Chapter 1

1

SKYE

V room, vroom.

The noise practically rattled the walls of the Seduction Summit Lodge, drowning out the voice of the person on the other end of the line. Maybe the world was ending. Right now, my focus was on the voice yelling at me through the phone line.

“You can’t tell me you don’t have one room!” the woman was saying. “You people always keep one room.”

You people? I didn’t know who that meant. I ran the gift shop at this place. I was just filling in for my best friend, who’d rushed off to find the man who’d taken her virginity last night. I didn’t even know how we were supposed to handle customers who shouted at us.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said. “But we are totally booked through March.”

“March?” the woman yelled. “Who skis in March? The snow will be melted by then.”

“We have the spring festival coming up,” I said. “Easter egg hunts. A lot of fun activities. And then in the summer, we may have even more for kids. You really should check it out. It’s on our website.”

“Yeah, no. I want to ski. You are a ski lodge, right?”

I rolled my eyes, grateful she couldn’t see that through the phone. How did Georgia deal with stuff like this every day? Gift shop customers were a breeze compared to irate guests.

Vroom, vroom . This time I looked out the glass doors in front of me, then scanned the large windows that overlooked the parking lot. I couldn’t see anything but rows and rows of cars.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said. “I can’t help you. I’m just filling in. Maybe if you call back in a couple of hours, the regular front desk clerk can help you.”

“Forget it,” she said. “I’ll take my business to Passion Point.”

I opened my mouth to tell her that Passion Point was unlikely to have an opening for next weekend either but thought better of it. She’d find out on her own.

“You have a nice day,” I said.

I got the dial tone. The woman had hung up on me. With a shrug, I replaced the receiver and looked out the front door. Maybe all the noise was Georgia returning. I knew that was unlikely, but I watched for her anyway.

As I stared at that door, I gasped at what I saw. A large, male figure in all black with a helmet was walking toward it. This was it. I was going to die. This guy looked dangerous.

The door slid open as I considered my options. I could pick up the phone and call my boss, but what would he do? I needed to call the police. Dialing nine-one-one would just summon help from the next community over, though. By the time they got here, it would be too late.

As he walked through the door, the guy started removing his helmet. I held my breath, not sure what to expect, but what I saw notched up my heart rate for another reason.

Holy hell, he was gorgeous. He still wore sunglasses, but he had dark hair and a beard. Something about his face told me he didn’t smile often, but those lips needed to be kissed.

“Is Alex around?” he asked.

I couldn’t say how long I stood there, gaping at the guy. I’d expected him to turn out to be some kind of psycho, but he was asking for my boss.

This guy must be friends with him. It made sense. My boss was one of those burly mountain man types, and although this guy rode on a motorcycle—or so I assumed from the helmet and obnoxious noise—he looked like someone who’d be carrying around an ax and chopping down trees.

“He hasn’t come in yet,” I said. “He’s due any minute, though.”

That was a guess. Aside from talking to my friend who worked the front desk when things got slow, I mostly stayed in the gift shop. There was plenty to do, even when we didn’t have customers.

“I can tell him you stopped by,” I added. “Or you can wait.”

The guy came to a stop. I was surprised to find my hands trembling as I reached for the pad of sticky notes Georgia kept next to the computer.

When was the last time a guy had this effect on me? Probably high school—Chase Jenkins. He was the last in a series of crushes that had gone nowhere. Either I’d like a guy who ended up sleeping with one of my friends, or I’d actually get a date with a guy I liked, and when he found out I wasn’t going to sleep with him, he ran. Inevitably, the guy would tell his friends I was desperate for a commitment.

“That’s okay,” he said. “I’ll wait. Tell him he can find me at the bar.”

“What’s your name?” I called out as he started in that direction.

“Boone,” he called back. “I’m here about the job.”

I stared after him, mouth still hanging open. He didn’t even look back. Had he even noticed me? Because I sure had noticed him.

The only job opening I knew of was for the employee who would stand where I stood right now. The guy certainly didn’t seem like the type who’d hold down the job of a front desk clerk at a ski lodge. But who was I to judge?

If he was the night clerk, I’d only get to see him when I came in and left work each day. And that would be a darn shame.