The first screw came out easily.
“I hope you’re not too heavy. How much does a deer head weigh, anyway? Maybe I should have googled it before I climbed up here.” She shifted to the other side of the head for the next screw. Best to keep it even. “I promise this won’t hurt a bit,” she joked as she inserted the bit into the groove on the screw.
“Owww!” said a loud voice as the screw came loose. She jumped, causing the ladder to wobble, only realizing in the next second that the voice didn’t come from the deer—obviously. It came from below.
From Kai, who stood at the foot of the ladder, gazing up at her. He wore his outdoor work clothes, Carhartt pants and a dark green hoodie sweatshirt. With his wind-reddened skin and dark scruff, he looked so sexy she felt a jolt of heat.
“Jeez, you scared me.” She put her hand to her heart, which was racing. “That wasn’t funny at all. I could have fallen off this ladder.”
“Nah. I’m right here, I would have caught you. What are you doing up there? Straightening Benji?”
“Benji?”
“My mom nicknamed him. She gave them all names based on their personalities.”
Nicole squinted at the deer head. “That actually suits him.”
“Right? So what exactly are you doing? Dusting? Need a hand?”
“I could probably use some help, thanks.” She puffed out a breath of relief. This was definitely a two-person job. “I’m taking Benji down.”
“What?”
Luckily, she’d worked out a perfect excuse for removing the deer heads. “I need to check for mold. One of the guests mentioned that the lounge made her wheeze. It’s a public safety issue, so as a nurse aide, I feel obligated to check it out.”
“That’s ridiculous. Benji’s been up there since I was six. He isn’t starting to mold. Leave him be.”
Trust Kai to make trouble. Nicole set her jaw. “Things change.”
“Not Benji. He’s not changing anymore, he’s dead.” Kai glared at her, hands on his hips.
Turning back to her task, she pressed the bit to the next screw and pulled the trigger. The high whine of the power tool drowned out Kai’s next words.
The screw came out and bounced off the ladder. Kai picked it up.
With another burst of drill noise, she extracted screw number four. “You know, the whole dead animal decor is from another era. Don’t you think it’s time to try a more modern look? Stripes might be nice, in cocoa and sage.”
His eyes narrowed. “You mean brown and green? We already have a lot of that. Have you looked outside?”
She moved to the next screw, ignoring that clueless comment.
He talked over the sound of the screw gun this time. “Everything’s supposed to be on hold for a month. We agreed.”
Obstinate. Stubborn. Pig-headed. Check check check. “Would you relax? I’m just checking for mold.”
“No, you’re not. And there is no mold. Guaranteed.”
“You don’t know that.” Flustered, she let her grip on the screw gun slip.
“Yes I do, because—”
The screw gun started to fall. She lunged after it, hitting the deer head with her elbow. The remaining two screws gave up the effort of holding it in place and Benji went crashing down, nearly sideswiping her on the way. She held tight to the ladder and the screw gun and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for a crash, a boom, a shatter…what kind of sound would a stuffed head make, anyway? Could it survive a fall to the floor?
Had she killed a dead deer?
But the only sound was a grunt from Kai as he stepped forward and caught Benji in his arms. One of the antlers scraped against Kai’s cheek, leaving a red mark.
“Are you okay?” she cried, clambering down the ladder, screw gun in hand.
“Are you asking me or Benji?” Kai asked with a snort.
“You, of course.” She reached the floor and peered at the mark on his cheek. “It looks like the skin isn’t broken, that’s good.” Then she examined Benji. “He looks fine too. Nice rescue.”
Kai looked at his armload of deer head and smirked. “Right place, right time. Except from his perspective. I’m twenty years too late if you ask him.”
She laughed, starting with a giggle then giving in to a full-blown belly laugh. It took her over entirely, her body shaking with tremors of amusement and relief. “I thought I killed him,” she gasped. “I mean, for the second time.”
Kai was laughing too as he set the mounted head against the wall. He folded his arms over his chest and propped his hip against the reception desk, waiting out her laughing fit. “You’re a stubborn woman, did anyone ever tell you that?”
“I prefer persistent.” With the heel of her hand, she wiped tears of laughter off her cheeks.
“You were planning on taking all these guys down with nothing but a ladder and a screw gun? It’s a good thing I came along. That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”
“You’re saying you’ll help me?”
“I’m saying I’m going to talk you out of it.” His green eyes gleamed at her.
“That’s not likely.” She examined the five remaining deer. Was it her imagination or did they looked unified in disapproval of her? She had to get them down. She had to get the shot Felicity wanted.
“I disagree. You want to know something about these deer? Want to know why I’m completely sure they’re not moldy?” He picked Benji up by one antler.
“Why?”
“They’re all plastic.”
She stared at the head swinging from his looped finger. “No way.”
“Yup. My mom didn’t want real deer heads in the lounge. They made her cry. So she bought these instead. This is the wilderness out here. That’s what people are used to.”
“These are plastic deer? Like the kind on people’s lawns during Christmas?”
“Yes, but much better replicas. Look closer. Touch them.”
She’d avoided it before, but now she did. Yup—plastic. No doubt about it. “Plastic doesn’t mold, does it?”
“Not as far as I know.”
Crap. How was she going to get that photo?
She eyed Kai, who was staring at Benji with an odd look on his face, almost sad. Nostalgic.
Kai had an emotional connection to this place that went back to birth, she realized. Even down to the deer heads decorating the lounge. Every detail meant something to him. Which meant that one way or another, she was going to have to deal with Kai. She couldn’t avoid him any more.
At first she’d though Felicity’s idea of making Kai an ally was ridiculous, but maybe she was right. Maybe she could get Kai on her side. Wasn’t that the Jedi way? Use an obstacle to make progress? Kai loved the lodge, but he didn’t want to live here. If she could make him see the benefits of getting Max to sell…if he could see all the things the lodge could be…
“Listen, Kai. I have an idea. What if you give me a day?”
He frowned. “Give you a day? What do you mean?”
“Max may not have told you this, but the lodge is losing money. I know, because my paychecks are often late. That’s why I started thinking of ways to shake things up.”
He set down the plastic head and folded his arms across his chest. “Maybe Max just forgets to pay you.”
“It’s not just me. Renata’s pay is late too. And I’ve seen bill reminders come in the mail. I asked Max about it and he admitted it’s been tough.”
A muscle clenched in Kai’s jaw. “He didn’t tell me.”
“He’s probably embarrassed. Or maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment.” She drew the conversation back to her plan. “Look, I really think that we can be on the same side here. The side of ‘making the lodge amazing.’ I propose that we call a truce and spend a day together. Or maybe just a morning, if things go off the rails.” An entire day with Kai might really throw her off balance. “I’ll explain my ideas. All you have to do is keep an open mind.”
“I can do that. I have a very o
pen mind.”
“Good. Then we’re on?”
One side of his mouth lifted in a devastating smile. “An entire day with Nurse Nicole? Can’t pass up an offer like that.”
A thrill went through her, from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers. Kai was like a shot of adrenaline packed into the hard-muscled body of a man. Was spending the day with him like throwing herself into a volcano? Sticking her finger into a light socket? Tossing a grenade into her own peace and quiet?
Didn’t matter. If it helped her get that bonus, she’d take the risk.
The next morning, with the sun still flirting with the treetops, Kai met Nicole in the lounge for breakfast. He poured himself a thermos of coffee from the urn, and offered her some as well.
“No thanks, I have my own tea.”
“And right away we hit a snag,” he murmured as he screwed on the cap. “This is coffee territory. Steaming hot and black as tar, that’s how the Rockwells roll.”
“That’s how the Rockwells have rolled,” she corrected. “I’m here to open your mind. Would you like a sip of my tea? It has turmeric in it. Anti-inflammatory in case you have any muscle aches from all that hard work.”
“Pass. I like to work up to healthy over the course of the morning. If I start out that way, it’s a shock to my system.”
She smiled at that, and took a sip from her tea.
He filled a bag with muffins from the breakfast buffet Renata set out every morning. “I’ve been wondering where you learned to use a screw gun.”
“My father was a carpenter. He taught me a few things before…well, before he left.”
Somehow, Nicole Davidson kept surprising him. “I pegged you for more of a…white collar girl.”
“Not me. Blue collar family, at least while it lasted. But you’ve probably already discovered that.” She offered him a teasing smile. She wore a fitted down vest over a cable-knit sweater, along with blue jeans and boots. Her eyes, that striking clear blue, held a hint of wariness. As if she still wasn’t sure about him.
“Yes,” he admitted readily. “I did a little investigating. You can’t blame me for that.”
“I didn’t say I blamed you. I’ve been checking up on you too.”
“That’s not difficult. Just check the police blotter,” he joked. “Or ask any random passerby. Nothing but trouble from an early age.”
“Yes, I definitely picked up on that. Did you really skateboard down the mountain road?”
“Good times. Until I hit a bump and went flying into the underbrush.” He touched the scar near his mouth, remembering the shock of that crash. “I was one of those kids who had to learn things the hard way.”
“Well, that’s why I think you’ll like this great idea I had.” Her face lit up, all pretty heart-shaped curves.
“About learning things the hard way? Definitely my area of expertise.”
She smiled and took another sip from her thermos. “About bringing at-risk kids here to earn survival skills, like chopping wood, starting fires, basic field triage. Do you know that kids in some neighborhoods are teaching themselves how to treat gunshot wounds? They get called to the scene of shootings before the paramedics get there. Why not bring them here and train them properly?”
He blinked at her sudden passion. This was a side of Nurse Nicole he hadn’t seen yet. “That would require funding.”
She waved a hand. “Grants. Private donations. Rich people. We can make it happen. With the right investment, all kinds of things are possible.”
Investment…the word rang an alarm bell. When people invested, they wanted a say in things. What exactly did she have in mind?
“Max said you’ve been talking about a healing retreat, whatever that is.”
“Right! That’s another of my absolute best ideas.” She took him by the elbow. “Come on, let’s go outside. We can get the whole picture there.”
He discovered he liked her touch on his arm. More than he should.
With their thermoses in hand, they walked outside into the morning air, clear and crisp as cellophane.
“The retreats would be geared toward high-end customers who need a break from their stressful lives. Believe me, they’ll pay anything to pamper themselves. The money would be flowing in.”
His gut tightened at the mention of money. Was it really true that the lodge was in trouble? He hadn’t seen Max yet this morning. But after his conversation with Nicole last night, he’d scanned through his own bank accounts and found some investments he could sell off if Max needed them. But would Max accept help from his banished son? Especially when he wouldn’t even admit he was in trouble?
Nicole swept her arm at the wide lawn they were crossing. “We could hold tai chi classes on this big lawn here.”
He laughed, imagining Max’s reaction to something so different from the games of tag and snowball fights that usually took place on that lawn.
Nicole shot him an irritated glance. “Have you ever tried tai chi? It might really help with your stress level.”
“I have my stress handled, thanks.“
“Really? What’s your favorite stress management technique?”
He gave her a smoldering look guaranteed to get under her skin. “I’m not sure we know each other well enough yet.”
Even though her cheeks flushed, she lifted her chin and didn’t back down. From what he knew of Nicole so far, that spunkiness was one of her most appealing qualities. She was no pushover; no wonder she handled Max so well. “Whatever it is, it’s not working. You freaked out over a deer head. A plastic one.”
“Hey, I take offense at that. You could at least call him by his name. Poor Benji.”
She burst out laughing, a sound of such delight that a chill went up his spine. He shook it off.
“But for your information, I have no problem with tai chi. I like it. I think this is a perfect spot for it, at least in the summer. In the winter, we could make space in the great room.”
He squinted at the lodge, finding it easy to picture a group of slow-moving tai chi practitioners going through their moves. When he turned her way, he caught her looking at him in surprise.
“I assumed you wouldn’t be interested in that sort of thing.”
“What sort of thing?”
“Tai chi, yoga, stuff that doesn’t involve skis or a four-wheeler or a hunting rifle.”
He gave her a mock-scolding shake of his head. “Haven’t you heard my reputation for being a rebel?” He bent over her, bringing his face within inches of hers. “I decide for myself if I like something or not. I don’t let other people tell me.”
This close, he caught a whiff of her scent, nothing but fresh skin and clean lavender soap. Her pupils expanded, pools of black against clear blue. A pulse point beat in her throat. He felt as if he were looking through a macro camera lens in which he could see everything with perfect clarity.
His gaze dropped to her lips. Their shape was full and curved, tempting as a juicy summer peach. Those lips said something about her, that she wasn’t always guarded and watchful. She had another side, a side filled with laughter and joy.
And why was he looking at her lips again?
She pressed them together, as if she was trying to keep him from seeing something. Maybe something he’d already seen, or maybe not.
He realized he was being rude, looking at her so closely. Forcing his gaze away, he uncapped his thermos for a long swallow of coffee. He didn’t want to blow this opportunity to learn more about Nicole, or scare her off any more than he already had.
Capping his thermos, he took on a more businesslike tone. “Very interesting ideas so far. I like it. What else do you want to show me? Or is it my turn to show you a few things?”
“Your turn,” she said, wetting her lips. Had she noticed the hum of electricity between them too? With any other woman, he might have cupped her face in his hand, brushed his lips across hers, slid his thumb across the tender skin of her cheek.
Bad idea. T
his unwelcome attraction was the last thing he needed. He was going to ignore it until it went away.
“I used to be the best tour guide at this place,” he said. “It was my job to show the guests around. I know all the best views. I know where a secret hidden patch of wild strawberries is. We could bring a BB gun with us, shoot some plastic squirrels.”
He winked at her to chase away the residual sexual tension that still hung between them.
She laughed. “You really know how to push my buttons, don’t you?”
He smiled, a little strained, because the phrase made him think of other, more inappropriate buttons. “If you ask Max, that’s my specialty. Don’t worry, it’s too early to make trouble. I’m all about peace and happiness this morning. Just follow me.”
Nicole had to face facts—when Kai turned on the charm, he was a lot of fun to be with. The rest of their day together passed without any more conflicts or awkward moments. He guided her all over the property, showing off his favorite trails and secret spots. A meadow dotted with scarlet wildflowers. An overlook with a stunning view of the ski lifts going up Eagle Mountain. The sweetest wild strawberries she’d ever tasted.
When he wasn’t interrogating her, Kai was so easy to talk to, as if he was genuinely interested in hearing her ideas and thoughts.
And very, very easy on the eyes, even though she worked hard to block that out.
She told him about the special ed camp, the artists’ retreat, the meditation sessions she imagined. He listened with interest, even threw in some ideas of his own. Corporate retreats. Trust-building exercises in the woods.
Then, remembering that she was supposed to talk about expensive ideas, she threw out her idea of expanding the lodge’s tiny sauna into a full-service spa with private steam rooms and massage therapists, maybe a Turkish bath.
“You’re talking major renovations,” he said, finally balking.
“Yes, but think of how many wealthy people would come. Once they’re here, they’ll spend more money on things like branded Rocky Peak room fragrance and exclusive Rocky Peak bathrobes. It’s a huge investment, but sometimes you have to spend money to make money.”
The Rebel Page 6
