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“Actually, Kara,” he said and leaned both arms on the counter. “She and I have a date.”
“A date?” She sounded shocked. Next to her, Debbi cocked her head and blinked rapidly.
He glanced at a huge clock mounted on a far wall. It was framed by an impressive rack of elk antlers. He was three minutes early. “Didn’t she tell you about me? She told me about you.”
Kara patted her hair. “Good things, I hope?”
“She somehow failed to mention how pretty you are. You don’t think she’s jealous, do you?”
Blushing, she giggled behind her hand.
He stepped back and placed a hand over his heart. “Seeing you almost makes me sorry I’m madly in love with your sister. Ah well, such is fate. Maybe in our next lifetime—”
He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Janine stood under an open doorway leading to the east wing. Arms crossed, she glared at the scene taking place at the desk. She did not appear amused.
JANINE DIDN’T FEEL the slightest amusement. She resented having to ask for Daniel Tucker’s help. To have a lovesick moron stalking her from the shadows, mocking her attempts to roust him into the open and forcing her to plead for help as if she were some helpless maiden, stuck in her craw.
Watching Daniel flirt outrageously with her sister annoyed her.
Daniel swung away from the counter and held his arms wide. “Cupcake!”
Seeing his intention to hug her, she tensed for a major rebuff. Reason returned in the nick of time. Her parents’ anniversary was in ten days. Ten short days in which she to stop Pinky from harming her father. Only Daniel Tucker could help her.
She really hated that.
He enfolded her in an exuberant embrace. He wore a heavy coat lined with sheepskin, but the power in his lean body reached her. He wasn’t overly tall, but neither was she, and he engulfed her. The scent of soap, shaving cream and masculine warmth surrounded her and stole her breath. When he released her, she huffed a sigh of relief.
He had brown eyes, like polished pennies, and they danced with good humor. “You look fabulous, cupcake. As usual.”
She didn’t recall stupid pet names being part of the plan. She noticed Debbi and Kara drinking in the scene as if they watched a sappy movie. “I’m glad to see you, too, Daniel. Did you have problems finding the place?”
“You give great directions. It’s a nice drive. I enjoyed myself.” He draped an arm over her shoulders.
The impulse to ram her elbow into his gut nearly overwhelmed her. Smiling made her jaws ache. She could do this. She had to do this. Her father’s safety depended on it.
“I see you’ve met Kara and Debbi. Ladies, this is Daniel Tucker. He’ll be my guest for a day or two.” Light sensations tickled her ear and neck, raising gooseflesh along her back. He was playing with her hair! She stepped away and grabbed his hand. The size of his hand took her aback. As much as his overacting ticked her off, his powerful hands reassured her.
Kara and Debbi repeated Daniel’s name. They sounded like cooing doves. Janine refrained from rolling her eyes in disgust. “I’m putting him in the east wing. Room 202.”
“That’s too small.” Kara typed rapidly on the computer keyboard. “You ought to give him a room over on the third floor. It’s nicer—”
“I’ve made the arrangements,” Janine interrupted. “Come along, dear. I’ll give you that tour I promised. Kara will take care of your luggage.” She urged him to follow her into the east wing. As soon as they were out of earshot of the registration desk she stopped and turned on him. “I don’t think I made myself clear, Mr. Tucker.”
His coat hung open, revealing an ecru-colored, cable-knit sweater. Hand knit and expensive, she noticed. The attention he paid to his clothing irked her. The attention she paid irked her even more. She had neither the time nor inclination to moon over a handsome man.
“I’m not given to public displays of affection. And I don’t appreciate being called cupcake. No one will buy that lovey-dovey stuff. So put a cork in it.”
He managed an expression of almost childlike innocence. “In order to flush out Pinky we have to go over the top.” He spoke reasonably, even sounded businesslike. “We can’t give him any reason to explain me away. You have to convince him that you’re madly in love with me.”
“Anyone who knows me is well aware that I don’t madly do anything.”
“Pinky doesn’t know you. Not you, the person. He only knows you, the object of his obsession. He has created, entirely in his own mind, the you he loves. Normal rules don’t apply. You have to shatter the image he’s created in a way he can’t justify. I thought I explained all this.”
Subdued, she rubbed her fingertips over the headache forming in her temples. He had explained it. He acted exactly the way he’d promised. She, however, hadn’t realized how embarrassing it would be. Her ears burned as she imagined Kara and Debbi telling everyone within earshot that Janine had finally snagged herself a cute boyfriend.
“Pinky thinks you’re a goddess. Remote, unattainable, untouchable. A woman worthy of worship. I get a sense that something happened in the past few weeks. Something that threatened his image of you. He’s trying to put you back up on the pedestal. He blames your father for whatever happened.”
Metal rattled as a young man wheeled a cart laden with table linens out of a storeroom. Startled, Janine suddenly felt small and vulnerable. She imagined watching eyes wherever she went. She’d been sleeping poorly, overly alert for any suspicious noise in the night. Every pink envelope she received made her want to vomit. Stress headaches plagued her. Relationships with resort employees were growing strained as she wondered which one of them had invaded her privacy and threatened her father’s life.
“Let’s go to my office,” she said. “I don’t want to talk out here.”
She unlocked her office door. As she turned the key, fresh resentment built. She feared Pinky had been snooping around in her desk and files. Recently she’d been locking the door, even if she was only going across the hall to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
“I know you’re scared,” Daniel said.
She almost said, You have no idea. Except, he did. The experience with his stalker still haunted him.
She handed over the latest missive she’d received from Pinky. “It was in my message box this morning. No envelope.”
He unfolded the sheet of lined notebook paper. His expression darkened. He made a soft, growly noise. “‘Cut him to pieces and scatter his body for the crows to eat.’ Humph, nice imagery.” He turned the paper over and checked the blank backside. “So he’s giving up pretending to mail letters. Bad sign. Where is your father right now?”
“He and Mom went to Denver yesterday. They’re meeting with suppliers. They won’t be back until tomorrow. I called him this morning right after I found that. He’s okay. No problems.”
As he looked around the office, he seemed to approve of what he saw. “So tell me, what happened a few weeks ago? What set Pinky off?”
Clueless, she shook her head. She busied her hands with straightening papers on her desk. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Think about it.”
His commanding tone caught her off guard. So did the sudden blazing intensity in his eyes.
“You have a serious situation here. Pinky has graduated from puppy love to full-blown rage.” He rattled the note. “He wants a response from you. If he doesn’t get it, he’ll escalate.”
Even before the first threat to her father, she’d been noticing a shift in the tone of Pinky’s letters. Rage. Daniel pinpointed exactly what her instincts had been warning her about.
“Think back to around the second week of January. Something unusual happened.”
She swiveled her chair so she could see a wall calendar. “It’s been a snowy winter. We’ve caught a lot of overflow from the ski resorts. Everybody has been working really hard, but we’ve had no problems with the staff. By the second week of January we were catching our breath.” She turned back to her desk and flipped through an appointment book. A notation caught her attention.
“What is it?” Daniel asked.
“Les Shuemaker.” A frisson tickled her spine—this man was downright spooky in his ability to pinpoint problems. “The second week of January. The colonel and I argued about Les Shuemaker.”
“Is Shuemaker an employee?”
“He owns Wild and High Outfitters. It’s a retail chain that sells camping and skiing equipment. He’d like to open a concession here at Elk River. My father is for it. I’m against it.”
“And?”
Even remembering the incident embarrassed her. “It wasn’t the business I objected to. We’ve been discussing concessions for some time. People on vacation spend a lot of money on impulse buys and souvenirs. I, however, didn’t like Les Shuemaker.”
“Why is that?”
She sighed. He wouldn’t rest until he knew everything. “He’s a lecher. He implied that I could wrangle an extra half percentage point of his gross sales if only I were extra nice to him. He offended me. Of course he was a perfect gentleman whenever the colonel was around. That especially offended me. He began pressuring the colonel to make an agreement on the spot and I...I lost my temper.”
“In public?”
“In the restaurant.” She closed her eyes. “The colonel had no idea why I was so angry with the man, so he was upset with me. Then Shuemaker said something idiotic and I dumped a bowl of soup on his lap.”
Daniel’s smile showed million-dollar teeth. His eyes sparkled.
“It isn’t funny. It’s humiliating.” He kept grinning, though, and his was an infectious smile. To her horror her cheeks began twitching with the urge to laugh. Some of the tightness eased in her chest. “The colonel was very angry.”
“He yelled at you?”
“We were both yelling.” She tried to banish the image of Les Shuemaker’s calf-eyed surprise when she’d hit him where it hurt with steamy soup. “I’m a professional. So is my father. We generally conduct our tussles behind closed doors.”
“What kind of soup?”
“Pardon?”
“What kind of soup did you dump on the lecher’s lap?”
A laugh burst free and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Daniel Tucker, she decided, had a twisted sense of humor. “Winter squash,” she said between her fingers. “Chef’s specialty.”
He nodded. “So your dad yells and the goddess lifts her skirt to show off feet of clay. No wonder Pinky is ticked off.”
“I was yelling, too,” she reminded him.
“That’s worse. Yelling is much too human. Do you see what I’m getting at?”
She saw his point. As long as she was perfect, Pinky contented himself with anonymous notes. “I never would have connected the incident with Pinky’s attitude. I suppose you do know what you’re doing.”
“I’ve done my homework.” He steepled his fingers over his chest. “That’s why you need to step out of character. Even if it means public displays of affection.”
She never fraternized with employees. She kept her personal life 100 percent private. Having Daniel hanging all over her, hamming it up and pretending he loved her would cause gossip and speculation.
“Why is this so hard for you?” he asked.
His question bothered her in ways she couldn’t define. “You wouldn’t understand. Not that it matters. I’ve already conceded I need your help.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “Tough girl, huh.”
“Not tough enough to make Pinky leave my father alone.” She reached for her coat. “We’ll begin with a tour of the grounds.”
He opened the office door. “Just remember to giggle at my jokes.”
Chapter Three
Shaken by Pinky’s latest missive, Janine had trouble maintaining a pleasant demeanor. Pinky had threatened outright murder. No amount of denial or putting a spin on it made it anything less than a death threat. Arm in arm she strolled with Daniel through the lobby. She forced a smile even though it made her face ache. Her head throbbed. She introduced him to employees and guests she knew by name. Each time she said boyfriend, her throat choked.
Young or old, beautiful or plain, women turned their heads to watch him walk by. He moved with the easy grace of a natural-born athlete. His penny-bright eyes appeared to miss nothing. He exuded self-confidence, intelligence and goodwill—he radiated attitude.
They walked outside onto the huge deck behind the lodge. In fair weather it sported tables and umbrellas for alfresco dining. A few hardy souls garbed in ski togs braved the biting cold. The smell of hot cocoa and buttered rum rose like perfume. Daniel commented on the view. Strategically planted trees blocked the sight of the parking lot, but not the forest and mountains gleaming pearly white.
A bus lumbered up the graveled drive and parked below the deck. Daniel and Janine stepped aside to make way for a group of people dressed for skiing. Laughing and talking, their boots making the wooden deck rumble and shake, the people carried skis, poles and snowboards onto the bus. Daniel kept an arm wrapped firmly around Janine’s waist.
“Is the shuttle driver your employee?” he asked.
“No. We contract with the bus company. Why?”
“He’s staring at you.”
She sneaked a peek and recognized the driver. He’d been working for the shuttle company for as long as the Dukes had owned Elk River Resort. “He isn’t Pinky.”
“You’re sure?”
She chuckled at the idea of the shuttle driver being a deranged stalker. “Positive. He and my father are friends.” She waved to prove her point. The driver waved back, then shut the bus doors and shoved the transmission into gear. The bus rolled into the parking lot to make the turnaround.
Janine walked down the steps. “I’ve hired twenty new employees this year. Of those, twelve were hired specifically for the holiday season, mid-November through the end of February. Four of the seasonal employees worked for us last year.”
“You have sixty people on staff, right? How many of them live at the resort?”
“At the moment, eighteen. We offer room and board as part of the employment package. It can be a tough commute in the winter.”
“Where do they live?”
She pointed toward a fence nearly concealed by juniper trees. A green-painted roof was visible beyond the foliage. “The dormitory can house thirty people. The managerial staff have rooms inside the lodge in the east wing.”
She gave him the grand tour. Daniel listened attentively as she pointed out various buildings. Warmed with pride, she stopped having to force a smile.
Even in the midst of winter, the resort grounds sparkled. All the outbuildings were clean and painted white with green trim. The parking lots were graded and cleared of ice and snow. Evergreen hedges and trees concealed areas with less-than-aesthetic features.
“I can see why you love it here,” he said. He breathed deeply. “Wood smoke and snow. Ought to bottle it.”
His charm was getting under her skin. She was beginning to relax, even to enjoy herself. “You’re quite the romantic.”
“Hopelessly.” A light breeze tousled his hair. Cold turned his cheeks ruddy. He playfully flipped at her furry coat collar. “Aren’t you?”
She reminded herself he was an employee with a specific task to accomplish. No flirtations. No silliness. “No. I’m a businesswoman.”
“Nine-to-five and nothing else? I don’t believe it What do you do for fun?”
“Balance spreadsheets.”
He threw back his head and laughed.
They walked past the tennis courts and picnic grounds. She pointed out the stables. From a distance a faint jingling of bells said guests were enjoying a horse-drawn wagon ride.
