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“Luca. Ah, people call me... Luca.” I take her delicate, soft hand in mine, so at contrast with how sharply she thrust it forward.
Her face contorts before she pulls her hand away and wipes it on her skirt. I scan my palm to make sure there’s no dirt lingering from re-shoeing the horses earlier. I washed them when I came in, but there’s always the possibility.
Seeing nothing from the stables, I say, “I did wash up when I came in.”
She runs her hands over her ear as if she’s tucking her hair back, but it’s already there. Nervous tick, perhaps? Her lips pucker, hidden thoughts flitting behind her eyes. Then, she says, “Well, Luca, I’d love to get changed before our orientation at happy hour, if you don’t mind.”
Jack nods toward the door, and her sharp tone is back. I care about my life too much to ask permission to use my shower so I can change before our gathering, but I do need a change of clothes.
“Of course,” I say and reach for the top drawer on my dresser. “As soon as I grab a change of clothes.” I keep talking as I pull out a pair of jeans and clean button-down shirt. “I’ll talk to Emma, and we’ll do the switcheroo. Sorry again for the inconvenience.”
I duck out through the still open door, and it slams behind me. The lock clicks from the other side. So, that was Jack, the corporate retreat organizer, and most definitely not a man. No. She’s a woman, with very soft hands, huge brown eyes, and more sass than might exist in the whole of New Mexico.
I’m still laughing when I run into Emma in the hallway, carrying a few bottles of water in her hand. “What’s so funny?” she asks.
I point with my thumb down the hall, toward my bedroom. “We’ll need to reconfigure the rooms, Emma. I just met my supposed-to-be-roommate Jack.”
“Yeah?” Emma says. “And?”
“And,” I snicker. “Jack is a woman.”
“Oh,” Emma’s face drops. “A woman? What? Are you sure?”
“Emma,” I touch her shoulder, “I know a woman when I see one, and she is most certainly female. So, I will be joining Wyatt in your room tonight, and you will be on an air mattress in my room because Jack has already claimed the bed.”
“Well, this retreat just got interesting, didn’t it?”
“You have no idea,” I respond. But leave out the part where I walked in on Jack about to undress. I’ll save that story for another day.
Chapter Three
Jack
Ican’t believe the nerve ofthat man just walking into my room like that. At least he’s gone now, but he had the indecency to laugh at my indelicate situation. I lean my back on the door I locked behind him and pause. The sad thing about the situation is . . . I didn’t mind having his eyes on me, and that’s a first.
A shiver runs over my body, and the hairs on my arms stand on end. Luca. His name is as exotic as the jungle green in his eyes. Then, there’s the drawl in his “ma’am.” Just mmm.Stop it, Jack!I go back to the far side of the bed to finish changing clothes. When I release it, my still unzipped pencil skirt falls to the floor and I fish out my workout gear. My brand new Athleta leggings feel fabulous hugging my calves and thighs. Once they’re on, I pull on a wicking T-shirt and sit down on the bed to tie my Brooks runners before hanging up my dress clothes. Driving from the airport to this place took far longer than I’d anticipated, so I won’t get a chance to run before we gather before dinner. I’ll make sure to eat light so I can get the workout in afterward.
A cup of good tea is off the table for now. But maybe there will be some left when I get back. A soak in the tub with a robust Cabernet sounds delightful.
On the bed, my phone lights up and shows the time. “Sugar honey iced tea!” I blurt and rush to the door. I’m about to be late for my own party. Before I leave, I turn around and scan the room. It’s neat, except for my suitcase. I’ll have to clean up my clothes later, but Luca shouldn’t mind. Heck, he shouldn’t even be back here until after I’m gone, but I still had to bunk with someone named Emma.
Okay, time to go. I grab my laptop and the stack of more waivers from the LivFit lawyers and reach for the knob. My eyes fall to a candle on the dresser, which is the only decoration or knick-knack around. Everything else is super tidy. I can appreciate that as someone who believes everything should have its place. With a smile, I open the door.
As soon as I exit, I run smack dab into somebody—a woman, who’s half a head taller than me—and drop my laptop along with all the papers on the floor. We both bend down to grab the mess, and it occurs to me that she must be the one who will be rooming with me in Luca’s place. When I look up, the top of my head smashes into her nose.
“Oweee!” Her hand covers the bridge of her nose and both eyes.
I sputter. “Oh, geez. I’m so, so sorry!” I say, reaching for her hands.
But she pushes away my hand. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” She stretches her mouth into a long o-shape to move her nose and removes her hand from the bridge of her nose. Her eyes water, but it doesn’t seem like her nose will bruise. Thank goodness.
“Emma?” I ask. My hands still fumble with my mess, but I keep one eye on her.
She sniffles and wipes away her tears but she answers, “That’s me. You must be Jack?”
“That’s me. I’m usually not this clumsy.” I feel my face heating for the second, no the third, time today, if you count the heel incident. No one is going to see me as a leader me if I keep having these incidents. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I have a little medical experience. Do you want me to look at it?”
“No. No. It’s really okay.” She flashes me a still-watery-eyed smile. “This place can throw people from the city off kilter. My husband and I run the ranch. I should apologize to you about the room mix-up. We’re kind of tight on rooms for a group or size, so we have everybody bunking up. We just assumed Jack was a guy and wouldn’t mind sleeping in the same room with our friend Luca. He’s building the house you might have seen in the distance, but he’s living here at the moment.”
