Page 4 of Protective Mountain Man

I sucked in a breath and forced the next words out. “What’s the bad news?”

“The roads are blocked. The curve just a half-mile down the road is too dangerous. I’ve towed two vehicles from that spot today. One is in my shop right now—a shop I can’t get to.”

He looked over to his right at the group seated on the sofas near the fireplace. The lobby had cleared considerably since he’d wandered off to the restaurant. Gradually, people had trickled over to the elevators and headed up to their rooms. Now all that was left were people who’d tried unsuccessfully to reserve a room.

“I saw the angry couple in the bar,” Brock said, turning his attention back to me. “I guess they gave up and decided to get drunk.”

I smiled. “What about the locals? The day clerk told me those guys stop by for the bar? I saw them streaming in, but I never saw them leave.”

“They can get up the mountain, just not down,” I said. “The roadblock is going toward downtown. I just rescued a woman from a ditch, so I wouldn’t advise it for the average person, but these guys can handle anything.”

Theirvehiclescould handle anything. That was my guess. But that gave me an idea.

“Maybe they could loan rooms to some of our guests,” I said. “I’m sure the guy in the fancy ski suit would pay top dollar for it.”

He let out a snort that might have been part laugh, but it didn’t come with a smile. “He tried to give me four hundred bucks to take him to a hotel.

My eyes widened. Four hundred dollars? That was almost as much as I’d make in a week of working every night here.

“He thought you could get him past the barricade?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I guess. I could probably make it past that curve, but rules are rules. Anyway, the locals aren’t exactly the types who would welcome strangers into their homes.”

Yeah, I could see that. Those guys were handsome and impressively built, but they also seemed to wear permanent scowls. I’d heard about mountain men all my life and had seen them around town, so it was no surprise. They lived up in the mountains and stayed to themselves. They might help someone out who was stranded by the road, but they would not willingly invite strangers into their little log cabins.

“I think I might have come up with an idea,” he said. “The restaurant.”

He stared at me as he said that, and it was tempting to get lost in those eyes again. I had to focus on his actual words if I didn’t want him to think I was a complete bonehead.

“The restaurant,” I repeated. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll close at their normal time, but they’ll have breakfast ready for everyone in the morning. Coffee too. I guess the employees will be stuck here.”

I didn’t know much about the people who worked in the restaurant. The hostess was around my age. I’d seen her on the tour Alex gave me when he interviewed me. I’d assume all the cooks and servers would live down the mountain, not up.

“Each booth has two comfortable seats,” he said. “Nice and cushy. Do you have extra blankets and pillows?”

Crap if I’d know. There was something I hadn’t mentioned to him. It was time to confess.

“It’s my first night,” I said. “I don’t know much about anything.”

“Damn.” His eyebrows arched like he was impressed. “What a day to start.”

“You’re telling me.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “I thought my boss would show up and help me figure all this out, but…” I glanced over his shoulder at the door. “That’s looking unlikely.”

Brock shrugged. “As I said, it’s pretty treacherous out there. He might have gotten stuck. I’ll call him. Why don’t you go look around and see what you can find out?”

Knowing we were working together put a little spring in my step as I headed off toward Alex’s office. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in there, but I had the key, and it was a good first place to start.

A quick look around Alex’s office told me I wouldn’t find anything here, but I was on my way out when I saw a floor plan on the wall on the door. It was similar to the ones on the doors in hotel rooms, but this one was much more detailed. And that was how I pinpointed the linen storage area, which was where I discovered the motherlode. Pillows, sheets, blankets…anything we could possibly want was on these shelves.

I grabbed a stack of blankets and headed back toward the lobby. This wouldn’t be nearly enough, but it would at least make the point.

I wore a huge smile as I returned to the lobby with the stack of towels. That was when I realized just how eager I was for this man’s approval—a man I’d just met. But when I saw him standing near the desk, watching the lobby like he was a cop—or a bodyguard—my knees felt a little wobbly.

It was only then that I realized what had captivated me about this guy. Sure, he was hot—beyond hot. Smoking. But what had captivated me was the way he made me feel whenever he wasaround. I felt safe, protected. Like he was looking out for me. And that terrified me because it was the exact opposite of what I wanted.

But now that I’d met him, I wasn’t sure I could turn back.

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