by Nina West
“When have you ever known me to not do a good job.” He’s growing hard against my palm. I’ll never get bored of the feel of that.
It’s so tempting to slip my hand inside his track pants, to grasp his velvety smooth skin in my fist and stroke him languidly until he comes, but that will inevitably lead to losing hours of valuable working time. So I pull away and move back to the gas range to stir my pot of glycerin, trying to ignore the mild groan of discontent that comes from him.
“What’s that grin for?”
I am grinning. Stupidly, no doubt. And I don’t care. “For going back to Alaska with you.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Had one heck of a storm roll through here just this morning,” John says as he steers us along Kachemak Bay. “Caused some real damage.”
“Anything on the resort?” Henry asks.
“No, sir. Nothing that I’ve heard of, anyway. See? There are two or three big ones down there.” He points a wrinkled finger to a cluster of fallen trees along the shoreline across from us. Branches with golden-yellow leaves stick out of the water.
Everywhere I look, fall colors stipple the forested hills, mixed in with lush evergreens. Above us the sky is a crisp blue and clear, promising a beautiful sunset for tonight if it holds. But the temperatures are much cooler than I expected and I find myself huddling within my jacket, a shiver coursing through me.
“I warned you, didn’t I?” Henry wraps his arm around me and pulls me against his chest. I instantly feel warmer. “Next time don’t argue with me about packing appropriately.”
I tip my head back against his shoulder to make sure he sees my eye roll. “There’s packing appropriately, and then there’s buying an entire fall and winter wardrobe for a five-day trip.” I went to arrange our suitcases yesterday morning and remembered that all of my warm clothes are in Greenbank. Two phone calls and a few hours later, a stylist showed up at Henry’s with racks of clothing and boots for me.
Henry insisted I try it all on. And then he bought everything that fit me, despite my argument. There isn’t enough room in his closet to hang my things anymore.
He leans in to press his mouth against my ear and whispers, “And isn’t it ironic that you won’t be wearing any of it once we get there.”
Heat washes down through my belly and between my legs. I inhale the smell of his intoxicating cologne and let myself sink into his hard body, clad in that yellow-and-black checkered jacket and black vest ensemble that I love, his head covered in a beanie to ward off the chill. It’s a look that was made for Henry as much as his tailored suits, and one that I missed more than I realized. When he got dressed before deboarding the plane at the Wolf airfield outside of Homer, I felt the overpowering urge to kick Jack out so I could unfasten Henry’s pants right then and there and wrap my mouth around him.
“You growing this out again?” I reach up to touch his jaw, dragging my fingernails across the thin layer of scruff.
“Maybe.” He smirks. “Why? Do you want me to?”
“Maybe. I liked the lumberjack look.”
“You only saw it for a night, and you were shit-faced, Abbi.”
“Exactly. So I need to see it again to be sure. Besides, I’m curious what it will feel like, against my lips.”
His mouth finds mine, pressing a kiss against it. Then it moves to my ear. “Those lips? Or your other lips?”
Henry’s phone rings, interrupting a conversation we probably shouldn’t be having right here. He sighs and presses a kiss against my temple before pulling away and heading for the other side of the empty deck to answer the call in private.
“So....” The old ferry captain’s kind eyes flicker between me and the route ahead. “It’s not just idle rumor then, is it?”
I smile.
He returns it. “Things have certainly changed since the first time I took you across here.”
“You remember that?” With all the trips and all the people, I find that hard to believe.
“Your plane arrived late and you looked lost. Yeah, I remember you all right.” He hesitates, his gaze flickering to my forehead, to the bruise that’s covered up with foundation but not completely hidden in certain light, and when my hair blows back off my face. He glances over his shoulder to see that Henry is deep in conversation. “I hope he’s treatin’ you right.”
“Yes, Henry treats me very well.” I chuckle at the insinuation, even though it’s not funny at all. It’s preposterous to think that Henry would ever physically hurt me, and I don’t want that rumor starting. “His brother did this.”
John makes a sound. He must have heard the news about Scott by now. Everyone else has. “Messy business it is, having that much money. People do all kinds of things to keep it.”
“Not people. Scott Wolf.”
“Oh, believe me, I know about that one,” John murmurs. “I used to shuttle them back and forth from the old Wolf cabin when they were young boys. Scott never did sit right with me, even from the start. He was the mean, jealous sort. I remember this one time....” The wrinkles in his brow furrow deeply. “Yes, it would have been around this time, because I remember the leaves all changin’ then, too. Henry had a new toy. Can’t remember what it was exactly, but it was a big deal. A birthday present, maybe. Anyway, his older brother grabbed it right out of his hand and tossed it into the water. Just to upset him. Henry cried the entire rest of the way back. ’Course, he was really young then.” John’s shoulders shake as he chuckles in that way most old men do. “Yes, I reckon he’d toss his brother into the water if he tried that now. Well, if Scott weren’t in a morgue already.”
That’s exactly where Scott is, waiting for his mother to plan his burial because Henry is not about to.
“Wait a minute....” While I love hearing stories about a young Henry—even terrible ones like that—it sparks another thought.
When the hell is Henry’s birthday?
“What is it, dear?”
“Nothing,” I mutter, peering back at Henry as I slide out my phone. It would totally be like him to not say a word and let his birthday pass, leaving me none the wiser. I quickly punch out a text to Miles.
John watches me curiously for a moment. “Well, anyway, what I’ll say is that I’m glad it’s Henry and not his brother that ended up in charge of the family businesses. He’ll do a good job. His grandfather would be so proud of the man he has become—”
“Motherfucker!” Henry exclaims loudly.
We both turn to see the look of disbelief filling his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as John locks eyes with the water ahead of us, trying to be inconspicuous.
Henry slides his phone into his pocket, having ended his call. “I just found out what Scott was up to.” He shakes his head as he approaches. “The bastard was digging through the old ore mine, looking for diamonds.”
“Wait, you have an ore mine, too?”
He waves it off as inconsequential information. “We shut it down years ago. But some geologist convinced Scott that the fault line running under it is optimal for diamond formation. My dad heard it all before, and never bought into it. He figured that if they hadn’t come across a single diamond in all the years of mining, that it was a bullshit theory. Scott knew my dad would never go for investing a dime in it, so was doing it behind our backs, skimming funds from operations to put toward this venture.”
“Oh my God.” It dawns on me. “That’s what he was telling your mother that day.” Or, about to tell her, before Miles interrupted them, looking for me. Scott was convinced that he was sitting on an untapped fortune in the mine. That’s why he didn’t care about the hotel chain. That’s why he called Henry a chump.
“What a sneaky, enterprising fool.” Henry chuckles, but it’s a bitter sound. A sound he makes when he’s trying to cover up the fact that he’s troubled.
I settle my hand on his forearm to at the very least offer some comfort with my touch. “So, what are you going to do?”
“No
thing for now. Get the gold mine back up and running. I’ll deal with the rest of it later.” He sighs heavily and then nods to something behind me. “Look.”
I turn in time to see Wolf Cove hotel come into view, the massive lodge no less impressive now than it was the first time I saw it in May. Back when I was heartbroken over Jed and trying to escape my life. And so innocent.
Before I realized that everything I could ever possibly want in life was waiting for me, in the form of this all-consuming man.
I smile.
John was right. My, how things have changed.
“Feels a bit like coming home, doesn’t it?” I murmur.
“More than you know.” Henry’s eyes settle on my face.
~ ~ ~
John brings the ferry alongside the dock. Two bellhops stand like sentries in their plum-colored uniforms, patiently waiting for the owner of their hotel to arrive so they can shuttle our belongings to Penthouse One. I recognize the tall, thin one on the left. Simon, I think. The last time I saw him, he was bent over and heaving into a trash can outside the staff lodge, unable to handle the shots of tequila that Connor was forcing everyone to drink.
“Who is that woman?” I ask of the tall brunette in a black pantsuit standing next to him.
Henry leans against the rail, his gaze taking in the majestic resort. “Isabella. Belinda’s replacement. She’s an assistant general manager in Aspen. I brought her up to finish off the season.”
She’s definitely more professional-looking than Belinda. But equally stunning, I note, studying her high cheekbones and full lips. I can’t help but wonder if Henry knows her as well as he knows Belinda.
“No.”
“What?”
Henry gives me a look. “You’re too easy for me to read, Abbi. And the answer is no. I haven’t.”
My face flushes. Sometimes I hate that Henry knows me so well. At least he seems amused by it.
I avert my gaze, scanning the gardens and walkways where hotel guests mill about. Far off to the left, I spot two male figures in the telltale Wolf Cove vests and work boots, shovels in hand. They’ve taken a break from planting a cedar tree to watch the ferry dock.
My chest swells with recognition as the blond throws a hand up in greeting.
I grin and wave back.
“Speaking of people we’ve fucked....” Henry’s hard gaze sizes Connor and Ronan up. “Did you tell them you were coming back?”
“No. I never told anyone. But I’m guessing everyone’s going to know soon enough.”
“I’m not comfortable with those two being near you, Abbi,” he says evenly.
What’s he getting at? “But they’re my friends.”
“They’ve fucked you.”
“Well, only Ronan has.”
I get a sharp glare in return. “You know what I mean. Those two would be all over you if given the chance.”
“Maybe,” I admit. But I’m not about to back down. “And Margo would fuck you if given the chance.”
He snorts. “And you, if given the chance.”
“Fair enough. But they’re not getting a chance, because I’d never give it to them. They know how I feel about you.”
“You’ve told them?”
“I don’t need to.” Ronan saw the pain in my eyes, every time the name Henry Wolf was spoken. He knew that it was Henry who left my heart shattered. “I know I can’t ask you to like them, or my past with them. But you said you’d never use it against me.”
His jaw tenses.
But I push on. “Trying to stop me from seeing them while I’m up here would be doing that. You and I weren’t together and they made my summer... bearable.” Enjoyable, even, though admitting that to Henry might not be a smart move.
He heaves a sigh. “You’re with me now. And there’s so much press around us. If I find out they’ve been running their mouth about what they did—”
“They won’t.”
“They’re fucking deviants, Abbi. If you knew half the shit they’ve been up to—”
“I can only imagine. But Ronan’s a private guy. He never says a word about anyone he’s been with, and he told me he’d make sure Connor wouldn’t.” At least he promised he would. Connor’s a bit hard to control. If he has told people about what happened between us....
A wave of nervousness hits me as I take in the picturesque view again. This is all Henry’s and it’s only a sliver of his empire. I was emptying trash and cutting firewood the last time. Now I’m a guest in a hotel that charges twelve hundred dollars a night, and that’s for the regular rooms. I’m in a penthouse, with the owner. I was so wrapped up in coming back to Wolf Cove that I didn’t really think about what it’d be like to face people again.
Sure, they all know about Henry and me by now. But what is this going to feel like? What kinds of things have they been saying behind my back? My stomach turns queasy at the prospect of being the topic of conversation. “Is this going to be weird? Being back here, I mean.”
“For you? Probably.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, earning his dark chuckle. “I’m glad you find this so amusing. You know, there was a time when you were vehemently opposed to the idea of anyone knowing about us,” I remind him.
“Vehemently?”
“Vehemently.”
“You’re right. But that was back when you were my assistant.” He resumes a standing position, to tower over me. “Do you want that job back?”
“Maybe.”
His brow arches.
“I’d get to spend more time with you.”
“And I’d get very little work done.”
I mock-frown. “Yes, I do remember your work ethic needing improvement.”
He smirks. “Besides, I think Miles would feel betrayed if you made me replace him with you.”
Speaking of Miles....
I hang back as Henry heads toward where staff is working quickly to help port the ferry, and pull out my phone, hoping Miles was able to get into Henry’s personal information.
“Son of a bitch!” I exclaim, earning several looks.
“Abbi?” Henry asks, a puzzled expression on his face.
I offer him a tight smile. “Stubbed my toe.”
His eyes narrow at my black boots and the fact that there’s nothing around to stub my toe on, but thankfully Isabella approaches him then, distracting him from pushing farther.
Henry’s birthday is in two days. What the hell kind of birthday present can I possibly come up with in two days, way out here?
With a wave goodbye to John, I step off the ferry. Simon steals a curious glance my way. I give him a sheepish smile as I hand him my carry-on. We’ve crossed paths enough times. He must recognize me.
“Ready?” Henry reaches for me, settling a hand on the small of my back to lead me toward the path that will take us to our cabin. “Welcome back.”
Chapter Fourteen
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, inhaling the fresh, clean air, before opening them again to take in the scenic view of water and trees from our sizeable porch. It’s exactly how I remember it, right down to the rows of boats and float planes parked at the docks below, waiting to whisk guests off on an array of fishing and sightseeing excursions.
It feels so good to be back.
And so strange.
I’ve experienced so much in this place. The walls of Penthouse One—Henry’s suite while he was here—have seen him win my heart and then break it. They’ve seen me give my virginity to him, my full trust, and my unwavering love. They’ve heard our angry words, my tears.
The last time I stepped through that front door was the day I realized that Henry had lied to me about sleeping with that reporter. That it was me and only me who had cheated on him with Michael. That day, after weeks of careful mending by Ronan and Connor, my heart shattered all over again.
As much as I’ve missed Wolf Cove, being away made it easier for me to forget, I realize now.
“I’m sure Miles has already told you
that we won’t be needing a liaison,” I hear Henry tell Isabella. “I do not permit staff to walk freely in here. We’ll call in for room service, but we’re not to be disturbed otherwise.”
“He informed me of your preferences,” Isabella answers in her faint accent. Spanish, I think. So far, she’s much more docile than Belinda ever was, all “yes, Mr. Wolf,” and “no, Mr. Wolf” and “whatever you would like, Mr. Wolf,” while staring at him with her big chocolate-brown eyes.
What does she really think of his request though? My roommates were convinced that Henry had to be hiding deviant things in his room, because he didn’t want regular attendance by staff. But Henry’s not stupid or unaware of his appeal, having faced numerous situations with maids throwing themselves at him, crawling through his used sheets. After the things I heard come out of Tillie and Katie’s mouths about him, I completely understand his need for boundaries.
“And make sure that whatever Abbi asks for, she gets immediately,” Henry adds.
“The concierge will be happy to assist with her requests.”
“Have Anderson and his people checked in yet?”
“Late last night. They’re at the site location now and waiting for you. We have a vehicle ready to take you out. I’ve also made 7:00 p.m. dinner arrangements for your group tonight at Lux. Will Miss Mitchell be joining you?” She’s so prim and proper, and molded. I almost miss Belinda’s sharp tongue, the way she challenges Henry.
“I doubt it, but we’ll call in if you need to make changes to numbers. Thank you, Isabella. I’ll be at the gate in ten minutes.”
Henry steps out onto the balcony a few moments later. I’m expecting him to tell me that he’s running, but instead he sidles up behind me and hands me one of two glasses of champagne. “To being back in Alaska.”
I hold up my glass. “To being back in Alaska.”
He sighs heavily. With everything that’s happened over the last few weeks, I don’t know how Henry has remained so forward-focused. On the business, on us. Still, I see him drifting off in thought sometimes, his jaw hardening, sadness in his eyes. He hasn’t forgotten what Scott robbed him of, what else Scott tried to take from him. And, though he’ll never admit to it, Scott’s death must have a significant impact on him.
