by A. K. Evans
“Was planning on it today. Part of the reason I stopped in was to see if you cared to help me test them out.”
I stayed silent and stared.
“Come on, Wes. It’s been too long since you’ve ridden with any of us. Things are going well with the company. Don’t you think it’s time to get back on the board, even if it’s just to spend the day out of the office for once?”
He had a point.
“You know what? You’re right. Let me make a call to the foreman on the warehouse project and I’ll go. I could ride some pipe today.”
“Fuck, yeah. It’s about damn time,” Zane stated with a smile on his face.
Chapter 2
Charley
I just finished up a grueling shift at the diner and was heading out to my orange Jeep Wranger so I could make my way over to the resort for my shift at the coffee shop. It had been a long week and after the shift I just had, I was more than ready for this day to be over. I hadn’t even turned on the Jeep and my cell beeped with a text. I looked at the screen and saw a message from Emme.
I need wine tonight!
I quickly tapped out a reply.
Sounds like your day is going just as great as mine.
Emme: My newborn shoot went well. It was the engaged couple that did me in!
Me: I’m already wiped from First Tracks. So busy today. Just now headed over to Parks Ridge. I’ll be up for a drink when I get back.
Emme: I’ll pick up the wine!
Me: Great. See ya later! xoxo
I put my phone away and started up the Jeep. It was only a ten-minute drive to the resort and I usually had about an hour and a half between finishing my shift at the diner and the start of my shift at Brew Stirs’ Coffee. Typically, I would use that time to grab a bite to eat, catch up on a good book, or sometimes if I was really exhausted, I would take a quick nap in the car. Unfortunately, I stayed a little later today at the diner to help with the rush and only had twenty minutes before I needed to be at the coffee shop.
I got to work with five minutes to spare and saw there was already a massive line at the counter.
“Hey Hannah. Has it been like this all day?” I asked.
“All day, girl. And I was late getting in this morning so Mark was alone during the rush. I felt horrible so I told him to head out a little early. He just left about thirty minutes ago,” Hannah answered, bringing me up to speed.
Even though there was usually little down time at the coffee stand, I’d relished in the fact that I had some kick ass co-workers. Hannah was Filipino, about five foot four, dark brown hair that fell right to the base of her shoulder blades, and beautiful, big, brown eyes. Her eyes and her radiant personality more than made up for her tiny size. Hannah was, without a doubt, a spitfire. Hannah’s personality I realized, after my first three shifts, was crucial to surviving the long, busy shifts at the coffee stand.
“Well I’m sure he was grateful for your generosity.”
“Are you kidding? If he could have shot daggers out of his eyes when I arrived he would have.”
I laughed. I could just imagine the look on Mark’s face at having to face the morning crowds alone. That many people needing coffee first thing in the morning and one person working at the stand was a recipe for disaster.
I jumped right into the mix and started taking orders. Before long, the line had died down and I was thankful for the break considering the overwhelming morning I had at the diner.
“I’m going to take my break now, Charley,” Hannah said as she took off her apron.
“No problem. I think I’ve got it under control for now.”
I looked out at the skiers and snowboarders huddled up at the tables inside the lodge. Some had stopped in just to grab some food and refuel for another couple hours out on the mountain. Others had been sitting there for the better part of the day reading a book by one of the fires or watching friends and family members who were skiing or riding their boards. With the lull in customers I decided to make myself a cup of coffee to help me get through the remainder of my shift. Only an hour and a half more until I was finished and could head home to enjoy that bottle of wine with Emme and then one more day of work for the week. I brought the coffee cup up to my lips, glanced up, got distracted by what I saw, and then burned my mouth.
“Ow.”
I dropped the cup hard down on the counter.
“Are you okay?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Not only was my mouth still feeling the effects of the scalding hot liquid, but I was also staring at the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He had thick, black hair that had a slight wave to it, emerald-colored eyes, and a chiseled jawline. He had a day’s worth of scruff on his face, which I found incredibly sexy. I couldn’t see his lower half as it was hidden by the counter that separated us, but I could tell by his upper body that he was in good shape. No, not good shape — he was in phenomenal shape. His long sleeved gray thermal was pulled taut across his arms and chest and I could see the outlines of his muscular body through the thermal. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. I was focused on his fantastic arms when I noticed movement. He had tilted his head and drawn his eyebrows together. That brought me out of my stupor.
“Oh, yes. I’m fine. Great. Thanks,” I answered. “Can I get you something? Coffee, espresso, hot chocolate? We have muffins, too. Actually, we have a bunch of baked goods.”
I was rambling. I knew it and I couldn’t stop it. That is, until he smiled. I gasped. He smiled a blindingly white smile and though I’m not sure how it was possible his level of hotness skyrocketed.
He pointed to a table off to his right and said, “I’ve been sitting over there for the last hour with my buddy and I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you. You have had a line for so long I didn’t think I was going to get the opportunity to come over and talk to you.”
I was back to silent. Yep. He shut me up quick and then he continued talking.
“You sure your mouth is ok? That looked painful.”
I nodded. I still could not believe this man was talking to me.
He grinned. That was when I knew I was in trouble. That grin made him mouth-watering. What the hell was going on with me? I needed to get myself together.
“I’m sorry. Did you want to order something?” I asked, still dumbfounded.
He grinned again. “Two Americanos, gorgeous.”
Gorgeous? My belly squeezed at the word and I tried to quickly shake off my surprise. I got to work on the espresso.
I finished his drinks and brought them over to the counter. He was still smiling and I tried to remain unaffected by his beautiful face. As I was ringing him up he decided to talk again.
“So, Charlotte, how long have you worked here?”
“How do you know my name?”
He laughed. “Your name tag sort of gives you away.”
Crap. I was an idiot. And where was the line that I usually had? Why now, when I had Mr. Muscles in front of me, was there not a single other customer wanting to get a cup of coffee? And where was Hannah? Surely it had been well over twenty minutes at this point, hadn’t it?
“Oh, right. I just started working here this season. And, it’s Charley.”
“What?”
“Charley. Charlotte is my name, but I go by Charley.”
“Oh. Ok then, Charley. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Wes…and that’s short for Westley.”
“Hi, Wes.”
“I guess I’ll see you ‘round, gorgeous.”
He picked up the cups and winked before turning and walking back to his table. I watched him walk the entire way back to his table. I was not too proud to admit that the man is a serious piece of eye candy. And now that I could see the lower half of his body I confirmed what I already knew. The rest of him was just as delectable.
Hannah came back from her break five minutes later and I spent the rest of my shift trying not to think about Wes.
*****
Wes
Zane an
d I made our way to the Parks Ridge Ski Resort to test out a stack of the prototype boards from our new Fire model line. The Elements Series would consist of four different models — Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Each model would be designed specifically for a particular type of snowboarding. The Fire model snowboard was slated to be a board designed specifically for pipe riding.
Over the last six months or so, I had been putting so much of my time and energy into the rapidly growing business I had not been able to spend much time on a board. We made it to the resort that morning and spent several hours testing out the boards. We got through most of them within a few hours and finally decided to head into the lodge for a quick bite to eat.
We went in, grabbed some food, and found a place to sit. I knew Zane was going to take the opportunity to get on my case about not having ridden in so long.
“Feeling good, Wes?”
“I’ll admit it, man. It has definitely been way too long. I do not regret taking the time to focus on the company, but I can honestly say it really felt great to get back out there.”
“Happy to hear it. Think we’ll catch you out here more often now,” Zane replied.
“Not sure. Probably won’t be very often. I need to make sure things are going smoothly at the new space,” I answered.
I knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he accepted it. He knew this was my dream.
We finished eating and went over all our thoughts on the boards. It was during our review that I had noticed the line for the coffee stand was long. I glanced behind the counter and noticed two women working there; one shorter who was of Asian ethnicity and certainly cute, and another who was slightly taller and an absolute knock out. Zane noticed me looking.
“See something you like?”
“I was just thinking after all this riding I am going to need a bit of caffeine to get through the rest of this day.”
Zane looked over behind the counter and laughed. “I’m sure it’s the caffeine you need.”
“That girl is fucking gorgeous,” I said, not taking my eyes off her. “That line goes down I’m getting some fucking coffee.”
He shook his head at me with a smirk on his face and we got back to our review of the boards. Afterwards, he took off to the bathroom while I looked back to the coffee stand. Only two more customers in line. Zane got back a few minutes later and I got up. On my walk over, I noticed the shorter girl with dark hair was no longer there and it was going to be just me and the knockout. She didn’t notice me approaching and as I stopped in front of the counter she was bringing a coffee cup up to her pretty lips. It was then she saw me and burned her mouth. If it wouldn’t have made me look like a complete creep I’d have jumped over the counter and kissed that mouth better.
“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling genuinely concerned for her.
She didn’t answer. She stood there staring at me and was quiet for so long I began to wonder if she even heard my question. I tilted my head and then she finally looked back up at my face and started talking a hundred miles a minute. I found myself oddly amused by her. She ultimately asked what she could get for me and I decided not to answer that for her just yet. I told her how I’d been waiting for quite some time to speak to her thinking she’d be open to a bit of conversation. She stopped talking again.
“That looked painful. You sure your mouth is okay?” I asked, realizing once again that I really wanted to make sure she was alright.
She answered me by way of a nod and I realized she was a bit flustered. I smirked and decided to hand over the ropes to her. I used my silence as a time to take her in. She was beautiful with shiny blonde hair, big blue eyes, a trim body, and those plump, pink lips.
I ended up giving her my order, learned from her name tag that her name was Charlotte, but that she went by Charley, that she had just started working there this season, and introduced myself to her. With that, I took my order and went back to the table Zane was sitting at and spoke.
“You know, on second thought, I think I might need to come here more regularly. It was refreshing to be back on the board and it’s only going to help on the design of the other models in the lineup if I am out here testing some of the boards.”
Laughing at me, Zane replied, “I do not, for one second, doubt your commitment to the business; however, I’m more inclined to believe your change of mind has less to do with riding the boards and more to do with a different kind of ride from Blondie over there.”
I just looked at him and back to her. He was right. No use denying it.
“Alright, man, I’m heading out. You want to ride tomorrow?” Zane asked.
“I think I might just do that.”
Zane shook his head and laughed. “Good ride today. See ya later.”
“You too. Catch you tomorrow.”
I knew the resort was closing soon, so I decided to wait it out and make sure Charley got to her car safely. In the meantime, I reviewed our notes on the board and wrote down some more ideas for the other three models in the series.
When closing time neared I went out, put all my gear and paperwork in my car, and I walked back to the lodge. I timed it perfectly because as I approached the lodge she was walking out with her co-worker.
“Hi, Charley.”
She stopped and looked at me. Then she turned to her friend and introduced us.
“Hannah, this is Wes. Wes, Hannah.”
I nodded to her, “Nice to meet you.”
Her eyes got big and she looked to Charley. Then she smiled big. “You too.”
After a beat of silence, Hannah not so discreetly and rather loudly said, “Well, I’m beat. I have to get out of here.” She hugged Charley and whispered something to her then said, “I’m off tomorrow, but I’ll see you Monday.”
Hannah was gone before Charley could say anything.
“I was hoping I could walk you to your car,” I told her, honestly.
She hesitated, stayed silent while staring at me, and then started walking towards the parking lot. I took that as a sign that she was okay with me seeing her to her car. I glanced to where Hannah had walked and found that she’d made it to her car safely.
Charley surprised me when she finally spoke.
“Do you come here often?”
“I’ve been coming here my whole life. It’s the best place to ride. Do you snowboard?”
For a moment I thought I noticed her step falter, but decided to ignore it.
“No. I’ve never done it. Though, ever since I’ve moved here I’ve secretly wanted to learn,” she answered.
“Seriously? If you want to learn, I’d be happy to show you how to snowboard.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t have a lot of free time.”
Suddenly, she stopped and I realized we were standing next to a bright orange Jeep Rubicon.
“This is yours?” I asked.
She looked away and nodded. When she faced me again I could see a sadness in her eyes. The last thing I wanted was to make her upset so I decided not to push it. I was taken aback at how much seeing that look on her face affected me.
She seemed to quickly swallow whatever it was and smiled. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, though.
“Well, thanks for walking me to my car. I guess I’ll see you around,” she said.
I opened the door for her while she climbed in.
“You absolutely will.”
Chapter 3
Charley
Wes closed my door and waited while I started the Jeep and drove off.
As I drove home I began to replay everything that had happened from the moment Wes walked up to my stand until I got in my car. What was I doing? This was the first time in nearly a year that I even noticed an attractive guy. Who was I kidding? Wes was not attractive. He was devastatingly beautiful. I could not figure out what was going on with me and, quite frankly, it scared me a little.
I had a feeling that Wes planned to make good on his parting words that I’d see him around. I knew
this was a bad idea. I could not come to terms with how I felt at being near him, though. My mind was telling me that being around him was going to lead to heartbreak in one way or another while my heart and body were simultaneously telling me that this guy was a good guy who was worth it.
I made it home and walked in to find Emme had made good on her promise to pick up wine. She had several bottles set out on the island. I walked down the hall toward her bedroom and stopped in front of her door.
“Hey Em, I’m home,” I called as I knocked on her door.
“Hi sweets, I just got out of the shower,” she called. “I’ll be out in a few.”
“Ok. I’m going to hop in the shower quickly and then I’ll meet you on the couch.”
“I’ll get the wine poured. Do you have a preference?”
“Sweet red.”
“Got it.”
I walked to my bedroom, got undressed, and turned the shower on to hot. When the bathroom had sufficiently steamed up I got in and did my thing. I tried not to let my mind wander, but every time I closed my eyes under the spray of the water all I could see were those emerald eyes and that wicked grin. I finished up in the shower and put on my favorite sweatpants and sleep shirt. Tonight was all about comfort. I padded down the hall and back into the living room where Emme was parked on the couch with a glass of wine in one hand, the remote in her other hand, and a glass of wine for me on the coffee table. She had the television on, but I suspected she wasn’t really paying attention to it.
She looked over to me.
“How was the rest of your day?” she asked.
“Interesting, to say the least,” I told her. “I got to Brew Stirs and it was busy as usual. Hannah and I were swamped for several hours until it slowed down about an hour and a half before we closed. Then, I burned my mouth on a cup of coffee when I saw the world’s hottest guy standing at the counter.”
Emme didn’t say anything, but I could see her mind working.
“Emme. I couldn’t speak. I don’t know what happened to me, but it was like I lost control over all of my bodily functions as soon as I saw him. And then, he called me gorgeous. Twice!”