“Good idea,” said Will and we carried the cats and their bed to her bedroom. He adjusted the kittens in their bed and put Zoë to bed. I went out and waited for Will in the living room, but he didn’t come out again. Maybe he fell asleep with Zoë in her room.
I switched the TV off and went to bed.
As I walked to my room, I checked my email and saw that there was an email from Rustic Rockies. Chuck Keenan, or Colorado Chuck, had sent me a message saying he was able to move things around and get me my job back. It was waiting for me, and I could start as soon as I wanted to.
I couldn’t believe it.
This had been all I’d been thinking about for weeks and now that it was back on again, I found myself not that keen to go. I was enjoying this job, looking after Zoë.
Who was I kidding, though?
It was all about Will.
I thought about that kiss on the couch and felt a tingling all over my body. Something had happened between us, and I knew he felt it too. I had tried to laugh it off, but if Zoë hadn’t interrupted us, what would have happened? I thought of the softness of his lips and the tautness of his stomach, which I’d seen a few nights ago. It felt like this attraction between us had been building for some time.
It was strange because Will was so not my type.
He wasn’t sporty at all; he wasn’t obsessed with health foods or protein shakes, and he had no problem eating junk food. He told me the only holiday he’d ever been on had been a trip to Europe shortly after college and it didn’t sound like he had enjoyed it at all. I had never heard him talk about a mountain in any way.
Yet I was very attracted to him.
In a way that I couldn’t quite explain.
When that veterinarian kept flirting with me, I remember thinking how he was way too old for me. Until I realized that he must have been around Will’s age and Will wasn’t too old for me at all. Thinking about Will made me wonder about creeping into his bedroom and perhaps into his bed. What would it be like sleeping in his arms? I had a feeling he wouldn’t want me to tie him up or take drugs when I was tired.
I softly opened Zoë’s door and looked inside.
As I’d thought, Will had fallen asleep next to her in the bed. The kittens were curled up in their own bed, their soft bodies intertwined. I wanted to get into bed with all four of them and that was strange.
This wasn’t my family.
This was a job.
And this thing with Will was dangerous. What if things didn’t work out with him, as they invariably wouldn’t, then I would be without a job. At least, in Rustic Rockies, I had a secure job lined up for me. And Colorado Chuck would surely be able to distract me if I started missing New York too much.
I knew what the right decision was, but it was not easy, and I didn’t want to make it.
I opened the Rustic Rockies website and looked at pictures of the mountains and the resort. I had loved being there the year before, surely, I would enjoy it again.
But then I remembered, I hadn’t exactly loved it as much as I thought I did.
It had been incredibly hot, I was always sweating and struggling to sleep at night. My make-up kept running, and my hair had been limp and impossible to manage. I ended up tying it up for most of the time. I missed the chilly New York air, the miserable grey sky and the bite of the early morning wind. As for the guests, always whining about their rooms being just not right. Either the bed was too soft or too hard, the water pressure was too high or too low, the room was too noisy or too far away from the rest of the action. You had to smile, keep everyone happy but nobody was worrying about you and how you were doing.
Not like here, where I had plenty of time to myself in the mornings, and a huge room with my own bathroom where the water pressure was always just right.
But this wasn’t right.
Will had a little girl and he had responsibilities. He wasn’t some guy in a bar and whatever attraction we had going on, would blow over and do more harm than good. Also, let’s face,it, he wasn’t my true love. There was no mountain in or near or anywhere in his life. He’d founded a company and made billions of dollars. I maybe had a degree, I wasn’t even sure about that yet, I was still waiting for my grades. My proudest achievement was mastering a dumb ski move last winter and I’d practiced that for weeks.
I thought about Will’s lips on mine and pursed them together. Hard. No more kissing.
Chapter 8
Will
I walked into the office and greeted Maisie at the reception desk.
“Oh, you look terrible,” she said, dismayed.