by Holly Jaymes
Thief
Sasha
I hurried out of the meeting room and to my office, shutting the door before I let out a scream. It was bad enough that my sexy-eyed Valentine stole my job and was now my boss, but he thought I was a hick-town event planner. He thought Pax and Victoria’s wedding was beneath him. He also thought that Lily and Wyatt’s wedding, and Tucker and Emma’s were low class. He was practically laughing at me. Jerk!
And he saw me naked. Oh God. I dropped my head onto my desk, wondering how my life had come apart so quickly. He probably thought I was a skank too. I didn’t know him and I had sex with him. Would he use that against me? He seemed so nice last night, but today in the bright light, his charm seemed fake.
My phone rang. I didn’t even lift my head as I picked up. “Sasha Crawford.”
“Hey, Sacha. It’s Allie Dalton.”
“Oh, hi.” I straightened in my chair and pulled out a pad of paper to take notes. Nothing like work to distract me from the mess of my life.
“I was calling about setting up that appointment next week,” she said.
I pulled up my calendar on the computer. “What’s good for you?”
“Tuesday? Out at Pine Rest? Ten?”
I checked the date. “I can be there.” I typed in the meeting and time.
“I’m so glad. This year Mason and I have big plans, and we just can’t pull it off on our own.” Her tone sounded relieved.
“Won’t you be having a baby this summer?”
“Yep. But I’m due in June and we want the retreat the first week of May. But it’s also partly why we want to hire you to do more this year. I imagine I’ll be pretty big. And Willa is pregnant now too. She’s not due until October, but still. I think Mason wants to have the retreat as early as possible.”
I made note of the retreat date in my calendar and on my notes as well. “We’ll get it done.”
“Excellent. Thanks so much.”
I hung up the phone, and stood to go to Carolyn’s office as I normally did when I was making plans to take on a project. But then I remembered Reece. Was he still here?
I poked my head out of my doorway and looked down toward Carolyn’s office.
“He’s still there,” Janice said. She was in one of her prairie-shirt-and-skirt sets, and had her long, mostly gray hair, in two braids. She was too young to be a hippie, but clearly would have fit in. “I don’t know why you don’t go down there and give him a piece of your mind, Sash. I found his comments very offensive.”
“I did too. But he’s my boss now. I don’t want to agitate him on the first day.” Even so, I also didn’t want to be a coward. I wasn’t usually one to not speak my mind. I took a breath and walked down to Carolyn’s office, knocking on the door.
“Come in,” Carolyn called.
I stepped in. She was at her desk and Reece was in a chair in front of it. He smiled, but looked away. I wondered if he felt weird too.
“Something up?” Carolyn asked.
“Allie Dalton and Mason McLean.”
She sat back in her chair. “Ah, the big wellness retreat. Do they want you to consult again?”
“No. They want to hire me to help plan it.”
“I thought you did weddings,” Reece said.
“We’re not so big that we specialize,” Carolyn told him. “And even if we did, I’m sure Allie and Mason would still hire Sasha. She did their weddings too.”
“One was outside even. No streamers or twinkle lights or anything,” I said sarcastically.
He rolled his eyes, and I felt like a stupid idiot.
“What is the retreat?” he asked.
“I don’t know if you know Mason-“ I started.
“Sure. Fitness trainer to the superhero stars,” he said.
“Right. Allie Dalton owns the yoga studio, and last year they put on a wellness retreat. It’s really Allie’s thing, and Mason is more of the money man, but he does participate. It’s going to be in May, so Tucker might be able to join in as well.”
“Where is it held?” he asked.
I gave him a look. “Pine Rest. That old resort you think is too low-class.”
He huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry I offended you.”
I ignored him. “They want me to meet them out there. I think Mason and Tucker along with the Minors have added some new things. A dock is going in as well.”
“Sounds great, Sasha, as usual.” Carolyn gave him a look that I interpreted to mean that he should trust me and my work. I wondered what she’d think if she knew I’d had sex with him.
“I want to go with you,” he said.
“Normally, the manager stays on site,” I said. It wasn’t totally true. Carolyn was often a second mind or set of hands if needed for an event.
“It was suggested to me that I needed to get a better sense of the people and places here in Eden Lake. This sounds like a great way to do that, especially since this Pine Rest seems to be taking business from the resorts. I’d like to see it. Maybe the home office should know about it.”
Just what we needed. A bunch of flashy rich people running around in the woods.
“He has a point. And he’s the manager, so…” Carolyn didn’t have to finish. Her expression to me said to give him a chance and help him out.
“It’s next Tuesday at ten,” I said, unenthusiastically.
He smiled. “I’ll ride with you.”
Panic flared. We couldn’t ride out together. People might get the wrong idea.
“Good idea. You can show him around a bit too. Get the lay of the land,” Carolyn said.
I hoped I wasn’t gaping. “I’ve got to get back to work.” I didn’t wait to be dismissed. I rushed back to my office, shutting the door and burying myself in confirmation calls and other party logistics.
At lunch, I considered eating from the vending machines, but after drinking and a decadent, delicious dinner last night, I knew I should eat something healthy. Again, I checked the hall to see if I could leave without running into Reece.
I’d made it out the door, and was nearly at my car when I heard:
“Sasha.”
Crap. I wondered if I could pretend not to hear him. But then he trotted up to me.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, looking around to see if anyone had noticed us.
He frowned. “I’m talking to you.”
“Someone might see us. I love my job and I don’t want to be fired.”
He sighed. “I’ve made a point to talk to everyone so no one will think it’s weird that I’m talking to you.”
“What do you want?” I knew I was being pissy, but he stole my job and thought I wasn’t good at it.
“First, I’m sorry if I upset you.”
“Fine.” I started to walk off.
“What is wrong with you? Where’s the woman I met last night?”
“Shhh….” Again I scanned the area. Luckily, no one from the office was around. Of course, anyone else around could hear and start talking. Gossip in Eden Lake was a hot commodity.
“Why are you being so weird?”
“You’re my boss and you saw me naked. That’s weird,” I said, in a low tone.
He leaned forward. “I’m your boss and you saw me naked. It works both ways.”
I jerked back. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. Still. Last night might be a regular night on the town for you, but for me-”
“You know, if I suggested you got around, you’d slap me and then file a sexual harassment complaint. Why do you think it’s okay for you to accuse me of being a Lothario?”
God, is he going to file a complaint against me? No, because then he’d have admit to having sex with me, although we didn’t know we were colleagues, so he could skirt by that issue. It was clear now that we worked together, so my suggestion could be considered harassment. Dang it.
“But for the record,” he added, “I don’t engage in hookups with strangers as a normal course of my life. And again, for the record, I didn
’t think you did either.”
I didn’t know why that was such a relief. “Oh. Well. Okay then.”
He studied me like he was trying to figure me out. “One more for the record. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to see you this morning.”
“That makes two of us.” I kept the fact that my disappointment was that he took my job, along with not being able to see him again. But at this point, if there wasn’t a non-fraternization rule, I still wouldn’t see him because he stole my job.
We stood staring at each other for a moment but finally I got my wits about me. “Is that it?”
“Where are you off to?” he asked.
“Lunch.”
“Can I come?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, you can’t come. People will talk.”
“There’s no rule about having lunch with staff.”
I glared at him. “Are you going to think of me naked if you come to lunch with me.”
He winced. “Maybe. You’re right. Have a nice lunch.” He gave me a nod and headed back into the building. He stopped and turned. “Sasha?”
“What?” I growled.
“Would you think of me naked?”
Because the answer was yes, I turned without answering, and walked away.
Coming Home
Reece
I took her response to my question about whether or not she’d think about me naked as a “yes.” Perhaps it was perverse of me, but I couldn’t imagine that our night together last night wasn’t as amazing for her as it was for me. There was a magic about it, probably because it was just two lonely people finding each other. The rest of the world had faded away.
But now we were back in the real world. In this world, she and I couldn’t be naked together again. Not unless one of us was willing to quit their job. She said she loved her work, so it wouldn’t be her. Me? I didn’t love my job, but I didn’t have a backup, and so I needed this job. At least until I was able to make more from my writing.
I went back into the building and called a new property agent. I needed a place to live. My belongings were sitting in a U-Haul truck at the U-Haul rental and storage place, but I didn’t want to leave them there too long. Yesterday, my goal was to find a place and I’d be moving in today. Since I was stood up, I’d have to find a place today.
The next agent asked for the specifications I wanted in my new home, and then had me meet her at the office. Twenty minutes later, she had me previewing properties.
“This is a one bedroom, I asked for two,” I said as we toured a condo. It had a great view of the lake, but I needed an office.
“I know. It has a separate dining area that you could use as an office since it has an eat-in kitchen. And it has the best view of all the places we’ll see today. Many people will live in a cardboard box if it has a great view.”
“Not me.”
Her smile fell and she probably thought I lacked a sense of humor. At the moment I did. I was homeless and the only thing this town had going for it, in my opinion, I couldn’t indulge in anymore because I was her boss.
We looked at a few more properties, but I wasn’t feeling any of them. It was getting late in the afternoon and I was beginning to think I’d be homeless a little while longer.
“I’ve got another one we can look at. If this isn’t it, I can pull some more tomorrow, but these are all the ones that fit your specifications. You may have to go up in your rental price for other options.”
“Let’s look at this last place and then I’ll think about my specifications.” Or I’d just settle for something I didn’t like.
We drove into a residential area filled with mid-century craftsman-style homes.
“Tucker McLean’s brother, Mason, lives there with his wife. They grew up there, although Mason has done a lot of work on it.”
I looked at the house which seemed quite modest for a man of Mason’s means. But perhaps he was sentimental if it was his childhood home. I wasn’t callous, but I would never live in my childhood home. First, I’d have to decide which one because we moved around a lot, usually because my parents couldn’t afford to pay the rent. Our moving nearly always occurred late at night.
“Here we are.” She parked in the driveway.
“This is in my price range?” The home seemed too nice. It was a craftsman-style house with stone and dark wood, making it fit with the wooded lot. There were flower boxes on the railing of the porch, although since it was the middle of winter, they were empty.
“It is. And it will be gone tomorrow if you don’t take it tonight. It just came available today. It’s about seventeen hundred square feet. Three bedrooms, with the main one on the ground floor. Plus, there is a small office, or you can use the upstairs loft.”
I followed her up the front steps. “Why is it so cheap?”
“The owners decided they didn’t want to raise the rent after Mr. Pierce moved to the Eden Lake Living facility last week. I told them they could, but they didn’t feel the need. They’re really nice people. Much nicer than the previous landlords.” She opened the front door.
I stepped into a large living room with wood floors and a stone fireplace. It felt like the sort of place where a writer would live. “I’ll take it.”
She stopped short and looked at me. “You haven’t seen it yet. The office is over here to the right near the half-bath. And across is the main bedroom.”
I humored her and checked out the spaces. The office was a bit small, but doable. Or I could use one of the upstairs bedrooms. She said there was an attic, and I suspected that it had the large gabled window I’d seen from outside.
“Yep. I’ll take it. Where do I sign?”
Two hours later, I’d signed the papers, paid my deposit, gotten my U-Haul and prepared to unload. I’d even found a couple of kids I paid to help me move my couch, bed and desk, the only pieces I couldn’t move myself.
I was closing up the truck and paying the kids when a couple walked up to me. They were middle-aged and friendly looking. In this neighborhood, they were probably the couple that took nightly walks and knew everyone. Of course, it was freezing out now so why they’d be out walking, I didn’t know.
“Mr. Alexander?” The man asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m George Lane and this is my wife Carly. We’re your new landlord.”
Oh. I better behave then. I stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you. What a great place this is.”
“Kat told us you said you’d take it the minute you walked in,” Carly said. I could tell it pleased her that I’d recognized what a great house it was right off the bat.
I nodded. “It just felt right.”
Carly smiled. “We’re so glad. It’s always nerve-wracking when a property needs to be rented. I’m glad it found a tenant right away.”
“Listen, we know you’re moving in, but you probably don’t have any food. We’d like to invite you to our place for dinner,” George said.
I arched a brow. “Really?”
Carly laughed. “You’re a city boy, aren’t you? You have that look like you’re suspicious about why we’d be inviting you to dinner.”
“Well, I guess I am.” I had friends in L.A. that I sometimes had dinner with, but I’d never been invited by my neighbors.
“You’ll find Eden Lake is filled with good people. Plus, you’re our tenant. We want to welcome you,” she said.
“And make sure you’re not going to ruin our home,” George added with a smirk.
“Oh, George. You’re going to scare him. We’re just a few houses up the street.” She gave me her house number. “Say in an hour?”
“I’ll be there.” I couldn’t very well turn down my landlord for a free dinner.
“Excellent. We’ll see you then.”
I walked back into the house. If I was going to dinner, I should probably clean up. It would also be wrong to show up empty-handed. I would have to find the box that I’d packed my wine in.
After my shower, I v
acillated between wearing a suit or going casual. I was in the country now. George and Carly were wearing jeans and puffy coats when I saw them. I opted for tan slacks and button shirt, without a tie.
I found my wine stash and then wondered if I should bring white or red. I decided to bring one of each.
I headed out the door, locking it and walking up the block. The snow had been cleared from the streets, making a berm. I walked in the road near the berm. It was dark out and I hoped no one would hit me.
I reached the house where a small sedan sat in the driveway. I walked past it and up to the front door. It occurred to me that at this time the night before, I was having a delicious dinner and exhilarating conversation with Sasha. What a fucking shame I couldn’t do that again.
I knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it,” I heard a woman say. The door opened and my jaw dropped.
“Sasha?”
“Reece. You’re the new tenant?” she said, her eyes wide, although I wasn’t sure if it was surprise or worry.
“Yes.”
“Don’t let him freeze on the front steps,” a man I took to be George said.
She stepped aside so I could walk in.
“This is our niece, Sasha,” George said, stepping to me and shaking my hand.
Carly came walking from another room, wiping her hands on a towel. “Just in time. Oh, wine.”
I held the bottles up. “I wasn’t sure what you were making so I brought one red and one white.”
“I don’t see any reason why we can’t have both,” George said, taking them from me. “Thank you, Reece. That’s very kind.”
“When did you have the time?” Carly asked. “You must be busy with moving.”
“I brought them from home.” I kept glancing at Sasha who was watching me with narrowed eyes. I half-expected her to tell me I had to leave or people would talk.
“I’ll go open these and pour some glasses.” George walked past his wife.
“Come, dinner is ready,” Carly said, following him into the kitchen.
I held out my hand. “After you.”
Sasha stared at me and our conversation earlier in the day came back to me.