Keeping her head high and back straight, Kathryn Lane lowered herself into the chair opposite her new boss at Stone Cliff Resort in the heart of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. She crossed her legs at the ankles, and poised her tablet on her lap, ready to dive into her new position as Marketing Assistant.
“Kathryn,” her boss Shannon began, flashing her a warm, welcoming smile, but behind that smile Kathryn could easily tell she was a serious businesswoman, one who didn’t tolerate anything but perfection. “I see personnel placed you in Wolf Lodge. Are you all settled in for the summer?”
Kathryn nodded, thinking about the small room that resembled her dorm at Sanford, Canada’s prestigious, East Coast University where she had just finished her junior year. At least at the resort her room had a private shower and the staff quarters had a small, communal kitchen so she didn’t have to eat mystery meat in the meal hall every day. And when she didn’t feel like cooking for herself, she could use one of her staff meal tickets to dine on low fat, healthy food at the buffet.
“Yes, thank you,” she responded, keeping an air of professionalism about her.
Shannon looked at her over her dark-rimmed glasses. “You know this week is all about settling in. You didn’t have to come in until Monday.”
“I wanted to get an early start.”
“Very well.” Shannon’s silver hair glistened in the sunlight shining in from her window as she pulled open a file with Kathryn’s name on it. She adjusted her glasses lower on her nose, and went quiet for a moment as she read. “So you’re internship is for the full four months?”
“Yes,” Kathryn answered. “It’s part of my scholarship requirement.”
Shannon slipped a paper from the file and her perfectly sculpted brows went up as she looked it over. “I’m impressed. It’s not every day we get a scholar like you interning for us. I expect great things.”
Kathryn smiled her usual smile, never hinting at what she’d had to give up in order to get where she was. No friends. No dates. No dreams. Her father would have none of that. No, his only daughter had to work, work, work, and stand above the rest.
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to getting started,” she said cheerily, even though inside she was tied up in knots. While she’d worked hard and was extremely grateful that she had won one of Canada’s largest university scholarships, the pressures that came with it could sometimes be overwhelming. Not only did she have to maintain an exceptionally high average in all her classes, she had to perform well during her summer break internships, which challenged her in three disciplines: enterprise, public policy, and community development. Combining those pressures with a president and CEO father who was always breathing down her back, pushing her to do better than her best, so she could graduate at the top of her class and secure herself a corner office in his financial consulting firm, certainly made for challenging times.
Shannon handed her a pile of brochures, and a thick book on the resort that contained the mission statement and marketing plans. “You can look these over on the weekend,” she said.
Kathryn nodded, and Shannon opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again when a noise outside her office door drew her attention. Shannon looked over Kathryn’s shoulders, a frown on her pretty face as she zeroed in on something or someone in the resort lobby. Curious, Kathryn angled her head to see what the commotion was all about.
She took in all the new staff who were milling about, getting themselves acquainted with the resort and settled in for the summer. She peered through the crowd, until she caught a glimpse of a guy standing outside the resort manager’s door. Dressed in staff colors, his snug green t-shirt with the resort logo on it hugged his broad shoulders, and showcased a hard body. On his left arm, she caught a hint of a tattoo dipping below the short sleeve. Her gaze dropped to his low hanging swimming trunks, and the clipboard he clutched tightly in his hand. He seemed to be in deep discussions with Donald Brake, the manager with whom Kathryn had interviewed with to get the assistant’s job.
Kathryn glanced at Shannon. “What’s going on?”
Shannon sighed. “That’s Noah. He teaches skiing in the winter and is a river guide for the white-water rafting tours at Canyon Run in the summer.”
“He seems upset.”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about.” When Kathryn nodded, accepting the answer without question, her boss leaned in like she was about to confide something personal. “You probably won’t cross paths with him, Kathryn.” Shannon paused to look over Kathryn’s prim, knee length pencil skirt, and chic blazer. Feeling a bit uncomfortable under her scrutiny, Kathryn smoothed her hand over her hair, checking to make sure it was still secured tightly in her ponytail. Shannon’s eyes moved back to hers and she smiled. “I’m sure you won’t be running in the same circles during your time here.”
“Oh, okay,” Kathryn said, for lack of anything else.
Shannon went quiet for a moment and then advised, “You might want to pick your friends carefully here. Relationships between staff members aren’t forbidden, but they are frowned upon because they can interfere with work. I’m certain you wouldn’t want to do anything to interfere with your job or your scholarship, isn’t that right?”
Kathryn nodded. Point taken.
Still, unable to help herself, she stole another glance at Noah. As if he felt his eyes on her, he turned his head toward her. When their glances collided, he gifted her with a smile, a smile so hot and disarming, it sucked the breath from Kathryn’s lungs. What the heck? She exhaled slowing, trying to appear unaffected as she turned back to Shannon, who thankfully, was looking over her file once again.
“I guess we’ll get started then,” Shannon said. “Since you’ll be working on the brochures, the first thing I need you to do is familiarize yourself with the resort. You need to know all the ins and outs, and all the activities we offer.” Shannon gestured with her hand when someone came in the door behind Kathryn.
“Amy, come in. I was just about to call for you.”
Kathryn smiled at Amy as she came bouncing in, a big smile lighting up her pretty face.
“Hey there,” Amy said to Kathryn as she extended her arm. They exchanged a handshake as Shannon did the introductions.
“This is Amy’s third summer with us. She’s a psychology student, and she works registration and sometimes helps me out,” Shannon explained. “I asked her to show you around today, and I believe Amy lives at Wolf Lodge as well. Isn’t that right, Amy?”
“Sure is,” Amy said, her long, dark hair as bouncy and bubbly as her personality. “Are you ready?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” Kathryn said, turning off her tablet and putting it in her bag.
For the next few hours Amy showed her around, and even though her personality was very different from Kathryn’s, Kathryn couldn’t help but like her. Amy helped to familiarize her with all the facilities, including the spa, horse stables, dining room, biking trails, ski hills, and tennis courts. Once they were done, they took the shuttle to Deerfield, the closest town.
Amy talked nonstop during the tour and as they drove past a beach area that looked like it had had a fire recently, she gave a grin. “That’s the Cave. It’s where we go to have a little off-resort fun.” She nudged Kathryn. “If you know what I mean.” She looked at Kathryn’s business clothes and then at her own. “Tonight we’ll get out of these work clothes and into something a little sexier.”
Instead of telling her she didn’t have clothes that were sexy, she just nodded and looked at the mountains in the distance. Amy pointed out the amenities, and when they drove down a side road, the brick buildings full of gorgeous graffiti, Kathryn’s heart leapt, thrilled that Deerfield had an art district.
Kathryn pointed at the wall. “Who did that?”
Amy’s eyes widened. “Gorgeous isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Kathryn agreed, taking in the lines, shading and composition. “Whoever did that was very talented.” She thought more about art, art history, and murals, her true love. A knot tightened in her throat. She swallowed it down, because she knew better than to let her thoughts travel that path. While her father collected numerous art pieces, a career in the arts, or switching to a fine arts degree certainly wasn’t in the cards for his daughter.
Their last stop on the tour was the white-water rafting adventure at Canyon Run River. They arrived just in time to see one of the boats returning, the thrill-seekers inside laughing as they wrung water from their hair. They disembarked, and that’s when she caught a glimpse of Noah at the back of the boat. He pulled off his helmet, and wiped the water from his face. Kathryn felt her mouth go dry.
“Looks like fun,” Kathryn said, when in reality the whole idea of rushing down a river scared the hell out of her. She didn’t take risks. Her every action was calculated and had a greater purpose. Of course, that didn’t mean she didn’t want to. Except such behavior was frowned upon in her world.
“We can sign you up for a run if you like?” Amy said.
Her glance shot to Amy, then back to Noah. If he was part of the deal, then maybe she’d give it a shot. Okay, where the heck did that crazy thought come from?
“Have you ever done it?” Kathryn asked.
Amy licked her lips and gave her a wicked grin. “Not yet, but I sure do want to.”
When she caught the way Amy was drooling over Noah, Kathryn said, “Uh, wait, are we still talking about rafting?”
Amy laughed. “Nope.”
Kathryn turned her attention to Noah, her glance moving over his body, which looked mighty fine in that wetsuit. They both stood there in mute silence as they watched him secure the boat on shore. He unzipped the wetsuit, pulling it from his shoulders to expose a very tight, very hard body, one with a tombstone cross with a J in the center on his left arm.
Amy groaned. “God he’s so hot.”
“Yes, he certainly is,” Kathryn murmured, but then instantly straightened her shoulders. “I mean, yes, but he’s not my type.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Come on, Kathryn, he’s every girl’s type.”
And that was exactly why mooning over him was a waste of time. A hot guy like him would never look twice at a bookworm virgin like her. Kathryn shrugged off the comment, but try as she might, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. It was like coming upon a bad car accident and being compelled to stop and view the wreckage.
Her gaze lingered over his split lip and then left his face to admire his abs. She suddenly wondered what it would be like to touch them.
“Time to head back,” Amy said with a sigh, pulling Kathryn’s thoughts back.
“Right,” she said, shaking her head to clear it. Good God, what was wrong with her? She wasn’t into guys like Noah. Heck, she wasn’t into guys at all. She could almost hear her father’s voice. Boyfriends get in the way, relationships distract from your greater purpose.
Even when it did come time for her to bring a member of the opposite sex home, it certainly wouldn’t be someone like Noah, a boy who had trouble written all over him—one her new boss had not so subtly warned her to stay away from. Then again, she’d probably never get the chance to bring a boy home. No, her father probably already had a boring accountant from his firm picked out for her.
A boring guy to go with her boring life.
For the rest of her boring life.
Perfect, just perfect.
Noah braced his hands above the doorjamb and looked at Jared as he pushed papers across his desk. “I guess I owe you a thank you.”
Jared met his glance and said, “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Yeah, well, Donald would have fired my sorry ass if it weren’t for you.”
He pointed to his eye. “And I would have been floating at the bottom of the river if it weren’t for you.”
Noah plunked himself down on the seat opposite Jared. “Okay, so enough of this pussy shit. Are you hitting the Cave tonight, or what?” He rubbed his hands. “It’s initiating night. Time to give the summer staff a nice warm welcome to Stone Cliff.”
Jared grimaced like he was reliving his own dunk in the lake. “You mean a cold welcome.”
“So you’re going then?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Are you going to be there?”
“Yeah, why?”
Instead of answering, Jared said, “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starved.”
Noah’s stomach growled, a reminder that he hadn’t eaten since rafting down Canyon Run earlier that afternoon. He smirked and said, “Yeah, I can see how you’ve worked up an appetite, pushing the pile of paper around, and all.”
Jared gestured toward the cut on the corner of Noah’s mouth, reminding him of his fight with the Neanderthal last night. “Yeah, well, we’re not all suicide junkies like you.”
They walked toward the kitchen, passing by Shannon’s office. Noah glanced in, catching a glimpse of the cute red-head he’d caught staring at him earlier that morning when he was getting reamed by Donald, and again later today down at Canyon Run.
“Who’s the new girl?” he asked.
“Kathryn Lane,” Jared said, not bothering to look to see who Noah was talking about. That was the all-knowing, all-seeing Jared, always had his finger on the pulse of the resort. “Scholarship student. She’s here for a summer internship.”
An uneasy shiver moved through Noah as he gave her a once over. It wasn’t the way she kept her back rigid, or the way she had her strawberry hair pulled back in a tight ponytail that had him thinking back to three years ago. It was her focus. The way she seemed to tune the whole world out as she concentrated on her task, like it was the most important thing in the entire world. Noah had learned the hard way that it wasn’t.
“Forget it, Noah,” Jared said.
“Forget what?” Luke asked, as he caught up with the two of them on the way to the kitchen. Noah knew Jared considered Luke a friend, but Noah, well, he’d rather run his raft into a rock wall than hang out with the guy. As far as he was concerned, Luke was a bit of a douche, always walking around like he thought he was better than everyone else. So what if he was a super star tennis player, taken out by an injury during the world’s junior a few years back. Now, thanks to his family’s connections, he had a nice cushy job at the resort, giving lessons—on and off the court—to some of the hottest ass around. And to top that off, he took a three-month hiatus in the summer, hanging out with his family in Europe during the resort’s busiest months. What twenty-three-year-old needed a hiatus? From the second Noah stepped onto the resort, Luke had seemed to take an instant dislike to him. He’d never come out and said it to his face, but there was no denying the tension between them.
Jared jerked his head toward Shannon’s office as they passed. “Noah was checking out the new girl.”
“Oh yeah? Well forget it, pal,” Luke sneered and ran his hand over his gelled hair. “A girl like that would never fall for your bullshit.”
“It’s not my bullshit they fall for,” Noah said, grabbing his cock.
“You’re such a crude bastard,” Luke said. “Regardless, you’re not her type.”
“And you are?”
A sour look moved over Luke’s face as he let his glance rake over Noah’s work clothes. Then he waved a hand over his own body. Christ, the guy looked like a fucking pussy in his designer brand polo shirt and golf shorts. Noah could understand having to wear shit like that on the court, but the guy was off duty.
“Come on, Noah, you can’t be serious,” Luke said. “She’s out of your league.”
“Probably. But I bet I can get her to go out with me. In fact, I bet I can get her to do a lot of things with me.”
“Oh really? Then I guess I’ll take you up on that.”
Wait! Shit, what had he just agreed to? He thought back to the pretty girl who looked like she was all work and no play. His gut tightened, because everything inside him told him that he should have kept his big mouth shut. Getting her to go out with him was a bad idea. Not because he wasn’t up for the challenge, but because he saw way too much of himself in her. Too much of the guy he used to be and never wanted to be again.
“Isn’t fucking around with staff forbidden?” Noah asked, hedging a direct answer.
“It’s frowned upon.” Luke made air quotes as they entered the kitchen area. “Not forbidden.”
With a shake of his head, Jared grabbed a tray and moved ahead of them, leaving them to hash out the details of the bet Noah knew better than to accept. Then again, he was the one who had put it out there. Jesus, he was such a fuck up.
“What’s good?” Jared asked the kitchen staff.
“Lasagna,” the head chef, Mario said in a very thick Italian accent. He looked past Jared’s shoulder and met Noah’s glance. “Nice and cheesy, just the way you like it, Noah.”
Working to keep things light, Noah stepped up to Mario and slapped him on the back. “You’re the man.” Reaching into his back pocket, Noah pulled out the two tickets a guest had given to him as a thank you for a fun time white water rafting. While he wasn’t allowed to accept cash tips, sometimes the guests rewarded him with things like vouchers and tickets.
“Take the wife out to the drive-in tonight.” He gave him a wink, and said, “Maybe you’ll get lucky and something really boring will be playing.”
Mario laughed. “You’re too good to me,” he said as he put an extra heaping of lasagna onto Noah’s plate.
Luke, who barely spared the cook a look, took his tray and made his way toward the back room, where staff ate separately from the guests.
“Well,” Luke continued as they all sat at the long table. “You want to bet on it or what?”
“What’s in it for you?” Noah asked, glancing out the window to see a squirrel run up a tree. Off in the distance he caught a glimpse of Amy, gesticulating with her hands like she always did as she showed another newbie around the resort. Noah caught the way Jared was watching her, his eyes glued on Amy’s ass.
Noah looked back at Luke in time to see a sly grin slide across his face. “Your motorcycle.”
“What the hell?” Noah’s head jerked back. “You want my bike?”
“Yes. Not the one you’re riding. I want that piece of crap you keep in the garage.”
“What the fuck do you want with that?” Noah swallowed the bile rising up in his throat at the mention of his broken down bike, or rather Jonny’s bike. Jonny had loved that vintage motorcycle more than anything in the world. He’d purchased it years ago with the intention of rebuilding it. But he hadn’t lived long enough to get it up and running. Noah had spent the last few years tinkering with it, wanting to see Jonny’s dream through for him. Unfortunately, the parts for this particular bike weren’t only expensive, they were hard as hell to come by. He’d recently found the gearbox he needed, and had put a bid in on it, but pulled out at the last minute to lend the money to Jared when he’d found out Jared was in trouble. He’d lost the part to another bidder, and had no idea if he’d ever find another, but it was worth it. No way could he just sit back and let Jared get the shit kicked out of him, or worse.
“It’s taking up too much room in the garage, and I’m afraid my Porsche is going to get dented with all those parts you have lying around.”
Noah shook his head, hardly able to believe what Luke was suggesting. “What’s in it for me?”
“I’ll help you restore your bike. Either way I win because it gets the damn thing out of the garage quicker.”
“I don’t want you touching my bike.”
Luke met his glance, and they stared at one another over their food. After a long moment, Luke pushed back in his chair, and said, “Okay, fine.” He pulled his car keys from his pocket and dangled them.
Noah shook his head as he stared at the keys to the Porsche. “Are you serious?”
“Jesus, Luke, what the hell are you doing?” Jared asked around a mouthful of lasagna.
Without taking his eyes off Noah, Luke smirked and said, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
Shit, if Noah won Luke’s car, he could sell it and get the parts he needed to finish the bike.
Noah angled his head. “Are you sure about this?”
Luke dangled the keys again. “This is how sure I am. So what do you say? Do we have a bet or are you too chicken shit?”
“You’ll be gone all summer, how will you even know I got her?”
“I’ll know.”
“How?”
Luke arched a brow. “Because after one summer banging you, she’ll come out the other end just as fucked up.”
As he glared at Luke, he knew taking the bet was a shitty thing to do, but then again he was a prick, and pricks did shitty things.
He tossed a hunk of lasagna into his mouth and turned to Jared. “Tell me everything you know about her.”