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“I have a life,” I protest, even as the large empty house I’m sitting in says otherwise.
Brandon laughs. “No you fucking don’t. What you need is a woman.”
“A what?”
“A woman,” he repeats. “A reason not to work so much. You know that’s what did it for me when I met Tracy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter, having heard this all a million times before from him. I mean, it’s partly true, the whole Brandon working less once he met his now fiancée. Before that, when the two of us were business partners, we both used to work hard and party hard, neither of us looking for anything more than a way to make money or a quick, no strings attached way to have fun.
Then he met Tracy and things changed. Well, we also got successful, sold our company and made a fuck load of money. After that, we both left the tech thing behind. Brandon went into real estate and some philanthropic stuff and I bought Badger Creek and started up a few other things.
I hadn’t intended to buy a ski lodge and I hadn’t intended to leave Seattle either, but this seemed like a good opportunity and given I’ve always loved the mountains and being outdoors, I figured I’d give it a try. Worse case, I move back to Seattle and train someone else to run the lodge.
Someone like Zoey.
“So what’s so important you’re calling me so late?” I ask, knowing I can’t start thinking about my employee like that again.
Brandon laughs. “Please, like I knew you wouldn’t be up. But listen, Tracy and I are thinking of coming out for a visit.”
“Yeah?” I ask, a smile on my face because it would be great to catch up, having not seen either of them since I went back to Seattle for their engagement party late last year. And although I’ve lived in Tahoe permanently now for about a year, I don’t have a lot of friends here, at least not any that I know as well as I know Brandon.
“Yeah,” he confirms. “Tracy wants to look at wedding locations.”
“Wedding locations, you’re thinking of getting married out here?”
Brandon laughs. “Shit yeah, what’s the point of having a best friend who owns a fucking ski lodge if we can’t take full advantage,” he says.
Chuckling, I take another sip of my whiskey. “Consider the place yours. Anything you want,” I add. “It’s my gift to you guys.”
“Nah, you don’t have to do that,” he replies.
“It’s already done,” I say, knowing that even though money isn’t an issue for Brandon on account of what we made when we sold our app, there’s not a chance in hell I’d charge him for anything he wanted to have here. “I’ll get some information sent to you tomorrow, so you can have a look before you come out here. Zoey’s getting a new marketing—”
“Whoa, hold up,” he says, cutting me off. “Zoey, who’s Zoey?”
My eyes close as I silently mouth a “fuck” to my empty house. Sucking in a breath, I say, “Zoey is one of my managers, someone I’m mentoring here.”
“Right,” Brandon teases. “And is that all Zoey is?”
Shaking my head, I glance at the iPad which rests on the couch beside me, the screen still filled with a photo of Zoey standing knee-deep in snow. She’s looking at something off-camera, a huge smile on her face as she holds a snowboard with her family’s name emblazoned along the bottom. Fucking hell, she is gorgeous and I know without a doubt that the second Brandon sets eyes on her and finds out who she is, he’s going to be up my ass about how perfect she is for me.
“Yes, Brandon,” I reply, trying not to think about just how perfect she is, in every fucking way. “She works for me. That’s it.”
“Riiiight.”
I’ve been sitting at my desk for close to two hours and I’m confident I’ve achieved absolutely nothing. After I finally got off the phone last night, I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill in my gym before taking a shower and kicking back on the couch to mindlessly watch TV. But I couldn’t sleep, even after dragging my ass to bed around two, so I came in early, but for some reason, I can’t focus.
Exhaling, I stand, figuring more caffeine might help. When I walk out of my office, I realize it’s that early, even Cameron isn’t in yet.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I can’t help but wonder if Brandon is right, that I do work too much, and I don’t have a life. I’m thirty-two years old, for fuck’s sake and even though I moved here for a more relaxed lifestyle, literally all I do is work. I should be out there having fun, spending all the money I’ve spent years earning, and maybe taking Brandon’s advice and actually dating someone.
Even though dating someone can be a pain in the ass, particularly when they realize just how many zeros are in my bank account. The number of women who’ve suddenly fallen head over heels in love with me the second they see where I live or what car I drive or what I do for a living is ridiculous. It’s all bullshit and completely obvious they are only with me for one reason. And it’s not me or my sparkling personality.
I wander down to the small café at the back of the lodge. The one that’s open to the public but is mostly frequented by staff. The place is already half full, which isn’t surprising given the lodge has a twenty-four-hour concierge, so people are always working.
I join the back of the line, smiling when I recognize the person standing in front of me, even if I wasn’t already close enough to smell her perfume.
“Morning,” I say, leaning forward. Zoey jumps a little, stifling a yawn as she turns to face me. I smile as I add, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
