“Sure. But he doesn’t want me using his nickname. That just screams long term commitment.” Alice rolled her eyes.
“Why are you always looking for commitment, Alice? You’re only twenty-five. Live a little. At the first opportunity you should grab that hunk, drag him into the woods, and hump his brains out.”
“Kitty!”
“Hey, I would if I weren’t kind-of seeing Milton.”
“You’re living with Milton,” Alice pointed out. They passed Harrison on his way out of the tent.
“Thanks for giving up your tent, Harrison.” At her words, he blushed a healthy shade of pink.
“Oh, no hardship. Mind the tree root in the very middle. I didn’t realize one got past me.” He nodded and kept on along his way across to the tent belonging to Wayne and Andrew.
Kitty nudged her arm with a pointed look at Harrison. “He’d make a great Knave of Hearts, if he wasn’t so darn nice.”
“Come on, we have to get wood.”
♦♦♦
Sitting on logs the guys dragged out, Alice ate her hot dog. The fire danced in the middle of everyone. Across the flames, she noticed someone watching her. Licking her lips, she met Wayne’s dark gaze. Heat filled her face and it had nothing to do with the roaring fire, but everything to do with the serious study of the male sitting across from her. Firm lips pulled up into a charming grin. She nearly choked as Kitty planted an elbow in her gut.
“Ogling each other over the fire much? Come on give the guy a chance, Alice. Jump down the rabbit hole for once without checking to see how deep it is.”
“You want me to break my neck.”
“Can I have your attention, my fine employees?” Andrew stood up to address them. The fire glinted off his dark head as he braced his hands on his hips in a gesture Alice liked to refer to as his power move. “I hope you’re all prepared to have some fun this weekend while learning how to build better relationships within the company. My hope is that we will be better able to communicate and understand our peers to promote a better work atmosphere. And in the spirit of communication, I want everyone to meet our newest addition to the Blake family. He’s my long lost brother in arms, Wayne Quinton. Stand up big guy.” Wayne stood and raised a hand in greeting. “Wayne has been offered a position as Asset Manager. He will be auditing the company to find ways to tighten our ship. I want everyone to get acquainted with him, but don’t kiss his rear. Trust me, it won’t help. Okay, I’m all through the boring speech. Enjoy tonight because tomorrow we face the climb of a lifetime.”
“Holy cow.” Alice whispered softly, using Wayne’s phrase of choice.
“You might want to refrain from jumping his bones, now. He’ll be in charge of firing you. Of course, if you’re really good, you’ll have job security for a long time to come.” Kitty laughed into her hands.
“Fifteen minute potty breaks and then meet back here for a trust exercise.” Hopps tapped his clipboard.
“I’m going to get some more bug spray and my sweatshirt.” Alice stretched as she stood and hopped over the log. The darkness seemed to swallow her as she stepped carefully toward their tent. Suddenly, her path became illuminated by a steady beam of light.
“I thought you might like to see where you’re going, Alice.” Beside her Wayne held a flashlight in his hand.
“Tell the truth, you didn’t want me breaking my neck to cut short this little adventure.”
“I love your sense of humor.”
“Yeah? Well, I hope you like my marketing skills more.” Their arms brushed as she tried to avoid a dip in the uneven ground. His hand shot out to lightly grip her elbow, supporting her as they came up to the tent.
“We’ll see. Do you have a flashlight to see your way back?”
“I do thanks. Really, you don’t have to be so nice to me.” Alice fought the urge to rub her tingling elbow as he released it.
“Maybe I like being nice to you. Is that such a novelty?”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Men don’t go out of their way to be nice to me.” She crossed her arms over her chest, conscious of him watching from the darkness.
“Good.” He bent to unzip her tent.
“Good? I’m confused. What does that mean?” He stood up and held the tent’s flap for her.
“You’ll figure it out. Get your flashlight, Alice. Seeing is part of the solution.” She wished she could see his eyes, but they were hidden in the darkness.
“Cryptic, Wayne?” He laughed as she ducked into the tent. Using the light from his flashlight, she quickly located hers and turned it on. “Got it. Thanks.” He quickly put his hand up to his face as she beamed him right in the eyes. “Sorry.”
“See you back at the fire, Alice. I think...”
Left alone in the tent she sank down on her sleeping bag. The man’s position gave him the power to fire people at will for not doing their jobs properly. She’d already bumped heads with him and just now she’d blinded him after his act of gallant chivalry. The future did not bode well for her, especially since all she wanted to do was snatch his floppy army hat off his head and lock lips with him.
♦♦♦
She’d placed an enchantment on him. Racking his brains for the past ten minutes hadn’t helped him come up with a reason why the curvy blonde would hold such a strong attraction for him. Besides the obvious, of course. Her beauty didn’t slap you in the face like the red-haired diva sitting next to him. Susan seemed like she could be loads of fun, but her charm didn’t surpass her arrogance. The woman had a model’s body. She knew it and she used it. He couldn’t fault her for it, but when she looked at him the zap of electricity he felt while locking eyes with Alice’s blue gaze didn’t exist. He watched her as she returned to the fire and sat down beside Kitty from accounts. She’d replaced the denim shorts with a pair of black sweat pants and pulled a grey sweatshirt over her taunting black tank top. She’d twisted her long blonde and caramel colored ponytail into a messy bun at the back of her head and two hunks of shorter hair framed her oval face. Beneath wispy bangs, her almond-shaped eyes were the color of the summer sky. He could look into those eyes all day long. God, what is wrong with me?
Blake Industry’s new Asset Manager needed to get his act together and watch more than the way her loving breasts bounced when she laughed. Glancing over at his best friend and new boss, Andrew Howard Blake, he wondered why she wanted the man. Sure, the money and power Andy held would attract any woman, but he highly doubted Alice felt that way. His best traits involved reading people and she seemed down to earth, incredibly sincere, and sexy as hell. Shit!
Mr. Hopps stood near the fire with his clipboard talking about trust and communication, but here he sat thinking about Alice the Marketing Manager’s nice plump ass. He needed a beer and a frigid shower. Perhaps a dip in the lake wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Maybe, he could even talk Alice into taking a walk on the wild side with him. If she didn’t break his neck or drown him. The woman could be quite klutzy in a charming way. He rubbed at the swollen bump on his forehead with a grin. Yup, she’d definitely made an impression on him.
“All right, so I’m going to pair you with what I consider strong and weak communicators. This exercise will help us learn to trust and define our words to help us be more efficient in the workplace. First off, we have our strongest communicator Andrew Blake and the weakest, Alice Grace. You’ll be my first pairing.” Wayne immediately looked to see her reaction to Hopps’ choice. She blinked up at the white-haired guide with a slight frown on her face. He couldn’t tell if it was attributed to her title of weakest link, or being put with the man she liked. It irked the hell out of him when Andrew groaned.
“Watch your hands and feet, Andrew. She’s bound to maim you in some way.” Sue commented loudly. He wanted to defend Alice, but heard his name next on Hopps’ list. Sue leaned closer and wrapped his arm with hers. “Hello, partner. You lucked out because I’m excellent at communication.” She squeezed his arm and blinked sugg
estively up at him. He smothered his own groan and glanced in Alice’s direction. Their gazes collided and held. The familiar zing of anticipation burned through his veins until she dropped her narrowed eyes to the human anaconda beside him. Her lush pink lips opened as she took a deep breath and then stood up. He watched her march around the fire, her fisted hands easily communicating her show of temper. His male ego danced a happy gig as she stopped in front of them.
“Hopps wants the weaker partner to sit on the right. You’ll need to move, Sue.” Her commanding tone sent a flash of heat down his spine that had certain male parts of him standing at attention. In his mind, snippets of her sexy, soft body and her strong voice commanding him to move faster in his bed didn’t help ease his excitement.
“Bossy much, Alice?” Sue stood and Alice sat down beside him. Awareness of her thigh pressing against his had him suppressing a groan as Sue sat down. He leaned forward, placing his arms on his knees in a move to keep her from wrapping around him once more. For some prehistoric reason, buried deep in his psyche, he didn’t want Sue touching him in front of Alice. Not when the sweet scent of her wafted to his nose.
“Donna will now hand each pair a bandana and a puzzle board. Keep the boards upside down in your hands until instructed to turn them over. No peaking allowed. What you’re going to do is blindfold the strongest partner. Then the weaker one will give whispered instructions on how to solve the puzzle to his or her partner. I don’t want to hear any talking out loud. Whispers only. Blindfold your partner when you receive the bandana.”
“This should be fun.” Sue exclaimed beside him. He looked down and noticed that Alice wasn’t wearing her climbing boots. Barefooted, her pink-painted toenails intrigued him. He never considered himself a foot man, but she had the daintiest feet.
“Well, at least we won’t need to move around for this exercise. Safer for you that way.” Alice’s comment made him laugh.
“No doubt.” Andrew spoke as if she’d been talking to him. “She’s a brain at marketing, but also a walking disaster waiting to strike,” Andrew told him over Alice’s head.
“Thanks, boss.” Her dry tone amused him.
“I don’t know. Not knowing what will happen next keeps things interesting.” Her head snapped up and her blue eyes twinkled at him in the reflection of the firelight. He’d never wanted to kiss a woman more. He knew Alice also felt something between them by the way her cheeks blushed prettily. Maybe he could get her to forget their boss? Then Donna stuffed a board in his hands and his vision of Alice’s lovely face disappeared behind the bandana.
The next twenty minutes consisted of Sue’s fetid breath hissing annoyed commands in his ear. The more he did as she asked, the more annoyed she became. All the time, he thought about Alice whispering sweet nothings in Andrew’s ear and it frankly pissed him off. “Finally,” Sue hissed. “You’re not good at taking orders, Hatter.” She placed a hand on his knee and he jumped. “You are quite sexy, though. I’m planning to go back to the lake after this. Why don’t you join me?”
“Uh...” He was saved from commenting when Hopps congratulated everyone on a job well done. Obviously he and Sue were the last to finish.
“Now, the WC’s, weakest communicators, will move one spot to their right and begin the puzzle with a new partner.” It was music to his ears.
“Good luck dealing with her.” Sue patted his leg and got up to move. He still couldn’t see, but he felt the sensation of heat when Alice took her place by his right side. He angled the puzzle closer to her and heard her sharp intake of air as his arm brushed against her. He couldn’t stop grinning as she whispered the first move he needed to make.
“I can’t hear you, Alice. Move closer to my ear.” He damn sure could hear her, but he wanted her closer.
“Okay, hat off.” He felt her remove his hat and brush his hair back behind his ear. He nearly moaned at the sensation, but clenched the board in his hands as if to keep from grabbing her soft body. She leaned so close that her lips brushed his earlobe as she whispered.
“Slide the top piece to the left. Good. Now the second piece in the second row moves up. Nice.” She calmly followed every command with a reward. He loved it. Disappointment mixed with pride as she whispered that they were finished. “Excellent work Wayne. We’re the first ones done. And Mr. Hopps looks...perplexed. You’re right. I just can’t win with that man.”
“Great job Alice. I’d happily work with you any day.” Or night, given the opportunity. She remained quiet beside him. “Are you all right?” He leaned in her direction to whisper.
“Yes.” He heard a hesitation in her tone.
“Yes, but?”
“You’re too good to be true. Are you a spy sent here to get me fired?”
“No, why would you get fired?”
“Because all I want to do right now is jump in your lap.” He barely heard her, but he didn’t miss the soft brush of her lips against his earlobe. A shiver of sharp heat stole his breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” He felt her pull away, but before he could give her carte-blanche to any part of his anatomy she slid over to her next partner and he found himself stuck with Harrison.
♦♦♦
Alice could not believe what an idiot she’d been to come on to the Asset Manager. Her home, her car, even her poodle, Princess’ future depended on her paycheck. She should have known better than to kiss his ear. But good heavens the man smelled eatable! She tripped on a root sticking up and barely caught herself from falling into Kitty. As usual, she was at the back of the pack. She did notice that Wayne had slowed his pace. Though he hadn’t approached her, she sensed his gaze on her more than once that morning as they prepared for the hike. Of course, the man couldn’t move without Susan right at his elbow. She seemed particularly aggressive with him; even going so far as to ask him to check her over for ticks. The slut!
She heaved a sigh and tried to concentrate on her footing, and breathing. The climb showed her that she needed to start exercising more. Her body was out of shape and protesting every step. Maybe walking Princess on the dog trail every Saturday morning would help the painful stitch in her side? Then they could finish the morning with a hot caramel latte and a chocolate croissant. A giggle bubbled up in her throat. Kitty turned to give her a concerned look.
“I’m all right. Keep going.” She stopped for a second to catch her breath.
“I can wait for you.” Kitty offered.
“No, keep moving. I’m fine.”
“Okay, don’t fall too far behind though.” She nodded and leaned against a big tree. Turning, she looked back down the trail. It wasn’t a steep grade, but her calves and thighs were aching.
“Maybe a bear will come eat me. I could just stay here and wait for one. Wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“I wouldn’t worry so much about bears.” She squeaked in surprise and turned to see Wayne standing next to her. “I’d be more worried about Hopps having a conniption when you didn’t show up.” His saucy grin set her heart to pounding even harder. He appeared calm and refreshed even though he carried a bundle of heavy-looking ropes and a backpack. She searched for sweat and didn’t see one bead anywhere on his handsome face.
“I’m tempted to head back down the mountain just to see him foam at the mouth.”
“That would be a sight.” His grin faded into a look of concern as he studied her face. “Are you all right, Alice?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing a long soak in a hot tub and a fistful of painkillers won’t cure. I need to lose some pounds. This body isn’t built for climbing like a mountain goat.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with your body.” She studied his face, but couldn’t find any sign of subterfuge.
“Um...about what I said last night...” She stopped as he lifted his hand with a cheeky grin that lit up the gold ring in his dark eyes.
“Alice, the last thing I want to hear is your apology for acknowledging this heat between us. Just be glad there were twenty people sittin
g around the fire or I might have ravished you right there on that log.” The hungry look in his eyes and the way his voice dropped seductively had more than her toes curling. She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry at the thought of his hands on her ass as they kissed.
“Oh, my.” She whispered and he laughed.
“Yeah, let’s get going before I get us both fired before my first day on the job.” He reached out a hand and she slowly placed hers in it. They both jumped at the contact. Then he smiled and tugged her away from the tree. “Watch your footing, Alice. We wouldn’t want to go falling down any rabbit holes.”
“I would if I got to land on top of you,” she whispered under her breath, but his happy laughter told her he’d heard. To change the subject she stared at his floppy hat. “Hey, why does Andrew call you the Mad Hatter?”
“We went to basic training together. I wore this hat a lot. He dubbed me the Hatter and it stuck.”
“You really love it then.”
“I do. It belonged to my grandfather. He served in World War II and then participated in Vietnam. I wear it to remind me of him. Plus it’s given me a lot of luck.”
“I see.”
“What do you see?” He angled a questioning look her way.
“A sweet guy who’s too good to be true.” He laughed, but the grin stayed on his face as they hiked through the trees.
Wayne held her hand the rest of the way up, and released it just before they met up with the rest of the group. Following him out of the trees, she immediately stopped to enjoy the scene before her. Sunshine from a cloudless sky lovingly kissed the trees and lake below and all around them. The Adirondack Mountains of New York were known for their rugged beauty, and she couldn’t deny the majesty of the land before her. Wayne’s indrawn breath next to her had her glancing his way. She realized with a start that he wasn’t looking at the scenery, but at her.
“Beautiful.” He whispered softly.
“There you two are! Miss Grace, why am I not surprised that you would be the last one to the party?” Hopps shook his head. “Late as usual. Well, the last two shall be the first two over the side. Come get your gear on.”
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