Heart of Gold

by B. J Daniels

  “What else could it be? Why share his past relationships? Why talk to you about any of it? You’re his employee.”

  “Right. I hope I have a job after the holidays.” She kept telling herself that once Greg and Amanda were married, he’d go back to being professional again.

  “You really think you can continue working for him?”

  Charlie felt her heart thump. “This is the best job I’ve ever had. The thought of losing it—”

  “You can get another job. You know that. You already said you could.”

  She nodded. It was true. She knew she could find another job. Eventually. But she’d liked this one just fine before all this. “You really think—”

  “That he’s getting up the nerve to tell you how he feels about you before he walks down the aisle? Yes, I do. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust him around you after the wedding.”

  She stared at him. “You’re jealous.”

  “Damn right I am.”

  “You do know that I’ve never given him any reason.”

  “I know that.”

  She swallowed. “But he admitted that he hadn’t sent a headhunter after anyone but me. He said he—” she made an embarrassed face at him “—had to have me.”

  “Well, I know that feeling.” Shep brushed a lock of hair back from her face, his fingers skimming over her cheek and sending tiny electrical pulses through her. “Isn’t he always telling you how much he likes you, how much he respects your work?”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s fallen for me.”

  “How could he not? You’re beautiful, smart, talented, amazing. But even if I’m wrong, he has to know he’s about to make a major mistake marrying Amanda. I think he’s looking for a way out and he thinks it’s you.”

  She hoped Shep was wrong. “I don’t see this turning out well,” she said, hoping he would disagree. He didn’t.

  “Unless he goes back to just being your boss, which I don’t think he’ll do, and add to that Amanda’s insane jealousy of you...” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, it doesn’t look good.”

  She groaned, knowing he was right.

  “Hopefully Greg won’t get another chance to talk to you alone before the wedding. I’ll have to keep you busy.” He grinned and she felt her blood heat as he kissed her.

  When he broke off the kiss, Charlie looked into all his eyes and wanted to take him up on every promise she saw there. She wanted to feel that heat, that passion, that pleasure and give it back in spades. She wanted him and knew she always would.

  “If you had any idea what I want to do to you right now...” He slowly began to undress her as she grinned at him, daring him to show her.

  AFTER THEY made love, they showered and reluctantly got ready for the rehearsal dinner. Shep would have much preferred staying cuddled in bed with her.

  “Did I tell you that I confronted Amanda earlier today about the dead mouse?” Charlie asked. She slid a dark green velvet dress over her head and let it slither over her body. “She admitted it—and admitted putting the eye drops in my dessert and Greg’s. She said she got them out of his suit jacket pocket.”

  “Did she say why?” He couldn’t help being worried.

  “She blamed it on the drinks she had.”

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t just get out of here?” he asked.

  She smiled. “I wish we could, but Tara is coming tomorrow. She’s going to be in the wedding. I can’t do that to her. And in truth, I can’t do it to Amanda, as awful as she is. I feel sorry for her. I don’t think her other maid of honor broke her leg and is in traction. I think everyone turned her down.”

  “With good reason,” he said and kissed her. “I’m glad that you feel you can’t leave. You’re a nice person, Charlie.”

  She worried at her lower lip with her teeth for a moment. “I hope I don’t regret it.”

  He felt the same way. “Well, after tomorrow, they will be married,” he said. “With luck.”

  They found everyone waiting for them at the bar and were quickly shown into a private dining room.

  Shep kept Charlie close, right where he wanted her. Fortunately Greg stayed in his own lane, behaving like a man who was marrying the love of his life the next day. Even Amanda did her best not to pay any attention to Royce and Ruby Jo.

  Still Shep was glad when the meal was over.

  “Night skiing!” Greg announced. “Get whatever you need from the shop and I’ll see you all up on the mountain.”

  “Are you going snowboarding tonight?” Charlie asked when they returned to their room.

  “Not without you.”

  “Then you leave me no choice.” She tilted her head to one side, grinning at him. “Guess we’re going night snowboarding.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “You’re going to kick my butt up on that hill, aren’t you?”

  She grinned. “I guess we’ll see but I’m going to try.”

  He laughed. “It’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”

  His heart fluttered and he felt warm clear to his toes as she kissed him. “Glad to hear it,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  THEY RODE UP the ski lift together with stars and a sliver of moon hanging in a midnight blue sky. Charlie breathed in the cold night air, feeling more alive than she had in years. Shep put his arm around her, pulling her closer. Below them in the glow of the lights, skiers and snowboards looked small and dark against the snow as they made their way down the mountainside.

  As the chairlift slowed, they both slid off and down the hill partway to finish buckling up their snowboards. “Ready?” she asked, grinning at Shep from under her helmet.

  And then she took off down the slope. The hill had been groomed, but there was a good foot of snow along the edge and even more in the trees. She headed for it, boarding into the shadowy semidarkness. She looked back once and saw that Shep was right behind her.

  They cruised down the mountain, in and out of the trees and the deep featherlike snow. Charlie had forgotten how much she loved this. She ducked to avoid a pine branch. It brushed over her helmet, sending down a cascade of new snow. Behind her, she heard Shep swear and knew he must have caught the swinging branch.

  When she looked back, he was getting up from the deep snow. Laughing, she found herself at the edge of the ski hill. Other skiers and boarders were now carving their way across the hill. She dove back into the trees to avoid them and hadn’t gone far when she sensed someone behind her again. She assumed it was Shep, but he was following her awfully close. A lot closer than he had been before.

  She turned her head to look back into the darkness of the pines an instant before she was hit hard just below her shoulder blades. The blow knocked her off balance and sent her crashing downhill. She saw a tree coming and threw herself to the side, striking a smaller tree before burrowing deep in the snow.

  The impact with even the small tree knocked the air out of her and for a moment, she didn’t know which way was up. She was under the snow, unable to breathe. Fighting her way to the surface, she gasped for breath and sucked in icy snow crystals that burned her lungs.

  Furiously she wiped the freezing cold snow from her face with her glove and looked around in confusion. She didn’t see anyone close, but there were two ski tracks nearby that had cut through the trees before returning to the groomed ski slope.

  Who had hit her from behind? She was barely able to process the thought before Shep came boarding up to her.

  “Charlie? Are you all right?”

  She wasn’t sure. She lay in the snow, still gasping. Her side hurt where she had struck the tree, but she didn’t think anything was broken. “Someone hit me.”

  He stared at her as he helped her up. “Someone out of control?”

  “Maybe, but it felt like I was hit with a fist.”

&nb
sp; * * *

  SHEP HAD SEEN another skier in the trees just before he’d lost sight of Charlie. But all he’d seen was a bundled-up shape. It had been too dark to make out much more.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, not for the first time since they had left the ski hill and returned to their room. They’d both changed, Charlie into yoga pants and a sweater, Shep into jeans and a T-shirt.

  “It probably was just a skier out of control who hit me,” she said as if trying to convince them both.

  “Did you get a look at the person?” he asked.

  “It was dark. All I saw was a blurry figure as I was falling. But it was definitely someone on skis.”

  “That leaves the suspects wide open since most everyone was on skis tonight,” he said, looking at her with concern. “Did Lindy ski?”

  She nodded. “I remember she was looking forward to winter. She said she’d learned to ski at age three. But Lacey had grown up in Brazil. I guess it’s possible she’d learned to snow ski. Kat said Matt had money. He could have taken her to the Alps skiing for all we know.”

  If Lacey had found out about the wedding and followed them up here... “Or it could have just been someone skiing out of control. An accident.”

  He shook his head. “The person didn’t even stop to see if you were all right?”

  She shrugged and he saw her flinch. “I’m just sore,” she said quickly, seeing his worried reaction.

  They both startled at the sudden loud knocking at their door. Charlie looked at him with an expression that told him she was thinking the same thing he was. Amanda or Greg. Or both.

  “Don’t answer it,” she whispered.

  The pounding grew louder. Then a male voice called, “Charlie?”

  Shep exchanged another look with her, this one more than surprised. “Daniel?” he mouthed.

  She nodded.

  “What is he—”

  She held up her hands, eyes wide.

  Shep stormed to the door and threw it open to find Daniel getting ready to knock again. He was dressed in ski pants and a jacket. He held his stocking cap and gloves in his free hand.

  Daniel blinked at the sight of Shep and shifted his gaze to look past him into the room where Charlie was sitting on the bed. “I need to talk to Charlie,” he said.

  “Daniel? What are you doing here?”

  Shep realized that Charlie had gotten off the bed and was now right beside him.

  * * *

  CHARLIE WAS HAVING trouble believing this. Was this Amanda’s doing? She stepped past Shep to face Daniel. “We broke up, so I ask again what are you doing here?”

  “I was invited. Remember? You invited me.” Daniel’s tone was peevish.

  With a groan, she remembered that she had. It seemed like eons ago.

  “But we broke up. Why would you come after—”

  “I tried to reach you first,” he said. At her raised brow, he added, “Well, I thought about calling you but then decided maybe it would be better just to see you here.” He looked past her back into the room. “Wow, didn’t take you long.”

  “You and I broke up.”

  “I thought once you calmed down... Still...” He looked again into the room at Shep.

  She stepped out into the hall, forcing Daniel to move back from the door. She wanted to close the door for this discussion but didn’t want Shep to think she had anything to hide. She didn’t.

  “It isn’t what you think,” she said quietly.

  Daniel smirked.

  “Shep is an old boyfriend who came back to...” She realized that maybe that’s what it had been at first. But it was now exactly what he thought. “It isn’t any of your business.”

  “Still,” Daniel repeated and glanced down the empty hallway for a moment. “You heard about Jason.”

  She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged and looked at her again. “So I guess you don’t want me here.”

  “It’s a bit awkward since we broke up and I’ve moved on.”

  “I can see that but you’re cool me with staying, right? I thought I’d ski since I’m here.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Hey, I didn’t even know we were broken up, so cut me some slack.”

  “Look, Daniel, I don’t care what you do, but you and I are done.”

  He looked down at his ski boots for a moment. “So I suppose you don’t want your Christmas present.”

  “No, I don’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Out of curiosity, what did you get me?” Please don’t let it be an engagement ring. She didn’t need more guilt.

  He brightened. “Three of my favorite video games. I thought we could play them at your place and it would give us something more in common.”

  Her friends thought he was going to ask him to marry her. She tried to keep her face straight as she said, “That was a thoughtful gift.”

  “I was trying, Charlie.”

  He probably thought he had been. “You aren’t coming to the wedding though, right?” she asked.

  “It’s in the morning?”

  She nodded.

  “No, I think I’ll ski instead. There’s supposed to be fresh powder.”

  “Good choice.” She turned to go back into the room.

  “No hard feelings,” Daniel said. “Maybe I can return the video games and get my money back.”

  She watched him walk away for a moment, then turned back to her open door—and caught movement at the other end of the hallway. It was only a glimpse of a figure—with long blond hair.

  This time she didn’t hesitate. She took off running down the hallway, shoving open the door to the stairs before bounding down them. This time Lacey wasn’t going to get away.

  * * *

  SHEP HAD TRIED not to listen to Charlie’s conversation with her former boyfriend. He knew she’d left the door open on purpose. He smiled to himself, thinking of what she would say when she came back into the room after allowing him to overhear everything.

  Daniel had gotten her three of his favorite video games? What a romantic. Shep knew he shouldn’t make fun of the guy, but it just proved how wrong he’d been for her.

  And you’re so right for her?

  Yeah, he was, he told himself. Even though he’d just heard her refer to him as “an old boyfriend.” And then she’d added that it wasn’t any of Daniel’s business. All Shep knew was that he’d move heaven and earth to make her happy. Isn’t that why the judge had asked him to come see what was going on with her?

  As the conversation died down outside the room, he suddenly saw Charlie take off at a run down the hall.

  What the hell? He jumped up and rushed out of the room in time to see her take the stairs. Where was she going in such a hurry?

  He didn’t know, but his pounding heart told him that given the way she’d taken off, it couldn’t be good. He ran down the hallway and shoved open the exit door. He could hear the clamor of footfalls echoing up through the stairwell.

  Taking the stairs as fast as he could, he went after her. What would make her do something like this?

  A thought struck him so hard he almost missed a step.

  Lacey. Had Charlie seen Lacey and was now chasing her? Had Charlie lost her mind? What would she do if she caught her? The idea sent him barreling downward until, two floors below theirs, a stairwell door swung open, catching him by surprise.

  * * *

  CHARLIE HEARD A door open and close one floor below her. She was so close now she knew she would catch Lacey. She raced down the last set of steps, grabbing the ground floor door and bursting out of it into the lobby.

  Her heart was hammering, pulse a thunder in her ears, her breath coming out in hard gasps. She slid to a stop and hurriedly scanned the lobby, knowing the woman couldn’t have gotten away. Not this t
ime. Charlie had been right behind her.

  The lobby was full of people moving about through furniture and plants and plastered columns. Charlie couldn’t have lost her. She couldn’t have.

  The blonde came into view as she passed a group of people gathered talking in the middle of the lobby. She wasn’t moving fast, just walking, as if not the least bit worried about Charlie.

  A stab of anger sent Charlie’s blood pressure skyrocketing. Lacey thought there was nothing Charlie could do about her. No way she could stop her.

  Charlie darted between the tall pots of plants and the large furniture and cut her off before she could reach the door. She came shooting out from the side, grabbed Lacey’s arm and spun her around to face her. In all honesty, she didn’t know what she was going to do with her other than demand answers.

  The woman let out a startled cry and tried to pull free.

  Charlie looked into the blonde’s face—a face she’d expected to be so familiar. It all took only a few seconds for her to realize that the woman she’d just chased down numerous flights of stairs wasn’t Lacey at all.

  “What?” the woman demanded, pulling her arm free.

  Charlie was so shaken for a moment that she couldn’t speak. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

  Looking indignant, the blonde continued out the door. Charlie realized that other people in the lobby were staring at her. She started to stumble back when a pair of hands grabbed her and steadied her.

  “This way.”

  She recognized Greg’s voice. He was the last person she wanted leading her out of the lobby. He quickly drew her into what appeared to be a small atrium. But she was still so shocked, horrified actually, that she didn’t want to add to the scene by shaking his hold from her arm. It was a wonder she hadn’t tackled the woman to the floor.

  “Are you all right?” Greg asked as he let go of her.

  Charlie blinked. Her horror began to fade as she realized this was the last place she wanted to be with the last person on earth.

  She took a step back.