Page 323 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Stupid lighting. I made a mental note to put it on my long-term task list, but I knew that I probably wouldn’t get to something like that until the resort shut down in the spring. Too much traffic in the conference rooms otherwise, and the last thing I needed was to blow the electricity in half the lodge while I fiddled around with rewiring.
I carefully pulled down the blown bulb and set it off to the side, wiping my hands off on my jeans before reaching for the new bulb. I frowned down at the box and then shook my head. I had been surprised to see the new bulbs that had been put away in the supply closet, and not just because my whole system was screwed up. But these were much nicer bulbs than normal, and from a different company than we normally stocked them from.
Curious, I had looked at the sign-off for the order and saw that Ian was responsible for them.
But hey, it wasn’t my job to say anything. My job was just to get those lightbulbs fixed as needed. So that’s what I did right now. I was just coming down the ladder to try the lights when Bailey walked in. For a moment, I froze, startled. But then, I forced myself to smile at her. Whatever else had gone on between us, she was still my boss.
“Just getting these lights working for this afternoon,” I told her, gesturing up towards the ceiling. “You mind hitting that third switch from the left?”
Bailey hit the switch, and all the lights in the room came on. I nodded. “All set,” I said, putting the old bulb into the box that the new bulb had come in. “You getting everything set up for this afternoon?”
Bailey shook her head, coming over and hopping up on a table near me, studying me. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she said.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m right here,” I pointed out. “I’m not hiding.” That didn’t exactly counter her accusation, but what was I supposed to say? The truth was I hadn’t exactly been avoiding her. But I had definitely been keeping to myself over the past few days. It was just easier that way. I had a lot to focus on, and I was trying not to get too wrapped up in my thoughts about her.
Because the truth was, the more I tried to stay away from Bailey, the more I just wanted to see her again. I wanted to take her out to dinner again, I wanted to have that ski date with her and Ethan like we had talked about. There was so much that I wanted. But I couldn’t have any of that. Not while Ian was here, and not after he went back to Vegas either.
He had been right. Bailey and I just weren’t meant for one another. And I wasn’t about to commit to something that could never last. Bailey just didn’t understand what she was getting into in the first place. She was just having a little fun, playing as the owner of a ski resort, but then she would eventually leave. I couldn’t let myself go to pieces when she left. I couldn’t let her play with my heart like that.
“It’s been really busy,” I said to Bailey, to cover up the accusatory silence she was fixing me with. I gestured towards the lights. “Think this is the fifth project I’ve finished up this morning, actually.”
Bailey sighed. “I know it’s been busy. But how many times do I have to remind you that I can help out with some of this stuff? Changing lightbulbs is in my wheelhouse.”
“Sure, but I didn’t know that it was a blown bulb when I first came in here,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “Anyway, I’m not sure you could have reached these ones, even on a ladder. They’re pretty high up there.”
“Ian could have,” Bailey maintained stubbornly. “You could have told me what needed to be done and I could have found someone to do it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, even though I knew that I would never ask for her to get me help, no matter how long my list of tasks got. “How long is Ian sticking around, anyway?”
Bailey sighed and shrugged, kicking her feet a little. “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “Why, is he still giving you a hard time?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. Now that it was clear to him that I wasn’t pursuing his little sister anymore, Ian had kept his distance. He hadn’t gone back to being friendly with me, but he at least wasn’t seeking me out to have words with me about how my job was just one step up from a plumber’s.
“That’s good,” Bailey said. “He’s quit interfering in the business too, so I don’t know, I’m kind of just enjoying having him around.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. I hadn’t intended to say anything to her about the more expensive lights, but Ian had just signed off on them a couple days ago. It didn’t really sound like he was keeping from interfering in the business.
“What’s that look for?” Bailey asked, while I was still trying to figure out a tactful way to tell her that.
I shrugged and held up the box. “These lights are way more expensive than what we normally order, and they weren’t ordered in bulk through the supplier we normally use,” I finally told her. “Ian’s the one who signed off on them, just a few days ago. I don’t know where he got them from or anything.”
Bailey made a face. “Seriously?” Then, she shook her head. “Thanks for telling me.” She paused. “Adam, you know – “
Whatever she was going to say, I could tell that it wasn’t about the lightbulbs, or about her brother. I quickly interrupted her. “You know, I have a bunch of other things on my list for this afternoon. But I’ll definitely let you know if I need help with any of it.”
Bailey frowned at me and stood in front of me as I started to make a hasty exit. “Wait,” she said imperiously. “Look, I get that you don’t want to talk to me about this” – she gestured between the two of us – “here, but we clearly need to talk. Let’s go to dinner tonight.”
“I’m not sure I can do that,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I have to get Ethan. And I promised him that we would have, um, pizza for dinner.” I knew that Bailey would hear the hesitation, that she wouldn’t believe me.
And sure enough, she stared at me for a moment, and I could practically see her discard all the different things that she wanted to say to me. Finally, she shook her head a little. “Can you ask your father to watch him for the evening?” she asked. “I’m not really asking you. I’m telling you, as your boss, that we are having dinner together tonight.”
I stared at her for a moment, wanting to protest. But really, what was I supposed to say? If I told her that it was short notice and that I couldn’t do it tonight, then she would ask me about tomorrow or the next night. I was going to have to have this conversation with her at some point; I couldn’t put it off forever.
Besides, there was a part of me that wanted to hear her out. To hear what she was thinking about this whole thing. Why was she still so concerned about if I was avoiding her or not? Hadn’t she woken up to realize how wrong we were for one another yet? There was a part of me that just wanted to spend more time with her. Surely Ian couldn’t be upset about it if she was the one insisting that I go to dinner with her. After all, if she was invoking the fact that she was my boss, who knew what the consequences could be otherwise. She might even fire me.
I hoped that that wasn’t what she was thinking, but I didn’t want to ask her about it. Anyway, asking her what the consequences would be would only make her more certain that I was avoiding her for some reason. I didn’t want to upset her.
I doubted Ian would care about my reasons for going, though. He would rather I was fired, anyway; he had made that clear when he tried to hire a maintenance company to replace me before. So that meant that if I didn’t deal with Bailey tonight, I’d be stuck avoiding her retribution later in the week, but if I did go to dinner with her tonight, I’d have to face up to Ian again. Catch-22.
