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I don’t doubt Blake when he says he’s focused on the two of us. He clearly believes it. I just wonder if he’ll feel the same after working next to this woman day after day, especially when his life really would be easier if he chose her over me.
Chapter 14
Becca
Despitetheawkwardfirstday, where I basically propositioned my employee, Blake and I quickly fall into a comfortable rhythm. I still drool over him when he’s not looking of course, but after just a few days, we’ve got a friendly rapport that makes working side-by-side easy.
As a lifelong resident of Katah Vista, he knowseveryone, and he makes sure they all know me. He doesn’t just introduce me either, he talks up the work I did in Utah, and praises my plans for the park here. And he defers to me without any undertone or sour expression, which has everyone on the team treating me with respect. I’d have earned that on my own—by doing good work—but his example made things harmonious from day one. Even though I didn’t want or need him to make things easier for me, it’s nice to focus on making progress instead of proving myself.
No matter how much everyone professes to be okay working for me, I’m still a woman in a male dominated field, so there’s a certain amount of skepticism that comes with the territory. I’m so used to it, I can’t even say it sucks anymore—it justis. Having Blake to stop the bullshit before it starts means the whole crew falls into sync faster, and since we want to have something ready to ride by the end of the summer season, I can’t complain. Plus, the guy makes me laugh on the regular, and who doesn’t like to have fun while they work?
Blake has an endless amount of “local lore” to share, mostly harmless in nature, like how his favorite bar, The Underground, used to be off-limits because the older men in town had claimed it as their own, and didn’t want young “riff raff” in their space. That changed when his friend Dex bought the place. According to him, some of the gentlemen still grumble about it. My favorite tale, though, is about a local outlaw.
I guess it wasn’t uncommon in the old days for people to lay low here, since the town is so remote, and most people don’t ask too many questions. Draft dodgers were common, but one guy, known only as Phil, was arrested for drug trafficking after living here nearly thirty years. It later came out that Phil wasn’t his real name, but no one had any reason not to believe the guy who volunteered at the local school, theater, and fire department. It came as quite the shock when the FBI swooped in to snatch him up.
Blake’s animated storytelling and easygoing personality make the time pass quickly, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, they also make him even more attractive to me. I do my best to ignore that and just appreciate being in the outdoors, doing what I love. Although, most days I can’t help resenting the boundaries he’s set. I won’t ignore them, but internally I struggle to keep things platonic, and I’m constantly having to remind myself not to daydream about the night we shared.
It's harder than it should be, and as I’m walking back to my office it occurs to me that my daydreams are making me see things, because there’s no way the only other guy I’ve been with since my breakup with Brian just passed in front of me carrying a stack of boxes.
Get a grip, Becca.I shake my head to clear it. It’s a halfhearted effort, because that’s another nice image. We may have only had the one night, but I’d confessed to just coming out of a relationship, and Jace had taken extra care to make me feel treasured, as if he could sense I needed that reassurance from a man. I wasn’t foolish enough to think our time together was as special for him as it was me. It was a hookup plain and simple, but I loved that he didn’t treat me as one of many.
For me it wasn’t just sex, but something that restored my confidence and sense of self-worth. And yes, mind-blowing orgasms. Can’t forget those. As a result, a tiny part of my heart has belonged to him ever since. I always hoped I’d see him again—he’s friends with my old boss Jackson—but his job as a videographer for some pro biker keeps him on the road non-stop.
I heard he’d been to visit Jackson a few weeks back, but I’d been visiting my sister and missed him. That’s when I met Blake, the other hookup who treated me as more than just a one-night stand. That must be why I’m manifesting Jace now. I can’t have what I want with Blake so I’m substituting Jace in the lead role of that daydream. It seems plausible, until I realize I’m still staring at the doorway he seemed to disappear into, and he comes walking out of it.
Hot damn, he looks good. Tall and lean, with muscled calves flexing as he walks, he looks just as dark and brooding from afar as I remember him, though I know all too well his feelings run deep under that stoic exterior. It’s one of the things that draws me to him, the knowledge that the sexy outer shell hides a gentle soul. The same way Blake’s does. Apparently, that’s my type, and somehow the two men who fit that criteria are here. In my new hometown.
I can tell the moment Jace sees me, pausing mid-stride as if he’s trying to reconcile what he sees. Despite having a few minutes head start, I feel the same way, barely finding the strength to lift the hand hanging limply at my side in a tiny wave. That breaks him out of his stupor, and he stalks forward, closing the distance between us.
“Becca?” He cocks his head to the side, voice filled with disbelief.
“Hi.” I cringe as the word squeaks from my mouth.
“I looked for you when I passed through Utah this summer. You weren’t at the resort, but Jackson didn’t make it sound like you’d left.” Jace’s eyes roam over me as if he still doesn’t trust that they’re seeing things correctly.
“I heard. I was visiting my sister.” My hand waves in the general direction of her house in Arizona, as if that would mean anything to him.First, Blake and now Jace? Why am I suddenly a disaster around guys I’m drawn to?
“What are you doing here?” The hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his lip, and my stomach flutters.
“I live here now. Just moved in the other day. I’m in charge of building the new bike park. They want to create something similar to what we created in Utah, and since I helped Jackson design that one, he recommended me for the job.”Stop rambling.
Jace looks me up and down before wiping a hand down his face. “You’re Bec?”
The nickname brings a smile to my face. “Only Jackson calls me that.”
He shakes his head back and forth with a bewildered laugh. “All these years, Jackson raved about his assistant, Bec. I never realized it was you. Why didn’t you say something before?”
I feel my cheeks turning as pink as my hair as I look anywhere but his eyes. “We sort of… didn’t talk much about work that night.”
“I told you what I did.” He folds his arms in front of his chest and arches a thick brow.
“Only because I saw all the camera gear in your hotel room. And when I asked about it all you said was you make highlight videos of some pro motocross rider, and you were only in town for the night before you had to go to the next location. I don’t know who you film or how you got into that, or how you know Jackson come to think of it.”
A playful grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, sounds about right. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend our only night together talking about work.”
“So, why areyouhere? Is this a location for one of your shoots?”
“It was last month. Axel, the guy I film, decided to stay.”
