pages of a novel. The idea of a cabin was a little nerve-racking, but with her girlfriends’ woodsy expertise, she was sure they’d take care of creepy crawly things that gave her the willies.
Bonnie dropped her bags and held the camera at arm’s length. “Selfie! Gather around.”
They huddled together as Bonnie clicked off a few shots.
“I bet all you got was boobs.” Christine was a stand-up comic, and she never missed an opportunity to make them laugh.
“That only happens when I take the pics because I’m so short,” Callie said.
“Boobs or not, this is going to be awesome.” Bonnie slung her camera strap over her shoulder. “They said there’s a welcome barbecue down that dirt path by the big barn in an hour.”
“Barbecue? That sounds fun,” Callie said.
“Yeah…” Christine had a round face with flawless, ivory skin, and as they walked up the hill toward the cabin, her ever-present smile turned serious. “Maybe we should go over the amenities with Callie.”
“We will. They’re supposed to give us itineraries at the barbecue when we meet our wrangler.” Bonnie stopped in front of the cabin.
“Wow. This is a real log cabin. Check out the front porch.” Callie mounted the steps onto the wide front porch and dropped her bags. “Did you say, wrangler?”
“Yeah.” Kathie pushed her dark hair from her shoulder and glared at Bonnie, then turned and flashed a smile at Callie. “I think they call him a wrangler to keep it, you know, authentic to the mountains and the woodsy feel of the lodge…resort.”
“Makes sense.” Callie followed them inside the cozy, rustic cabin. “Oh my gosh, this is adorable. Look at those bookshelves.” She pointed to two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves packed full of books. She crossed the hardwood floor to a leather couch near the shelves and flopped onto it.
“You have to check this out. It’s so soft.” She kicked off her heels and put her feet on the coffee table. “You’ll find me right here reading if you need me.”
“I’m going to unpack.” Bonnie headed for the stairs.
Kathie hoisted a bag onto the counter in the kitchen. “I brought nutrition.” She withdrew several bottles of alcohol.
“It’s a spa. They’ll feed us,” Callie said.
“Yeah, but we need our Skinnygirls.” Kathie held up two bottles of Skinnygirl margaritas.
“Kathie, can you come up here a sec?” Bonnie called from upstairs.
“Pour yourselves a drink,” Kathie said as she ascended the stairs.
“I’ll just go make sure there are no Norman Bates bodies left behind.” Christine followed Kathie upstairs, bags in hand.
Callie settled into the deep couch cushions. She was in no hurry to check out the bedroom when she had all those titles to consider reading. Callie surveyed the room. The cabin was more rustic than the spas they had gone to in the past, with real log walls and chunky wooden tables that might be found in any Colorado farmhouse. Callie went to the picture window that overlooked a small deck. Just beyond was a view of the forest. She felt as if she were nestled among the mountains, and she realized that she liked that cabin better than the fancy rooms at the other spas they’d visited. Not that they’d visited more than a handful over the years for their annual girls’ trips.
A deep leather recliner sat at an angle beside the window with a reading light arced over the back of the chair. That’s where they’ll find me reading. She went to the bookshelves and ran her fingers across the titles, cataloging them in her mind. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to alphabetize them. All About Horses, Cattle Driving, Colorado Wilderness Guide. She was bummed that there were no women’s fiction titles. A man definitely filled these shelves. It was a good thing she never left home for an overnight trip without her books—or her Jillian Michaels DVD. She looked for a television and realized there wasn’t one. Her stomach clenched momentarily until she remembered that she’d brought her laptop and could watch the DVD on that.
Low voices filtered down from upstairs. Callie picked up her bags and went to join her friends. She found the three of them huddled in one of the two bedrooms.
“Hey, what’s the big secret?”
They turned deer-in-the-headlights eyes to her.
“Uh-oh. What is it?” They’d been friends for so many years that she knew something was up, and the fact that she was the only one not whispering made her stomach lurch. She sank to the bed and took a deep breath.
“Okay, tell me. What’s wrong?” She tucked her hands beneath her thighs, steeling herself for whatever it was that had her friends looking so worried. “You guys would only keep something from me because you think I can’t handle it. Oh no, please tell me no one is getting divorced, because you guys are the happiest couples I know. I couldn’t take that.” She lifted worried eyes to her too-damn-silent friends. She’d always been the most emotional of the group, and through the years her friends had tempered bad news—like wh
en the sorority house cat got hit by a car—and she loved them even more for it. But no one had a cat at the moment, and she feared something worse might be waiting in the wings.
Bonnie pulled her back down to the bed and sat beside her. “It’s not anything like that. Kathie, I’m going to just tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
“Fine.” Kathie waved a hand in the air as if she’d forfeited an argument, then sat beside Callie.
Christine sank to her knees in front of Callie. “I think it’s time to give our little girl the talk.”
“Oh dear Lord. By the looks of you guys, I need that margarita…or the whole bottle.”
“You might.” Bonnie shot a narrow-eyed look at Kathie.
“Okay, here goes,” Kathie began. “Now that Christine is married, you’re the only single sister left in our little group.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, we know how you hate to step outside your comfort zone, and now that you’re living so far away from us, we can’t exactly kidnap you once a week like we used to, to go out for drinks or dancing or to meet guys.” Kathie kicked Christine’s knee lightly.
“Right,” Christine added. “So, we wanted to help you a little, you know? Get you out and about and show you how strong you really are, so you wouldn’t be afraid to go out and get in trouble—”
Kathie kicked her again.
“I mean, do things by yourself in your new town.” Christine glared at Kathie.
“I’m missing something here. How will being at a spa make me stronger or want to go out by myself?” Callie looked at Bonnie, hoping to figure out what they were really telling her.
“Cal, this isn’t a spa. It’s a dude ranch. And we’re here for a few days of toughening you up.” Bonnie held tight to Callie’s hand.
“Toughening? Wait. What?” Callie pushed to her feet and went to the window. “So, there are no massages? No pool and no cabana boys to drool over?”
Kathie went to her side. “No, but there are hot cowboys, and you’ll learn that you can do so much more than you ever thought. I scheduled a bunch of fun things that you’d never do on your own.”
Fated for Love Page 2