by Vella Munn
The clerk was helping a trio of older men. Not only didn’t she want to interrupt, she couldn’t picture Nate spending much time in here so left without asking about him. He’d told her he shopped in bulk when he was in the valley and cooked most of his own meals.
The breeze coming off the lake was strong enough she was glad the temperature was in the low seventies. Jealous, she studied an expansive new cedar dock complex. Many times the length of hers, it had a number of slips and probably could accommodate more than twenty boats.
She took several pictures with her smart phone. At least she could dream of having something like that, not in size but stability and looks.
The majority of rental boats were two to four person open affairs that had seen better days, but there were several new ones. She thought she spotted the one Nate had used. Watching it bob in the long, low waves, she felt sorry for it. A boat like that with a powerful motor needed to be going all out—and under the control of a man who knew how to get the most out of it.
And everything else he touched, her traitorous mind insisted. The thought heated her cheeks and belly and forced her to acknowledge she’d spent part of last night with her vibrator. Darn that man! Something, maybe the mystery surrounding him, made her ache for his touch—and more.
Nate Quaid was hard-driving rhythm and slow instrumentals.
Even though she felt dizzy, she stepped onto the dock and started toward the new boat, keeping her legs further apart than usual for balance. Something about being on unstable footing separated her from everything except what she was doing at the moment, even carnal thoughts. It was better this way.
When she reached the boat, she tried to picture herself holding onto the wheel while pushing the craft to go as fast as it was capable of. It would race over the lake’s surface, hitting the water hard enough to rattle her teeth and filling her with energy. Wind force would make her hair stream behind her and her lips would feel as if they were being ripped off. She’d yell and laugh while Bruce lay near her feet.
Could she make a living as a fishing guide? Granted she’d have to learn a lot more about fishing than she knew and the conditions might not always be ideal but she’d be outdoors ninety-percent of the time. Fish scales would cling to the hairs on her arms, and she’d have to deal with clients who complained if they didn’t get their limits, but if they gave her too much of a hard time, she’d boot them overboard. It would serve them right.
Strong. Independent.
Equal to the man who was taking up residence inside her.
“Sweet isn’t it?” a middle aged man in a nearby boat asked. “You thinking of renting it?”
Startled, she breathed deeply to calm herself and push Nate-thoughts to the back of her mind. “Not today. Have you taken it out?”
“A couple of times.” He wiped a rag over the back of a seat. “It’s like having a race horse for a kiddie ride. I don’t know why Robert bought it.”
“Robert?” The name rang a faint bell.
“Chamberlin. He owns all this.” The man pointed toward the resort. “I work for him so I’m not going to say anything against his decisions, but this is a fishing lake. No need for all that power.”
She agreed and mentioned that she owned one of the cabins on the other side of the lake. They talked for a few minutes about how run down everything had been when Robert bought the complex and what it was going to take to turn it into a prime resort, mostly deep pockets and someone in charge who knew how to get things done. Whoever that someone was, probably Rey Bowen, he’d made a wise decision by hiring Nate.
She finally gave up on trying to find a subtle way of turning the conversation around to Nate and asked the older man if he knew him.
“Sure. All the employees know each other. If anyone understands what that particular boat’s designed to accomplish and how to make it happen, it’s Nate.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. I’m aware of his love for speed. It might catch up to him one of these days.”
“If it does, it does. He knows what he’s doing.”
Yes he does. “Do you know where I might find him?” She wasn’t sure the question was casual enough. “He did some work for me the other day. I need to pay him.”
“My guess is he’s in one of the motel rooms. Probably second floor. Those rooms are pretty rough.”
She turned to leave.
“A word of wisdom you might or might not give a darn about. Don’t think of him in terms of the long haul. From what he’s said, and it isn’t much, he never stays long in one place.”
Chapter Eight
NATE FINISHED FITTING the bathroom sink in place. If the decision had been his, he would have opted for spending more money on products that would stand up to hard use and low temperatures, but neither Robert nor his manager, who happened to be Robert’s nephew had asked his opinion. Robert’s primary concern was that the resort start paying for itself while Shaw focused on keeping to the timetable. Of the two, he preferred dealing with Shaw, not that he’d had to do much of that because he was directly answerable to Rey Bowen. He’d worked for companies that had been top heavy. Thankfully it wasn’t like that at Lake Serene. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be here.
Of course that begged the question of where he would be living and who he’d be working for. He didn’t have either answer and that had started to bother him.
But not today. Today he’d think about having fresh vegetables for dinner—and seeing Alisha.
The motel room he was in wasn’t that much larger than the prison cell he’d once been locked inside. Today he dealt with his claustrophobia from that time as he’d done for years by refusing to give into it and keeping as many doors and windows as possible open so fresh air surrounded him. Even if he couldn’t see the sun, he was aware of it.
At the rate the snow was melting, it wouldn’t be long before the back roads were accessible and he’d be able to devote himself to what for him was more than a hobby. He could hardly wait to spend his free time on his bike going wherever whim and mystery guided him. Feeling free down to his bone marrow.
Looking for a wolf sign to share with Alisha.
He resigned himself to finishing the current project. Robert was hardly ever around so he hadn’t had a chance to present his case for a total remodel to him. As for Shaw who was around his age—he had yet to figure the man out. There was no getting close to Shaw, or if there was, he hadn’t found the way. Shaw danced to Robert’s tune but gave no hint of whether he agreed with the older man’s decisions. Rey occasionally let it slip that Robert’s penny-pinching ways frustrated him, but although Nate agreed, it wasn’t as if his foreman and he were best friends.
The resort owner, his nephew, and his boss weren’t worthy of consideration this morning, not with knowing Alisha was back. Judging by the list Rey had given him this morning, he was again going to be working overtime. He’d decided to drive over to her place so he wouldn’t have to factor in getting back across the lake in the dark.
Despite having learned they both would eat just about everything, they were very different. She ran a successful business in contrast to his days spent dealing with rust and water. She was white collar while he was blue. She’d had parents, imperfect but parents just the same. She, he assumed, came from money or at least financial stability while he’d grown up sometimes not knowing where his next meal was coming from.
Nothing in common.
Then why had he enjoyed talking to her so much and why was he looking forward to seeing her again?
No, not just seeing. He wanted to discover what her skin felt like, whether she kissed with her mouth open, what she smelled like up close.
A faint knocking brought him out from under the sink and into the sleeping/living area. Even as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness behind her, he knew he was looking at Alisha.
“The door’s open,” he said. “You didn’t have to knock.”
She smiled, taking him far from irritation over h
is working conditions with the gesture. She held up a cooler. “I didn’t want to startle you.” She put down the cooler. “Is it all right if I leave this here? I put the food on ice so the cooler’s pretty heavy.”
“Here is fine and thank you.
“You’re welcome.”
He couldn’t think of anything to say. One second after another ticked past.
“I’ve never been inside one of these,” she said at last. Her voice sounded stilted as if she too was out of her element. “They’re pretty small.”
“Typical motel room. They get a lot of use by hikers and once there’s enough snow for cross-country skiing and snowmobiles, outdoor activities.”
She looked around. “Otherwise people would feel claustrophobic.”
Wondering if she sometimes felt as if her walls were closing in or if he’d ever tell her how it was with him, he moved out of the bedroom/bathroom doorway. She had on clean jeans, tennis shoes, and a green short-sleeve T-shirt. Nothing tight. Practical. Real. Part of her. “Take a look around if you want. At least they’re getting spruced up.”
“Just spruced up? No plans to tear down the motel and put up something new.”
Okay, a conversation. He could do that. “No. Do you think that should happen?”
“I wouldn’t take it off the table. A lot of the time it’s easier to start over.”
She stepped into the room, walked over to the double bed with its new spread. As she trailed her hand over it, he struggled not to picture her on it, naked, reaching for him. The attempt didn’t work.
He should have taken one of the housekeepers up on her offer to keep him company last night. Instead, although it was getting dark, he’d climbed onto his bike and headed for a gravel road that had once been used for logging. As soon as he was away from the resort, he’d punched the gas and sent gravel and dirt flying. He hadn’t been able to hear himself think for the sound and had gone a good five or six miles before he’d run out of passable road and had to turn around. Instead of immediately retracing his steps, he’d gotten out the powerful flashlight he’d brought along and scanned his surroundings. Between the light and silence, he’d buried himself in solitude. Other people might be uneasy knowing how isolated they were, but he’d been at peace.
Except for wondering if Alisha could understand why he needed to do things like this.
He wanted her to.
“I’d call this frantically frontier.” She traced the outline of a log cabin on the spread. “I’m afraid to look at the label for fear it’ll say made in Japan.”
“It’s better than what was there before.”
“I’m sure it is.” The way she looked at him made him think of an animal deciding whether it was safe to come closer to the human it had encountered. Was her awareness of him as strong as his was of her? Darn it, he couldn’t get a handle on how he felt about this woman. After a few more silent seconds, she left the bed and slipped past him into the bathroom. Touched his nerve endings with her heat. Not sure what he was doing was wise but unable to stop himself, he followed her.
“What should I be looking at?” She didn’t face him. “I need more than the explanation you gave me the other day.”
Trying to reconcile himself to her back and the fact that her shirt revealed the outline of her bra and spine, he expanded on what he’d told earlier. He said more than maybe he should have about his disagreement with some of the ownership’s tightwad decisions.
“At least you didn’t have to deal with me trying to tell you how to do things at my place.” Her back expanded as she took a deep breath. Then she was looking at him and he was staring down at her, feeling all big and male. “I’m so appreciative. I—that’s why I came here this morning, so I could extend a proper and heartfelt thank-you along with a cooler full of fresh food and a check I hope covers everything.”
“You’re welcome and I hope you took what I owe you.”
“All fair and square, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
“Fair and square? I don’t want you shorting yourself.”
Watching her gnaw on her lower lip, he acknowledged he’d thrown the conversation ball back in her court and she wasn’t doing any better at keeping it going than he’d been. Things were being said all right. They just didn’t involve words. Because he’d gotten a late start, he was still learning the male-female sexual dance. Unfortunately, none of what he’d learned applied here.
He’d have to wing it. Go with his gut.
Finally, she gave her head a shake and laced her hands together. “If I have, it’s because I wanted to.”
“In other words, end of discussion.” Darn it, he could do better than that. Besides if he didn’t, she’d have no reason to stay. “So what’s at the top of your to-do list at your place, unless you’ve made the decision to sell it?”
She sighed. “No, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Instead of saying more, she again slid past him and back into the bedroom. He was still trying to get past what her body heat and the brief touch had done to him when she perched on the side of the bed looking as if she intended to be there for a long time. “I’m dealing with a project I have no doubt is going to test my patience. I didn’t mention it before because it’s giving me a headache.”
“Tell me about it now.”
“You want—”
“Yes, I do.”
“Oh, all right. I’m dealing with a difficult project at work. It feels like I’m trying to herd cats.” She groaned. “I need my clients to decide on a design the city will approve.”
“Could getting city approval be a problem?”
“The planning department doesn’t think highly of builders who keep coming to them with changes.”
“And your clients know that?”
“I spelled it out to them. Darn it, I swore I wasn’t going to bring work here this time.”
“Think you can do it?”
She handed him a faint smile. “I’m going to give it my best shot.”
“Have you ever been able to?”
She winced. “I wish you hadn’t asked.”
“In other words your job never ends.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She stared at her hands. “Can you keep a secret?”
Yeah, he could. He’d been sitting on a huge one for years. “Sure.”
When she pressed her fingertips to her forehead, it took all he had not to give her his shoulder to lean on. He didn’t because he suspected things wouldn’t end with him offering sympathy. She was confiding in him. He needed to focus on that. See it as the trust it represented.
“I’m tired of the whole thing. Worn out.”
He sat in the less-than-comfortable chair at the miniscule table near the window. Women wanted to sleep with him. They didn’t open up to him—until now. Her. “Can’t you get someone else to take over at least while you’re up here?”
“It’s my name on the letterhead. It used to be my father’s but now it’s mine.”
“If that’s not what you want—”
She held up her hand. “Don’t, please. Nate, I’m committed to stewarding every project the company takes on.”
“Why?”
Her mouth sagged. At the same time she looked as if he’d struck her. “Because that’s what I’ve always done.”
Then maybe it was time for her to find another way to be. No, it wasn’t his business but that didn’t mean he didn’t care.
“You aren’t happy with the way things are,” he said. “I can tell you aren’t. Think about Alaska and exploring Glacier. Stalking the elusive and maybe illusionary wolf. Make those things your priority.”
She stared at him, her gaze touching him deep. Making him care even more. “I want,” she whispered, “more than I’ve allowed myself to admit.”
Until I came into your life?
“Doc was here the other day,” he said in an attempt to change the subject. Things were getting too deep and personal. In danger of pushing past the barriers he’d erected ar
ound himself. “He was getting ready to go home, but he bought me lunch.”
“Oh.”
“He said he was sorry he wasn’t going to be there while I was working on your place and did I want to wait until he was back in case I needed to borrow something.”
“That sounds like Doc. He’s the perfect neighbor.”
Doc also had a not-so-subtle way of making it clear he would be keeping an eye on him. Strangely, instead of resenting Doc’s lack of trust, Nate understood where the older man was coming from, which he hadn’t expected considering his relationship with his old man. “He thinks the world of you. Something about you making sure his daughter didn’t get into something she couldn’t afford.”
Her expression became animated. “There was no way I’d let her be cheated especially now that she has another child on the way. Maybe I can get Doc to handle my PR.”
“I think he’d do it. Finding affordable housing for deserving people is different from most of what you do, right?”
Her head went back in what he took to be a defensive move. “I provide a valuable service. Just because it involves people with deep pockets doesn’t make it wrong.”
“I didn’t say that. However, I’m getting the impression you got more satisfaction out of what you did for Doc’s daughter than you do dealing with your other clients.”
She frowned. “Am I that transparent?”
Maybe. “I’m taking my cues from your body language and tone.”
She spread her fingers over her throat. Gave him her full attention. Pulled him into her emotions. “Helping Doc’s daughter was one of the last things my father and I fought about before he died.”
