Chapter 6 - Paisley
I woke up from an amazing dream to find it wasn’t a dream.
I was tangled up with the most gorgeous man I’d ever met, who I actually spent the night with.
I stayed perfectly still, casting my eyes over every inch of Dan that I could see.
My head rested in the crook of his arm, his hard chest beneath my chin.
Flat, muscular abs led to the sheet that lay haphazardly over his powerful thighs.
One of my legs was flung across him and I slowly began to ease it off.
What did I do? Oh, I wasn’t drunk in the slightest. The spiked cocoa had long worn off with all the dancing we did, so I remembered every glorious second.
My body was deliciously sore and craving more of his touch.
That was what had intoxicated me last night.
That and his kisses, his smiles and laughter, the intensity in his green eyes whenever he looked at me. And oh my God, those hands.
But really, what did I do? As the memories washed over me, making me feel too hot despite being naked and only half covered with a sheet, self incrimination swooped in.
Falling into bed with a stranger was the epitome of stupid and rash, the two things I promised myself I wouldn’t be when I was busy worrying about my company possibly being riddled with psychotic murderers.
Great, now that was all rushing back. I had my leg off of Dan and now I began working on sliding out from under his protective arm.
Closing my eyes, I breathed him in, one last time, because I certainly wasn’t going to see him again.
Not much time for cavorting with random hot men while I was running after a little kid.
The way he smelled, like macho leather cologne and the fresh snow we’d walked around in last night, made me want to lick him.
Oh my God, since when did I want to lick anyone? I had to get out of there fast.
Thankfully he was fast asleep, knocked out from our wild antics.
I only hoped he was way drunker than he acted so he wouldn’t wake up before I could slip away.
As the sheets shifted and revealed more of his Adonis body, fresh memories made my cheeks feel like they were on fire.
Part of me wished he would wake up and I even considered dropping my shoes as I put them on.
I made it out, and tried not to feel any regret as I carefully shut the door to his deluxe suite behind me. Scurrying downstairs to my own room, as pristine as when I left it to head down to the bar last night, I changed into my snow gear and grabbed my board.
I needed to clear my head. It had snowed all through the night and even though it was still early, there were plenty of people lined up waiting for the lifts.
The only stop I made was a quick pass through the resort’s breakfast buffet.
It was a huge change from yesterday when the jarring information about Axon’s missing employees had made me think I’d never want to eat again.
Now I was ravenous and shoved in some sausage biscuits so I’d have energy on the slopes.
At the top, I lined up my board, pausing to stare at the breathtaking scenery.
It wasn’t currently snowing and the bright blue sky was almost blinding reflected back against the miles and miles of snow.
It had been two years since I’d been out doing what used to be my favorite thing in the world, what I thought would be my whole life.
My last year of college and first year in the corporate world sucked up all my free time, and in truth, snowboarding had been somewhat melancholy for me after my injury stole my childhood dreams.
There was none of that now, just the urge to feel the wind whip across my face and the rush as I headed down the mountain. I picked a moderately easy trail, not wanting to have to think too hard, just needing to fly.
As I jetted downward, I let out a whoop, eagerly looking around for the first spot I could get a little air between me and the earth. By the time I was at the bottom, I was exhilarated and breathless and couldn’t wait to get back up to go again. But my mind was anything but clear.
Dan wouldn’t leave it. His voice echoed in my thoughts, the feel of his hands still tingled on my skin. The fresh, icy air didn’t erase his scent from my nostrils.
“Dummy,” I muttered to myself, glad I was alone on the lift.
It was a mistake, but I couldn’t say I regretted it. It had been too amazing, too perfect. Maybe, just maybe, it was better than snowboarding. And it could not happen again. Not when my life was in turmoil. The next three weeks I could regroup, but then what?
As soon as things calmed down and I was settled in, I could start sleuthing and hopefully find out that six missing people in a little more than a year was just a huge coincidence and nobody was murdered by the accounting firm I worked for. There wasn’t much hope of that, but I clung to it anyway.
Thankfully I wouldn’t risk running into Dan again, since I’d arranged with the resort to send my bags up to the lodge while I used every minute of my free morning to go up and down the mountain. Much too soon it was time to go to the lodge and find the family I’d be working for.
The lodge was huge, almost like a small walled village, with the main house in the center of a giant courtyard that boasted a small ice skating rink, a little hill for sledding and what looked like targets for ax throwing or archery.
It seemed like the perfect place to take a little kid, and inside the main lodge, it was ruggedly decorated but not lacking in luxury.
I felt myself relax as a pretty young woman sitting beside a handsome older man rose to greet me.
“Hi, can you tell me where the Fokin suite is?” I asked, assuming they worked there.
The man laughed, his smile and wavy blond hair making me think uncomfortably about Dan. “Which one?” he asked.
The woman tossed her wild red hair behind her shoulder and faked a scowl at him. “He’s trying to be funny. You must be the nanny? I’m so sorry but I don’t remember your name.”
It was probably for the best since I wasn’t the nanny they were actually expecting. I told them and shook their hands as they introduced themselves as Nik and Emerson, and that their son Pavel couldn’t wait to meet me.
“Alina’s been dying for you to get here, too,” Emerson said as a rambunctious little boy of around four or five came flying out of nowhere to throw himself at Nik. “Oh, here’s Pavel. Where are your cousins sweetie?” she asked.
He bellowed out a string of names and pretty soon I was swarmed with adults and kids.
They were all Fokins, and once they all stopped running around and shouting, I counted six kids that looked to be under six years old and two of the women were holding tiny babies.
Maybe staying in LA and facing would-be murderers would have been easier.
One of the women, Katie, quickly assured me I wouldn’t be in charge of all of them at once, and the two moms with babies piped up that I wouldn’t have to worry about their little ones.
The fear must have been written all over my face and I reminded myself that I was supposed to be a professional nanny who was used to a gaggle of preschoolers.
Katie told me to settle in, I wouldn’t officially be on the clock right away, and then invited me to join them for dinner. Her daughter Alina saw my board propped up in the lobby and told me proudly she was going to get a lesson.
“Maybe,” her mother said. “I’m still not convinced it’s safe.”
I piped up that it was plenty safe and that I’d been snowboarding and skiing since I was younger than Alina.
I even offered to give her a lesson myself, citing my previous championships.
Why I was volunteering for extra work was beyond me, but there was something about the sparkle in Alina’s eyes I recognized.
When Katie agreed, the little girl danced around, her younger cousins joining in and begging for a chance to learn, too.
They all dispersed and a woman named Lilia, who was about a year or two younger than me, showed me my room at the end of one of the long hallways upstairs.
“Is this really all your family?” I asked.
“Not even close,” she said with a smile, leaving me to unpack and explore the lodge and grounds a little.
This seemed like it was going to be a pretty cushy gig despite the large number of kids.
The lodge was fantastic, with pine bough wreaths scenting the air and old fashioned charm in the rugged furniture.
My room was cozy, with a handmade quilt on the big bed and a view of the mountain.
I was safe out there on the outskirts of Aspen and floating on cloud nine, already well on my way to putting that mistake of a one night stand behind me and forgetting about it.
Until dinner, when none other than Mr. One Night himself rolled in.
I stood on the fringes of the big group of Fokins, and as soon as I accepted a glass of wine, there he was, looking better than ever.
This time he wasn’t wearing a sleek designer suit but dark jeans and a comfy sweater, making my fingers twitch with the urge to slide over the soft fabric.
His blond hair was windblown and he looked around expectantly like he owned the place.
What the hell? I slipped further out of the way, but he seemed to hone in on me, his eyes narrowing when he saw me lurking.
Oh, please let him be making a delivery.
No. Everyone gathered around, hugging and welcoming him.
He was one of them. Out of all the gorgeous, hypnotizing men I had to choose to have my very first ever one night stand with, why did it have to be a member of this family?