AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I would stand outside Snow’s cottage all night if I had to. The way Hunter looked at her reminded me too much of how my sister Claire’s scumbag ex used to look at her. I knew what men like Hunter were capable of when they didn’t like to hear the word “no” and I wasn’t going to give him a chance to prove me right.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and leaned against a tree trunk.
Reed and Sean thought they were being coy avoiding my question about why they were so happy, but I wasn’t born yesterday. I knew that they had come out of Snow’s place with big ass grins on their faces because they got lucky.
Which went against everything I stood for. I thought the guys were on board with our rule. Although it was never a strict rule, I didn’t think any of us had broken it since we’d opened the resort a few years ago. In fact, up until that moment, I was pretty sure of it. Sleeping with guests could put our entire business at risk.
But I wasn’t their boss. I would bring it up at some point, make sure everyone was careful and didn’t let their guard down. Though we’d been friends for years and I knew these were good guys, it could open us up to a lot of potential issues.
So yes, I was grumpy because I knew what they were up to and I didn’t like it. I couldn’t blame them, but I still didn’t like it. I felt protective over Snow, even though I had only said a few words to her.
A few minutes after Reed and Sean’s little walk-of-shame, the cottage door opened again. Instantly, I perked up, hoping it wasn’t one of the other guys, but it wasn’t. It was Snow.
She smiled when she saw me. “Oh hi, Gage, right?”
“Yes, miss,” I said.
“Please don’t call me miss. Call me Snow.”
“Yes, Snow, whatever you wish,” I said. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great,” she replied, and her face lit up. “I’m heading to the icebreaker actually, I think it will be a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it will be,” I said. My voice was flat as usual but I wasn’t sure how to change that. “The cameras are currently down, so if you don’t mind, may I walk with you? Just to keep an eye out for any trouble.”
“Any trouble?” she cocked an eyebrow. “You mean Hunter?”
I nodded.
“Sure, I’d love for you to join me,” she said with a smile, holding her arm out as an invitation for me to take it. I stood there, awkwardly at first, unsure if I should take it or not, but decided that it wasn’t any worse than what Reed and Sean had done earlier.
She looped her arm through mine as we walked.
My entire body went stiff with her next to me, and I couldn’t control the erection that was straining against my jeans. I understood why Reed and Sean were tempted to break their number one rule with her. She wasn’t like most of our guests. We had a lot of beautiful women walk through our doors, but Snow was more than just her beauty. She was sweet and had a warmth to her that made her intoxicating. Her youthfulness and innocence was likely what reminded me of my little sister, because physically they couldn’t be more different from each other. And Snow was more cheerful and happy than Claire ever was, sadly. Claire was a lot like me in that neither of us smiled much.
“So Gage, tell me a bit about yourself.”
“What would you like to know about me?”
“Anything.”
My frown deepened. I was never very good at small talk, but as I glanced down at the blue-eyed beauty at my side, I decided to open up.
“I have a sister named Claire.”
“Older or younger?”
“Younger.”
“I bet you’re a protective older brother,” she said.
“You could definitely say that.”
“Are you two close?”
“Yes,” I said. “Well, yes and no. We have our moments, but I’ll always love her, and I know she will always love me.”
I couldn’t believe I was opening up that much. I didn’t really enjoy dating because small talk was never one of my strong suits, but she seemed to make conversation flow easily.
