Miles' Christmas Roundup (Holiday Hunks Book 2)

by Angela Stevens

After Cady vanished through the doors, Miles dressed, took a deep breath, and headed into the kitchen, knowing this would be the last night they’d ever spend together.

  16

  Cady

  Fountain, Colorado December 27th

  Cady found herself watching the Carmichaels from the sidelines last night. Sarah was thankfully fine, though the doctors thought she might have an underlying thyroid issue that required more tests and treatment for. The bruise on her cheek looked painful, but she assured everyone it looked worse than it was.

  It wasn’t that Cady was deliberately keeping to herself, it was just the only way she could keep her heart from breaking. How the hell she managed to fall so completely head over heels in love with Miles in such a short space of time was utterly beyond her. And, as the hours ticked by, that moment of saying goodbye became even more real.

  Miles came to her room that night, but they didn’t even undress. Instead, they both lay fully clothed on her bed, and she spent a fitful night in his arms. He was feeling it too. Even though she kept her eyes shut tight, pretending she was sleeping, she could tell from his breathing that he also lay awake the entire night.

  The next morning, as he hauled her suitcase down the stairs, she didn’t even know what to say to him, and it was obvious he felt the same way.

  “I asked Caleb to drive you all to the airport. I can’t…” He didn’t need to say why he couldn’t do it, as she felt the same way. A tearful goodbye at the gate was not something she relished.

  “I’ll text you when I get back, um, if you want me to.”

  “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  As Cady went to get in the mini bus, conscious that the others were already in there and they should leave, Miles held onto her. “We’ll find a way to make this work?”

  “Yeah.” Her response was meant to comfort him, but they both knew there wasn’t a way it could.

  Due to the early start, the mini bus was fairly quiet. Cady had chosen to sit up front next to Caleb so she could avoid making small talk with the others, but she needn’t have worried, they’d all dozed off about five miles down the road.

  Caleb glanced over at her. “You enjoy your stay?”

  “Yes, it was so much fun. I envy you guys having this place.”

  Caleb chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a little piece of paradise. Oh, by the way, I liked what you did to the website.”

  She beamed back at him. “You did?”

  “It looks great. But you are right, we need to get someone to do some of this stuff full-time. I think Mom needs help, too. She is trying to play stuff down after her fainting spell, but it's a lot of work for her on her own.”

  “Yeah, you can say that again. Both Olivia and I were rushed off our feet yesterday morning and you weren’t even that busy. I have no idea how she does it all by herself, twice a day. Honestly, Sarah is Superwoman.”

  “She does the cabins too, cleaning and stuff. But we can afford to buy in some services. The place is doing really well. I think it's time we overruled her and get in a designated cleaning crew, then look at some of the other responsibilities we are all juggling. In the long term, Miles wants to build more cabins and expand the season. He found this guy in New England that builds them, called Lux-Chase. The owner, Saul Chase, builds the most amazing places in traditional designs from sustainable materials. But that is going to take more work.”

  “Well, you should talk to Miles. Get someone in who is flexible. You’ll need a Jack-of-all-trades. Someone who can pitch in with everything that needs doing, the way you and Miles do.”

  Caleb rubbed his chin and nodded. “Or a Jill?”

  “Yes, of course. Man or woman, it wouldn’t matter.”

  For the rest of the journey the conversation dried up between the two of them, and all too soon they arrived at the airport. As Caleb helped carry her bag, he suddenly stopped. She halted alongside him. “Will you help me, Cady?’

  “Sure, If I can. What do you need me to do?”

  “I want to convince Miles about getting someone in, but he’s stubborn, and he’ll come up with excuses. You saw a bit of what we need, so can you help me write up a job description. You see, I reckon if I can find someone suitable, it’ll be easier to sell the idea to him.”

  “Sure. Let me give you my number and when I get back I’ll put some thought into it and we can talk.”

  * * *

  “Here we are, home sweet home.” Jules pulled into their apartment block and Cady looked up unenthusiastically. The weather was as dreary as she felt; gray and drizzly with a biting wind that just made her shiver and feel even more depressed.

  She’d never noticed it before, but the area felt claustrophobic. The apartment buildings towered around her, blocking out any view. Not that there was a view of anything really, just blacktop and concrete—an urban sprawl that crept out in all directions. Even the old buildings in the area no longer seemed as attractive as they once did.

  After unpacking, Cady sat in her room, going through ZipRecruiter and some other job sites. But her heart wasn’t in it. She knew she’d have to start looking soon, but that meant making some decisions about whether she was going to stay in Virginia, or go someplace else. Seattle was always a possibility. Perhaps it was time to go home.

  She woke the next morning to find herself still fully dressed, and her bed feeling remarkably empty. She grabbed her phone and as she went to fix some coffee, she checked her messages.

  There was a reply to her “I’m home” message, from Miles.

  Sorry, was run off my feet yesterday. Sarah only wanted to clean the cabins herself! Anyway, I will leave you to guess how that one played out. Hope your trip back wasn’t too arduous.

  She quickly sent him a message.

  Missing you and the horses already. How’s Good Golly? I forgot to say goodbye to him!

  A few seconds later, a short video buzzed through on the phone. The foal was jumping around in the snow, flicking its heels out and sending powder everywhere.

  Looks like you had more snow!

  Just a couple of inches.

  Say hi to Caleb and Sarah for me.

  Will do.

  Then a second message came back before she had time to reply.

  Did Caleb say anything to you on the way to the airport?

  About what?

  Not sure. He is being secretive about something. He borrowed my laptop and has been “doing research.”

  She came out of their text stream while she thought how to reply, and noticed a series of texts from Miles’ brother. Intrigued, she went to them.

  I’ve made a list of some of the things the job would entail. Would you look over them and see if you can make them sound more attractive, lol. Reading them back now, it sounds like we need a slave, not an assistant!

  The second text was sent a few hours later.

  I think Miles is onto me. Mum’s the word, Cady. I don’t want him saying no before I can present him with the perfect solution.

  Cady dashed off a quick reply to Caleb.

  Will take a look at the attachment and get back to you later. Your secret’s safe with me.

  Then she flipped back to her messages with Miles.

  No, he didn’t say anything. You know Caleb, he isn’t the chattiest of guys.

  She sent the text and then got an overwhelming urge to be close to Miles. Damn, this was going to be so much harder than she thought. The sooner she found herself another job to fill her time, the better. The last thing she needed was time on her hands to sit waiting for texts.

  Miss you.

  She pressed send as soon as she typed it, then chastised herself for being so damn foolish. Why prolong the agony? Perhaps she should just break ties with Miles now.

  Missing you with all my heart.

  Cady sighed at his reply, and another text from Miles shot in straight after.

  And my dick misses you too.

  Laughing, she texted him back.

  You ever try phone sex?
/>   TONIGHT 9:30 MY DICK IS WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING!

  * * *

  Alexandria, Virginia January 10th

  By the end of the following week, Cady had a applied for almost thirty jobs, and even had an interview lined up at a local firm. Not that she was that keen on staying in Virginia, but as she still hadn’t decided whether to head back to Seattle or not. She was keeping her options open and applying in both areas.

  She and Miles picked up where they’d left off before she had gone to visit his ranch, and she looked forward to her long conversations on the phone at night. During the rest of the day, Miles still sent her pictures and texted. To help occupy herself during the day, Cady managed to persuade him to let her work on the ranch’s website.

  She’d spent way too much time on it, actually, and was really excited by the results. Since all the changes went live, there had been an uptick in traffic. Cady even started a mini daily blog. Using the pictures Miles texted to her, she created a light-hearted “Today on the Ranch” page that seemed to attract a lot of visitors. Time would tell if it actually resulted in an upturn in bookings; it was only a week after all.

  In the evening, they had tried phone sex a couple of times, but as she expected, it didn’t fulfill her as much as the real thing. In fact, it just made her miss Miles even more.

  Her phone buzzed and she looked down to find not another message from Miles, but one from Caleb.

  Okay, final version of the job description is in your email. What do you think?

  Caleb and Cady had been discussing the role of the new assistant he wanted to hire. Since his initial idea during the ride to the airport, the concept had grown legs.

  You on your own? I can call you.

  Cady wanted to make sure Miles wasn’t around while she spoke to Caleb. She was still sworn to secrecy on the project and didn’t want to land Caleb in trouble with his brother.

  Yeah, all good.

  While she opened up the email on her laptop and began to read through the requirements and wording of the advert Caleb had written, she pressed call and waited for Caleb to pick up.

  “Hey, sorry about that, Miles walked in right as I said it was okay to call.”

  “Don’t you think you should tell him? He’s going to be really mad when he finds out you have just employed someone by yourself. And what about Sarah? Does she even know what you are plotting?”

  “You leave Miles and Sarah to me. Now, did you take a look? Tell me what you think.”

  She read the description out loud. “You know, this sounds terrific. I think we did a good job on it.”

  “You do? Okay, million dollar question coming up. What do you think we should offer as pay?”

  “Oh, God, I dunno, Caleb, that’s so hard. There are so many factors to take in to account. See, this is why you need to discuss this with Miles. How much can you afford? Will you want someone with experience? Because if you do you’ll have to pay more. But if you take on someone without experience, but who is willing to learn, you’ll have to spend time training him or her but they will probably accept less pay. Then there is accommodation. You are pretty remote, and housing expenses can be high. What about including accommodations as part of their pay? That room I stayed in over the garage would be perfect for a live-in position. Put in a microwave and fridge, then you could let them eat with you guys from the kitchen. That would keep your costs down, which would also make a lower wage more attractive.”

  “Actually, that is a great idea. So, if we did that—provide accommodation and food for free, what should we offer? I mean, what would you do this job for?”

  “Oh, God, you are asking the wrong person. I am hopeless. I worked for Paul for $15 an hour. But with the other perks, I’d say somewhere between $12 and $15.”

  “$12? Well, that would be doable, and Miles might go for that. Are you sure we’d get someone for that?”

  Cady laughed. “Well, more would get a better candidate, of course. But honestly, if it was me, just the thought of living there and looking at the view from your ranch all day, every day—I’d work for free. Go with your gut. If you don’t get any applicants, you could always reassess things.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. Okay, how about we say fifteen, the same as you were earning?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “So, you’ll take it?”

  “What?”

  “The job?”

  “Caleb, I…” Seriously? She must be misunderstanding him.

  “Come on, Cady, you said you loved it here.”

  “I did, but…”

  “Did you find another job already?”

  “No, I still haven’t quite decided whether to stay in Virginia, or go back to Seattle.”

  “But there could be a third choice—move to Colorado!”

  Her heart started to beat very fast. She’d thought about starting again somewhere… anywhere… but Colorado?

  “I’ll have to think about it. There is a lot of stuff to consider.”

  “You love the ranch.”

  “I do.”

  “And you already set up the website and you filled in when Sarah was ill, and you didn’t even know what to do, but you did a brilliant job.”

  “Caleb, you know it’s more than that. God, I’d love to come back there and I think working with you guys would be so much fun, but…”

  “But what, Cady?”

  “Miles.”

  “Seriously? You are crazy about my brother.”

  She blushed and was glad Caleb couldn’t see her. “Yes, I am, but Miles is—”

  “Fucking crazy about you.” He finished her sentence for her. “Come on, you have to know he is. He spends every evening talking to you.”

  She chewed on her lip, trying to contain her excitement. “Just let me think about it. This is a big decision, just give me a couple of days.”

  “Two days? Agreed. And when you say yes, we’d like you to start straight away.”

  “If I say yes, that will be fine, but you have to discuss this with Miles. What if he doesn’t want to take on another person? Better yet, what if he isn’t ready for me to be in his life permanently?”

  “Nope. We stick to the original plan. I tell Miles when I fill the post. So keep quiet, Cady. You promised me, remember?”

  She ended the call and looked around her room. What was keeping her here? There was no job, no friends to speak of—except Jules, and she’d most definitely still keep in touch with her if she chose the ranch. Cady had loved her time in Fountain. The countryside was so beautiful, and the space, the star-filled clear skies, interacting with the guests, working side by side with Miles—all of those things received a damn big check mark in the pros column.

  But she and Miles had a relationship for four days. What the hell would Miles think if she moved in with him after four freaking days!

  Her phone buzzed and she looked down at it.

  OMG Caleb just told me the news.

  Cady rolled her eyes at Juliet’s message. For fucks sake, Caleb! She hadn’t agreed to anything yet.

  Your brother has a big mouth.

  Please say you are thinking about this.

  I’m thinking about it!

  Cady added a wide-eyed worried looking emoticon.

  I just gonna say—this is Caleb’s best idea EVER.

  You think? Shit. But will Miles?

  Are you fucking serious, Cady? You know he will.

  But would he? She wandered to the window and looked out over the noisy, hectic street and sighed.

  Well, she guessed there was only one way to find out.

  17

  Miles

  Fountain, Colorado January 15th

  Caleb, what the fuck are you doing?” Miles stood at the doorway to the room over the garage, his hands on his hips as he looked at all the furniture piled in the middle.

  “I’m painting the walls, freshening it up.”

  “Why? Don’t I give you enough work to do?”

  “Well,
it was a bit dreary in here, don’t you think?”

  “What does it matter? We hardly ever use it.”

  “Ah, but it looks better now, so we can.” Caleb stepped back from the wall he just completed.

  Miles scrutinized the work. “Yeah, it does.”

  “See? Now give me a hand putting the furniture back and then you can help me remove that junk.”

  “Junk? That’s just some of Sarah’s stuff. Where will I put it?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I don’t know but it has to go.”

  Caleb started to pull the four-poster bed back into position, and Miles huffed and went to help him. On the mattress was a box containing a brand new microwave.

  “What the hell is this for?” He turned and looked at the rest of the room and spotted the small refrigerator. “Is that from your room?”

  “Yeah, I don’t really need it in there. I thought it would be better here.”

  “Okay, I smell a rat and I want to know what you are up to.”

  “You’ll find out tomorrow.”

  Miles folded his arms across his chest. “I’m going to find out now. Out with it, Caleb.”

  His brother sighed. “Help me put the furniture back, then I’ll tell you. But you are ruining the surprise.”

  “I hate fucking surprises.”

  Miles grabbed hold of one side of the dresser. There was no use arguing with Caleb if he’d made his mind up on something.

  Fifteen minutes later the room was reorganized and Miles had to admit, it looked a whole lot better than it did before. “Right, now you are going to spill the beans. What are you plotting?”