Wonderland

by Bridget Midway

  Cynda laughed. “Busted.”

  Reid picked up his pants and pulled his phone from its holder. From the shower, it sounded like he cursed first before answering it. Cynda turned off the water and opened the door to hear his side of the conversation clearly.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  Cynda tried piecing together his fractured conversation filled with nothing more than a few “yeses” and “noes” then one “you’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He disconnected the call and turned to Cynda. Before she could even ask, he said, “Graham Iler is here.”

  Not a completely bad thing. Cynda didn’t get along with the man but that didn’t mean Graham would ruin her holiday.

  Reid continued speaking. “He was sent here by your father.”

  Uh-oh. Cynda hadn’t done anything wrong. She taught a few ski classes. She led a karaoke session. She stayed out of the way. Why would her father send a babysitter? It annoyed her that he would do that.

  “Maybe it would be best if you stayed in my—”

  Before Reid could finish that thought, Cynda stopped him. “No. I came here to enjoy a Christmas holiday. Graham Iler is not going to ruin that.”

  Reid stared at her for a moment before nodding. “You get in any trouble, you just call me or Josie, okay?”

  Cynda cocked her head. “Reidy, I’ll be just fine.”

  “Oh yes. You’re definitely fine.” He smiled and took one step toward the shower again. “Nope. If I get anywhere near you I’ll never leave.” He pointed to the full tub. “I’ll finish off here.”

  “Chicken.” She shrugged as she turned the water back on to finish bathing.

  After Reid bathed and got dressed, he gave Cynda his security code and extra key. “Will I see you for lunch?”

  Cynda had a towel wrapped around her body. “I’m hoping you’ll have me for lunch.”

  Reid smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her another kiss. “This is a really nice Christmas present.”

  Cynda kept smiling to not disappoint him. As much as her heart wanted to stay there with him, she knew she would have to go. Until then, she would make this a special Christmas for him.

  Right now, though, she had a call to make and she didn’t care about the time of day.

  At the sound of the click of Reid’s front door, Cynda picked up her cell phone from her purse and called her father.

  “Where are you today, honey?” her father asked with a slight jovial lilt to his tone.

  “I’m at Village. But you knew that already, right?” Too keyed up to sit, Cynda paced in front of the fireplace, which Reid had already extinguished. Thank goodness. She didn’t need anything else to make her hot.

  “Graham let me know what guests were saying on our sites. Did you really do a lap dance while men threw dollars at you?” Her father’s tone remained even.

  Cynda felt molten lava coursing through her veins. “That did not happen. I did karaoke and I danced around Reid. That’s it.”

  “You see how something harmless turned into something tawdry?”

  “Did anyone post that I also did a great job teaching a ski class?”

  A pause lingered before her father answered. “Did Reid ask you to do that?”

  She sighed. “No. He wanted me to stay out of the way. I wanted to help. Believe it or not, Dad, I’m not a liability. And I for damn sure do not need a babysitter.”

  “What do you mean?” Her father’s voice cracked.

  “Graham. Thanks for the trust, Dad. Merry Christmas.” Cynda disconnected the call.

  It didn’t take long for her phone to ring again. She knew her dad had called her back, but she had work to do. Arguing with her father over his trust issues wouldn’t help her state of mind. As angry as she was, she didn’t want to talk to him right now, especially since one of her goals had been to make peace with the man.

  Maybe after she calmed herself down, she would be in a right frame of mind to talk to him. Maybe tomorrow. Today she had Reid. She finally had Reid.

  Chapter Seven

  Reid couldn’t stop smiling all day. Even with a fresh bandage on his head from the hit last night, he still felt on top of the world.

  “The staff and I are taking bets.” Josie sidled up next to Reid and spoke low. “Did you get into some crack, or did you get into some—”

  Reid stared at Josie before she could finish her inquiry.

  “You didn’t!” She slapped him on his arm. “I’m telling her daddy.” She cackled.

  “Ha, ha.Very funny. Can we get back to business now?” Reid felt embarrassed heat fill his cheeks.

  “Oh you mean now that you got all up in her business you want to get on to other business?” Josie bit her bottom lip like she tried to suppress a laugh.

  “That reminds me. We should have open mic amateur comedy shows. You could enter it with a routine like that.” He patted her on the back, then started to walk away.

  “You going to tell me what happened to your head?” Josie pointed to him.

  “Tripped and hit my head on the stage in The Drift.”

  “You know when they say ‘hit the floor’ they really don’t mean hit the floor.” She laughed again.

  “You are too funny.”

  “Care to let me in on the joke?”

  Reid turned around and saw Graham marching toward him. He had managed to avoid running into him all morning. He’d hoped to keep up the lucky streak throughout the day. At that moment, he had planned on heading to the restaurant and meeting Cynda in the storeroom, his spot.

  Yesterday when she spotted him but wouldn’t come into the room, he didn’t know what to do or say. After last night and this morning, he wouldn’t let an opportunity to let her get by him again, especially after her dig about him being, as she called it, adorably conservative. Boring.

  “Private joke.” Josie glared at Graham before walking away.

  “Should housekeeping be up here at the registration desk?” Graham put his hands on his hips and glared at Josie.

  Reid felt the hairs sticking up on the back of his neck. He glanced at Josie to notice that she’d heard Graham’s crass comment as well. Before he could let his friend respond, he stood up for her.

  “Josephina is a valued member of my supervisory team. As a supervisor, she has every right to be here at the registration desk.” Reid saw Josie smile, give him a slight nod before she continued on her way.

  “Didn’t mean to strike a nerve. I wasn’t aware of how close you are to your staff.” Graham crossed her arms over her chest. “I was heading to lunch. Join me so that we can talk.”

  “Actually, I had plans to—”

  “Join me.” He smiled, baring his teeth.

  The request came out as a demand.

  “Let’s make this fast. I do have other plans.” Reid stormed into the restaurant.

  As usual, not an empty seat existed in the place.

  “Put us at the chef’s table, please,” he told the hostess.

  Without question, she walked the duo to the kitchen and showed them to the table off to the side. Reid spied Harold at the front dressing each plate. When Harold saw him sitting with Graham, his perfectly arched eyebrows shot upward.

  A sous chef greeted them and took their drink orders.

  “So why are you here, Graham? You’ve never done a holiday here before.” Even after his basic drink of tonic water with lime was placed in front of him, Reid kept his full attention on Graham.

  “Mr. Richmond sent me here after some disturbing posts about some activity. I mean, Reid, you initially accused me of running some sort of hedonistic resort and you’re accepting lap dances.” He winked and leaned back in the booth.

  The implied gesture turned Reid’s stomach. “Lies. Never happened.” Not completely, he should have said. A bump and grind while he stood couldn’t constitute a lap dance, right?

  “Mr. Richmond is concerned.”

  “Then he should have called me instead of callin
g someone else who is thousands of miles away. I could have told him the truth.” To cool his overheated mood, Reid downed his drink. “Why are you here?”

  Graham blinked. “If I’m not mistaken, it sounds like you don’t want me here.”

  “I don’t.” Normally Reid didn’t come off so brazen. With Cynda there, he felt fearless. “I’m more than capable of running all aspects of this place.”

  “Is that another offhand comment about wanting to take over marketing? If so, you would have done something about the videos, pictures, and posts of your antics last night.” Graham took a sip of his beer.

  “My antics? I did nothing inappropriate. I don’t like where this conversation is going. I’m just glad that we’re out of rooms so you can’t stay here.” Reid started to stand when he gazed up and spotted Cynda standing next to Harold staring pointedly at him.

  The look in her eyes froze him to his spot. He could imagine what she must be thinking. They were supposed to meet for lunch, and she found him here sitting with Graham.

  “Speak of the devil.” Graham chuckled as he glanced at Cynda. “She’s not a bad woman. She just needs a man to calm her down.” He cocked a smile at the corner of his mouth. “A man like me.”

  “She’s not some damn horse to be broken.” Reid fought against balling his hands into fists.

  Graham brought his attention back to Reid. “Let me be blunt with you.” He showed him all his teeth again. “Village Resort is the most financially lucrative property for Richmond Enterprises. I want it. I would run it much better than you, and I’ve let Mr. Richmond know that.”

  “You could never do what I do here. If this place is as successful as you say, it’s because of me and my incredible staff.” Reid felt protective of his employees and of his work.

  “You make this too personal. If you want to be a winner, cut all personal ties and run this like a business and not like some college project.” In the same straightforward tone he used to school Reid, he placed his order with the sous chef.

  When the chef turned to Reid, he claimed he lost his appetite.

  Before he could excuse himself, Graham’s words stopped him.

  “By the way, I am staying here at Village.”

  Reid glared at him.

  “Back in October when we were doing all of the planning, I took that time to go ahead and make a reservation.” Graham leaned back in the booth, his long legs crossed at his ankles.

  “We didn’t have anyone not check in. All the rooms are filled.”

  “I didn’t say I was alone, did I?” He toasted him with his glass just as he got served his appetizer of creamy potato soup.

  “Enjoy your stay.” Reid went to Harold as his first destination. “Where did Cynda go?” He looked around for her, surprised at how quickly she departed.

  “I don’t know. She didn’t look too happy.” Harold shrugged and kept working. “Should I drop his food on the floor first?” He nodded toward Graham.

  “I couldn’t let you do that even if I wanted, and with your high standards, you would never do that anyway.” Reid patted the man on his back.

  “You’re right. Doesn’t make me happy to serve him though.”

  It didn’t make Reid happy to miss Cynda. After getting so close to her, he couldn’t let her go. If she ran because she thought he and Graham were working together to go against her, then he had his work cut out for him to get her to trust him.

  * * * *

  Cynda kept herself busy with teaching classes and not thinking about how Reid ditched her. She hated that he chose work over being with her, something her father had done to her and her family for years. On some occasions, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, he would make an effort to be with the family. For others like her birthday, he would throw money at her and hoped that would suffice.

  She’d hoped Reid wouldn’t be a man like that. Maybe she misjudged him. Or maybe, like she thought, she didn’t measure up to his expectations.

  After her disappointing afternoon, Cynda looked forward to tonight, movie night. When she saw that listed on the itinerary, she couldn’t wait to participate with Reid sitting next to her, nibbling on her ear while she nibbled on some popcorn. Now she would be sitting alone.

  In the large auditorium with glass walls and ceiling, she waited until lights dimmed so that she could creep into the back, find an empty couch, and enjoy whatever rom com played tonight.

  She loved the way the decorator for Village Resort put in overstuffed couches with fluffy pillows and soft blankets instead of cold chairs or even movie theater chairs. From the back of the auditorium, she watched established couples snuggling against each other.

  She could spot the newer couples. They sat further apart but stole glances of each other throughout the movie.

  Cynda brought her legs up on the couch and pulled the small side table closer to her so she wouldn’t have to reach far for her hot chocolate. She put her small cup of popcorn in front of her on the couch.

  The movie started and Cynda kept her gaze on the screen but her mind wandered elsewhere. As the on-screen couple fought, Cynda fantasized about what would have happened if she and Reid had met for lunch.

  In that cramped stockroom, she imagined that they would kiss each other so hot and heavy that they would steam up the room. Reid would lift her and put her on top of the center island, pull down her panties and fuck her in the way he mentioned earlier that day.

  His cock still had that sweet curve in it that managed to reach her G-spot. With age came incredible technique. He had a way of connecting with her either by touch or a look.

  Just thinking about that possibility curled her toes. Now she wished she had a cool drink instead of the hot chocolate. Cynda peered up at the ceiling and watched the snow falling. Observing the snowfall helped cool her down a little, but not much.

  To her surprise, she felt the couch by her feet sink. Looking over, she saw Graham sitting by her. Bile rose in her throat, and she did everything she could to keep it down.

  “You shouldn’t be alone watching a romantic movie.”

  Cynda’s body went cold as soon as she heard his deep voice. He appeared to be a woman’s dream: great body, impeccable grooming, nice, expensive clothes. She’d been around men like that all of her life. She saw right through them. Reid had heart. That always topped her list.

  “Thank you for the concern. I’ll be fine.” Cynda curled her feet closer to her body. “You can go and report that back to my father since I know that’s what you’re here for.” She contemplated pushing her feet against this guy to get him to get up and leave her alone, but she thought he might take it as an invitation to rub her feet.

  “But I am concerned. A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be alone.” He moved closer. “I think you and I could have a great time together. I could be all the excitement that you’ve been looking for.”

  “You have no idea who I am or what I need.”

  “You want your father off your back, I can help you with that. Just give me the word and I—”

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  Both Cynda and Graham looked next to the couch to see Reid standing with his jacket over his arm, his tie off, and the top two buttons on his crisp white shirt undone. He kept his stare directly on Cynda until he addressed Graham.

  “If you’ll excuse us, we’d like to enjoy the movie together.” Reid made sure to emphasize the word “us” even though he and Cynda hadn’t establish yet that they were an “us.”

  Cynda loved his possessiveness. Reid had changed, both in business and in his personal life. She liked the transformation.

  Without incident or another word, Graham rose from the couch and made his way through the other guests on their couches. Cynda guessed he sought out another lone woman enjoying the antics of Sandra Bullock on the screen.

  Although she didn’t invite him, Reid sat down next to her. Cynda wanted to thank him for getting Graham away from her, but she still fumed over their missed lunch date.
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br />   “Shouldn’t you be working?” Cynda brought her attention back to the screen. Although she tried ignoring him, her body wouldn’t. Her nipples hardened so much that they brushed painfully against her lace bra. Her clit throbbed under her jeans. Just him being near her prompted her body to react.

  Cynda covered her body with a blanket except her cup of popcorn.

  “I’m sorry for missing our lunch.” Reid grabbed her feet and placed them on his lap.

  As soon as he started massaging the soles of her feet, she would have forgiven him for anything. She knew he had magic fingers when he treated her to them this morning. Now she knew for sure he could pleasure her in different ways with them.

  “Looked like you were occupied.” She put a piece of popcorn in her mouth and crunched it between her teeth.

  “Graham wanted to tell me that he wants my job because he thinks I’m horrible at it,” he whispered to her.

  Cynda finally regarded him. She thought about what her father said to her in the call about her lap dance. She wondered if that prompted Graham to insist on taking over his job. Now she felt like a heel.

  “What did you say to him?” She placed her cup of popcorn on the table next to her hot chocolate.

  “I told him that I knew how to run this place better than he thinks he can. I also told him that he should leave.” Reid continued rubbing her feet. “I hope you don’t think that I’m anything like him. All morning long I thought about what I would do to you during lunch.”

  “I thought about you, too, but not in the way you think.” Cynda sat up and moved closer to Reid so that no one else could hear their conversation. “You remember when I was on the track team? I would have meets and you would show up to each and every one of them?”

  “I had to cheer my girl on.” He smiled and nudged his leg against hers.

  “My father never showed to any of my meets, not even when I won in the state championship. He was always too busy with work.” She looked at Reid in his eyes. “When I saw you with Graham, I didn’t think you were plotting against me. I saw you choosing work over me, and that hurt me more.”

  Reid held Cynda’s hand. “Honey, I didn’t know.”