AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I barely have time for fake let alone real.” Not to mention she lacked the bandwidth to worry about yet another person. She spent so much time caring for others she couldn’t remember the last time she’d cared about herself.
“I need to hear you say that you understand.”
“I understand and I promise not to fall for you, Mr. Cocky.”
“If that’s settled, let’s get to know each other better and, while we’re at it, take life by the balls. Snowmobiling is a great place to start, and I happen to know an excellent snowmobiler.”
She looked behind her at the stacks and stacks of boxes that she’d rather chew yellow snow than sort through. Then back to the grinning sex-on-a-stick man in front of her, and her belly quivered. Just like the way it did on that damn ski lift. But the quivering, she was pretty sure, had to do with her snowmobiling partner and not fear.
“I don’t like going fast.”
“You don’t like heights and you don’t like speed. Have you ever had any fun?”
“You sound like my family.”
“And you sound like Lucas.” He took her hand and laced their fingers. “Now, let’s give this town something to talk about.”
How hard could it be? A few appearances? Maybe a date or two? Easy-peasy. It’s not like he was hard to look at. All she had to do is resist falling into bed with him.
Chapter Twelve
Take Life by the Balls
Accept a challenge that scares you.
“You’re incredible,” Jax said, looking at the spreadsheet Milly had compiled. It had each vendor, what they were delivering, when they were delivering, and how many units were ordered, all catalogued into one tidy file. “You have it down to the hour of each drop off.”
“I’ve found that if everything arrives at once things get misplaced or overlooked, and it adds more stress to an already stressful day. So I staggered them over the three days leading up to the event.”
“Smart.” She was beyond smart. She was efficient, brilliant at her job, and had the organizational skills of a COO at a Fortune 500 level. She’d not only helped Jax understand how an event like this worked, but she’d also gone above and beyond laying out what the different departments handle. And there was more than a handful of departments to get to know and manage.
Lucas wasn’t exaggerating about the magnitude of workload. Jax had only uncovered a fraction of what this competition needed. On top of the Sierra Vista Cup, his brother was also overseeing the day-to-day responsibilities of running a lodge. The gift shop, equipment rentals, Bigfoot’s Brew, lodging, guest services, ski patrol, security, and the list went on. Not to mention being CEO, which meant he was the authority on long term strategies, driving profitability, and communicating with the board. That was a lot to tackle, but Lucas had shouldered all of it, which made Jax ashamed and angry all at the same time.
He was both ashamed that he’d been so Jax-centric he hadn’t seen the signs of burnout and angry Lucas hadn’t been honest with him. Sure, he could blame Lucas for the distance over the past twelve months, but Lucas had started running the show not long after he’d graduated college. Jax wasn’t a time traveler, so he couldn’t fix the past, but he could help now by supporting his brother.
Not that he supported Lucas’s viewpoint on selling the lodge, but he needed to respect Lucas’s stance. Opposing opinions on how to manage their mom’s addiction and recovery had already damaged their relationship. They didn’t need one more obstacle between them if they wanted a shot at repairing things. And deep down Jax wanted to fix things so they could go back to being thick as thieves. He just wasn’t sure how to do that. But this event felt like a step in the right direction.
Which was why Jax had asked Milly to meet at Coffee Run, an upscale coffee shop downtown situated on the corner of Sequoia Lane and Main Street, and across from Town Square. With its massive windows, the café was the most visible location in town. This little meet-up accomplished two things: help with the event and to bring some validity to their fake relationship in the eyes of the public.
If he were being honest, it also accomplished a third thing—his desire to lay his eyes on Milly. Something that was quickly becoming a pastime.
Jax cleared his throat and scanned the list of companies she’d compiled. Everything from swag bags to snowboard wax to travel plans for the VIP competitors. He recognized several of the companies and an idea bloomed.
“Are any on these vendors sponsoring the event?”
“I don’t know. I only handle point A to point B and back to point A. But I have all the invoices in this file.” She pointed to a folder on her laptop.
“Can you send that to me? I’m betting I can get some of these companies to sponsor the event and supply the items at no cost to us.”
“Sure.” Nibbling at her lower lip, Milly pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Jax’s body reacted as if she were nibbling on his lower lip, which made no sense. Even though she was dressed in a simple pair of faded jeans, boots with fur on the trim, and a soft gray sweater, his mind was scrambled.
Her face was fresh of makeup and her hair was pulled back into a messy bun that was secured with a ballpoint pen. Then there were her sexy-librarian glasses, perched on her petite nose and playing into the girl-next-door vibe that was becoming harder to resist by the minute.
She made a big show of punching the Enter button on her laptop. “Sent!” The smile she flashed him had his heart skipping a few beats. “Now, I think we should talk about the new athletes you got to sign up.”
“How do you know I was behind it?”
