She sighed heavily. “I know you’re right. Still, one thing I’ve learned in the past few weeks is that everyone in town doesn’t believe the same.”
“They’ll get over it. It may be after the first ski season, after you’ve proven that you’re going to keep your word and keep hiring local,” he suggested.
“At this point, I doubt there are enough people left in town to fill all the spots, or places for out-of-towners-to live.”
“You could always block out some rooms for employees.”
“I had already planned on it. My dad always did. I’ll have to see when it gets closer to the season to how many out-of-town employees we’ll need.”
He parked in the empty parking lot, but when he moved to get out and open her door, she stopped him.
“I can make it from here.” She held his arm. “Thank you for dinner.”
He relaxed back. “Sorry about…” She arched her brown and gave him a look, and he remembered what she’d said about apologizing for Julia. “Right.” He nodded. “At least the burgers were good.”
“They were.”
“We could always try this again. Have dinner at a place that doesn’t employee a crazy ex of mine.”
She smiled. “We’d probably have to head to Redding for that.”
He chuckled “I don’t have that many exes.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Something tells me that isn’t true.”
“Maybe from when I was in college,” he added with a low chuckle.
She turned slightly to run her eyes over him. “What about Heather Craft? Did you ever date her?”
He quickly shook his head. “No. Where Julia hid her crazy on the inside, Heather wears it proudly right out front.”
She nodded. “Yeah, she was hired on as a bartender.”
“I’d heard.” The tone of voice hinted of his concern.
“Rachelle hired her. I only found out this morning. At this point we need all the locals we can get. I can’t afford to be too picky.”
“A few of the volunteers have been looking for jobs. I can send them your way,” he suggested.
“Send them to either Rachelle or Eddie if they want to work the lifts or rentals for the season.” She leaned back and ran her eyes over the trio of massive buildings in front of them. The cluster wouldn’t look so out of place in the city, but tucked at the base of the mountains, in the middle of the wilderness, the wood, metal, and glass structures stuck out. Especially at night. Large lights shined on the grounds and lit up the first three floors of each building.
The rest of the floors remained dark for now. During the season, he knew they would switch on or off, depending on the guests. There would be lights shining on the multiple ski runs in the distance as well.
“It feels weird being back,” she said after a moment. “I haven’t really had a moment to appreciate just being back yet.”
“Something tells me you’d better take that time now. Come season, you’re going to be busy.”
“I hope so.” She closed her eyes then shook her head and opened them again. “I’d better head in. Joe and his new assistant are going to be here early.”
“Are you sure I can’t walk you up?” he offered.
She smiled. “No, thanks. I want to walk around and take a look at what the construction crew got done before leaving today. It’s amazing how quickly they’re working. Thanks again for tonight.” She started to reach for the doorhandle, but he stopped her by gently laying a hand on her arm. Then he pulled her closer until they were a breath away.
“The date’s not officially over just yet,” he said, and when she smiled, he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers.
Since he’d returned to Cannon Falls, he’d handled his fair share of fires, but the moment his lips touched Raven’s, he realized he’d never handled anything this… explosive before.
He felt her move slightly, which brought her body directly up against his. His arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer as he slanted his mouth over hers and took what he wanted. What he hadn’t known he’d been needing.
When her fingers tangled in his hair, a low rumble vibrated from his chest, which caused her to release a soft moan.
God, he wanted to take her. Here. Now.
Then headlights washed over them, and she jerked out of his hold and glanced around.
“I’d better…” She was out of the car before he could respond.
Damn. He sat there for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts before starting the car and heading home. Alone.
Blue was eagerly waiting for him at the door. He let him out to run around the yard to pee on every bush and tree, and then they headed up to bed.
It was strange. Over the past ten years, he’d never felt like the house was lonely. Until tonight. Lying in the massive bed with the mutt snoring next to him, he realized how empty it felt.
The next morning, he stopped by the firehouse to check on his appointments for the day. The majority of his job consisted of dealing with fire regulations around town. The next big chunk was slotted for training and, occasionally, he delt with an actual fire.
Since he was officially the only full-time paid position, there was a crew under him that constantly needed his guidance and training.
Today, he was taking a few of his trainees out on a new construction site on the outskirts of town, a much-needed storage unit going up next to the old one. It wasn’t a big job, but walking both Kevin and Tony through the site and showing them what troubling items to look out for still filled up most of his morning.
The three of them grabbed lunch at the diner, and he sat back and watched Tony flirt with Darby the entire time.
“Why don’t you ask her out?” Kevin asked Tony.
Kevin was fresh out of high school while Tony was a few years older. Still, Tony had to be two or three years younger than Darby. But the way Darby was smiling at the man made it clear to everyone around that she was into him.
“Naw, we’re just friends,” Tony responded as he finished off his milkshake.
“Darby is totally into you.” Kevin bumped Tony’s shoulder. “I’d hit that if I was a few years older.”
“Older women rock,” Tony responded.
He held in a chuckle, but apparently not well enough.
“What?” they both said, looking at him.
“What is she? Two years older than the both of you?” he asked with a shrug.
“Are you kidding? I just graduated last year and Tony here was the year before me,” Kevin said.
“Try seven years,” Tony added with a shrug.
“So?” Cade asked. “Age doesn’t matter once you pass a point.”
“So, you’d date an older woman?” The duo glanced around and smiled. “What about her?” They motioned towards the back of the diner.
He turned slightly to see Morgan Roche sitting in the back booth, having a heated discussion with a man with sandy-blonde hair, who was facing away from Cade.
“Morgan?” He shook his head. “Age would have nothing to do with why I wouldn’t date her,” he answered quickly.
“Rumors are that Morgan’s the reason the resort has been under all these years,” Tony added. “At least that’s what Darby says.”