Page 63 of Release Me

I head out early the next morning, not wanting to make it obvious that Ethan and I spent the night together. The two of us showing up at work together would definitely give things away. But that doesn’t stop me from heading to his office about fifteen minutes after my arrival, getting a text from him telling me to come see him.

As soon as I walk in, Ethan stands up from his desk, telling me to close the door. I can tell he’s been anxiously awaiting my answer, making it hard for him to not bring it up this morning over coffee.

“So you gonna answer me, Zoey?” Ethan asks, beaming and I’m still trying to process a few things, like how I gave him the idea, and that he wants me to run the whole damn thing.

Working at Badger Creek is my first real experience being in charge of anyone but myself, and I don’t think he realizes that I feel like I’ve been faking it the whole time. I have serious imposter syndrome. I have no idea how to oversee a project of this size and then manage it once it’s complete.

“Ethan, you know I have no idea what I’m doing, right?” I ask him, not trying to make him feel bad for asking, but what the hell?

“None of us do, Zo. You think I made my money because I knew what I was doing? It was an idea Brandon and I had, and we tossed a few bucks at it and well, you know the rest.” He shrugs casually, acting like he didn’t just ask me to manage a multi-million-dollar deal.

“I don’t know. What if I fuck it up?” I ask, hesitantly. I’m not looking for validation or for him to tell me I’m going to be amazing. I’m seriously asking because it’s a real possibility.

“You won’t. The groundwork has already been laid. I just need you to help me with a few things and once it’s final, you’ll run it like you do the lodge.” Again, with the casualness, and maybe I am doubting myself too much. I do run the lodge and I have been for a while. It’s still profitable. It’s still standing.

“Everything is a risk, babe, but this isn’t,” Ethan now says. “And I have full confidence in you that you will make the final outcome even better.”

I roll my eyes at him, chuckling a little at the way he’s trying to build my confidence. “Are you just saying that because I’m sleeping with you?” I ask, pinching his side.

“This project has been in the back of my mind for a while and then when we were talking about the expansion and you saying people like a small atmosphere, the boutique feel, it gave me an idea.”

“So, you had me in mind before you saw me naked?” I press, walking to lean against Ethan’s desk.

“I mean, seeing you naked definitely helped the decision,” he jokes, laughing as he walks over to his desk and picks up a long drawing tube.

“Ethan!” I shame, tossing a pen at him that I picked up from his desk.

“What? You asked. I answered,” he teases, still smiling. “But seriously, Zoey, I had you in mind because of the way you run the lodge and the way the staff respects you. I think you can handle things on a larger scale. I don’t really want anyone else in the job.”

“Okay then,” I say, letting out a hard sigh. “I guess this means we’ll be working together more, huh?”

“Looks like it, and I’m going to have Elissa fill in for you at times since we’re moving into the off season.”

I nod, walking to meet Ethan at the table off to the side of his office as he pulls some papers from the drawing tube, spreading them out.

“What’s all this?” I now ask, looking down at what appears to be some type of land map. It has the mountains labeled and the current buildings, but in addition, it has land marked with colored dots and small flags.

“It’s a plat survey of Badger Creek. It basically shows all the land we own and all the buildings we have built on it,” Ethan tells me, and I swear my heart nearly skips a beat when he uses the word “we” in place of saying that he’s the owner.

“We don’t own anything. You own it,” I clarify, winking at him. He has never been one to tout that he owns Badger Creek or that he’s on a different level than the employees who work for him. I’ve never worked for someone who treats everyone as equals and allows them all the luxuries of working at a ski resort.

Our families have access to free lift tickets and we get discounted meals and spa treatments, generous vacation time and some of the best health insurance. This applies to everyone, not just the higher up employees. I would guess that he brings in a lower amount in income based on this, but I also know he has a handle on passive income and uses that well. Plus, he’s mentioned other businesses.

Ethan pauses, looking at me, he wets his lips, his eyes narrowing as he continues to look at me. “I think we both know I meant what I said when I said “we”. This is something we’re doing together because without you, I would have probably gone forward on the deal with Declan.”

“That deal could have made you millions,” I say, knowing he did pass up something that could have catapulted the Badger Creek name from a small Tahoe ski resort to a world-wide name.

“But it’s not what I wanted. And who knows if it would have succeeded. Declan doesn’t have a portfolio big enough to take on something of that size.” His voice is firm, and he turns back to look at the survey. “I want this. I want you and I want people to feel about Badger Creek the way you do. The way I do, too.”

“I don’t even know your idea yet, but I know that’s exactly how it will play out,” I assure him, and I know it will. Our guests love it here. We have people return year after year because of the atmosphere here.

We aren’t your typical oversized resort where the mountains are overcrowded and the cost to ski has outpaced its clientele. Ethan has done an incredible job of making Badger Creek a success by keeping the costs lower than surrounding resorts and by keeping our mountains some of the best.

“So here it goes. I don’t want to take away any land that has become part of the resort experience,” Ethan begins. “Building condos or villas or really any type of high-rise will take more land, and I just can’t see that. Originally that was my plan, but the more I look around, the more I want to keep things almost the same.”

“Okay, so what are you going to do? In order to expand, don’t you need more land?” I question, confused by Ethan’s explanation.

“Badger Creek spans much farther than you realize and there’s this,” Ethan says, his finger landing on a small building just on the edge of the survey.

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