2. Harlan
2
HARLAN
T he farm is quiet this early, my feet crunching along the frozen grass with my breath making little white puffs of air as I move between the trees.
It’s my favorite time of the day. The calm before the holiday storm as locals and tourists flock to the Wintervale Tree Farm to find the perfect Christmas tree. It wasn’t my first choice for work with so many happy people around, but I couldn’t afford to be picky. I had a job lined up west of here for the middle of February, but I needed something in the meantime.
I’d been lucky Winston Sterling hired me at all, since jobs for a hundred miles had been scarce, people like me jumping at the listings for holiday help.
You could survive on seasonal work—you just had to be smart about it.
And I plan to be smart.
Starting now.
Two months after I’d been unceremoniously forced out of Dante’s life, there’d been an engagement announcement that had ripped through the state like wildfire. Splashed across the paper in technicolor was Dante and a woman he’d sworn was only a friend.
Sure.
Their marriage would unite two powerful families—most likely a strategic move rather than a romantic one but it hurt.
And then the hurt turned to rage and I’d burned through a lot of the hush money because… fuck it.
Which is how I found myself in Wintervale, Montana, with a job at the local tree farm a month before Christmas. There was supposed to have been a big wedding not long after I rolled into town, and they’d needed bodies to fill the positions during the nuptials.
I didn’t need the details.
All I need to do now is keep my head down for a little while and move on as soon as I can manage it.
Running my hand along the pine needles of a nearby tree, I’m so lost in thought I don’t hear anyone approach, and by the time I do, it’s too late to ignore him.
“Good morning!” he says cheerily, holding out his hand. “I’m Reid Sterling. I do the marketing and ads here and a couple of other places in town. You must be Harlan. I heard we had a new hire, but we haven’t met, and I thought I’d introduce myself in case you needed anything or had any questions. I know you’re new to Wintervale, and it’s my favorite place in the whole world.”
Of fucking course.
Reid Sterling.
Most likely related to the Sterlings that hired me and rented me a cabin for my stay in Wintervale.
Nepotism at its finest.
And I’d be the sucker to fall into the trap.
Again.
I look down at his outstretched hand and shove mine into the pockets of my jacket. He frowns and I hate how much that bothers me. Reid is handsome in an unassuming kind of way, his black-framed glasses and beanie making him look adorably delicious, something I absolutely should not be noticing.
And before I put the frown on his handsome face, his smile had damn near jump-started my heart.
This cannot be happening.
Clenching my jaw, I do my best not to let my gaze rake down his body, instead peering just past his right ear so I can’t see the way his sky-blue eyes don’t sparkle the way they did when he first walked up.
Dammit.
“Morning,” I say gruffly. Reid’s lips twitch on one side as he tucks his hands into his jacket and rocks back slightly on his heels.
“Really living up to your name, aren’t you, Mr. Frost?”
My only reply is a grunt, but instead of being upset, he just chuckles.
But I can’t help it. My name shouldn’t sound so sexy falling from his lips. I don’t remember another time in my life that anyone has addressed me that way, but I like the way it sounds coming from Reid.
Unhelpfully, the word coming starts playing on a loop in my head as I stare at the man before me, his cheeks pink from the cold, but all I can imagine is how far that blush would spread when he orgasms.
It’s inappropriate.
Possibly offensive.
But it doesn’t stop me. I want to hate myself, but I can’t because I see the spark of interest in Reid’s gaze as he watches me.
A challenge.
“If you need anything let me know,” he says, taking a step backward, his smile growing as I won’t fails to leave my lips. “I’ll definitely see you around.”
I stare at his retreating form, his jeans hugging his perfect ass and doing nothing to temper my newfound obsession with a man who is completely off-limits.
Because of course this would happen to me.
Sighing, I drag my gloved hand down my face.
My time in Wintervale has an expiration.
And the clock is ticking.