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If she was gone Monday, it wouldn’t matter. Maybe there was no hope for a future with Ayla. Maybe both of them were too damaged. But he wanted to try.
ChapterFour
Ayla leaned against the door. She stared at the view of this gorgeous, well-designed, and beautifully Christmas-decorated home, but she was still seeing Jace’s brown eyes and that incredible grin. If he was half as kind and understanding as she thought he was, he was the best man she’d ever met, next to her own dad. If he was a great man like she was starting to think, he probably thought she was nuts and bratty. She’d flipped out about staying in his house and he’d given her an even better situation. She’d gotten snippy with him about what she did for Bryan and when he’d made his death joke. How was he to know she wanted to quit in the worst way but she couldn’t yet? How was he to know she’d lost her sister to a heart attack and her husband to a car accident?
Dang, she needed a redo. She shouldn’t care. She’d turned down many men in the past three years. But for some reason, she cared what Jace thought and wanted to have a chance with him. Somehow he took the weight off her shoulders and infused happiness into her.
She went and explored the cabin. The main area was all open except for a mud room and bathroom that led to the garage. The garage was empty. It was disconcerting that she didn’t have a way to get around town. Should she walk down the road for dinner? Would she kill herself in these stupid boots? She could put on her running shoes. She’d hoped to find a place to run here, and it looked like with these quiet country roads she could run right on the plowed road and hopefully not slip and fall.
There was a welcome basket on the gray and white swirled granite counter. It had hot cocoa mix, microwave popcorn, apples, pears, granola bars, and some chocolate mints. Well, at least she wouldn’t starve if she didn’t go into town. Popcorn and cocoa would be plenty for a fun vacation dinner and the fruit and a granola bar would be enough breakfast.
At Jace’s cabin she would’ve had a fully stocked fridge. That would’ve been nice, but she’d be fine without it. She always stressed about spending money, but she’d saved for this vacation. She could afford to buy a little food without making too big of a dent in her debt-eliminating plans.
She wanted to turn on the gas fireplace, relax into the leather sofa, and read a book or just enjoy that view. The sun was gone and it would be full-on dark soon. Jace had been so cute when she’d joked about Hallmark movies and romance novels. It made her want to open the Christmas book she’d been teasing him about. The wounded hero, Dylan, reminded her of Jace a little bit.
Instead, she carried her suitcase and purse up the wrought-iron spiral staircase. She gasped. The loft was a massive master suite. There was a king-sized, wood-framed bed all done in white fluffiness with burnt orange and pale blue accent pillows, a huge overstuffed chair with the softest-looking pale blue blanket she’d ever seen draped over the side, another fireplace up here, and a large open area.
She dragged her suitcase into the walk-in closet and then looked at the bathroom. Oh, boy. Forget dinner or curling up on the couch. The jetted marble tub was like its own hot tub, and it was calling her name. There were even bath salts, lotions, and other toiletries on the counter. Whoever owned this place … she adored them. She hoped she could give them a hug of thanks. Thinking of hugs of thanks had her imagining Jace’s handsome face and how it had felt to hug him.
She started the tub, admiring the marble and fogged-glass shower and the wide sink and then she hurried to unpack while the tub filled. She would only be here for three nights, but she was going to settle in and pretend this gorgeous Hallmark valley and picture-perfect holiday home was her normal life.
If only a man like Jace Jardine was in her normal life. But no … her normal life wasn’t filled with handsome men, beautiful views, gorgeous homes all decked out for Christmas, ski slopes that she was excited and nervous to glide down, and nothing on the to-do list but soaking in this gorgeous tub.
She hung up her second-hand coat. Thankfully, there were only a few smudges on it from her mishap that she’d deal with later. She slid out of her sweater and Levi’s. Everything she owned was bought second-hand, unless it was a gift. She was embarrassed that she’d told Jace that, but at the same time how great was he to offer to bring her snow gear and boots from their lost and found? That was extremely kind of him. She had no clue how cold skiing might be, but from the temperatures she’d felt outside today she wouldn’t have lasted long in her layered sweatshirts with the rain jacket, running tights and sweatpants, and the thin running gloves she’d packed.
Turning the lights to a low-mood lighting, she could only wish for candles. She pulled her hair up and twisted it into a knot on her head. Her phone buzzed.
Bryan. Dang. She didn’t want to talk to him, but he was her boss and she’d learned if she ignored him, he’d keep calling or texting. She wrapped a towel around herself and tucked it in before picking up her phone and sliding it on.
“Yes?” she answered shortly.
“You all right? Did that guy bother you?”
“No. Jace is an absolute gentleman. You are bothering me.” She was more than ready to tell him off. He wouldn’t fire her. He couldn’t survive financially without her. “I have told you time and again that I am not interested in you. I earned this vacation fair and square. Now you let me enjoy myself and stay away from m—”
“Ayla, I wasn’t straight with you,” he interrupted.
“Yeah, I noticed that. Are you ever straight with me?” She had to search more diligently than ever for new jobs when she got back and save more diligently than ever now. She had to get away from Bryan. Soon. It was far too telling how defensive she’d been with Jace about working for Bryan. She had no respect for her boss and was tired of justifying why she couldn’t quit.
“Not about wanting to be with you,” he hurried to say. “You’re so hot, that one’s a given.” She cringed but before she could tell him off, he rushed out, “I need some … financial help.”
“Bryan, you wouldn’t survive without my financial help. I work my butt off to make you successful. I’m on vacation here and I will deal with work on Tuesday morning.”
“Ayla, this has nothing to do with insurance policies, unless you want to buy life insurance on me.” He blew out a heavy breath. “They’re going to kill me.”
“Excuse me?” She clung to the phone and squinted at herself in the mirror. “Who’s going to kill you? Why would somebody want to kill you?” Actually a few of his betrayed ex-wives or cheated-on girlfriends may have considered it.
“I can’t tell you who, or I’ll endanger you too.”
“Don’t try to act noble now, Bryan. Be straight with me for once.”
“I have a gambling problem.”
Her stomach sank and her head pounded. Not again. Stupid men and their “gambling problems.” Bryan knew about some of what happened with her and Tim as she’d worked for him the entire time. Obviously he’d learned nothing from Tim’s waste of a life. It wasn’t much comfort that she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t learn from their own mistakes or the mistakes of others.
“If I don’t find the gold bricks and bring them to my … contact when we fly back Monday, they’ll kill me, and you’ll have no job and no way to pay off your debts.”
“Gold bricks? Kill you? Really? Just call the cops or pay them from the millions you should have saved from all the money I’ve made you.”
