Falling Fast, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 4) (3 page)

Marley nudged her shoulder. “Yoo hoo?”

Ginger whipped her eyes away from Cam and to Marley. “Huh?”

“Wow, you are seriously spaced out.”

Ginger’s cheeks heated again, and she forced herself to take a deep breath. She couldn’t seem to be anywhere near Cam without embarrassing herself. “Right. Sorry. Just tired.”

“I should get going anyway. I’ll check my mail and be on my way,” Cam said to both of them.

“I’m sure I’ll see you back at the lodge,” Marley said with a quick smile.

“I’m sure you will.” His eyes canted to Ginger. “Hope to see you skiing again soon,” he offered with a half-smile before he turned away.

Ginger fumbled for the stack of mail she’d set on the table. Someone else passed by and greeted Marley, which gave Ginger a few moments to gather her wits. She watched Cam reappear at the end of an aisle with his mail before he pushed through the door outside. The icy blast of air that swirled around soothed the heat coursing through her.

Marley leaned her elbow on the table and looked at Ginger. “Okay, what’s up with you?” she asked.

Marley was Ginger’s oldest friend. They’d grown up together in Diamond Creek and been there for each other through everything. Even when Marley moved away to Seattle, their friendship stayed tight. When Ginger’s marriage fell apart, Marley had called her every day for weeks and had flown up from Seattle to stay with her for a bit. When Marley’s life skidded sideways after she was robbed in Seattle, Ginger had been the first person she called. Ginger couldn’t imagine life without Marley and loved her as family. The one and only downside to having a friend as close and supportive as Marley was she was damn perceptive.

Ginger was relieved Cam had left because her body was behaving normally again. Her pulse had finally slowed, and the fluttery feeling inside was subsiding. She took a breath. “What do you mean?” She tried to hedge, hoping Marley would leave it alone.

Marley’s green eyes narrowed. “Uh, let’s see. You hardly spoke the whole time Cam was standing here, and you kept staring at him. If I had to guess, I’d say you might have a thing for him.” A grin spread slowly across Marley’s face.

Ginger felt her cheeks heat again. She put her face in her hands and sighed. “I do
not
have a thing for him, but he might be kind of cute.” She dropped her hands and fiddled with the mail, riffling through the envelopes and tossing a few more pieces of junk mail in the recycling bin. She glanced up at Marley again who was still grinning.

“He’s a lot more than cute. You should hear the girls in housekeeping and the restaurant babbling about him.” As Marley looked over at Ginger, her grin faded. “Hey, I’m just teasing. It’s okay to notice a man, you know.”

Ginger’s chest tightened, a wash of vulnerability followed by anger knotting inside. She hated feeling vulnerable like this, at the mercy of the whims of desire. She prided herself on being in control and together. A few minutes in Cam’s presence revealed the fault lines in her resolve. “I know, but it’s not worth it.”

Marley was quiet for a long moment. “Okay, we’re grabbing dinner at Sally’s. Give me a sec.” She whirled away and jogged down another aisle, returning quickly with a handful of mail. She looped her hand through Ginger’s elbow. “Come on. You don’t get to say no. We haven’t had dinner, just you and me, in weeks.”

Ginger didn’t hesitate. She didn’t want to talk about Cam, but she could use some advice. Because really, it wasn’t Cam. It was all the baggage she was carting around that had everything to do with men and romance. She’d braved her way through her divorce and somehow cobbled together her pride after it was over. So much of her pride relied on her confidence that she wouldn’t let herself be vulnerable again. Her attraction to Cam, so powerful and so fast, was testing her confidence. The fear she’d walled inside her heart was seeping out because those walls weren’t as strong as she’d believed.

Marley tugged Ginger through the icy wind and into her car. Moments later, they were walking through the door in Sally’s. Sally’s was a fixture in Diamond Creek. It was a restaurant and bar housed in an old refurbished barn. The kitchen was in the center with one side holding the bar with a stage for music and performances. The other side held the restaurant with tables filling the center and booths lining the walls. The old hayloft held additional seating that wrapped around the upstairs. Ginger and Marley had spent so much time here over the years, a sense of comfort washed over her simply walking inside.

They snagged the only available booth. After a waitress took their order, Marley leaned back and eyed Ginger. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

Ginger busied herself unrolling the napkin around the silverware. She looked across the table at Marley and took a breath. “I’m fine. As you noticed, I, uh, kind of noticed Cam is, well, Cam.” She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up.

Marley’s laugh rang out with hers. “Cam is most definitely Cam. He might not do much for me, but I’m not blind.”

Ginger rolled her eyes. “It’s amazing you see anyone other than Gage. It’s been over a year and you two are still like new lovebirds.”

This time, Marley flushed. “Maybe so. Don’t forget you practically pushed me into his arms.”

Ginger shrugged. “Maybe I did. It was obvious you two were meant for each other.”

Marley nodded as her eyes sobered. “So back to Cam.”

“Right. Since you already noticed, I might think he’s pretty hot. Problem is, that’s not supposed to happen.”

Marley’s brows hitched up, her eyes puzzled. Their waitress arrived and quickly placed a beer for Ginger and water for Marley on the table before she turned away to serve the next booth. Ginger took a swallow from her beer and leaned back with a sigh. Marley followed her movements minus the sigh. “Gotta say, I cannot wait to be able to have alcohol again,” she said as she rubbed her round belly. Marley and Gage were expecting a little girl due in roughly a month.

“Not much longer. How’re you feeling? You hardly ever complain.”

“Honestly, it’s been pretty okay until a few weeks after Christmas. Since then, I just feel gigantic.” She shook her head and shrugged. “Anyway, back to you. What do you mean it’s not supposed to happen?”

Ginger took another gulp from her beer and mentally pushed back against the old feeling of vulnerability. She thought she was past this. Her grand plan to never be attracted to another man had been working out great. She’d convinced herself she was immune, and then Cam had to come along and blow her confidence out of the water.

“After everything went down with Tony, I decided it would be best if I just didn’t get involved with anyone ever again. It’s not worth it, not for me. It’s been a piece of cake. I mean, Alaska is overrun with men. Maybe half of them are a little too rough for wear, but there are plenty of hot guys around between the outdoorsy types, the skiers, the hunters and what-not. Not a single man has even made me think about sex, so I thought it would be easy.”

Marley leaned forward, shaking her head. “Wait, you’re saying you seriously thought you’d go through the rest of your life and never be attracted to anyone? Ever?”

Ginger flushed. Hearing Marley say it aloud made it sound ridiculous. Yet, Ginger had thought it reasonable, especially since it seemed to be working. She’d decided she wouldn’t bother with relationships and since no one, absolutely no one, drew the slightest bit of response from her, she figured she had it made. She wouldn’t need to worry about falling for the wrong guy and looking like a fool later.

“Yes. I seriously thought it just wouldn’t happen. I know it sounds crazy…”

Marley nodded vigorously.

“Maybe it was crazy, but I don’t want to go through what I went through with Tony. It sucked. You have no idea how stupid I felt.”

Marley nodded. “I know it was awful. Noticing Cam doesn’t have to be anything more than that, you know.”

Ginger shrugged. “I know. It just brings up all kinds of crap that I didn’t want to ever deal with again.”

Their waitress arrived with their meals. Ginger nibbled on a few fries, while Marley took a bite of her burger. A few moments later, Marley looked over again. “Okay, how about you take a step back? Cam is damn easy on the eyes, and you and probably every woman who meets him notices that. There’s no need to get all worked up.”

Ginger took a bite of her burger, considering Marley’s words as she chewed. She liked thinking about Cam that way. So she thought he was hot? She was probably just freaking out over nothing. She nodded. “Right. That’s all it is. I’m just half-whacked when it comes to men.”

Marley shook her head. “No you’re not. Tony was a total ass to you. I’d have felt like a fool if I were you. Not that you should have, but that’s how it goes. Trust me, everyone looking in from the outside saw it for exactly what it was. Tony treated an amazing woman like shit,” Marley said emphatically. She paused for a sip of water.
 
“You’re not freaking out over Cam, you’re freaking out over what he represents. Face it, it was silly to think you’d never be attracted to anyone again. Maybe it’s good Cam came along. You’ll realize it’s not the end of the world.” Her eyes softened and she set her burger down. “How about next time you come up with a half-baked plan like that you tell me about it sooner, so I can point out how ridiculous it is?”

Ginger finished the last bite of her burger and sighed. “Because saying it out loud made it seem insane.”

Marley chuckled. “Plus, you’re all over making sure the rest of us find our soul mates.”

Ginger grinned. “I believe in love. I just figured I’d already had my shot.”

Marley rolled her eyes. “Look, I might be biased because you’re my best friend, but you’re smart, amazing and gorgeous. Even if you’re not looking, someone will find you. Maybe it won’t be Cam, maybe it will be, but you can sure enjoy looking at him in the meantime.”

Ginger balled up her napkin and tossed it at Marley.

Chapter 4

A snowball flew through the air and landed with a thump in the center of Cam’s chest. A gust of wind blew the exploding ball of snow into his face. He brushed the snow out of his eyes and glanced around. A little boy stood across from him with his mouth hanging open and his cheeks beet red.

“It was him!” Another boy declared, pointing to the boy Cam had just noticed.

“No! It was you!” This declaration came from another boy who promptly punctuated his accusation with a snowball that careened off course in the wind and blew sideways.

In seconds, several more boys joined in and snowballs were flying wildly in the cluster. Cam leaned on one of his ski poles and chuckled. Today was the first day of a ski class he started for children aged eight to ten. He’d started skiing when he was even younger, so he was a big proponent of starting young. Skiing was a great way to burn off restless energy and taught concentration and coordination. Plus, it was damn fun. With Gage’s agreement, he was running weekly courses for visitors to the lodge, in addition to classes that ran throughout winter for locals. Today’s class was for the locals. Another snowball bounced off his shoulder, at which point, he blew the whistle he kept on him solely for this purpose. At the sound of the piercing whistle, the cluster of boys stopped throwing snow and turned in unison to stare at him. His eyes traveled over the motley bunch. A few boys were suited up in good gear, while others were bundled up in mismatched outfits. All were clearly accustomed to the weather and seemed entirely unbothered by the temperature, which hadn’t quite hit ten degrees Fahrenheit yet.

He put his hands on his hips. “Okay boys, only five minutes a day for snowball fights. You’re out of time, so let’s get started. Does everyone have their skis?”

In seconds, the snow covered boys were shuffling around and gathering up their skis and poles. The next two hours passed quickly. Cam had initially balked at teaching skiing back when he first started picking up jobs at ski lodges years ago when he and Eric traveled around together. Then, he discovered he enjoyed it. With a few exceptions, most children who showed up wanted to learn to ski. His passion for it made it easy to teach. He wouldn’t have called himself a patient man before he started teaching, but he found a patience he hadn’t known he had. He could see it would be much harder to corral the wild energy of some of the kids if it weren’t for the fact skiing was an active sport that kept their minds and bodies occupied. Today’s group was comprised of boys who had all skied at some point. They were here to learn finesse and improve their skills. Cam helped each of them gather up their skis and followed them to the sprawling deck at the back of the lodge where their parents were waiting.

After he watched the last boy trundle across the deck, a loose ski dragging behind him, he leaned against the railing and looked out toward the mountains rising behind the lodge. It was early afternoon and the slopes were dotted with skiers. The bright colors of their jackets stood out against the snow.

“How’d the lesson go?”

Cam turned to find Gage approaching him. “Pretty good. Aside from a few snowball fights, they worked hard. Any word yet on when that tracksetter will get here?”

Gage leaned against the railing beside him. “Don figures it’ll get here later this week. Once we get the first run done, we can turn this over to Don. He loves working outside, and this looks like it won’t be too hard on him.”

Don Peters was Gage’s right-hand man at the lodge. Cam had quickly discovered Don knew the ins and outs of running a ski lodge better than most. He’d managed the slopes and grounds for the lodge in its earlier era for over twenty years. Cam enjoyed working alongside him, mostly because Don clearly loved Last Frontier Lodge and was beside himself when Gage reopened it after so many years. Gage had carefully taken Cam aside and asked him to be sensitive about the fact Don wasn’t as young as he once was.

Cam caught Gage’s eyes and nodded. “He’ll enjoy handling the trail grooming. Once we’ve marked the trails and gotten them leveled the first time, it’s mellow work. It’s basically a snowmobile ride. The tracksetter hitches to the back and does the work for you.”