Page 4 of Meeting Up with the Consultant

Kensie leans close as she hands me my bag. “I think she enjoyed that a bit too much.”

The scent of honey and chocolate fills my nose, and I breathe deeply to calm myself. Turning my head, I take her conspiratorial whisper as a go-ahead to lean in. Her curly hair tickles against my cheek as I get close to her ear and the honey intensifies.

“Don’t tell her, but I enjoyed squeezing through that space, too,” I whisper low so Granny doesn’t get any ideas. Kensie giggles, so I lean nearer. “I’m not sure if I felt more like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon or a gorilla squeezing into spandex.”

She snorts and covers her mouth. Her eyes sparkle as she turns to me. This might just end up being the best flight of my life. That says a lot, since I have so many frequent flyer miles even the pilots are jealous.

3

-Kensie-

Harding “Hottie” Taylor is on the same flight as me. I dart my gaze to him, my head shaking at the chances that he’d not only be on the same plane but also be in the same row as me. The same plane I can understand. Most flights heading to Fairbanks go through Seattle, but why did the fates have to seat him right next to me?

Life hates me.

And yet, my pits haven’t stopped sweating since he’d said my name, and I feel like at any moment I may just spew my chocolate muffin and mocha all over the tray. So far, he hasn’t said anything about the meeting, but the snacks haven’t even been passed out yet. There’s still a lot of flight left for him to bring up the moment that will forever burn in my memory as the worst decision I’d ever made.

And I’ve made a lot of them in my twenty-seven years.

Wearing purple pants and a horse t-shirt on the first day at my new middle school. Who knew city kids didn’t like horses and would hold that decision over me for the rest of sixth grade on through eighth?

Dating the captain of the wrestling team in high school. I should’ve known a girl who hadn’t dated at all—thank you purple pants—shouldn’t believe one of the most popular junior boys in school would actually like the geeky freshman. That decision had cost me four years of social solitude when the prank had come to light. Not that I’d really wanted friends in high school. I had my sister. And the cat. Books. Lots of books.

That pixie cut in college held the award, though, for worst decision ever. Where others looked like elfin goddesses, my short red hair had me looking like a deranged Ronald McDonald. But that had nothing on my latest disaster. In fact, trusting Darryl and using that code blew every poor decision, past and future, out of the water.

“So, are you driving straight into Grizzly Point tonight?” Harding asks, pulling my attention back to the present.

“No. Traveling exhausts me.” There has to be a way I can use this opportunity to redeem myself from that meeting, but I draw a blank. “You?”

“Nah. I got a room at the Pike’s Lodge.”

“Me too!” I can’t keep the gush in at my excitement that he’d picked the local hotel. “You’ll love it there. The owner has amassed an enormous collection of Alaskan art and displayed it as a sort of gallery in the front lobby and eating area. And there are the cutest ducks that do a parade every morning, not to mention the little golf course.”

He chuckles, smiling at me in a way that makes his dimple deepen and my heart pound. “You’ll have to give me the tour. We could meet for breakfast, and you can show me all the wonders of Alaska.”

I nod and swallow hard. Rachel nailed it on the head when she said I was in trouble. This man is not only hot as a marshmallow roasting in the campfire, but his smiles have me going all ooey, gooey like I’m the one roasting.Okay, Kens, remember freshman year.

I shrug. “Sure, at least all the wonders at Pike’s Lodge. If you want, you can even ride down to Grizzly Point with me.”

“Thanks, but I’ll need my rental when I get down there.”

Right. Duh. I shrug again to cover my lack of foresight.Think. I’m the director of marketing for a quickly growing company, for Pete’s sake. It’s not like I’m still stuck in school and don’t know how to interact with others. I have wonderful friends—family, really—at Ascent. I moved past my socially awkward stigma when I chose a college on the opposite side of the nation so I could have a restart. Sure, I still haven’t mastered the art of dating, but who really ever does?

Not that there is any hope of dating Harding. He’s only here for a few weeks, and I don’t do casual. This is why my only boyfriend for the last three years since taking the job at Ascent is Sly, my cat. I slam on the brakes to Harding possibly equaling boyfriend train of thought. I can’t be thinking about dating and how pathetic that part of my life has become while sitting next to easily the most gorgeous man I’ve ever talked to.

“I was hoping to work on my plan for the next month.” I reach toward my bag. “Would you like to get a head start on my department?”

Not that he’ll find much to tweak. My marketing is rock solid.

“I’m game.” Harding closes his tray. “I was impressed with what you had going on and wanted to dig deeper into your thoughts.”

My brain just kind of stalls on his comment. My stinking face warms… again, and I mentally roll my eyes. I definitely don’t want him digging too deep. At the moment, all he’ll find is air, and possibly a repeating image of him smiling and saying “I was impressed.”

I shake my head and pull my laptop from my bag. I thought nothing I said during that meeting would’ve bared remembering after Travis the Terror screamed onto the scene. Maybe all isn’t lost.

He bends to his bag and comes up holding my book. My heart sinks like a broken submarine.

“You like John Erickson?” He flips through the pages, laughing when he comes to a picture of the ranch dog.

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