“But do you date terrible skiers?” I asked.
Luke ignored my question. “You ready to do this?”
“To fall down the hill? Sure.”
Luke shoved off, staying a few feet ahead of me as I followed him much slower and much more hesitantly. I noticed a group of kids to my left that was quickly passing me. “I’m being passed by toddlers,” I grumbled.
“They have a lower center of gravity. They are cheating.” Luke waved a hand. “Don’t worry about them, just focus on me.”
“Babe, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off your cute ass all day,” I said. Just as I was about to feel proud of myself for making it more than ten yards without falling, I straightened too much and wiped out, sliding hard into Luke.
Even a pro like Luke couldn’t dodge my epic crash. He fell on top of me and we lay in a heap, our skis tangled together. “Wow, Em, you really did fall hard for me,” he teased.
“I think I broke...everything,” I said with a groan.
“Alright. Let’s take a break.” Luke sat up and reached down to take off his skis. When he was done, he started removing mine. “Maybe you’d be better at snowboarding.”
“Snowboarding? I’m really good at sitting inside and getting day-drunk on spiked hot chocolate,” I said. “And I’m willing to teach you.”
Luke reached over and tugged on my ponytail. “Thank you for trying. I know that this isn’t really your thing and you only came because it’s important to me.”
“It would probably be good for us to have some hobbies that don’t involve a sex fortress,” I said.
“Why?” Luke asked skeptically. “We’re really good at that hobby.”
“We might get bored. Eventually.” I laughed at Luke’s offended grimace. “Never mind. That’s not going to happen. But we should have a hobby that we can do in public.”
Luke got to his feet and started piling our gear together. I stood and dusted snow from every inch of my body. My knee was throbbing as I started walking down the hill.
Luke noticed my limp. “Are you injured?”
“I don’t know. My knee hurts, but so does most of me.” I smiled at him. “I’ll be fine after I get some rest.”
“Always looking for an excuse to get back in bed,” Luke said, heading to his truck.
“You didn’t even get to ski, Luke.” I felt bad that he’d wasted his day watching me fall on my butt.
“That’s alright. I had fun with you.” He shifted the gear in his arms to lower the tailgate. “Besides, I’ll get a lot of skiing in next weekend.”
“What’s next weekend?”
“Right. I forgot that you don’t know everything about my life.” Luke racked the skis and then handed me my regular boots. I sat on the tailgate as I changed out of my ski boots. “Some of my buddies will be in town for a bachelor party.”
“Yours?” I joked as I removed the helmet that Luke had insisted I wear.
“You wish.” Luke winked at me. “No, do you remember Jared Boon?”
“From school? Yeah. Someone agreed to marry him?” I said.
Luke laughed. “Apparently. Get this, the girl he’s marrying is named Courtney Doggle.”
“No!” I slapped his arm. “Please tell me they’ve agreed to call themselves the Boondoggles.”
“I’m pushing for it.” Luke stepped between my legs and pulled me toward the end of the tailgate. “Whatever hobby you and I settle on should involve fewer clothes.”
“You don’t find me sexy in all these layers?” I said, giving him my flirtiest look.
“There’s literally nothing you wouldn’t look sexy wearing, darling.” Luke kissed the tip of my nose. “That’s the problem.”
I pulled back. “We shouldn’t be doing this out here.”
When we’d both been wearing our goggles and helmets, it had seemed unlikely that anyone would recognize us. But now, we could easily be identified by a resort employee. “Better get you home then,” Luke said. He lifted me easily and carried me to the passenger side.
“Is this a new service you’re providing?” I asked. “Because I could get used to this.”
“Are you unhappy with the services I was providing previously?” Luke asked.
“It’s good to have options.” I had forgotten my previous warning and happily leaned in when Luke kissed me. It wasn’t until after he pulled away that I noticed a familiar face watching us from just a few yards away. “Luke.”
He saw the panicked look on my face and followed my gaze. “Shit. Is that Collin?”
“Yep.”
“Any chance he didn’t see me stick my tongue down your throat?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We’re busted.”
“Maybe he didn’t see us,” Luke said unconvincingly. “Let’s try not to worry about it right now.”
I decided to follow Luke’s advice. When I went into work on Monday, things seemed normal. Katie invited me to go with her and some other staff members to get a drink after work and I decided to go. Luke was working late like always and I needed to make new friends. I was starting to become one of those pathetic people who sat around waiting for her boyfriend to call or stop by.
At first, it was just a small group of us. Katie had invited her friends Hailey and Chris. After we’d had a round of drinks, three more resort staff members showed up and one of them was Collin. He didn’t say anything to me about Luke, but I could feel him staring at me.
Collin worked in the rental shop and we had interacted a lot due to our overlapping job responsibilities. He had already asked me out twice since we started working together and both times I had politely declined. When he’d asked me if I had a boyfriend, I’d told him no. I was sure that it was only a matter of time before he confronted me about what he had seen. I just hoped he wouldn’t do it in front of everyone else.
When Luke and Greg strolled through the door after our third round of drinks, my heart dropped into my stomach. I hadn’t told Luke I was going there after work and the surprise on his face was obvious. He covered quickly, exchanging friendly hellos with everyone before heading to the bar with Greg.
“Cooper is too good to hang out with us, I see,” Collin grumbled.
“Oh stop.” Katie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he just wants us to be able to have a good time without worrying about what the boss is thinking.”
“I think he’s just a stuck-up prick,” Collin said.
I pushed away from the table. “I need to pee,” I said, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I wasn’t just making up an excuse to leave the table, I really did need to use the bathroom. While I was in there, I splashed some water on my face and tried to sober up. I hadn’t realized that I was buzzed until I stood up and I knew it was risky to be around the others with anything but maximum awareness. One slip and they would all know about Luke.
“You can’t hide from me,” Collin said when I stepped out of the bathroom. We were alone in the secluded hallway that was at the far end of the bar from where our friends were sitting.
“I wasn’t hiding from you.” I looked him right in the eye. “Were you waiting out here for me?”
“I saw you with Cooper,” Collin said. “Don’t bother denying it. I know you two are screwing.”
“My personal business isn’t your concern,” I said.
He laughed. “Let’s cut to the chase. If you want me to keep my mouth shut and not tell everyone that you are screwing our boss, it’s going to cost you.”
“Are you extorting me?” I said, disbelieving. “I’m not going to pay you to keep your mouth shut.”
“I don’t want your money.” Collin took an aggressive step forward. “All you have to do is put your mouth to work.”
“Excuse you?” I glared at him. “You have got to be kidding.”
“Come on. I know you aren’t a prude. Don’t even try to pretend that you don’t use those lips of yours on Cooper all the time. I’m only going to make you use them on me once.” He grinned. “I’m a g
entleman.”
I tried to step around him, but he grabbed my arm. “Don’t touch me,” I growled.
“I’m going to have to touch you a little bit,” he said. “But if you cooperate, it won’t hurt.”
He slammed me against the wall so fast that it knocked the breath from my lungs. His hand slid under my shirt a second later as I was gasping for air. As he leaned forward to kiss me, I brought my knee up as hard as I could, connecting with his groin in a satisfying blow. Collin let out an animalistic growl as he doubled over. I shoved him aside and hurried down the hallway.
When I stepped into the bar area, our table of friends was still obliviously laughing and drinking. I was struggling to breathe normally and my shoulder hurt from where it had been slammed into the wall.
“Em.” Luke was suddenly standing before me, looking beyond worried. “What happened to you?”
“I don’t...Collin...” I couldn’t think clearly. If I told Luke what Collin had done, there was a very good chance he would do something that would get him arrested.
“What did Collin do?” Luke asked, grabbing my arm.
I winced hard when his hand closed around the exact spot that Collin had grabbed. “It’s over,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“What’s over? Emery, tell me what happened.” Luke was trying to get me to look at him, but I was staring across the bar. An entire table of my coworkers was now watching us.
“Luke,” I said quietly. “We can’t do this here.”
Luke was about to let go of my arm when Collin appeared, looking disheveled. He wasn’t walking completely upright and his nostrils flared when he saw Luke.
“I don’t know what kind of kinky shit you and your girlfriend are into, but that bitch just kneed me in the junk,” Collin snarled.
Even if Luke hadn’t seen me looking so flustered, he would’ve known that I would never have attacked Collen unless he’d done something to provoke me. And even if none of that had happened, Luke still would’ve done what he did next simply because Collin had called me a bitch.
Before I could stop him, Luke slammed Collin against the wall. “What did you say, you piece of shit?”
“Luke!” I was about to grab him when Greg appeared suddenly and pulled Luke back.
“I will fucking sue you!” Collin yelled.
Greg stepped in front of Luke and said to Collin, “You need to leave. Now. And you aren’t going to sue anyone. I saw everything you did to Emery and so did the camera. If you’re lucky, she won’t have you arrested.”
“She’s not going to do a damn thing because she doesn’t want everyone to know she’s screwing Cooper,” Collin said in a loud voice.
I saw Luke’s hand clench into a fist and I instinctively put my hand on his arm before immediately yanking it away. It didn’t matter. Everyone in the bar knew exactly what was unfolding before them. Luke said, “Get him out of here, Greg. If I see him again, he’s not going to get off so easily.”
Greg grabbed Collin by the back of the neck and shoved him toward the door. When Luke turned to me, he was angrier than I had ever seen him.
“Luke, you need to take a deep breath and calm down,” I said. It was so hard not to reach out and touch him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, the anger immediately replaced by worry. Luke touched my cheek, right there in front of everyone, and I flinched and pulled back.
“Don’t,” I said quietly. “Everyone is watching.”
“Em, there’s nothing left to hide,” he said, touching me again. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. My shoulder is kind of sore from when he shoved me against the wall and I reinjured the knee that I hurt when we went skiing, but it was worth it.”
“I’ll get you some ice,” he said.
“No. I just want to go home.” I winced. “You were my ride this morning.”
“I’ll drive you home.”
I sighed. “Everyone is going to see us leave together, Luke.”
“Em, they all know we’re sleeping together. Collin made sure of that.” Luke took me by surprise when he leaned close and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’ll get your coat. Wait here.”
He walked straight over to the table and Katie handed him my coat. I heard Luke exchange some pleasantries, telling them all to have a good night and get home safe. I had no idea how he was able to be so composed, but he was smiling when he returned. “At least we don’t have to pretend we aren’t in love anymore,” he said, kissing me again before helping me into my coat.
“What a relief,” I said, leaning into him when he put his arm around me. “I don’t think I was fooling anyone anyway.”
“Yeah, you really couldn’t stop undressing me with your eyes,” Luke joked. “It’s like, I have a face, Scott.”
“And a beautiful face at that.” I kissed his cheek as we stepped outside. It was snowing yet again.
“You’re limping pretty bad,” Luke said. “Maybe you should go to the doctor.”
I did my best to walk normally the last few steps to his truck. “Or, we could go home and you can be my doctor.”
“I have to warn you, my services are very expensive.” Luke opened the door. “Your place or mine tonight?”
“Mine. I’m going to make you the best dinner you’ve ever had and then give you the best sex you’ve ever had.” I gave him a long kiss. “Seeing you so alpha male in there really turned me on.”
“Even good guys can turn bad when they are provoked,” Luke said. “Nothing provokes me more than seeing a guy treat you badly.”
I suddenly understood the intense anger I’d seen in his eyes. “Because of Eric?”
“Because you are perfect and you deserve to be treated that way.” He took a step back. “Now, get in the truck. I’m hungry and horny and my girlfriend has promised to take care of both those things as soon as we get home.”
“Your girlfriend sounds amazing,” I teased.
“She is.” He winked at me. “Like I said, she’s perfect.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I was expecting my work life to be awkward after that night, but then Katie broke the news that everyone had already figured out that Luke and I were dating.
“You two were constantly staring at each other with obvious lust and you had these stupid smiles on your faces all the time,” she explained. “It didn’t take much effort to figure it out.”
Katie also said that everyone was happy for us. The staff loved working for Luke and they were glad he’d finally found someone that made him happy and convinced him to take some time away from work. According to Katie, only Collin had been bitter about the whole thing and that was only because he’d had a crush on me.
Despite our newfound freedom to be open about our relationship, Luke and I still kept things professional at work. It helped that we were both busier than ever. The resort’s busy season was underway. Luke had been impressed by the business plan I’d thrown together for expanding the non-seasonal business and now I was working on solidifying the details.
We were both so busy that we didn’t even have a sleepover for three nights in a row. When Luke called me into his office on Friday, I was starting to worry that we were already growing apart after just three weeks of dating.
“Lucas Cooper? Is that you?” I teased as I stood across from his desk. “You look so different.”
“Ha.” He flashed me a killer smile. “It hasn’t been that long, Em.”
“It has been for us,” I replied. “I’m starting to feel jealous of Greg.”
“Don’t worry. That’s a strictly professional relationship. We rarely see each other naked,” Luke joked.
I dropped into the chair across from Luke. “That’s a shame. Greg is missing out.”
“Contrary to how it may seem, I didn’t call you in here to flirt, Scott.” He leaned forward. “My buddies will be here in a couple of hours and I’ve still got a ton of work to do. I’m hoping you can help me out and show them around until I can get away.
”
“Because I’m your favorite employee and I am an excellent tour guide?” I said with a smile.
“Because you’re my girlfriend and you already know some of these guys from school,” Luke said. “And also because I saw how efficiently you handled Collin, so I know you can take charge if things get out of hand.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. I’m running to the doctor in a few minutes to get my knee checked out, but I should be back in about an hour.”
“That’s right. Do you need a ride?” Luke asked.
“No.” I felt a familiar flush of affection for him. Even as busy as he was, Luke was still being an amazing boyfriend. “I’m fine. Thank you for offering.”
Luke nodded absently, his mind already back on work. “I’ll be busy with the guys most of the night, but I can swing by your place later.”
“I’ll probably be asleep,” I said, knowing there was no way Luke would be there any time early.
“That’s alright. I miss sleeping next to you,” Luke said.
I checked the time and stood. “I’ve got to head out. Do you need anything else from me?”
Luke stood, too. “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“A kiss.” Luke leaned over his desk and I did the same. It was a chaste kiss by our standards, but it still made my knees weak. “Love you, Em.”
“Love you more, Luke.”
My doctor visit was quick and mostly painless. My knee was bruised, but otherwise fine. I also got a flu shot while I was there and had some bloodwork done since I hadn’t been to a doctor in quite a while. I got back to the resort just as Luke’s friends were arriving.
I’d gone to school with most of them and it was good to see some friendly faces. We’d lost touch after I moved to Chicago, but it was like old times as I took them to the bar and ordered a round of drinks. Luke had given me strict orders to put everything on his credit card, so the guys were happily ordering more drinks than was necessary to get six guys drunk.
“Em, you aren’t drinking?” Jared asked.
“No. I need to stay at the top of my game. Luke has put me in charge of all of you and I need to be focused,” I teased.
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