Page 25 of A Secret Chance
“Are you okay?” Baxter stood up and reached out for Lauren.
She leaned down and placed both of her palms down on the table, but her breath was starting to get away from her. Baxter touched her on the shoulder and a shiver ran through her body in response. He leaned in asking, “Lauren, are you alright?” His smell, the feel of his breath on her earlobe transported her back in time.
It didn’t make sense. The name didn’t match. It couldn’t be him, but every fiber in her being told her that she was wrong – that it was him. He rested his hand on her shoulder and that touch broke her. Her knees gave out and Baxter, the father of her daughter, saved her from smashing her head on the wooden table just before she blacked out.
Chapter 11
THE CHOPPER BLADESspun loudly above her head. Her first time in a helicopter had been exciting but now, when it functioned as her mode of transportation to her second job, the novelty had definitely worn off.
Frank, the owner of FKT Heli-ski was a good man, and when Lauren’s mom’s cancer had started to spread, he offered to pay for her treatment. Sharon Bunkman was a proud woman and had refused to take any money from her boss. Lauren was furious and so was Frank. He offered Lauren Sharon’s position at the lodge when she got too sick to work, and Lauren took it. They needed all the extra money they could get.
But that Frank was a tricky bastard and Lauren almost fell over when she got her first paycheck – there were too many zeros - she was the highest-paid cleaning lady in the history of the lodge. She knew exactly what Frank was doing and was thankful. She wasn’t one for charity, but if it was going to save her mom’s life, she would take whatever she could get.
Lauren worked hard for Frank, flying in and staying for days whenever there was a changeover of guests.
Most of the clientele were rich old men from Europe, so when she saw Brock, she was caught off guard. He looked a little older than her twenty years, but it was tough to tell with the tree planter beard. He was there with his dad’s company, a bunch of rich cronies that had rented the entire lodge for a week.
That day, the snow was falling in heavy curtains down around the lodge. The weather conditions had rapidly deteriorated to the point where the choppers couldn’t fly, and Lauren was going to have to stay the night at the lodge. When the scruffy young man invited her to play cards, and listen to music in his room, she had declined, but Frank had overheard and told her to go and have some fun.
She had never meant for a game of rummy and a night of Pearl Jam tunes to change her life, but it had and it did.
She woke up and rolled into the hard body of Brock, the tree planter, and the smell of pine and musk that met her was a smell she would never ever forget.
“Good morning,” he whispered.
“Is it morning?” she replied. The curtains were drawn in his room.
“Almost,” he whispered. “I get up at five every day. This is my morning.”
“Me too,” she smiled.
“You’re so beautiful.” He ran his thumb over her cheek and pulled her in close to kiss her gently on her lips.
She had felt the lodge’s sheets a million times before, but never once against her naked body. The thousand thread count cotton felt like silk against her skin. She ran her hands up and down the fabric while Brock kissed along her jawbone, his beard tickling her neck.
“I think she’s coming to,” a voice said.
