by Stacy Gail
Ominous storm clouds had moved back into his eyes, and the sight of them made her tense. “I thought your family was totally on board with the project. You mom, your uncle—”
“Almost everyone here is from her side of the family—the Muir side, not the Kingfishers. When I first proposed buying up this land and building the resort, most of the family on my father’s side laughed. So I left Kingfisher Corporation to do it by myself, and suddenly almost everyone from that side of the family tree forgot I existed. Olivia’s pretty much the only one who’s defected. ”
“That’s pretty freaking gutless of them,” she muttered before she could think to stop it, but damn. Even if the rest of the world had turned its back, family was supposed to frigging be there. “It takes balls to try something that no one’s ever even thought of doing before. So what if you don’t have a bazillion square feet of gaming room? You have a fucking mountain. You don’t need to walk the trail your grandfather already blazed. Sheep follow trails, so let the sheep have it. You are making your own path, like a fucking man, so you know what? When Whiteout Mountain becomes the number-one skiing destination in North America, the sheep can suck it. Assholes.”
He grinned. “Geez, Mia, tell me how you really feel.”
“I know we’re talking about your family, but I don’t think it’s too off the mark to say that some of them are assholes.”
“Yeah, but not the ones you’ve met. Everyone you’ve seen here loves this place as much as I do, and they believe in making this resort work.”
“It’s going to,” she said firmly, because she had no doubt in her mind. The resort was a gem, with each facet more spectacular than the last, and with Quinn’s never-ending drive behind it, she didn’t see how it could fail. “Since the storm’s over and I’ll be on my way at any time now, I know I can’t help that much, but while I’m here I want to pitch in wherever I can. Is there anything I can do?”
“Just keep being you.” His voice dipped along with his head, and his mouth threatened to cover hers—a delicious threat that made her tingle in anticipation. “And so what if the storm’s over? You’re free to stay for however long you want, right? We both know there’s nothing for you in Seattle. Stay a while longer and help me get this place staged up right.”
The word yes came up so fast she could taste it. But the reason she wanted to stay was because of Quinn, not to put the finishing touches on his resort, and that shocked her into stillness. She wasn’t a slut, damn it, so that meant she couldn’t play with Quinn until she’d cleared everything up with Jackson. And that situation was the only reason she’d landed where she was in the first place.
She opened her mouth to explain all of this to him when she heard someone call his name. They turned to see the bundled-up man come out of the gondola house, his gloved hand shielding his eyes from the sun’s glare.
“Quinn, Aunt Elise just called up—said she’s got a phone charger for your lady and that she’d like for you to pick it up. Also, since the latest update from the National Weather Service is calling for another vortex to hit by this evening, I’m officially informing you that if I don’t get a Keurig coffeemaker up here in the wheelhouse and a month’s worth of German chocolate K-Cups, I’m going to go on strike.”
“Fuck me,” Quinn muttered, then did a quick double-take. “Another bad storm?”
“Yep, and it’s supposed to be a doozy. Looks like we’re going to be adding another couple feet of sweet, fresh powder to our already bitchin’ base. Can you say cha-ching, cuz?”
“Hell, yeah.” He turned to grin down at her. “Looks like you’re staying another day or two, Red. Have any ideas on how we can fill the time?”
Lord help her, did she ever. And that was the problem.
A problem, she knew deep down, she was lucky to have.
Chapter Ten
A headache had started to pound in Mia’s head, so a bottle of water and pain relievers were shoved at her before she got back on the gondola, along with many urgings to hydrate to avoid the worst of altitude sickness. By the time she and Quinn walked into the main resort on their way to meet up with his mother Elise, she had to take a side trip into the lobby’s restrooms. When she came back out, she found Elise at the front desk with a man nearly as tall as Quinn, sporting a shadow of scruff and whose black hair was pulled back into a messy and thoroughly hot man-bun.
Nice.
As hot as the man was, it was the even-hotter Quinn she was looking for, but he was nowhere in sight. Not sure what else she was supposed to do, Mia approached cautiously since it was clear that Elise and the man were having a heated discussion.
Crap. Maybe she should go back to the bathroom and take another crack at taming the wild mess that was her hair.
Just as she was about to do an about-face, the man looked up and locked onto her, bringing Elise’s attention along with it.
Crap again. So much for making an escape.
“Mia, there you are. Come over and meet my oldest, Brody. Brody, this is Mia Flowers, the wayward traveler who wound up here at Whiteout as our special guest.”
“A very definite special guest.” He hadn’t blinked since he’d spotted her, she was almost sure of it. Nor did he take his eyes off her as he rounded the counter to take her hand in his. “Wow. I can see why you wound up here.”
Mia’s polite smile of greeting became confused and she took a half step back, the action pulling her hand from his. “I’m sorry?”
“I’m sure my brother took one look at you and decided you weren’t going anywhere but Whiteout Mountain.”
Uhh, what? “Actually, Quinn tried his best to get me to the airport hotel, but they closed the highway down just as we were leaving Honey Pot.”
“He knows every road and back trail around here like the back of his hand, so trust me—he could have tried harder. We Kingfishers do whatever it takes to get what we want.”
“Then I’m grateful he didn’t get inventive with his driving, especially in that storm and in the dark.” Irked with the implication that Quinn had somehow shirked his duty when she knew he hadn’t, she pulled herself up to her full height and was pleased to find she could almost look him in the eye. “My nerves were totally shot by that point. Quinn saved my sanity by getting me somewhere safe with no more muss or fuss, when it wasn’t his responsibility to do anything with me at all.”
Though his mouth didn’t move, the skin around his eyes crinkled in an obvious smile. “Loyal little thing, aren’t you?”
Hell yes, she was. “I don’t believe I’ve ever been called little before. And believe me, it’s easy to be loyal to someone who’s tried so hard to help me out.”
“My boys have always had a very strong sense of community—probably because a lot of that community is made up of relatives who’d get highly judgmental if they didn’t pull their weight.” Elise eased into the conversation, and put a hand on her son’s shoulder. “That’s why Brody came up today via snowmobile—to deliver an extra charger cord, just for you.”
Mia suddenly felt a billion times more charitable toward Quinn’s brother. “You’re a lifesaver, Brody, you have no idea. Thank you very much.”
“My pleasure.” After reaching into his pocket for the cord, he handed it over. “I go crazy when my battery’s down to ten percent, so I get it. That’s why I got myself over here. Can’t leave a pretty damsel in distress hanging.”
She hated the stupid heat that rushed into her face. “I’m sorry to have put you to so much trouble.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I never do anything I don’t want to do.”
“Isn’t that the God’s honest truth.” Quinn appeared in the office’s open doorway, looking at his brother with contempt so sharp Mia could feel its edge even from where she stood at its periphery. “Weren’t you leaving?”
Elise’s irritated intake of breath was audible. “Quinn, come on.”
“Yeah, you were leaving.” Quinn lifted his chin in the direction of the main entrance. “Ther
e’s the fucking door. Use it.”
Uh-oh.
“That sounded like an order, little brother.” Brody’s dark eyes, a deep onyx and thickly fringed with the kind of lashes Mia would have traded a vital organ for, narrowed dangerously on Quinn. “I don’t recall you ever giving me a fucking order without me making sure your sorry ass paid for it.”
Uh-oh!
Quinn shoved away from the doorframe and headed toward his brother like a shark closing in on dinner. “There’s a first time for everything, asshole.”
“He had to hang around to give me a power cord.” The inane words burst out of Mia even as she threw herself into Quinn’s path, while Elise did the same with Brody. She couldn’t see what happened behind her, because she was too busy wrapping both arms around Quinn’s waist and digging her heels into the polished floor to keep them anchored to the spot. “It’s my fault your brother’s still here, but I’m very grateful he hung around to help me out. He didn’t have to, so that was pretty cool of him, right?”
“Trust me on this, Red. This un-fucking-believable assclown doesn’t give two shits about helping anyone but himself. That’s how self-centered bastards like him operate.”
“You know, I’m getting pretty damn tired of waiting on you to get your head out of your ass. Stop whining like a little bitch and move the fuck on, man.”
“You move the fuck on—right out that door.” Quinn’s voice was so icy calm it made Mia shiver and pray that he’d never use that tone on her. “Get the fuck out of my resort and off of my mountain, and don’t you even think about coming back. Ever.”
Behind her, Mia heard another sharp gasp from his mother. “Quinn, no. He’s your brother.”
“That’s something you should’ve reminded him about a long time ago, so don’t start laying that shit on my doorstep.”
“Mouth.” To Mia’s alarm, Brody’s growl sounded one heck of a lot closer than it did a few seconds ago and about a thousand times more dangerous. “Don’t you fucking talk that way to our mother, shithead.”
“And don’t you fucking tell me how I can fucking talk in my own fucking house, you motherfucking cocksu—”
“Enough.”
A new, deep voice hit them like a clap of thunder, freezing everyone in place. Mia even got the impression that all activity in the entire building had screeched to a dead halt, she craned her neck around toward the lobby’s main entrance to see who the newcomer was. A huge mountain of a man—an older version of Brody with gorgeous onyx eyes, short salt-and-pepper hair and a scowl that would frighten the Devil himself—stood with his feet planted wide in a pose that looked like he was readying himself to wrestle Godzilla.
Beside him in a puffy pink ski jacket and matching angora beret was Olivia, her expression torn between anxiety and guilt as she took in the unfolding scene.
“Goddamn it.” Quinn’s mutter was so low Mia doubted anyone else had heard him. She wasn’t completely sure of that, however, when Olivia made a high squeaking noise and partially hid behind the man she stood next to.
“I have a good mind to just let the two of you to go at it and to hell with the fuckin’ consequences,” the newcomer went on. His rugged, weathered face looked so ferocious both Quinn and Brody looked like amateur badasses in comparison. “Wouldn’t be the first time you two knocked the dog shit out of each other, and I doubt it’ll be the last. But even if the two of you knuckleheads aren’t getting too old for this shit, I am, and so’s your mom. We should have had all girls,” he told Elise, and Mia glanced back at her to see she’d dropped her restraining arms from her oldest son to offer up a dazzling smile.
“That wasn’t up to me, Jase. I was just the oven for your little buns. How they turned out was all you.”
“There you go again, putting the blame on me. Funny how whenever they do something good, you claim it comes from your side of the family.”
“That’s because it does.”
Quinn’s and Brody’s father, Mia thought, cautiously loosening her hold on Quinn. In response, he slung an arm around her shoulders and tucked her in close while his gaze never left his father. “What are you doing here?”
Mia hadn’t thought the older man, Jase, could look any more dangerous. Then his eyes filled with some kind of crazy black fire, and she realized just how wrong she could be. This guy, no matter how much older he was than Quinn, was a scary force to be reckoned with.
“You wanna try throwing me out too, son?”
“The thought never crossed my mind.”
“Good.”
“Mainly because I wasn’t thinking about you at all. Olivia,” he went on, his voice as cold as ice, “since you obviously brought my dad over, you’re in charge of giving him a tour before seeing him the fuck out. I’ve got so much shit to do I can’t waste any more time standing around here dealing with this.”
“I don’t want a goddamn tour,” Jase announced in a voice that rang around the lobby, and if anyone hadn’t already been frozen in place to watch this unreal clash of Titans before, they certainly were now. “What I want is for this bullshit to come to a stop once and for all. And it’s coming to a stop today.”
Both Quinn and Brody spoke. “Dad—”
“Enough,” Jase roared again before pinning Quinn with a hard look. “This swank place of yours got a conference room?”
Olivia moved out of hiding when Quinn didn’t fall over himself to answer. “Uh, yeah, Uncle Jase. All the conference rooms are past the atrium and down the—”
“Show me. Brody, Quinn, Elise—let’s move it.”
“I’m dead.” Hauling a small box of food onto the Presidential Chalet’s kitchen counter, Olivia tugged off her beret and threw it along with her puffy jacket onto a breakfast bar stool. “You’re looking at a dead woman. Quinn is going to kill me for pulling that stunt. Just so you know, I want a Viking funeral, complete with boat and flaming arrow. Let someone know when my unfortunate deadness is discovered.”
“I don’t see what was so wrong with what you did.” Mia shrugged out of her own coat to toss it aside as well, then turned her attention to unloading the box. “From what I can tell, Quinn and his brother have a real problem with each other, and their dad seems to be the only one who has any sort of control over them when they get into a pissing contest. I probably would’ve done the same thing if I’d been in your shoes. Once everything cools down, I’m sure Quinn will understand. At least, he’ll understand enough to not leave your murdered corpse in a snowdrift.”
“I doubt it.” Olivia shook her head and leaned against the counter as she watched Mia stuff the half-empty fridge. “And I’m not going to get my hopes up about things cooling down, either. It hasn’t cooled down for two years, when Quinn walked away from the family business and struck out on his own. If anything, it’ll probably heat up a few more degrees and the family will be more divided than ever.”
“Wait a minute, that’s what this is about?” Mia glanced over at the other woman, a bag of egg noodles in hand. “When Quinn sold his share in the family business, he did it for the sole purpose of preserving Whiteout Mountain. He then developed it with great care, doing his best to not screw up the environment while still creating a business that’ll keep a roof over his head. That’s pretty freaking admirable, not to mention gutsy. It’s certainly not something you condemn him for.”
“So he’s talked about it with you,” Olivia said, her gaze turning speculative as she regarded Mia. Then she shook her head and moved to stow a half gallon of milk in the fridge. “I get why Quinn did what he did, because my cousin and I are a lot alike. We prefer the sun and fresh air to being cooped up in dimly lit casinos where you lose track of whether it’s day or night. But it’s the family business, and it’s grown from generation to generation. It’s a legacy that started out with nothing and is now one of the biggest sources of income for nearly a thousand employees across the state. When Quinn sold his share of the casino business, some family members took it personally.”
&
nbsp; “That’s ridiculous. Quinn simply needed to live his own life. That kind of initiative should be applauded, not torn down.”
“I know that and you know that. But it’s tough getting it through everyone’s heads that just because you’re family, this doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to follow in the footsteps of those who’ve come before you. Many people—mainly the older generation—view Quinn going off to do his own thing as a kind of betrayal.”
Mia recalled the majority of the people she’d seen around the resort were around Quinn’s age or younger. “Brody isn’t part of the older generation.”
“No, but he is a huge force in Kingfisher Corporation. He and West—my older brother—and another cousin of ours, Dev, were firstborn sons who went into the family business and expanded it just like the generation did before them, and all of us younger siblings pitched in and did our fair share as well. Quinn’s the first one to jump ship to do his own thing. I don’t think he could’ve shocked the family more if he’d suddenly chosen to become a hardcore practicing nudist. Some of them still haven’t gotten over it.”
Mia had to focus hard on the other woman to keep her brain from picturing Quinn nude. “That’s their problem, and ultimately they’ll have to find a way to deal. This resort—Quinn’s dream—isn’t going to go away. Not only is he making it a reality, Whiteout Mountain’s going to become the biggest success in the outdoor sporting and hospitality industry that this state has ever seen. Maybe even this entire region. That’s going to strengthen this area’s economy, and in turn that will increase the overall gaming earnings for the Kingfishers. They should be thanking Quinn for thinking of a new way to give the local economy a boost, not tearing him down.”
Olivia gave her a complex look that ended with a soft smile. “You really believe in him, don’t you?”
“Absolutely. If anyone can make Whiteout Mountain a success, it’s Quinn. I have no doubt in my mind.”
