Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Cam gave his assigned ATV used for patrol a little more power and shot down the stone lane away from his cabin and toward what he called the “back forty.”
Like normal, before his morning rounds, he checked in via radio with the guards sitting at the gate, patrolling The Mane Lodge and lake cabins, as well as currently surveilling the cameras.
The Lyons brothers were smart to hire dedicated security staff, not only to protect the resort and guests, but to limit access from outsiders. No one got past the gate unless they had a reservation or were an invited guest. Restricting access to everyone else kept both the guests and staff safe.
And their identities private.
Especially from haters who had a problem with these types of adult playgrounds. Beyond physical threats and verbal abuse, guests could be blackmailed or even have their sexuality outed.
Some guests wanted to keep their sexuality private in their everyday life but go wild while at the resort.
Whatever someone was into, the resort could usually make it happen.
If you desired it—and as long as it was legal and consensual—the Lyons family did their best to make sure you got what you wanted.
Their goal was for their guests to leave satisfied in every way possible.
No other resort in the Northeast was similar to the Double D Ranch. Not that he was aware of, anyway.
As he bounced in his seat while tooling down the bumpy lane, Cam recited the resort’s motto out loud like a game show host. “Welcome to the Double D Ranch. The adults-only ranch resort where your fantasies become reality. Unpack, unwind, and get uninhibited.”
He heard it so many times when guests checked in or staff answered the phone that he could recite it in his sleep. He wouldn’t be surprised if he already had.
Cam waved to a couple of the groundskeepers as he passed them, and a small group of guests on horseback, probably headed toward Moshannon State Forest for an early morning trail ride.
After arriving at the farthest edge of the three-hundred acre property, he looped around and headed back.
He made this trek almost daily and never got bored of the view. The backdrop of tall trees and majestic mountains, as well as the expansive pastures and rolling hills, made it a truly peaceful place and a nice change of pace from where he had lived and worked previously.
Peaceful except for the resort’s wild themed parties, that was.
His growling stomach reminded him it was time to grab breakfast in the dining hall and also have a face-to-face with the guard assigned there for the day.
While he was their supervisor, he liked to be friendly with his subordinates.
Most of the security staff were former law enforcement, like him.
Because of that, he trusted them to professionally handle any situations that came up.
The Lyons hoped for guests to return, as well as spread the word to their friends, so any incident needed to be handled tactfully.
Cam constantly drilled that into the guards’ heads since it was the guests who paid his very nice salary as well as theirs. Without customers, the resort would go under and a bunch of people would find themselves unemployed.
If that happened, it would be devastating for the local economy since most of the resort’s employees, vendors, and independent contractors were locals and other job opportunities in the area were limited.
The residents of Fisher Falls might grumble about having an all-adult, sex-positive resort in their area, but they realized what an economic boom it provided.
Albeit reluctantly.
Once he filled his gut with strawberry-stuffed French toast, a side of bacon, and two generous cups of black coffee, he went into the lodge’s kitchen and filled up his travel mug before heading out on the rest of his rounds.
Since the weather was beautiful, it was going to suck sitting in his office for hours on end to go over reports, schedules, and all the rest of the paperwork he was responsible for.
He shouldn’t complain. This job was cake compared to his last one. The only chase he’d been involved in since he started was a fugitive hen that escaped the chicken coop. The motherclucker had needlessly pecked the shit out of him when he was only trying to help.
He had one more area to check before heading over to the farmhouse where all three resort execs—twins Dayne and Dylan, along with their younger sister Danica—grew up.
When they converted the property from a private dairy farm to a public ranch resort, they had upgraded the original family farmhouse and added two wings so each sibling had their own personal space.
However, since then, Dylan and the rest of his polycule, Erin and Ford, built their own house on the property and repurposed his wing as a security office for Cam and his staff.
The sole bedroom had been turned into Cam’s private office and the rest of the living space now housed desks, computers used for surveillance, and the rest of their security equipment.
For an office, it was pretty damn close to perfect.
Cam stepped out of The Mane Lodge, and on his way back to his ATV, movement caught his eye.
One side of his mouth pulled up. Nothing should surprise him anymore, but every time he thought he’d seen it all, he was proven wrong.
This morning, that surprise came in the form of a woman on the lake’s dock doing a little yoga.
Naked, of course.
He guessed early morning was the perfect time to do it, before the threat of getting sunburned in places no one wanted to be sunburned.
Especially with her lily-white assets pointing directly at the sky.
Wait a minute…
He recognized that deep-red hair. That slender, athletic body.
That wasn’t a guest, but an employee. Sort of. More like an independent contractor. Or freelancer.
Hope Reed.
When the Lyonses first hired the yoga instructor, Cam figured she’d be into all of that woo-woo nonsense and a bit flighty.
From what he’d discovered so far, it turned out she wasn’t. Instead, she was more down to Earth. And, of course, took her yoga seriously.
She led early morning yoga sessions only three days a week since she also taught some classes from her home right outside Fisher Falls. Cam had learned all that when he did her background check.
She had also turned down the Lyonses’ offer of taking one of the employee cabins and working full-time at the resort. When she was first hired over a month ago, Dylan mentioned that she didn’t want to move onsite due to living with her boyfriend.
So while the thirty-year-old woman had caught Cam’s eye, the couple of times they briefly spoke, he ignored his interest due to her having a significant other.
However, this morning, his interest—along with his cock—was piqued.
As head of security, he should really go check on her. For her safety, of course. Make sure she didn’t pull a muscle doing some of those crazy yoga poses.
He left the ATV parked by the front entrance of the lodge and decided to stretch his legs. As he strode down the grassy incline and toward the dock, he took Hope in as he went.
The loose, long red hair.
The nose ring.
The full sleeve of flowers and butterflies tattooed on her left arm.
He’d admit he’d been wrong judging her appearance at first; the reason he assumed she was into some sort of New Age spirituality.
Not that there was anything wrong with being free-spirited.
Hope apparently lived her life the way she wanted to live it. He couldn’t judge her for that. Just like she shouldn’t judge him for having a typical cop’s Type-A personality. He was as far from a free-spirit as one could get.
He stuck to schedules and rules, he was never late, he kept himself squared away; habits he was not only born with, but were exacerbated during his career in law enforcement.
There were moments he could be extremely uptight. Since moving onto the ranch, though, he was trying to loosen up, enjoy life more and generally be more easy-going.
However, letting go of his ingrained habits was a slow, arduous process.
He stepped to the edge of the dock, where the stone path ended and the wood planks began. He didn’t want to walk onto the dock in case his weight shook it and caused her to lose her balance and fall into the water.
He tipped his head to the side as he studied her. He had no idea what pose she was currently doing, but it certainly showcased how flexible she was.
Whatever the pose was made his cock flex.
It was too damn bad she lived with a boyfriend.
Although, in reality, it was simply easier and cleaner for him to hook up with the occasional guest. Getting intimate with an employee could get sticky if it went badly.
Hope smoothly shifted from one pose into the next. With her palms planted flat on the dock, she walked her hands toward her feet and—
Holy shit.
She was now in an inverted V with her bare ass straight up in the air and her not-bare pussy flashing him. He pursed his lips as he checked her out.
Oh yeah, no hippy bush there.
The hair that topped her pussy was neatly trimmed.
With her eyes closed, her head dropped between her arms. After blowing out an extended breath, those blue eyes opened and…
Locked with his.
Fuck!
Busted.
He cleared his throat and redirected his gaze toward the line of beached paddle boats. Certainly not as interesting as a naked Hope. “Sorry.”
He heard, “Nothing to be sorry about. If I was worried about catching eyes, I’d do this at home.”
When he risked a glance at the dock again, Hope was sitting cross-legged on her yoga mat and facing him.
Now that her breasts weren’t hanging upside down, he could appreciate them better. “And why don’t you?”
“Because I love to be naked.”
When she shrugged, his eyes were drawn to her bouncing breasts. Yep, they were very nice. All natural. Just like the color of her hair.
Stop being such a damn perv and ogling another employee. You’re head of security, for fuck’s sake.
Her next words snapped him out of his depravity. Sort of.