by Jillian Hart
“What are you wearing tonight?” Cassie Douglas elbowed her as the two walked through the doors of the outside entrance to the boutique attached to the Wildwood Lodge.
Jolie stomped her feet on the welcome mat. Snow had fallen during the night, putting two more inches on top of the six inches already on the ground. That’s what happened in Snow Falls, Colorado. Snow. Jolie happened to be the one person in town who didn’t ski, so she didn’t get all giddy over the white stuff.
She also didn’t get too excited over shopping before nine in the morning. Which she was, for some crazy reason.
Only in a tourist town like this would a store be open before 9:00 a.m.
The quiet store smelled like a pine forest and new clothes. Christmas music played, even though the holiday was over. Trees were still decorated with twinkling lights and garland still hung across the windows. Warm colors, soft lighting. The aroma of really good coffee blended with scented candles that brought to mind cinnamon rolls or sugar cookies. Coffee sounded far better than shopping.
“Jolie, I asked you a question,” Cassie said a little too loudly, pursing her berry-red lips and arching her well-waxed brows.
Jolie smiled and searched the room for the coffeepot.
Cassie cleared her throat, not letting her off the hook.
“I’m not going.” Jolie looked away. “You talked me into it last year. Not this year, my friend.”
She couldn’t handle a repeat of last year. Besides, she didn’t fit into this world. Cassie’s world.
Mannequins in the window were dressed better than Jolie ever hoped to be dressed. They wore beautiful sweaters, skinny jeans and furry boots. She glanced around for an excuse to leave before she accidentally bought something that cost more than she made in a month.
She wondered if Jake Wild actually liked the things he sold in the Wildwood Boutique. Not that it mattered. But really, the owner of Wildwood Ski Lodge was more of a jeans-and-flannel guy than designer suits and silk ties.
She walked away from Cassie, but her friend followed, grabbing Jolie’s sleeve to prevent her escape.
“What do you mean you’re not going? I already bought your ticket. Remember, Merry Christmas from me?” Cassie stopped long enough to touch a dress of shimmery red with starry-looking sequins. “With your dark hair, you’d look gorgeous in this.”
Jolie flipped the tag so Cassie could get a good look at the four-digit price. “Not in this lifetime.”
“Fine, but if you sell one of those magnificent wall hangings—”
“I’ll make the next payment on my house.”
“He kissed you,” Cassie reminded her with a smirk.
“It wasn’t real. It was ‘Cinderella at the ball’ kind of stuff. Not reality. The clock struck twelve and there I was, the person standing in front of him.” She touched the dress. “I’m going to enjoy my day, so let’s stop talking about this.”
“But he did invite you to display your art.”
“Not exactly an invitation. I applied and got accepted to display here.” And of course she’d questioned herself, wondering if he’d allowed her a booth because of old feelings of guilt.
“I think he might like you because you aren’t chasing him. I think it probably gets old, being Jake Wild, Colorado’s best catch.”
“People catch trout, not men, Cassie.”
“That’s very cute.”
“I don’t know why you insist on believing he likes me.”
Cassie examined another gown and didn’t look up. “Because he just walked by and peeked in the window and it was you he looked at. Now, let’s talk about what you’re going to wear to the ball.”
Jolie shot a quick look at the window and saw nothing but snow. “I’m not going to this ball. I’m going to town with you. We’ll go through the snow maze, watch the ice sculpting and I’ll paint superheroes on sticky faces.”
“Lighten up and live a little. You’re not getting any younger.”
No, she wasn’t getting any younger. And she felt far older than twenty-nine. Sometimes Jolie felt as if she’d been an adult her entire life. A hand touched her arm. Cassie smiled a softer smile.
“You okay?”
Jolie smiled through her tears. “I’m good. Now, let’s forget this imaginary world of romance. You need a very real dress for your very real date with your extremely handsome fiancé.”
Cassie smiled and her eyes glittered a little. “Lance is perfect, isn’t he?”
“I suppose. If you’re into handsome, rich and kind. Yeah, sure, call him perfect.”
“Jake Wild is...”
Jolie shook her head. “No more about Jake Wild. We’re worlds apart, he and I. Besides that, I’m too busy for fantasy romance.”
Jolie would always be the mousy girl studying hard to make it out of her real life and into something better. She’d been the girl taking the long way home so people didn’t know the truth. She’d been the girl living in a travel trailer with her dad, after her mom had died and they’d lost everything.
Perspective needed. Jake Wild couldn’t be the memory of a perfect kiss, not when he was the man who had helped to destroy her father. No, she had to give him a break. He hadn’t destroyed her dad. Alcoholism had destroyed Mac Godwin. Alcohol and a broken heart.
She turned away from Cassie and headed for the door that led out of the boutique into the main lobby of the lodge.
“Where are you going?” Cass called out, not caring that she was the only loud person in a place of soft whispers, soft lighting, soft music.
Jolie glanced back over her shoulder. “I’m going to look at my booth to make sure everything is ready for this afternoon.”
The First Night celebration in Snow Falls was a big event. Not only were they celebrating New Year’s Eve, they were displaying local art and talent. The entire town would be involved. There would be music, vendors and the Wildwood Ball. Last year she’d worn one of Cassie’s dresses and a mask from New Orleans. She’d pretended she belonged in that shimmery, starlit world.
As she escaped the boutique, she hit the solid wall of a male body, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Strong hands gripped her arms. She looked up and the world went a little off-kilter. But then his face came into focus. Strong features, eyes the color of a stormy sky, thick dark lashes.
Wow, he smelled good. Wrap your arms around him and breathe deep kind of good. Proof that she needed to get out more often. She needed to do something else, something more social than sitting alone in her studio 24/7 bending copper into art.
“Oh, sorry,” she whispered and tried to remove herself from his strong grasp.
“How are you, Jolie?” He stepped back, gave her a long look and smiled. “Is your exhibit ready to go?”
“Yes.” She tried to move past him. What was it about this man that always turned her into a self-conscious teenager?
“I wanted to talk to you about the copper art and the light fixtures you make.”
“Is there a problem? The exhibit coordinator told me I could have a ten-by-ten booth and showed me where to place the hangers.” She looked up, holding her breath as she waited for him to tell her she couldn’t have her exhibit at the Wildwood because he didn’t want Mac Godwin’s daughter on the place.
“Relax, you’re good. I just hadn’t realized you did this type of work. In school you were...”
“Dark?” she supplied when he seemed unsure of how to say it.
“Not really.” He smiled when she raised her brows. “Okay, yes, that might be the word. You painted abstracts, people with long faces and no eyes.”
“Teen angst. I’ve worked through that.” She pinched the hem of her sweater and held it out. “See, no more black. All grown up.”
“I’ve noticed.” He cleared his throat and Mr. Unflappable seeme
d to disappear for a moment. “We’re building a new addition to the lodge. I’d like to talk to you about light fixtures and wall hangings for the rooms.”
“Oh, okay. Here’s my card.” She dug into her purse. “Give me a call.”
He laughed but took her card. “I meant in person.”
She heard footsteps behind her and turned, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Cassie. Her relief was short lived because the look on Cassie’s face warned her that her friend had picked the two of them for a fantasy romance. Great.
“I’m her manager.” Cassie smiled big and winked at Jolie.
“Right, Cass, and the price just doubled.” Jake stepped back to let a customer into the boutique. He relaxed, leaning one shoulder against the doorway. Cassie knew how to handle him. She’d been in his league since forever. Cassie’s family owned a restaurant in town and a gondola lift for people who really didn’t ski but wanted to see the world from above.
“She is the best.” Cassie switched her new dress from her right arm to her left and put a hand on Jolie’s back. “So if you’re interested, it’s going to cost you. Maybe the two of you can talk at Wildwood’s New Year’s Eve ball.”
“I’m not going.” Jolie frowned at her friend. “Remember, I have other commitments.”
“Volunteering to paint superheroes on the dirty faces of little children is not a commitment, it’s torture. And you’re doing that this afternoon.”
“It’s torture that I love.”
Jake pulled a card out of his pocket and wrote something on the back before handing it to her. Most people wouldn’t have pegged him for the owner of the resort, not in his hiking boots, faded jeans and button-up shirt.
“I’ll be around most of the day,” he said. “If you’re going to be here working on your exhibit, call my cell and we’ll discuss what I need for the new addition.”
She took the card and slid it into the pocket of her jeans.
“Thank you. I will call.”
“Good. And, Jolie...” He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Yes?”
“I have to take this. We’ll talk later?”
She nodded, scanning the area for Cassie. Time to escape. Not that she wanted to call it escaping. More like... Yes, escaping.
* * *
JAKE GLANCED AT HIS watch as he walked through the lodge an hour after bumping into Jolie and Cassie. He doubted Jolie would call him. He’d read it in the panic-stricken look on her face. She had no intention of spending time with him, not even for business.
He understood her hesitation but had hoped they could put the past behind them for business. All around him people were gearing up for New Year’s Eve. Years ago he’d heard a saying that how you spent New Year’s Eve was how you would spend the rest of your year. It must be true because he spent most years working through the holiday followed by working through the next year.
As he passed the ballroom that was receiving last-minute touches, he stopped to watch the progress. Candles were being set out on the tables. A buffet dinner would be set in the adjoining room. The band had already done a sound check. He entered the room, checking off everything that still needed to be done. In the center of the dance floor he stopped, remembering last year’s ball and a kiss.
A year ago on this very night he’d stood alone as the clock struck twelve and then he hadn’t been alone. Jolie Godwin had been in front of him. She had turned to face him and he’d given in to the moment and pulled her close.
One year later he still couldn’t get past that kiss. Nothing unsettled Jake. Nothing got under this skin. But for a year the least likely person had been a reminder that maybe he wasn’t always in control.
Jolie Godwin had somehow gotten to him.
He couldn’t afford to let her get under his skin. The lodge needed him focused. All around him people were going about their lives, doing their jobs, and they depended on him to not be his mother.
For the past ten years he’d been busy rebuilding a business his mom had ignored and his first stepfather had tried to bleed dry. The two of them had nearly destroyed a family legacy. Jake’s hard work had brought it back to life.
One last look at the ballroom and he left the room and turned down the corridor to the Aspen Hall, a room in the convention center that would be used for the local art exhibits.
As he walked through the double doors he did a double take and nearly turned to leave. But he didn’t. If he was going to be in control, he would also control this situation and whatever it was she did to him. He watched as Jolie climbed a ladder, a hammer in hand and a cup of coffee on the utility shelf where most people kept paint. Her sweater, soft and deep red, clung to her body. Talk about blooming late. He remembered her as an awkward teen, a loner a few years younger than himself.
And he remembered her at nineteen, not really a flirt, just a girl sitting on the edge of the pool, sweet in her modest one-piece swimsuit.
She reached to string what appeared to be silk aspen leaves to a backdrop. The ladder wobbled and she teetered on the top step, arms swaying and the silk vine dangling.
Jake hurried forward and put one hand on the ladder, the other on her waist. She gasped, her eyes widening in surprise.
“I didn’t see you,” she exclaimed, breathless and pale.
“You were too busy falling off the ladder.”
“I wasn’t falling.”
Let it go. “You were falling.”
“I wouldn’t have,” she assured him as she climbed down from the ladder. “At least not far.”
She wouldn’t have fallen. He gave her space as she picked up a few bits and pieces of silk greenery and pulled pins out of a package.
“Have you had breakfast?”
She gave him a quick look and then went back up. “No. I usually go with coffee.”
He held the ladder as she stretched to stick a pin in the backdrop.
“If you’re almost finished we could grab a bite to eat and discuss business.”
She pulled the straight pins out of her mouth and set them on the utility shelf of the ladder. “I’ll be done in fifteen minutes.”
“That sounds good. We can meet in my office.”
“I don’t know.” She looked around, at everything but him, as if trying to come up with a reason to back out.
“Jolie, we can eat in the restaurant, but I have a dining area in my office. It’s private and we can talk without being interrupted.”
Without answering, she climbed down again and went back to work on her booth. She pinned colored cloth to the backdrop, draping it carefully, ignoring him. He reached to help, holding the cloth for her to tack it in place. He let her settle the thoughts in her mind, because he knew this wouldn’t be easy. It wasn’t any easier for him. Maybe it was time to clear the air.
“I’m sorry about your dad.” He watched her as he said it. She looked straight ahead, biting her bottom lip. Finally she turned to face him. Her dark eyes held his for a brief moment.
“You apologized at his funeral.”
“I know, but I think it had to be said again.”
Jolie picked up the hammer, the extra cloth and a few other items. She stored them all in a rubber tub.
“You had no choice.” She released a shaky sigh. “You had to fire him. I didn’t realize it at the time, so of course I was angry.”
“Jolie, I could have pressed charges, but I didn’t. I got why he did it.”
She picked up a box of tacks. “He did it for me, but that wasn’t who he was. A long time ago, he was someone different.”
“I know he was a good man.”
“It’s over. Please, just let it be over. You don’t have to feel guilty. I miss him, but I’m doing what he would have wanted me to do.”
“I know.”
She wiped a finger under her eye and returned to pinning cloth. He didn’t know how to undo what appeared to be a truckload of guilt on both their parts. He had fired a man who had already lost too much. She’d probably spent a lot of sleepless nights blaming herself because her dad had stolen money to help her pay for college.
Jake should do more than give her space, he should walk away. He had a business that needed him focused, not distracted. He had a child upstairs, wanting his attention. Not his child. He shook his head. He always managed to be the one picking up the pieces for everyone else.
Jolie didn’t need him to pick up the pieces. She’d done a great job putting her life back together.
He studied her again, at the fall of dark hair she brushed back with an artist’s hand, long-fingered and graceful. For the first time in years, Wildwood Ski Lodge was the last thing he wanted to think about.
The thought brought him to his senses. Business.
“I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes and we’ll go to my office to discuss the artwork. I’ll order breakfast from the restaurant.”
She nodded, a pin stuck in her mouth.
He left it at that and walked away.
CHAPTER TWO
LATER SHE’D PROBABLY kick herself for agreeing to this meeting, but with Jake leading her through a maze of halls, she didn’t have time to rethink, or escape. Even if she wanted to go, she couldn’t find her way out on her own. Not without a map or a GPS.
Jake opened a door of the office with a key card. Jolie walked through the double doors ahead of him and into the world of Jake Wild. She’d been here once before. She’d confronted him after he’d fired her dad. She’d yelled. She’d called him names. She’d pushed him and hit him. He’d stood next to his desk and let her take her anger out on him.
She didn’t learn until later that he had fired her dad because Mac had stolen a deposit bag full of cash. When her dad finally confessed, Jolie had made payments to Jake, eventually getting it all back to him. Her dad. She glanced around the large suite that was Jake’s office. Her dad had lost himself in a bottle of whiskey.