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“Mr. Morrison,” comes Cameron’s voice at exactly four-twenty-nine as he knocks once and opens my office door.
I suppress my smile as I look up. “Yes?”
“Your four-thirty is here,” he says.
“Thanks, Cameron,” I say, standing. “We were just wrapping this up.” Declan blinks up at me, a confused look on his face as he looks from me to Cameron and back to me again. “Sorry,” I say with a shrug. “I can’t push this.”
Declan stands, picking up the proposal he brought with him and handing it to me. “At least take another look,” he says. “You can let me know next week, although I do hope you’ll—”
“I’ll let you know,” I say, taking the proposal as I offer him a tight smile, knowing I have no intention of letting him know anything other than a straight up no. I drop the document onto my desk before walking around to show Declan out.
In the reception area, I see Zoey sitting on the couch opposite Cameron’s desk, and I quickly turn to Declan, shaking his hand once as I say, “Thanks for coming out, was good to see you again.”
Declan shakes my hand, smiling as he says, “Likewise. Let’s catch up when you’re next in Seattle, but hopefully I speak to you before then.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, non-committal.
Declan nods once at Cameron before turning, pausing as Zoey stands from the couch. I don’t miss the way he gives her a blatant once-over, not even being subtle about it.
“Zoey,” I say, stepping around him to block his view as I smooth a hand down my tie. “You want to go in?”
“Thanks,” she says, giving me a smile before turning and offering one to Cameron. He returns it with a slight nod, the move subtle enough to tell me that Cameron has a huge soft spot for Zoey Holden. And not in a gross way either; the guy is probably old enough to be her grandfather, but in more of an admiring way, like he too likes her and her work ethic.
Zoey walks past me, and I catch a whiff of her perfume before she disappears into my office.
“Wow,” Declan breathes out, his brows going up as he watches her before he eventually turns to face me. “Nice one, Ethan,” he adds with a wink. “That’s a great piece of—.”
“What the fuck?” I snap, my jaw tight.
“Wh…what?” he asks, his smile faltering for a second. “I mean, I’m just saying she’s a—”
“What you said was and is entirely inappropriate,” I say, cutting him off. “Cameron will show you out. Safe flight back to Seattle,” I add before turning and walking back into my office, closing the door behind me as I let out a long exhale.
“Everything okay?” Zoey asks.
I glance over to where she’s standing by the window of my second-story office, dressed in a fitted black dress and heels and staring out at the slopes that are still covered in snow. Before long, summer will be here, and while this place is first and foremost a ski lodge, the proximity to the lake means we still get plenty of tourists coming for their summer vacation too. The hiking trails around here are one of the things that first drew me to this place.
“Yeah,” I say, pushing off the door as I move over to where she stands. “Just an old acquaintance here with a business proposition.”
“Anything you want to discuss?” she asks, turning to face me.
Her words make me smile because they are similar to words I said to her on her first day of this program. “Offering me back my own advice?”
She laughs, and jesus, the sound of her laugh is like…fuck, I don’t know, music or something. “Like any good mentee should do, right?”
Chuckling, I turn and indicate the couches, where Zoey moves and takes a seat. I grab the proposal off my desk and hand it to her. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”
I remove my suit jacket before taking a seat on the couch opposite her as Zoey flicks through the pages, taking her time as her eyes skim the plans, the numbers, and even the rough artistic sketches Declan has had drawn up. I’ll give him credit; it is a good proposal, but it’s just not one I’m interested in.
“Hmmm,” she eventually says, closing the document and resting her hands on top of it.
“Hmmm?” I repeat, resting an arm along the back of the couch.
She smirks across at me as she licks her lips and looks down at the document again. “Okay, well, it’s a good proposal,” she starts. “He’s clearly done his research, and I think the location is great. There’s obviously a need for more lodges there.”
“But?” I ask, sensing a reluctance.
“I mean, the buy-in price is probably way too low. But,” she says, lifting her gaze so her eyes meet mine. “Do you really want to expand like this? Sell a piece of yourself to someone else and create an empire of ski lodges?”
