Chapter 2
Chapter Two
The supply closet was down on the lower level, and it wasn’t accessible from inside the lodge. There was no way Axel was going back outside right now.
Except…
All his groceries were out in his truck, and most of them required refrigeration.
However, there were a few things in a smaller closet here on the main floor that Connor insisted on.
There were aprons, tablecloths and other assorted linens, and—thankfully—a healthy supply of towels.
Scooping all the towels up, he strode back to the kitchen and placed them on the stainless-steel workstation before heading for the door.
“You’re not going back outside, are you?” Maisie asked.
Turning, he nodded. “I’ve got groceries out in my truck. I would have brought them in when I got back from town, but I saw you run up the stairs and needed to make sure you weren’t here to ransack the place.”
Rolling her eyes, she let out a dramatic breath. “Seriously? In this weather?”
“Hey, it seemed odd to me too, but it still doesn’t change the fact that someone I didn’t know was trying to break into the lodge. As one of the owners, I take that seriously.”
“Oh.”
They simply stared at each other for several moments before Axel said, “So, um…yeah. I’m going to run out and grab the food and bring it in here because it’s closer than my cabin. I’ll dry off when I get back, so save me a few towels.”
His hand was on the doorknob when she stopped him again. He hung his head briefly before looking at her.
“I’m going to go down with you. I’ve got some stuff in my truck that I’d rather have in here. Nothing perishable,” she clarified. “But my computer and a few other things that I wouldn’t want to get ruined if the truck leaks.”
“You don’t know if your truck leaks?”
“It’s never rained like this before.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to take any chances.”
Well, damn.
He hated the thought of her going back out in the foul weather. She didn’t look like she couldn’t handle it, but it seemed a little too dangerous, especially considering that she wasn’t familiar with the grounds like he was.
“Tell you what, give me your keys and tell me what you need and I’ll get it. I don’t mind making a second trip. And if you wouldn’t mind, you might make us a couple of cups of coffee while I’m doing that.”
“Wow. Sexist much?” she said with more than a hint of attitude.
“No, not sexist much,” he mimicked. “I was just trying to do a nice thing! I’m in work boots and can handle the muddy path to the parking lot.
Your shoes don’t look like they’d have any real traction, and I was trying to avoid having you fall and get hurt.
But if you need to prove some feminist point… ”
“Okay, okay, okay…sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t think…”
“No, you didn’t,” he interrupted before holding out his hands. “Keys?”
“Oh, uh…it’s not locked. There’s a small hard-shell suitcase on the passenger seat and a small purse and duffel bag. If it’s not too much trouble.”
With a nod, Axel turned and braced himself.
Normally he didn’t mind the walk from the lodge to the parking lot, but with the storm it looked like miles away instead of yards.
His hoodie was already soaked, but at least the hood would be a small barrier between him and the rain.
So he pulled it up and quickly stepped out the door.
It was so loud that it didn’t feel natural—the pounding of the rain, the steady stream of rumbling thunder, and the almost terrifying flashes of lightning.
The sky was getting darker by the minute, and he swore he’d never seen anything like this in his life.
And as much as he would have preferred to be down in his cabin, perhaps being on higher ground in the lodge was safer.
At his truck, he grabbed all his grocery bags and remembered he had a box of extra-large trash bags on the back seat.
He tossed the groceries back down and quickly made himself a poncho out of one trash bag and then carefully layered all his grocery bags in another.
Taking the box of bags with him, he moved over to Maisie’s truck and put her purse in with the groceries, looped the duffel bag over his shoulders, and grabbed the suitcase with his free hand.
It was awkward as hell, but he made his way as fast as he could back up the stairs where Maisie was holding the door open for him.
Breathless, he carefully wedged past her to get inside and slowly lowered everything to the floor.
“Are you insane?” she demanded. “You could have fallen and hurt yourself carrying all that in one trip!”
Axel tore his makeshift poncho off before peeling off his hoodie and dropping it to the floor. “I was focused on getting out of the storm. And none of it was heavy, just awkward. It’s all good.”
Next, he was about to kick off his boots when he realized he really needed to go back outside again. Muttering a curse, he headed for the door.
“Now where are you going? You've got everything!”
“Not yet. I’ll be right back.” And before she could stop him, he ran out the door and down the stairs to a door that led to the storage room.
He would have been fine if he were alone or if one of the guys were with him, but there was no way he was going to strip off his clothes and hang out with only a towel around his waist with a strange woman riding out the storm with him.
And he greatly doubted Maisie wanted to hang out in only a towel too.
In the storage room, he rummaged around a bit.
Months ago, Walker had told him that there was a supply of brand-new robes and slippers and other toiletries.
It didn’t take long for him to gather up a bunch of stuff—which was luckily all sealed in plastic—and make his way back upstairs.
And just as she did before, Maisie was holding the door for him.
“What in the world…?”
Dumping it all out on the table, he let out a long breath as he shook off like a wet dog.
“What is all this?”
“There’s a supply room downstairs—you can’t get to it from inside—and there’s a bunch of stuff from before the resort closed down a year ago.
We’ve got a couple of robes, a few pairs of slippers, some larger towels than the ones I grabbed earlier, toiletries…
” Looking up at her, he shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but I do not want to stay in these wet clothes.
There’s a fireplace out in the lobby that I can light, and we can hang our stuff to dry out there and get warmed up. ”
He rummaged through the pile and grabbed a pack of towels, a robe, and one of the toiletry kits. When he had it all bundled in his arms, he noticed that she hadn’t moved.
“This is a hotel,” he began carefully. “But it’s not all finished.
That’s why we were interviewing designers and decorators.
All the rooms have new bathrooms; we went for the basics and figured a decorator would make them look nicer.
Anyway, if you want to grab some stuff and follow me, you can take a room and I’ll take another. ”
“What about your groceries?”
“Oh, damn. Right.” Putting his stuff down, he dealt with the food and put it all away. By the time he was scooping the robe and towels and things off the table, he noticed Maisie had hers and she was standing timidly by the door that led to the reception area.
He knew this had to be awkward for her—to be stuck here with some random guy—but he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the situation either. But they were stuck with each other, and he was just trying to make the best of it. The best thing he could do was to try to put her mind at ease.
“I get that this is a weird situation, but you don’t have anything to worry about.
I swear I’m a good guy. If I weren’t, I would have thrown you out of here as soon as I got the door open.
The weather is looking dangerous, and I don’t want you to be freaked out about being here with me.
If it would make you feel better, you can stay up here and I’ll run across the property to my cabin. You won’t even have to be around me.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment as she eyed him warily, but he could tell she was weighing her options.
“I want to believe you, but…you know…how many serial killers tell their victims to trust them, right?” A nervous laugh followed.
“If you want, I’ll call all of my business partners right now and put them on video so you can see their faces and let them vouch for me. I’m serious, Maisie. I just want you to know that you’re safe here.”
When she still didn’t look convinced, he pulled his phone out and was thankful it hadn’t gotten ruined while sitting in his now soaking wet pocket. He had no idea who was going to be available, but he tried Connor first.
“Hey, Axel, what’s up?”
“Hey, did you make it to the airport before the storm?”
“Yeah, but now we’re grounded because of it.
We just couldn’t take off before things got wild.
It seems like it’s settling over this region for a while, so I think I’m gonna drive down instead.
It’ll take way longer, but it’s better than sitting at the airport.
I heard trees are already down, and it’s unlikely I’d even be able to get back to the resort. ”
“Wait, really? Where did you hear that?”
“From a few people here at the airport who came from out that way. It seems several came down right at the town limits, so it looks like you might be stuck at the resort for a while. I hope you were able to go out and get groceries.”
Raking a hand through his wet hair, he nodded. “Um, yeah. I got back just when things started to get bad.”
“Well that’s good. So what’s up? Or were you just calling to see if I'd taken off safely?”
Crap.
“Yeah, so…funny story. Remember the decorator who missed her interview?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“She showed up.”
“Seriously? I hope you told her it was completely rude to show up late without a damn call.”