She let out a sexy chuckle. “Rafting is what I enjoyed before my brother opened a shop and took all the fun out of adventure.”
“All work and no play makes Olivia an unhappy bunny?”
“All work that should be play makes Olivia an unhappy bunny. I can recommend a guide for you and your sister. Dash is good. He’s a local and he’s guided for years.”
“Dash doesn’t sound nearly as sexy as Olivia.”
“He has his own kind of appeal. I’m sure your sister will approve—if she’s of age, that is.”
“She’s of age, but I’d prefer to have you as a guide. Any chance we can schedule an off the clock adventure?”
“Is this you asking me out?”
“Would you say yes if it was?”
“No. Like you, I like to look before I leap”
Quoting their earlier conversation was a very good sign. “Are you free to schedule us for a private guided session?”
“That’s a definite no. My brother would kill me.”
“How about if I find you when we get to the valley and see if I can change your mind?”
“If you can find me when you get here, you’ve got yourself a challenge.”
“Ah,” Jack laughed, “I love a good challenge.”
“What’s your name?” Olivia asked. “In the spirit of keeping things fair.”
“Now where’s the challenge in that, love?”
***
Where was the challenge, indeed? And what had possessed her to flirt with a total stranger over the phone again and encourage him to stalk her while on vacation? She wouldn’t be hard to find. Not in her tiny town where everyone knew her by first name alone.
She looked around the shop and wondered if her life as a guide was over. Would she spend her summers working at the Golden Rule or pursuing other interests? Take fabulous vacations? Continue her education?
She felt as though she stood on the edge of her future, straddling the line between child and adult. No more classes, tests, or feeling like a student. She would be the teacher, responsible for educating her own students. She was ready. If she could navigate nervous adults down raging rapids, certainly she could shape young minds and encourage a lifelong love of learning.
Although laborious, school had always fascinated her with its mix of personalities and facts to learn. No one ever expected anything from her; pretty girls didn’t have to read or study or perform well on tests. She had only to smile and flutter her lashes and the world was hers for the asking. She was tired of having the world at her fingertips because of how she looked.
And yet she’d just flirted with a stranger, a man whose interest in her was unrelated to her looks. They’d never met. Whoever he was, he had a leg up on all the others already. Please, God, she begged. Don’t let him have only three teeth.
When her last day at the shop ended and she walked into her apartment, she felt a smile tugging her lips when she spotted Lyle sitting at his makeshift desk in the kitchen. “Honey, I’m home!” she sang out.
“Very funny,” Lyle said before shutting down his computer. “How was your day?” he asked in the same satirical tone she’d used.
Olivia plopped on the couch and stretched out her legs. “Not bad considering I’m not going back.”
“Huh?”
“I start my student teaching on Monday. I’m officially a molder of young minds.”
“God save the children. What grade?”
“Seventh.”
“Middle school?” Lyle asked. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I like middle schoolers. They’re still young enough to be kids but smart enough to want to learn. I loved going to middle school.”
“That’s because the boys found you in middle school.” Lyle went to the fridge, pulled out two bottled beers, and popped the tops before delivering one to Olivia on the couch. She admired the label. Maybe having Lyle around wasn’t so bad after all.
“Thanks. So how was your day?” Olivia asked, and then chuckled. “God, this seems weird. Is this what it’s like to be married?”
He flashed his dimples. “You’re asking me?” He sat on the chair facing Olivia. “My day was good. I got in a nice long run this morning and spent the rest of the afternoon mired in all things Jack Forrester.”
“Who?”
“He’s a young, very affluent former hedge fund manager out of Denver. I’m writing his biography.”
Olivia wrinkled her nose. “How boring.”
“Not really. This guy is fascinating.”
“I thought you wrote fiction. Jill said something about mysteries.”
“I do write fiction, but this is a paying job, and until the fiction starts paying, I’m opting for the money.” Lyle crossed his ankles over the coffee table and nestled his beer between his knees.
“So what’s so fascinating about Jack Forrester?”
“He was one of the youngest hedge fund guys in the country. Wildly successful, especially considering his humble upbringing.”
“How humble? Westmoreland humble or Lower Fork humble?” Comparing the commercial center of the valley to the recreational outpost that was Lower Fork seemed like a good enough spread on the humble continuum.
“As best I can find, Lower Fork humble, if not worse.”
“Humm. Okay, that’s mildly interesting. Go on.”
“He put himself through school—some no name community college in one of the Jersey burbs—and started at an entry level position at one of the top brokerage firms in New York City. Either he had connections I haven’t discovered yet or he’s one hell of a salesman, but he got the job and sailed to the top in only two years. I’d say at the top of his game, he was pulling in tens of millions.”
“A year?”
Lyle nodded and took quick sip, not wanting to slow the momentum of his story. “Then he left the firm and went out on his own in Greenwich, Connecticut, basically giving everyone who’d given him a helping hand the finger on his way out the door.”
“Ballsy. Gotta respect that kind of confidence. Of course, I wouldn’t care about pissing people off if I was pulling in seven figures.”
“The guy was money. Everything he touched turned to gold.”
“Why are you speaking in the past tense? Did he die?”
“Nope. He’s alive and kicking.”
“Well, you’ve hooked me, master story teller. What’s the catch?”
“He disappeared, just dropped right off the radar when the money guys pulled out.”
“Why they pull out?”
Lyle shrugged. “It’s not uncommon for these guys to drop from fame. They get on a losing streak or take up with a super model and get distracted. When you’re that big a fish, investors want to know you’re laser focused on making them money and not chasing a piece of tail.”
“Nicely put. So did he lose his lady luck or take up with a lady?
“Some sort of medical issue. I can’t find any evidence that points to exactly what.”
“Huh. And now he’s in Denver? What happened to his firm?”
“Shut it down, moved out here, and from what I can gather, he’s just managing his own money.”
“If he was raking in tens of millions—”
“More like hundreds at the peak,” Lyle said.
Olivia whistled. And she’d considered her dad loaded. What a joke. “I’ll bet he’s got plenty of his own money to manage.” Olivia felt her phone vibrate a second before she heard it ring. She pulled the phone from her pocket and held up a finger for Lyle. “It’s Jill. Hang on just a sec.”
“Olivia?” Jill whimpered.
“Jill?” Olivia sat up as her mind whirled in twenty directions. “What’s wrong?”
“Ty and I had a fight. I’m sorry to call you like this, but I need to talk to someone who’s not related to him.”
Olivia’s heart rate began to level from the spike it had taken when she’d imagined a dozen scenarios that ended with a funeral. “Tell me what happened.” She s
tood up to walk to her bedroom. Some conversations weren’t meant for men to overhear. She patted Lyle on the shoulder. “Mr. Perfect was bound to screw up sooner of later.”
Chapter 9
Ty Bloodworth sat behind his desk, reviewing the syllabus he’d updated for his Introduction to Economics classes scheduled to begin in less than a week. He’d landed a pretty good schedule, enrollment was up, and he was more than prepared to teach two intro level classes and assist a professor with a couple of third-year classes. His schedule left him plenty of time to get his fly fishing business off the ground. He should have been on top of the world—he would have been—if he and Jill hadn’t had their first fight.
It was destined to happen. Despite the fact they felt as though they’d been together for years, they’d only been in love for months. Less than six months. The amount of time they’d been together didn’t factor into the way he felt. Loving Jill and making a life with her were the most important things in his life.
He may have overreacted when she’d gone for a run and he couldn’t get in touch with her. She was smart, and after their discussions in Colorado about keeping herself safe and aware on her runs, he should have known she wouldn’t leave the house without her phone and a way to protect herself. Logic didn’t matter when he’d panicked and put out an APB on her throughout Sequoyah Falls.
Jill didn’t appreciate the police escort she’d received home. He shoved away from his desk and stood up to brood by the window. In a few days, the campus would overflow with college students eager to begin their future. Since he and Jill had aired every bit of worry from their consciences, he had a whole new issue to feel anxious about in addition to his job performance. A knock at the door had him spinning around. “Come in.”
Ty recognized the engagement ring he’d picked out for Jill on the hand waving a white tissue in the gap between the door and the jam. “Truce?” she said before peeking her head inside. “I come in peace.”
She must have felt comfortable with the ear-splitting grin on his face because she stepped inside and closed the door. She wore his favorite sundress, a bold tangerine that made her skin glow with health. “I didn’t think you’d come by today,” he said.
“And ruin our tradition? It takes a stronger woman than me to resist the allure of our weekly date.”
Ty skirted the desk and gathered her in his arms. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“Me, too,” she said into his shirt where she’d buried her face. She let out a big breath, lifted her face to his, and flashed her toothy smile. “I know you were worried about me. I should have been more understanding.”
He rested his forehead on hers. “I should have thought about the fact that cell coverage isn’t great on some of the trails and waited before I alerted everyone you were missing.”
“I had my mace and I called you the second I saw the missed calls.”
“I know. I’d already gone off the deep end by then.”
She stepped out of his arms and walked around his desk. He didn’t like her putting a physical barrier between them. “I said some things last night in the heat of our fight I wish I hadn’t.”
He sat in the plastic chair opposite his desk so she’d understand he was ready to listen. He wasn’t sure how to assuage her fears. “So let’s talk about it now. When we’re not fighting. Because I know you wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it.”
“I trust you, Ty. I’ve never had any reason to doubt you.”
“I hope I never give you reason. I love you, Jill.”
“I know you do, Ty. Hell, everyone in Sequoyah Falls knows you love me after last night.”
He could only suck in a breath and let the moment pass. She needed to tell him why she felt scared.
She lifted her hands and let them fall at her side. “You don’t have any idea the affect you have on women.”
He let out a barking laugh. “Jill…”
“No, Ty, I’m serious. You’re gorgeous. I used to think you were pretending you didn’t know what you look like, but I realized you really don’t know or just don’t care. I don’t know how you couldn’t know, but it just doesn’t affect you. But the way you look affects the way women react to you. Women of all ages. You’re a chick magnet.”
“The only chick I’m trying to attract is you.”
“And you’ve got me. You know that.”
“You’ve got me, too, Jill. You have to know that. After everything we went though last week, how can you not know that?”
“I do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry. You’re teaching college. I’ve been to college. If I’d had an instructor who looked like you, I’d have made a lot more visits during office hours.”
He tilted his head and studied her. “No, you wouldn’t have. You’re too principled to hit on your teacher.”
“Okay, okay. You’re right. I’m a bad example, but most women—young women—wouldn’t hesitate to hit on you.”
“Jill, I hate talking about the way I look because it makes me feel like it’s something special. It isn’t. I was born this way. I didn’t do anything to earn it, and it makes me uncomfortable.”
“I know that and I can’t tell you how incredibly appealing that is.”
“But?”
“But that doesn’t mean women won’t hit on you. In droves. I remember the walking hormones we all were during my four years at school.” She sighed and fell into his desk chair. “Some people like you and Olivia are born so beautiful you attract attention whether you want it or not. Olivia uses it to her advantage, in part because she’s a woman and in some ways—in a lot of ways—it gives her a leg up. You ignore it like it doesn’t exist and that works for you. As the woman who’s desperately in love with you, I can’t ignore it.”
“I’ve been hit on before and I know how to deflect. Not only would I never jeopardize our relationship, but getting involved with a student would be a huge violation of my teaching contract. I’m not stupid enough to jeopardize you or my career for a piece of ass. Thank God you’re not my student. For you, I’d risk just about anything.”
She gave a defeated smile. He got up and came around the desk, swiveling her chair so their knees bumped. He grabbed her hands and pulled her up, holding her waist. “I wish I could reassure you that my teaching here won’t affect our marriage. I love you. I’m not interested in any other woman. At some point, we’re going to have to trust each other.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “And every man in a fifty mile radius is jealous as hell that the beautiful girl they’ve seen around town is taken.”
“Exactly.” She pointed at her engagement ring. “Everyone knows I’m yours.”
“In two months—”
“Almost three,” Jill interrupted.
“I can wear your ring and everyone will know I’m yours, too. If you change your mind, I can wear it now.”
“No.” She looked at him with mournful eyes that melted his heart. “We made a decision for the right reasons. I don’t want to tell everyone now. I can wait, but I don’t have to be happy about it.”
“Do you have to get back to the restaurant?” he asked as he nestled his lips below her ear. She smelled as though she’d rolled in a field of wildflowers. “We can grab some lunch.”
“Your mom knew I was upset and told me to take my time.” She jerked her head up and pushed his hands away. After two steps, his door was locked and a wicked grin transformed her mouth from pouty to sex-starved.
“What are you doing?”
“We had a fight and we just made up. We have to have make-up sex.”
“Here? Right now?”
Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing sounded ragged. “Now.” She scanned his desktop for collateral damage and tossed his laptop onto his chair. “You ravaged me in my office. I’d say turnabout is fair play.” He groaned when she cupped him. “Besides, someone’s locked and loaded.”
“I love it when you talk dirty.” He lifted her onto his desk, hiking her skirt in the
process. His hand slipped inside her panties and he swallowed hard. “Target’s engaged.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“You can’t scream,” he warned.
She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. Just to be safe, he covered her mouth with his and swallowed her cry as he plunged.
Later, sated and panting, she lay sprawled on his desk, her dress akimbo and her hair mussed. She looked just the way he liked her: well-satisfied and sexy as hell. “Oh my,” she said. “That was one hell of a lesson.”
“That’s because you’re a model student.”
“And you, sir, are an excellent teacher.” She sat up and planted a wet kiss on his lips. “I’m aiming for an A.”
“Sweetheart,” he lifted her off the desk, “that was A+ work. Don’t tell anyone, but you’re the teacher’s pet.”
“Just as long as I’m the teacher’s only pet.”
“Only you, Jill. Forever.”
Chapter 10
Jack stepped out of the car and took a deep breath through his nose. “Wow, it smells so… pungent here. The grass, the hay, the land, it’s so vital.”
Erica snickered and took his arm, leading him across the yard to the house’s front porch. “It smells like a farm.”
He stopped after a few steps and stuck his face in the air. “Feel that wind?” He wagged his eyebrows. “Now I smell money.”
“That’s because you’re rolling in it.” She used the key she’d gotten from Smyth and held the door open for Jack.
He felt the temperature drop by at least ten degrees when he walked inside. “The sun must hit the back of the house in the afternoon.”
“That sounds right. I think Smyth said the house faces east.”
She led him through the empty one story, along the hallway, and into the bedrooms before they went out onto the back porch. “Listen to that river roar,” Jack said.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a roar,” Erica said. “More like a tumble.”
“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been quiet since we came into town.”
“Nothing.” She pulled away and huffed, “I’m not looking forward to spending the next few months on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Depending on how long this takes, we could be here through the holidays.”
Guiding the Fall Page 4
