look nice in his bank account, too, but that doesn’t make it any less a crime.”
He barked out a loud laugh. “And here I thought I left all the attorneys back in LA. You missed your calling.” He turned back to his office, but stopped cold when she called out.
“Oh, Mr. West?” His exaggerated slow turn almost made her laugh out loud, and she hadn’t done that in a long time. He admittedly had a goofy charm. “Don’t forget the stapler. You seem to prefer mine to the one you have in your office, so maybe we should switch.” She picked it up and tossed it gently in his direction, surprised at her own moxie. He was equally surprised, catching the stapler with one hand. She nodded at the daffodils. “And thank you for the stolen goods.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Just following orders. Blake told me to treat you right, remember?”
Cassie rolled her eyes again and turned away, ignoring his chuckle behind her.
A couple hours later, Nick was surprisingly all business during their tour of the grounds, jotting notes on his tablet and snapping pictures. It was a gorgeous early May day, warming dramatically from earlier in the week. A breeze raised gentle waves on the lake, which were shushing against the shoreline.
They started by walking around the exterior of Blake and Amanda’s home, a rambling stone castle named Halcyon, then worked their way down the hill past the resort, all the way to the golf course that hugged the shoreline. The entire complex, including the residence, covered over one hundred acres, and by lunchtime, Cassie felt as though they’d walked every one of them.
She rattled off anecdotes as they walked. Nick’s security staff had been showing him around all week, but Blake instructed her, in his absence, to give Nick a tour that included the stories behind the business. This place, with lots of help from Amanda, had changed Blake’s life. He wanted his employees to understand its importance. Nick listened and nodded, busy with his notes.
She told him the history of Halcyon and how close the mansion had come to being destroyed, along with the resort. The rebirth of the resort, thanks to Amanda’s designer eye and Blake’s hotel fortune. The coinciding growth of the town of Gallant Lake, where most of the employees lived and many guests shopped and dined. The upscale weddings the resort specialized in, often for well-heeled Manhattanites. And the new championship golf course, already home to several prominent charity tournaments.
He glanced at her several times as they headed back from the golf course, but she was careful not to make eye contact. His chocolate eyes had a way of knocking her thoughts off track. The waves were larger now that the wind had picked up. Above them was the sprawling clubhouse, a stunning blend of glass and timber, with a slate tile roof.
“Where’s the best place to launch a kayak around here?”
“What?”
“I want to get my kayak in the water this weekend, and my rental doesn’t have a dock yet. Does the resort have a launch site?”
Cassie stopped walking and looked at him, brushing away the stray strands of hair that blew across her face. She knew her mouth had fallen open, but it took her a moment to actually speak.
“You’re asking me about kayaking?”
“You live in a mountain town. You must do something outdoors. Are there mountain bike trails here? Places to rock climb?”
Her chest jumped and it startled her so much she put her hand over her heart. That had been dangerously close to a laugh. She shook her head. “You are definitely asking the wrong person. I’m sure those things exist around here, but I don’t know anything about them. You should ask Terry at the front desk—he’s outdoorsy.”
“Outdoorsy?” His shoulders straightened. “I’m not ‘outdoorsy.’ I enjoy outdoor activities. There’s a difference.”
“And that difference would be?”
Nick stuttered for a minute, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. But it’s different, trust me. You’ve never kayaked here?”
“Uh...no. My idea of a good time is curling up with a book and a cup of tea.”
He shook his head. “Well, that’s just sad. I’ll think of you tomorrow night when I’m out on the water taking in the scenery and you’re stuck at home reading some boring book.”
She turned away and started walking. “I’m working tomorrow night.”
“Yeah? On a Friday night?”
“There’s a big wedding this weekend, and the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow. One of our events people is on vacation, so I’m helping our manager make sure everything runs smoothly.”
“The manager is Julie, right? I spent yesterday afternoon with her. She seems on top of things.” Cassie nodded. Julie Brown was nice. If Cassie was sure she’d be staying in Gallant Lake, they’d probably be better friends. But she couldn’t afford to get too comfortable. Nick, walking at her side, shook his head with a smile. “Blake wasn’t kidding when he said you don’t have a defined job description—you’re everywhere.”
“I’m wherever I’m needed. That’s my job description.”
He studied her intently, then shrugged.
“Hey, if you’d rather work than join me on the water, that’s your loss.”
This laughing whirlwind of a man was making her crazy. Because for just a moment, she wondered if it really would be her loss if she didn’t go kayaking with him.
She quickly dismissed the thought. Her in a kayak with Nick West? Not happening.
Nick leaned back in his office chair, turning away from the security feeds to watch Cassie through the open door. She was on the phone with someone, typing furiously and glancing at the schedule on the tablet propped up on the desk by her computer. The woman could seriously multitask. Was she the calm, cool professional he saw right now? Or was she the meek woman who’d flinched when he’d dropped a pile of papers on her desk this morning? Was she the woman who got uptight if there were more than a couple people in a room? Or was she the woman he saw yesterday, giving him a tour of the property with pride and confidence?
He’d checked her employee file—a perk of his job title. The information was pretty thin. She’d been here only a few months. She’d managed an insurance office in Milwaukee for a while but had been unemployed for over a year before moving here six months ago. Not exactly a red flag. She could have been going to school or job hunting or whatever. She’d clearly won Blake Randall’s confidence, but she didn’t give off a sense of having a lot of confidence in herself. Instead, Cassie seemed all twisted up with anxiety. Unless she was busy. Then she was cool and...controlled. It was as if being productive was her comfort zone.
She hung up the phone, then immediately dialed someone else. Her back was to him, ramrod straight. Her auburn hair was gathered in a knot at the base of her slender neck. He wondered what she’d look like if she ever let that hair loose. She was dressed in dark trousers and a pale blue sweater. Sensible. Practical. Almost calculatedly so. He grimaced. This was what happened when you spent eight
