by Nina West
To say Bernadette Mitchell is unhappy about this Alaska job is an understatement. At first she flat-out told me that I wasn’t allowed to go. I hung up the phone on her that night, the first time I’d ever done that. Probably the first time anyone’s ever had the nerve to hang up on a woman like her. I half expected her to drive the nine hours and slap me upside the head.
Two days later, after she’d cooled off, she called and tried to persuade me. I was making a grave mistake, leaving Greenbank and Jed. We’d be away from the chaos of Chicago and the temptations that made Jed stray. We’d have each other, day in and day out, and I could remind him of why we’re so perfect together.
I know it’s not going to be that simple.
So I dug my heels in. I’ve been “good girl Abbi” all my life, sitting next to my parents at church service every Sunday, keeping company with like-minded people, staying away from the “bad kids” who drank and smoked pot and had sex. Always listening to Mama.
Maybe if I’d just spread my legs for Jed, my heart wouldn’t have been smashed into a thousand pieces.
While she’s my mama and I know she wants what’s best for me, she, too, thinks that Jed and I belong together, and that our reunion is inevitable, once he gets “the devil” out of his system. I had to bite my tongue before I pointed out to her that the girl currently sucking Jed’s dick is a significant obstacle in this imminent reconciliation of ours.
I scan the approaching buildings, my excitement triumphing over my exhaustion. “Where is it?”
“Wolf Cove is just around the bend.”
Wolf Cove Hotel in Wolf Cove, Alaska. “How do you go about renaming a cove, anyway?”
John chuckles softly again. He’s such a pleasant man. “The cove has been Wolf Cove for hundreds of years now. The Wolf family has a lot of history up here, with the gold mines. That’s where they made their first fortune. Though I’m sure they could afford to have it renamed, if it came to that. They’re a successful lot. Generous, too.”
Man, to be a part of that family. They must have a lot of money, to risk opening a location like this all the way up here, and set their employees up the way they’re doing for us, and all the benefits. “Hey, thanks for coming back for me. I didn’t want to stay in a motel.” It’s just John and me on the ferry, and a deck full of crates and supplies. He was kind enough to make another trip across the bay and pick me up after my flight delay. Apparently he carted a full load of college-aged employees over hours ago.
“We didn’t want to leave you stranded. ’Specially on the first day. I woulda had to come back for the supplies first thing in the morning, anyway.”
I glance at my watch with dismay. “I’ve missed the orientation session.” It started at seven, almost an hour ago. The skies are deceptively light for this time of evening. “I can’t believe how bright it still is.”
“Wait ’til June.”
“Less than five hours of darkness on the equinox, right?”
He grins. “Someone’s been doin’ her homework.”
“I like to be prepared.” The day I applied for the job, I ran home and researched Alaska late into the night instead of studying for my exams. The further I dug, the more excited I became, and the harder I prayed that I’d get the job.
“Well, I’m sure one of the ladies will be kind enough to fill you in on what you missed. They seemed like a nice group. Polite youngsters like yourself, for the most part anyway.”
At twenty-one, it feels strange to be referred to as a “youngster,” but I guess next to John, who’s got to be pushing seventy, that’s exactly what I am.
The ferry rounds the crop of small islands and turns toward the cove. John points to the massive building ahead. “And there’s Wolf Cove Hotel.”
My eyes widen. “Whoa. The brochure pictures weren’t fake.” And they don’t do this place justice.
John chuckles again. “No, they certainly weren’t.”
I stare at it, mesmerized. The main lodge towers over the water. Even from this distance, I can see that the lodge is grandiose in its design and massive in size. I can’t make out the details to appreciate it yet, but there’s no doubt it’s something to be admired.
“They just made the finishing touches two weeks ago. Been working on it for almost three years, now.”
“Is it still opening on Sunday?” Belinda, the woman who called to formally hire me, said that these first few days would be focused on training and last-minute preparations.
“I’ll be ferrying in the first guests at noon. I’ve been bringin’ employees in by the boatload over the last two days. There are a lot of you. A high staff-to-guest ratio, I heard someone say.”
“How is the Wolf family going to make any money?”
“I’m guessing the twelve-hundred-dollar-a-night price tag will help.”
My mouth drops open. “Who can afford that?” I barely scraped together the eleven hundred I needed for my plane ticket here.
“What’s that famous line from that movie? Oh, shucks. You may be too young to remember. The one with the baseball and all those cornfields. ‘If you build it … ’”
I smile. It’s only my dad’s favorite movie.
He winks.
We fall into a comfortable silence as we approach, and I realize that I’ve been rolling my promise ring around my finger unconsciously this entire time. It’s been three months since Jed and I broke up and I haven’t been able to bring myself to remove it. Now, I slip it off, letting the cheap metal rest in the palm of my hand. A part of me—the hurt, angry part—wants to toss it into the water and be done with it. A symbol of my faith in Jed.
But I can’t bring myself to do it just yet. So, I slip the ring into my pocket and try to focus on the months to come.
Meet Henry Wolf tonight!
Titles By Nina West
The Wolf Hotel Series:
Tempt Me (#1)
Break Me (#2)
Teach Me (#3)
Surrender To Me (#4)
Dirty Empire Series:
Sweet Mercy (#1)
Gabriel Fallen (#2)
Dirty Empire (#3)
Fallen Empire (#4)
About the Author
Nina West is the author of the sinfully sexy and highly addictive The Wolf Hotel and Dirty Empire series. If you enjoyed her writing, please follow her on:
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Nina West also writes Contemporary Romance and Women’s Fiction under the pen name K.A. Tucker. She is the internationally bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, The Simple Wild, Be the Girl, and Say You Still Love Me. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Oprah Mag, and First for Women. For more information, please visit her website