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And I am her boss.
Which means hands off.
End of fucking story.
Chapter2
Zoey
Ifelt the static when I first walked through his office door. It was this spark that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and goosebumps appear on my skin. It’s something I can’t stop thinking about, and when I glance over at the time on my computer, I realize I’ve been sitting at my desk for an hour, doing nothing.
I could have left thirty minutes ago, but I’m still here, replaying everything that just happened with Ethan. Ethan Morrison, my boss, my very attractive, very intelligent, very connected boss, and I should not be sitting here thinking about him in any other way than as my boss.
But I am.
I have been for the last hour.
Maybe it stems from my upbringing? I’ve never wanted for anything; growing up as ski village royalty and as an heir to the Holden Winter Gear fortune, money has never been an issue. I was the kind of kid who rarely asked for anything because we already had it. New car on my sixteenth birthday? Delivered to the driveway that morning with a huge red bow. College education? Paid for by my parents without question.
But in saying all this, it’s not like my parents plan to hand the company over to my brother Max or me. There were and still are expectations for us. We’ve both worked from the day we could get a job, legally. We’d been working for Holden Winter Gear long before we understood exactly how big the company was.
We stocked shelves in the stores, checked in stock, modeled gear, sold gear, took inventory, ran social media, and countless other jobs. What it did, in the end, was make me want to make a name for myself outside of the Holden name. It’s why I’m sitting here in my office at the Badger Creek Lodge. This was the first job I landed on my own. And now I’ve been lucky enough to have Ethan Morrison as my mentor and boss.
But that brings my thoughts back to Ethan and my unconventional upbringing of being raised with millions of dollars behind my name.
You always want what you can’t have.
I can pretty much have everything, but I can’t have my boss. He is off limits without a doubt, but I still can’t stop thinking about him.
“Boo!” comes a voice and peering around the doorway to my office is my best friend Delaney. Her adorable blue eyes shine as she waits for me to notice her.
She smiles when I look up and I swear she’s a different person than she was just a few months ago. Falling in love has changed my jaded, grumpy bestie into someone who is just as snarky but with a smile on her face.
“You were supposed to be off at least an hour ago,” she now says, stepping into my office and sitting down in the chair across from my desk. She’s decked out in Holden gear, her cheeks pink from the cold like she’s just come in from skiing, which she probably has.
“I know. I was just…” I don’t finish my thought. I can’t admit to her that I’ve been sitting here thinking about what it might be like to have Ethan bend me over his desk. “You ever wonder how Ethan Morrison made all his money?” I now ask, like that doesn’t give away that I’ve been thinking about him.
“No, not really. Just like I don’t sit around and think about how your great grandpa made all his money,” Delaney responds, shrugging as if the idea has seriously never crossed her mind and it probably hasn’t. She’s always been one to stay out of someone else’s business, especially when it comes to money.
“You know how my great grandpa made all his money. You’ve heard the story a million times, so of course you don’t sit around and think about it,” I hit back, wrinkling my nose up at her, which only makes her laugh.
“This is true, and I guess I never really gave Ethan much thought. He just seems so elusive and unreachable, but with you now working so closely with him, he’s not so Wizard of Oz as he once was. The first time I met him was after the avalanche.”
“Wizard of Oz?” I ask, laughing.
“Yeah, you know, like all mysterious,” Delaney says.
“The Wizard of Oz was an old dude. Ethan’s like in his thirties and…and…a millionaire. A little different, don’t you think?”
I can tell I’ve already said too much. I stalled out when I was about to tell Delaney that he’s fucking gorgeous, filling it in with the comment about him being a millionaire instead. Not that it helped because now it’s obvious I’ve been thinking about him. Delaney can read me like a book and she’s looking at me like she knows something is up.
“Oh, you had your meeting with Ethan today, didn’t you?” she questions, leaning forward so her elbows are resting on her knees. One eyebrow goes up in question, a sly grin on her face. “How’d it go?”
“He has me working on this proposal for a marketing plan. It’s not the best, and he actually took my advice on it. Badger Creek is boutique luxury. The plan overlooks this, making Badger Creek look like your standard ski resort. Totally lacking the appeal—”
Delaney cuts me off with a hardy laugh, letting her head fall back now as she slumps down in the chair.
“What?” I ask, holding my hands up, attempting to sound confused, but I’m probably coming across as defensive or at least obvious.
