I shook my head as I turned the folded-up paper over in my hands. It was hard to believe that I’d wound up sitting right where I was today because of a childish decision to write him an anonymous poem instead of simply talking to him about the way I felt. Things might have been different if I’d just had the guts to sign the thing, but I’d told myself I was making it so obvious that I didn’t have to.
Idiot.
There was a soft knock at my door.
I stood and rubbed at my eyes, trying to clear any evidence of the tears that had been welling up without ruining my makeup. I opened the door and did my best to look annoyed. “Has it already been twenty-four hours?”
“I wanted to . . .” Nick blew out a long breath. He looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable with his hands in his pockets and his eyes down. “Can I come in?”
“You own the building. I’m pretty sure you can do what you want in here.”
His eyes flickered up at that. The moment I saw his face, I knew his mind had taken my comment to a dirty place. I blushed, even though I hadn’t been trying to imply anything.
“Within reason,” I added.
Nick didn’t say anything as he slid past me, crop-dusting me with that intoxicating smell of his. He planted his hands on the chair in front of my desk and hung his head. “I’m trying my best to keep things professional. If it ever seems like I’m being more of a dick to you because we have a past, I want you to say something.”
That was what this was about? I almost felt disappointed. “I think getting pissed that I broke into your office was a reasonable reaction, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He nodded but still didn’t turn to look at me. “Actually, what I wanted to say was that I booked cabins for the entire company at a resort out west called Julian Ridge.” He finally stood up, straightened, and regained his ability to look me in the eyes. “It’s an all-inclusive kind of thing. Racquetball courts, tennis courts, an indoor and outdoor pool, horseback riding, bowling, shopping, a free movie theater, and even buses that’ll shuttle you around the grounds, running all day and night.”
“Uh . . . okay.”
“I got us neighboring cabins so it’ll be easier to go over our findings during the trip.”
“Our findings?” I asked. Why was my stupid heart beating so fast? Logically, I already understood what he was getting at. He’d mentioned that people were often the reason a company failed. It was why he’d thrown the party before. This must mean he still suspected there was something to be found from getting to know the staff better. I knew all of that, but I needed to hear him say it so my stupid heart would stop jumping to conclusions.
“Everybody else will be there to have fun. You and I are going to be discreetly investigating our employees. I’ve seen some numbers in the records that have me convinced somebody was embezzling money from under Dan Snyder’s nose when he ran this place.”
I nodded. It was the same trail I’d been hoping to look into. “How likely do you think it will be for somebody to admit they’re embezzling money from the company to their bosses?”
“To me? Probably not very likely. But to somebody new to the company who is looking for a way to pad her pockets, maybe not so unlikely.”
I scoffed. “No way. You want me to go around implying that I’m looking to get in on something illegal to a bunch of people I barely know?”
“I want you to be the Miranda Collins I thought I was hiring. The one who does what it takes to get the job done. So, tell me. Did I hire the woman I thought I did?”
Chapter 10
NICK
Julian Ridge was as beautiful as the pictures had made it out to be. The drive from the airport was loaded with mountain views, glimpses of pristine lakes, and winding forest roads. Once we’d driven through the gates, we were in the middle of hundreds of acres of the perfectly maintained resort grounds.
I found a handful of employees already checking in and making themselves at home in the lobby of the main building—a massive thing that looked like a distant relative of the White House. Inside, all the decor seemed to be aimed at an eighteen hundreds aesthetic with checkered floor tiles, lavishly carved wood furniture, and gold-flecked wallpaper as far as the eye could see.
Two young women I didn’t recognize rushed over to me when I stepped inside. I tried to suppress my annoyance at the distraction. The truth was I just wanted to see Miranda and make sure she’d found her way here okay. I had arranged for a car to bring her after debating whether having her share a car with me would send the wrong message. Now I was just imagining all the ways a vehicle could’ve lost control on the winding mountain roads we’d taken from the airport to get here.
“Mr. King!” said the blonde one. She was pretty. Both of the women were, I noticed.
“Yes?” I asked.
The woman exchanged a giddy glance with her friend—a brunette.
“The guy at the desk said our cabin is going to be on the same row as yours. So”—she shrugged and bit her lip—“we just thought that was such a coincidence. And if you—”
“Yeah,” I said. “I hope you two enjoy this place. It’s supposed to be really nice. Sorry to be rude, but I’ve really got to go check on something.” I trailed off as I walked away from them and headed back outside. She wasn’t in the lobby, it seemed.
I wandered through the gardens and past the stables, where at least a dozen horses were walking beneath the shade of huge oak trees, and I even checked the bowling alley and arcade. I wasn’t sure what I thought I was going to find. Miranda Collins was hardly the type to show up at a work retreat and throw on her bathing suit immediately. If anything, she would probably sneak into her room and start working right away.
All I found were more and more Bark Bites employees, along with their dogs, starting to fill out the amenities. Some were already making use of the outdoor and indoor pools, and a couple were skill-lessly whacking tennis balls around while a little bulldog chased after them. One pair was even getting geared up for a horse ride. Everyone seemed extremely grateful and wanted to stop me to say thanks, but I found myself increasingly impatient with it all. I knew how it would look if I called Miranda to check and make sure she’d arrived safely, but it had been almost an hour since I got here, and I knew she should’ve made it by now. We’d come in on the same flight and left at roughly the same time.
I sat down on a bench overlooking a playground in the middle of a sloping, green expanse of grass. A guy in his twenties and two women were goofing around on the swing sets, spinning each other until the chains were wound tight and letting go.
I called Miranda’s cell phone. It occurred to me that this was the first time I’d actually called her. She’d listed her number on her résumé but had never officially given it to me.
“This is Miranda Collins.” She sounded so businesslike and professional. She also didn’t sound like she was trapped in a crushed car or in the process of being abducted, or any of the other hundred things my idiotic brain had decided to wander to. If I was smart, I would simply hang up and let her write it off as a spam caller. I’d already gotten the information I needed.