by Nicola Marsh
‘Tell me more.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Whether you fend off wild animals in your spare time?’
He laughed as she battled the instant image of Ranger Rhys shirtless, his torso glistening with sweat, muscles rippling as he wrestled a moose with his bare hands.
Perspiration peppered her brow at the thought as she surreptitiously dabbed it and gestured towards the fireplace. Yeah, as if that was making her hot.
‘I enjoy the wilderness, if that’s what you’re asking.’
She wanted to ask more than that: such as how long he’d been here, how many tours he’d led, how many women he’d dazzled with those come-get-me eyes and wicked smile.
‘Interesting. After seeing you at the office I figured you to be the businessman type. Relishing the head-honcho role, running the company from behind the comfort of your desk.’
His smile faded, shadows clouding those brilliant blue eyes to muted midnight.
‘Yeah, guess I’m the typical suit now, though I don’t see it as a bad thing.’
She noted the tensed shoulders, the sudden clenching of his fingers around the glass he held, and wondered who he was trying to convince.
‘Grappling with figures can be just as rewarding as shooting the rapids. I haven’t been out in the wild for two years and I don’t miss it.’
His voice, devoid of all emotion, was a telltale sign in itself. His spiel sounded rehearsed, one he’d recited often by the sounds of it.
‘You’re kidding? Number crunching versus thrills and spills? If you’re a park naturalist you must love the wilderness. Why haven’t you been out in all that time?’
She could’ve bitten her tongue as his expression closed tight. He was her boss and she barely knew him. What on earth made her blurt out a question like that?
His body language screamed defensiveness, which meant he didn’t want to talk about it. She knew better than this. She’d attended balls at international embassies all around the world, was usually the epitome of tact and diplomacy. Now, her social skills had deserted her, along with her self-confidence in reading people.
An awkward silence stretched as he stared into the bottom of his glass, his lips compressed and, though she should shut up, an unseen, previously undiscovered demon urged her to give it a last shot.
‘Look, we’re going to be colleagues for the next six months. Don’t you think we should know a bit about each other, beyond the everyday niceties?’
His gaze lifted, the bleakness slamming into her, quickly replaced by the ferocity of one of the famed black bears she’d read so much about. So much for the meet-and-greet stage of their working relationship.
‘If you’re so keen on sharing secrets, why don’t you tell me why you ran away from Australia and flew all the way out here, huh? And don’t give me that bull about wanting to be a biologist because I don’t buy it.’
Jade took a steadying breath. She’d started this, she’d have to finish it whether she liked it or not.
‘I didn’t run away. I needed a new start.’
Understatement of the year.
His stare bored through her as if he could read her mind. ‘New start? Must involve a guy.’
‘Why would you say that?’
She aimed for nonchalance, knowing it must look as if she’d swallowed a salmon whole.
‘You’re an intelligent, beautiful woman. Bet you had the guys lined up back in Sydney.’
A slow warmth suffused her cheeks at his compliment, the inner glow Julian had extinguished reigniting with the simple admiration from this man.
‘Just one guy. He cheated on me.’
He winced. ‘Sorry. What a jerk.’
She sighed, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. She could tolerate probing questions; she couldn’t stand his pity.
‘All in the past now. Good incentive to focus on the future. No one to stand in my way now.’
‘I admire your resolve.’ He gestured to the barman, indicating another round. ‘Same for you or would you like something stronger?’
‘Soda’s fine.’
So much for finding out more about him; once she’d flapped her loose lips, part of her pathetic life story had flowed out and the ship had well and truly sunk.
‘I’ve told you my sorry tale—what’s yours?’
He avoided her eyes, focusing on the table, the silence stretching like a taut highwire ready to snap.
‘Come on, it can’t be that bad,’ she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
After the waiter cleared the glasses and replaced their drinks, Rhys looked up and her heart twisted at the despondency in his eyes.
‘One of my tour guides died on my last tour.’
He shook his head, hopelessness evident in the dejected slump of his broad shoulders.
‘You okay?’
She laid a tentative hand on his forearm, wishing she could think of the right thing to say and coming up with nada.
He threw off her hand, sat back so abruptly his chair scraped across the floorboards.
‘You asked for my story, you got it. Ready to go?’
What could she say? No, she wasn’t ready, because she wanted to know more about the tragic death that turned a carefree charmer into a bristling bore in an instant? No, that she wanted to apologise for pushing him when she barely knew him?
Swallowing her regrets, she nodded and followed him out of the door.
So much for shared confidences resulting in a better working relationship. The way he’d just glared at her, the glaciers wouldn’t be the only things frozen over the next six months.
Nice going. Great ice-breaker technique.
Shaking her head in disgust, she wondered how to make up for her gaff.
Chapter Five
AS THEY stepped out into the crisp night air, Jade took a few head-clearing breaths before falling into step beside Rhys, almost having to run to keep up with his long, angry strides.
Why the heck had she hounded him? She’d wanted to foster a good working relationship, not alienate him completely on her first day!
With his head bent, hands thrust into his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched against the howling wind, she had some serious work to do to resume the tentative working relationship she’d established earlier in the night.
‘Hey.’
He glanced at her, his expression hidden in shadows. ‘Leave it alone, Jade.’
She could leave it alone. She should leave it alone. But where would that leave them tomorrow? And the next day? And for the next six months when she tried to nail this job?
‘Let’s head back to the hotel.’ He instantly picked up the pace, leaving her no option but to pull up the collar of her Gore-Tex parka and do the same rather than trail behind like a trained husky.
‘Slow down.’
She doubted he heard, with the wind whipping her words away as soon as they left her mouth, and he continued stalking, huge strides that had her practically jogging along next to him.
Okay, so she’d pried into his personal business, opened an old wound that explained why he’d been stuck behind a desk the last two years, but if she didn’t clear the air the next few months could be tough.
‘Hold up.’
She reached out, tugged at his jacket, startled when he stopped abruptly and she slammed into his back.
‘Ouch!’
She rebounded and would’ve fallen if he hadn’t grabbed her, imprisoning her in a vice grip.
‘What now?’
She could barely see in the dim street lighting, but heard the exasperation in his voice.
‘We need to talk about this.’
‘No, we don’t.’
He hadn’t eased up with the Tarzan grip and her concern quickly morphed into something else, something a lot like a woman all too aware of six feet plus of hot, sexy male within touching distance.
‘You’re ticked off. Not a good start to our working relationship. I don’t want to leave things li
ke that.’
She bit down on her tongue, realising she was babbling and wishing she could tuck her Gore-Tex between her legs and hightail it back to the hotel like a good little employee, leaving her Pinocchio nose out of his business.
‘Like what?’
‘Tense. Awkward.’
She shrugged, feeling more foolish by the minute, a feeling that only increased as she focused on the patch of smooth bronze skin at the base of his throat where his parka zip didn’t go all the way up.
The colour of his skin matched her favourite crème caramel dessert, oh, so tempting A bizarre urge to lick it popped into her mind as an inane craving to taste him urged her to close the short gap between them and…Just one little lick, surely that wouldn’t be harmful? Yeah, just as the calories never went straight to her hips when she ate the real thing.
Lost in a fanciful haze, she missed the moment he loosened his grip and started running his hands over her upper arms, and though she wore a woollen jumper under the parka her skin tingled.
‘Doesn’t seem too tense now.’
She stared at his lips, transfixed. The last thing she needed was a kiss from her boss. What she wanted, now that was a different matter entirely.
Her eyelids fluttered shut and she tilted her head up, eager to feel that first liberating explosion of sensation when lips fused.
No kiss was as electrifyingly exciting as a first kiss and she had a feeling Rhys would know all the right moves. He had the attitude, the confidence, the lips that just begged to be kissed and she’d forgotten every sane reason why she shouldn’t.
She waited, every second an exquisite lesson in torturous anticipation, every second taunting her with a million logical arguments why she should pull away now and make a run for it.
‘Damn it!’ He muttered a string of soft curses under his breath as he released her, the air between them suddenly frigid as her eyes flew open to be confronted by a broad expanse of back.
He’d been a sigh away from their lips touching and he’d had the willpower to stop the kiss. Willpower she should’ve had.
Mortified, she didn’t know whether to laugh it off or pretend it hadn’t happened. Yeah, as if that were an option.
She knew it was for the best he hadn’t kissed her their first night in Alaska; mixing business with pleasure was crazy, especially when she’d have to spend the next six months with him. Then why did she want to blubber like a jilted wallflower on prom night?
‘Well, I guess we’re back to tense again.’
Her false laugh grated, but they had to get past this, had to forge some kind of working relationship. No way was she heading back to Australia without some decent work experience on her CV to help facilitate her entry into university.
He turned, his gaze raking over her yet giving away little as he ruffled the dark hair curling slightly over his collar.
‘Won’t be tense if we forget that ever happened.’
His calm voice and confident stance were at complete odds with her tumbling belly and quivering resolve. She should’ve admired him for it; instead, his cool nonchalance aggravated her beyond belief.
Of course they should forget it. But ignoring the four-hundred-pound bear in the corner of the igloo wouldn’t make it go away, and no way could she survive the next six months with this tension humming between them.
‘So we’re supposed to forget the fact you almost kissed me?’
His lips curved into the kind of smile that made forgetting the urge to kiss him impossible.
‘Maybe you almost kissed me?’
‘No way! You were holding me, you leaned towards me, you—’
‘I get the picture.’
He shook his head, but his smile merely widened. ‘Must’ve lost my head for a moment. Forgive me?’
With that cheeky smile and naughty gleam in those incredible blue eyes, how could she refuse?
Besides, nothing to forgive. She’d wanted that kiss so badly she’d practically invited it: leaning into him, tilting her head, closing her eyes…
She inwardly cringed, outwardly fixing the serene expression she’d used to great effect at many a boring function.
‘Forgotten.’ She snapped her fingers. ‘Just like that.’
‘Good.’
She should’ve been relieved they’d brushed over it so easily, should’ve been grateful they could laugh at it thanks to his handling of the situation.
But there was nothing remotely like relief or gratitude simmering between them as they stood there, gazes locked, the frosty air steaming from the short breaths they exhaled, the tension buzzing between them as potent as ever.
She had to escape before she did something foolish—again.
‘I’m heading back to the hotel. See you in the morning.’
He nodded. ‘I won’t be far behind you. ‘Night.’
As she picked her way along the pavement, more carefully this time, she felt his stare burning into her back and it took every ounce of her meagre willpower not to look back.
Rhys kept Jade in his sight as he followed her.
He’d acted like a jerk at the end of their drinks session in the bar, an even bigger jerk for almost kissing her as a distraction technique.
She’d got too damn close in the bar, her doe-eyed stare all soft and encouraging, and he’d nearly blurted out the truth of why being back here stung.
It had been a close call and he couldn’t afford to let the princess playing pauper creep under his guard.
At least he’d learned her reason for being here. It had less to do with her urge to study biology and more to do with some idiot who’d cheated on her.
She was running away from her old life, dabbling for a while, before she’d head back to her gowns and baubles.
It should annoy him, the fact she was using a job most people would give their eye teeth for as an escape, but he understood. Boy, did he understand the driving need to run when the going got tough.
As for that kiss…His initial plan to shock her into forgetting the awkwardness following his blurted admission had vanished the moment he’d touched her.
It had been an impulse, something guaranteed to shock her. Ironic, he’d been the one shocked with how close he’d come to losing control when she’d stared at him with those big brown eyes, her sensual mouth an inch away…
For that split second between going through with a callous kiss that meant nothing, a calculated kiss meant to distract, and sensibly pulling back, he’d ached to hold her, to touch her, to bury his face in her sleek chocolate-brown hair.
Thankfully, he hadn’t gone through with it and she’d handled his idiocy with aplomb, demonstrating what he already knew. Jade Beacham had class and then some.
He’d moved in the same social circles many moons ago, had met girls like her as a teenager. Pampered, pretty princesses with high expectations and endless credit via Daddy’s gold card. If it sounded like a princess and acted like a princess, it expected to be treated like one.
He’d escaped early enough to never get involved with one and had determinedly avoided that type of woman since. Playing lackey to a high-maintenance woman just wasn’t his style.
Uh-uh, when he’d finally opened his heart to a woman, it had been someone the absolute antithesis of a pampered princess.
And look what had happened as a result.
Cursing soundly, he headed towards the hotel. This wasn’t the time for another lapse in judgement. It was hard enough just being back in this town.
With Jade’s curvy image imprinted on his brain, and the answering spark he’d glimpsed in her beautiful brown eyes, he had a feeling things were about to get a lot harder.
Chapter Six
JADE rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom as the pale dawn light filtered through the curtains. She glanced in the mirror, not surprised to see dark rings under her eyes. After a sleepless night, what did she expect?
Stepping under the shower, she tilted her head back, allowing the warm wate
r to sluice over her face. She shampooed her hair, soaped her body and shaved her legs, focusing on the mundane tasks in a futile attempt to block out the memory of last night—and the cringe-worthy fact she’d almost kissed her boss.
She’d lain awake half the night replaying every tension-fraught moment since she’d met Rhys Cartwright. After that bizarre interview and her original initiation into the company, she should’ve known things would go downhill.
Though for a brief moment in the bar last night, she’d felt a connection, a genuine sharing of information that led to bonding.
Before she’d botched it all big time and made a mess of everything.
She’d lied to him. She’d told him the kiss was forgotten when in reality it was all she could think about. She couldn’t forget the feel of his strong hands stroking her arms, his intoxicating outdoorsy-woody smell, those blue eyes heavy with passion, the sight of his lips descending towards hers…
With one last icy blast she turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower. The rush of cold air raised goose bumps over her damp skin; or was her physiological reaction a result of imagining Rhys’s kiss?
Her hands shook as she dried off, the nerves she’d managed to subdue in the shower taking flight again. How on earth was she going to face him today?
No matter how efficiently they’d brushed it off last night, pretended it never happened, she’d have to show up to her first day on the job all perky and bouncy and enthusiastic when inside she’d be a quivering mess.
Shrugging into her robe, her gaze landed on her toiletry bag propped on the bathroom counter.
There lay her answer.
Whenever she’d had to attend a big event in the past, whether afternoon tea with royalty or polo with a prince, she’d ensure she looked her best. Perfect make-up, styled hair, killer outfit. Looking good gave her confidence and if ever there was a time she needed a boost, this was it.
She donned stretch black pants, a sapphire jumper and the latest design in hiking boots, then concentrated on the onerous task of applying make-up. Keeping the colours neutral, she applied a light foundation and translucent powder, outlined her eyes with blue kohl, smudged a bronzed eyeshadow over her lids, whisked the mascara wand over her eyelashes and finished off with a smidgeon of pale pink lip gloss.
