Page 11 of Snowbody

He’d been around when I started my career, and… well, maybe we’d been dishonest.

Maybe I’d taken money I shouldn’t have.

And if that got out, I’d be ruined. Maybe to the point of having my medals taken away.

I glanced at Maddy.

Was she worth that kind of destruction?

Chapter Six

Maddy

I rushed inside as soon as Jacob had parked the truck.

I needed to be alone for a little bit. I went to my private suite, thankful that Dad had hired movers to unpack before I got there. It was a challenge to find some of my stuff, but it really had saved me a lot of stress.

I took my time showering, grooming, and changing. When I was dressed, I went to the window, looking outside.

It was after eleven already. Jacob was definitely on the slopes.

I stood there for a few minutes. He was standing at the top of the mountain, only a few hundred feet from the doors of the lodge, with a tall, pretty redhead. The girl stood close to him as he talked, showing her a snowboard and probably talking about safety.

I didn’t like the flicker of jealousy it caused.

I turned away from the window to go to my office. I could bury myself in work, going over my new marketing plan before I presented it to Melody.

Not that she’d like it.

But it was hard to stop thinking about him, about the night we’d had. It had been… well, wonderful. And he’d stopped before things went too far.

Most men wouldn’t.

I sighed and got up from my desk, going to the window. It had been a while; his new student was a guy, obviously someone who wanted to pretend he was impressive. I watched as Jacob got him set up and let him go down the bunny slope on his own.

The guy face-planted into the snow.

I laughed.

Watching Jacob reminded me of our talk at the bar last night.

He hated the attention. He wanted to snowboard, not be a celebrity.

Maybe we were going about marketing the wrong way.

Maybe I needed to think about this in a different light. If Jacob wasn’t happy being the star of the resort, then we needed to change things.

The town was pretty. It could be its own draw. We always had perfect snow for skiing and snowboarding. The views were incredible from the top of the mountain.

We could make the advertising more about the lodge itself and less about Jacob being here.

I smiled and went back to my desk. I’d have to delete a lot of what I already had and start over, but I could do it.

* * * * *

I spent the rest of the day working hard. My new strategy was good, though, and I was already talking to one of our graphic designers about potential new logos. I’d found some gorgeous photos of the property, the town, and the mountain online, all meant to highlight what I loved about this place.

In the entire packet, Jacob’s name wasn’t mentioned once.

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