Hold Me Close, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 7)

by J. H. Croix

  Conversation moved on with occasional distractions offered by Holly as she made her way from the couch to the floor and giggled while George bounced around her in a circle. Ivy was relieved for the distraction of Marley’s visit. She needed something to get her mind off of Owen and not much did. In the month or so she’d been in Diamond Creek, she’d discovered Ginger and Cam had a relaxed, but somewhat busy social world. Friends often stopped by the house, and Ginger had already insisted Ivy accompany them to several dinners up at the ski lodge. The longer Ivy was here, the more she liked it. She’d always had a close circle of friends, yet the deeper she got into her graduate studies, the harder it was to find time for a social life. The few friends she had came from her narrow work life before. The climb up the academic ladder was slow and grueling, so she’d known she was in for the long haul when she accepted the faculty position.

  Her work life at Off the Grid was markedly different than what she’d been accustomed to. Instead of hours buried in research assigned by others and tolerating menial assignments, she was given free rein to work on projects. Owen’s leadership at the firm was clear. He set the priorities for projects and assigned team leaders and moved on. Beyond the work on the battery projects, she’d come to understand she could do her own exploratory research in other areas as long as it had something to do with sustainable energy.

  Gone were the days of worrying about faculty meetings where senior faculty droned on, the days of following antiquated protocols and making sure she didn’t ruffle the feathers of senior faculty even if the faculty in question were verging on senility. The best of all, she was free from Dr. Parkhursts’s leering perusal of her and his occasional advances. She’d almost forgotten about the formal harassment complaint she’d filed until she received a call from the Human Resources Department with an update on the status—a most pointless update since nothing had changed. They were still ‘investigating.’ Ivy experienced a flash of bitterness, wondering if they actually were even bothering to investigate anything.

  With a mental shake, she tried to bring herself back to the moment, half-listening while Marley talked about a coding project she was working on. Thinking about work was a tad too appealing though, so Ivy’s thoughts skipped from how much she loved her new job to her angst over what to do about this thing between her and Owen. She didn’t know what to call it other than a thing. She was now convinced she’d gone completely crazy by telling Owen she was a virgin. The giddy moment where she persuaded herself it was a good idea to just get him out of her system had deflated swiftly once she saw the look in his eyes. He’d looked completely shocked. He’d managed to be polite and even somehow made it seem not so awkward. But he’d barely looked at her in the days since.

  She was trying to come around to the fact that it was probably all for the best. She was mortified now—what with all but melting in his lap the other night and then being stupid enough to tell him the truth. It was embarrassing enough that she was actually a virgin, even worse it was only because she truly hadn’t found the time to have a relationship. She’d have felt better if it had been because she was trying to keep it that way. But no. It was all because she was busy, that and the fact that most men’s eyes glazed over once she started talking about her work. Of course, Owen was the opposite. The moment she started talking about projects and data, his focus was so absolute, it thrilled her beyond belief. On the heels of another mental sigh, she forced herself to stop thinking about Owen and listen to Marley and Ginger.

  “…so if I can tweak the code to be more responsive to sounds, I think it might be what you’re after,” Marley finished.

  “What are you working on?” Ivy asked. She knew from Ginger that Marley was a computer whiz and did freelance coding and website building for work.

  Ginger glanced over as she set her wineglass down and pulled her hair up into a knot on top of her head. She caught Ivy’s eyes with a sly grin. “You were totally zoned out! We’ve only been talking about this for more than five minutes. Let me guess, daydreaming about Owen again?”

  Ivy couldn’t have stopped the blush from heating her cheeks if she tried. She rolled her eyes and took a gulp of wine. “I was enjoying the view and not really paying attention. That’s all.”

  Ginger cocked her head to the side and looked as if she was about to keep teasing, but she must’ve taken pity on Ivy because she let the topic of Owen drop. “I asked Marley to see if she could come up with an app for speech therapy. Because she’s awesome, she’s been working on it in her free time. If it works out, I’ll be able to set it up for parents to help them work on speech exercises at home with kids.”

  “Oh, that’s so cool!” Ivy exclaimed, swinging her gaze to Marley. “Ginger mentioned you do coding for apps and stuff. What other types of projects do you do?”

  Marley quickly launched into a summary, lifting a sleepy Holly into her lap as she did. Conversation moved onto Marley asking about Ivy’s adjustment to Off the Grid. “I’ve heard it’s a great place to work, but aside from Joan, I haven’t really gotten to know anyone there. Owen skis a lot and his friend Derek comes along sometimes. Joan told me she didn’t even think twice when Owen announced plans to move the firm to Alaska. I figured it might’ve been a big change for her since they used to be in Boston, but she said she always wanted to try living outside of the city and they love it here. Owen certainly keeps to himself though. Gage mentioned he only came into the lodge restaurant for the first time last weekend. What’s this about Owen anyway?” Marley’s eyes held a soft gleam. She wasn’t quite as bold as Ginger when it came to teasing, but she didn’t shy away from it.

  Ivy leaned back into the cushions and sighed. “What did Ginger tell you?” she asked with an accusatory glare at Ginger.

  Marley laughed softly and shook her head. “Nothing, except for what she just said a few minutes ago. Owen’s managed the impossible. He’s handsome, he moved here from out of state and he appears to be loaded. But he’s kept such a low profile, the gossip’s not too bad. So…?”

  Ivy shook her head and fought to keep from blushing. It was bad enough when Ginger picked up on her interest in him, but that was before she’d been half-naked in front of him. She finally shrugged. “Nothing I can do anything about anyway.”

  Ginger cocked her head to the side. “I thought we straightened that out. You’re a contract employee. It’s not like he’s technically your superior.”

  Ivy rolled her eyes again. “You’re being silly. It’s a technicality. It doesn’t change the fact I don’t want to mess up the best job I’ve ever had. I don’t need things to get weird because I happen to think Owen’s handsome.”

  Marley jumped in. “Well, Delia said Owen could hardly stop staring at you last weekend at the lodge, so it doesn’t sound like this is a one-way thing.”

  Ivy closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch. When she opened them, she followed the pattern of knots in the pine ceiling before lifting her head again. “It still doesn’t matter. Am I going to have to worry about gossip like this all the time? I can’t believe Delia noticed anything. She was busy running back and forth the whole time we were there.”

  Ginger snorted. “You can’t live in Diamond Creek and be new around town without people getting curious. It’ll pass. But don’t worry about Delia. She might say something to Marley or me, but otherwise she’ll keep quiet.”

  “I wasn’t worried about her, it’s just weird anyone would notice.”

  Ginger shrugged. “I did. That man could win an award for smoldering. He was subtle, but damn, he nearly undressed you with his eyes. I was there too, you know.”

  Ivy’s face was on fire and her belly somersaulted just thinking about what came to pass after their impromptu lunch at the ski lodge. She shook her head and grabbed her almost empty wineglass from the coffee table to finish it off. “It doesn’t matter because it’s not going anywhere,” she said firmly. “It’ll pass because it has to. In my whole life, I’ve never even noticed some
one I worked with like that. Even worse, after what happened with Dr. Parkhurst, I can’t even think about this.”

  “Dr. Parkhurst is an ancient asshole who gets his kicks fantasizing about women young enough to be his daughter. Since he was officially your boss, he had all kinds of power to make your life miserable if you didn’t give him what he wanted. I get your whole thing about not wanting to make things messy with Owen, but don’t even think about comparing the two. They’re not even close to the same thing,” Ginger said emphatically. “Anyway, what is going on with the complaint you filed? You haven’t said anything about it recently.”

  Ivy sighed and slumped into the couch, curling her feet underneath her. “The HR people called me with what they said was an update, but the update is they’re still investigating. Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve bothered with filing a formal complaint. It’s not like I ever want to go back there.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Marley said firmly. “I didn’t spend as much time as you did in the university world, but I saw how ugly it could get in grad school. Some professors were so blatant, it was disgusting. The only way it will change is if people are held accountable. I’m sure it sucks, but in the end it’s a good thing. Lucky for you, you landed on your feet.”

  “I know. All in all, it ended up being a good thing that I left.” Ivy swung to Ginger. “Which is why I don’t want to mess up the good thing I have here.”

  Ginger laughed and stood to get another bottle of wine from the kitchen. Marley demurred, declaring she needed to head home before the roads got too bad.

  Later that night, Ivy sat propped up on the pillows in her bed in the guest bedroom. Ginger and Cam had gone to bed a while ago with George bounding up the stairs behind them. Ivy was restless, so she curled up with her laptop and tried to work. Wind was blowing mightily outside, pelting icy snow against the windows. It was hard to believe spring was technically right around the corner. Having grown up in the mountains of Utah, Ivy was accustomed to late winter snowstorms such as this one, although she was surprised at its force. The coastal winds were brutal here in the winter. She tugged the blanket closer and pulled up another set of data. Off the Grid had set up test projects in various locations around the world. Between Owen and Derek’s connections from United Tech, they knew engineers everywhere, most of whom were happy to help with testing new designs. Ivy loved that she could pull up remote data and analyze results whenever she wanted.

  As she pored over and compared results from a few different designs, she noticed someone else was working in the reports as well. With her remote log in, she was able to log onto Off the Grid’s private network from home, so it was as if she was there. Curious to see who else might be working close to midnight, she clicked the icon that would tell her. Her pulse lunged and heat slid through her veins when she saw Owen’s name. Really? You’re that ridiculous? It’s midnight and you’re getting hot and bothered all because he happens to be logged on at the same time as you. You seriously need to move on. It’s obvious he’s not interested. On the heels of her well-trained, definitely not reckless side having its say, her newly emboldened, definitely reckless side offered its own thoughts. Why do I need to move on? Maybe it’s not so crazy to try to get him out of my system. I might as well have fun if I’m going to finally find time to ditch my stupid virginity. And I know it will be fun if it’s Owen.

  Just thinking that thought sent a flash of heat through her, and liquid need clenching within her channel. Dear God. It was bad. She was sitting her all by herself and nearly desperate for release when moments ago she’d been thinking about batteries and output. Her finger hovered over the icon where she could click and instant message him. Before she even considered what she was doing, she tapped it and quickly typed a greeting.

  Hey, what are you doing working so late?

  His reply was swift.

  I could ask the same of you. Compared the test results yet?

  In the middle of it. The results from the test product in Barrow look the most promising.

  Noticed the same thing. That’s the only one we have out from the modifications you first suggested.

  Ivy hadn’t known that. She was still getting her footing at work and wasn’t accustomed to how quickly projects in test phases could move. A flush of pride rose within her.

  Really? Wow, that was fast.

  Really. You think fast. We work fast.

  Ivy could practically feel his smile. He was miles away, either at the office or at home, and they had nothing more than the ephemeral link of a computer connection, yet she could feel him.

  Her breath became short with her pulse running away from her. She unconsciously clenched her thighs together, trying to quell the need there. That only made things worse because she remembered the feel of Owen’s fingers teasing her to an explosive climax.

  Not thinking, what she typed next startled her, and she wanted to take it back as soon as she hit enter to send the message.

  I hope things are okay. Didn’t mean to weird you out the other night.

  The first pause in their back and forth occurred. It couldn’t have been that long, but she berated herself the entire time. What the hell was she thinking? It would’ve been much better if she just ignored what happened and let it fade away. She almost closed her laptop, thinking maybe she could simply pretend she’d never said anything, when she saw the symbol that indicated he was typing a reply.

  Not weird. Sorry if it seemed like it. We should talk. Dinner tomorrow?

  Ivy must’ve re-read his reply about fifty times inside of a few minutes as she stared at her computer screen. With her definitely reckless side firmly in control, she didn’t even stop to think once she gathered herself enough to respond.

  Sure. Where?

  My place. I’ll cook.

  Don’t know where you live.

  Keep driving past Off the Grid, take the first driveway on the left.

  Okay. What time?

  6. Back to my point. You do great work. Signing off now.

  Ivy watched as his name switched to inactive, staring for far too long at the window that contained their conversation. Inside, flutters were spinning in her belly, her heart was pounding and heat streaked through her.

  Chapter 8

  Owen ran a hand through his hair and leaned back, spinning in a slow circle in his chair. “I dunno. You think we can have this ready by next week?” he asked, spinning to face Derek who sat across from him at the conference table. It was Saturday afternoon and he’d been in the office all day. Derek had stopped in for a bit, and they were considering sending the latest design for their wind turbine project to the assembly team.

  Derek shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I say let’s get started.”

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  Owen angled to face the computer screen and tapped a few keys to send the files off. “Perfect. Glad you stopped by today.”

  Derek pushed his chair back and stood. “Good timing.” He leaned against the doorframe and eyed Owen. “Ivy’s fitting in great. The team loves her. Before you brought her on, I admit I was a little worried. After what we went through with John…” He trailed off and shrugged.

  Derek was referring to the last engineer they’d tried to add to the team. John came with amazing references. Once he started at Off the Grid, it became immediately clear being a part of a team was of zero interest to John. Owen had moved quickly to terminate his contract, but John fought over the negotiations. His arrogance was damaging to the rest of the team, and he challenged Owen at every turn. They’d been so burned by the experience, Owen hadn’t even tried to recruit again for over a year. He’d finally given in when it became obvious the engineering team didn’t have enough support to function as it should. Outside of Joan, Derek was the only person at Off the Grid Owen consulted with about new hires. He relied on Joan for feedback about the entire staff, while he turned to Derek for feedback about engineers. Derek had made a few calls about Ivy, coming up with nothing other tha
n glowing references. Even though they still had reservations, they’d gone ahead.

  Owen met Derek’s eyes and nodded. “I’ve heard the same. Damn relieved she’s working out.”

  Derek straightened again. “I see you’re still playing it cool.”

  Owen bit back a sigh and shook his head. “Leave it alone.”

  Derek grinned. “It’s nice to see you’re human.” He didn’t give Owen a chance to respond and called over his shoulder as he walked out of Owen’s office. “Catch ya later.”

  Owen watched Derek leave and stood from his chair, walking to stand in front of the windows. It wasn’t unusual for him to work a lot, in fact it was more typical than not. Yet, he’d been working almost relentlessly since his kiss and then some with Ivy earlier in the week. Even by his standards, it was a bit much. Then, she’d messaged him late last night, or early this morning, depending on how you wanted to look at it. He’d been at the end of his rope as far as getting a handle on his near obsession with her and impulsively decided to invite her for dinner. He’d tipped over into the decision he’d been on the verge of all week. It was clear there was no getting Ivy out of his system unless he acted. If anything, the burning desire she elicited was only getting worse.

  He also had this weird, completely foreign protectiveness about her. Every time he thought about someone else sharing her first time with her, he nearly lost his mind. Not that he thought he deserved it, but he couldn’t stand to let someone have what he wanted.

  He stared blindly out over the view. The jagged peaks across the bay loomed in the cloudy sky. He glanced at his watch. He needed to get to the store and get home in time to start dinner. Though he rarely shared dinner with others, he enjoyed cooking. His mother had loved to cook, and he’d spent many childhood hours with her in the kitchen. His chest felt tight for a moment, the warm memory of his mother and those hours with her sending a pang of sadness through him.