“Do we have a problem, Ms. Wilson?”
She actually laughed at that. “Ms. Wilson? You can call me Joy. And no, we don’t have a problem.”
“You sure about that? It feels a little like you’ve got a problem with some of this.” Understatement of the century. She might be all ‘call me Joy,’ but she definitely wasn’t throwing off friendly vibes.
And why did that make her all the more appealing to him? He liked that she wasn’t flirting with him and trying to please him. He didn’t know what that said about him so he ignored it. And ignored the way his body was all too aware of her.
She shook her head. “Nope. No problem. Not from me. I’m your yes-woman. It’s all yesses from me.”
He saw the minute her words hit her ears and she flushed pink, highlighting the freckles that danced over her nose and cheeks.
Good. Because there was no damned way she didn’t have a problem with him. She was lying through her teeth right now and he knew it.
“Perfect,” he said. “Then we won’t have any trouble working together.”
Her eyes flashed and he knew she wanted to argue with him.
He could see it eating at her.
He raised a brow and waited, but she only stood and gave him the kind of tight-lipped smile that really said, “fuck you” and walked out of the room.
Well, that went well.
Chapter 3
Kaeden watched as the entire Sutton group off-loaded at one of what turned out to be many art festivals Breckenridge hosted throughout the summer. There were art installations throughout the town with music and food booths set up along the main street.
Kaeden faced the group, raising his voice above the crowd. “We’ll meet back here at one p.m. to head back to the lodge,” he said. “If you miss the bus, you can walk up to the top of Main Street and catch one of the city busses back up the hill. They’re free and then the lodge is only a short walk from where they drop you off.”
He wasn’t sure if everyone heard him or not. He should have written out a schedule for everyone and included the lodge’s address and all the shuttle bus information.
He turned to the interns to tell them to work on that for tomorrow only to find them grinning at him as they handed out sheets of paper. He took one and looked at it.
The schedule, lodge address and phone numbers, and the shuttle bus information were all neatly printed on the little slip.
Well, that was creepy.
He looked up to find Joy Wilson watching him with what he could only describe as a knowing expression. Like she’d just watched the whole exchange and knew the Stepford Twins—that was what he’d taken to calling the interns after they’d finished three of his sentences for him before breakfast was half over that morning—had read his mind yet again.
She smirked at him and he wondered if it would be wrong to tell her she could ride back to the lodge with the van. Sure, her boss had sent her in case they needed her, but really? They didn’t really need a babysitter on this outing.
But then she was walking up to Jack and she had him smiling and laughing at something she’d said. Perfect. He couldn’t very well blow her off when it was clear Jack liked her.
Jack raised his voice to the milling group. “Joy tells me the lodge can ship anything you all buy at the booths back home for us.” He grinned at them all and winked at his wife, Kelly. “Not that I want to encourage you to shop, but I figure it would be rude not to pass on the offer.”
Joy put up her hands in mock apology. “Sorry!”
Great, she was charming the hell out of everyone.
And she was walking his way. He didn’t know what it was about her that irritated the hell out of him.
Maybe it was the unnerving way she had of looking at him like she saw just how out of his depth he was with all this.
Joy stopped in front of him. “Kaeden, a few of the group want to stay behind for a glass blowing demo that’s happening at three o’clock.”
He looked down at the sheet in his hand. “We have a hike at three.”
She tilted her head at him and squinted. “Have you had that OCD looked at?”