Page 2 of Colton On Guard
When her cell phone rang, Genna MacDougal glanced at the screen and took a second look. Parker Colton. Almost a year too late. Funny, she’d saved his number and must have forgotten to erase it. She’d figured he’d long ago tossed hers.
Naturally, she debated not answering. But curiosity won out in the end. “Hello?”
“Hey, Genna.” He sounded nervous.Good.
“What do you want, Parker?” she asked, not even bothering to try to sound nice. She had no idea of the etiquette when speaking with a man who’d ghosted her after a one-night stand, but she really didn’t care. Parker had figuratively kicked her when she’d been down. That wasn’t something she’d easily forget or forgive.
“I’d like to offer you a job,” he said. “Temporary, but still… We need a new general manager at RTA and since you worked for us before—”
“Go to hell,” she said, cutting him off. Then she ended the call. The sudden flare of anger she’d felt surprised her.
Hanging up on Parker should have felt good. Better than that, it should have felt great.
Except it didn’t. Instead, a wave of remorse swept through her. One year ago, she’d been at her absolute lowest. When Parker had come up to her at the bar, he’d not only been the sexiest man she’d ever seen, but was physically the polar opposite of her ex-husband. Still stinging from Chad’s betrayal, she’d acted solely on impulse when she’d gone home with Parker. And she couldn’t even blame the passionate night they’d spent together on too much alcohol since she’d barely had two drinks.
Nope. She’d been raw and needy. Having the guy she’d crushed on back when she’d been in high school and home from college take an interest in her had been exactly the boost she’d needed. He’d been witty, charming, and oh so easy on the eyes. They’d shared one magical evening, laughing, dancing, and she’d given him her phone number. But then, just as she’d been about to leave, he’d pulled her into an embrace. His kiss had made her head spin.
Hand in hand, when he’d led her out to his truck, she’d gone home with him without hesitation. Even though she’d never, not even once, had a one-night stand. Until then.
It had been a magical night. Exactly what she’d needed to make her feel like a desirable woman again. Parker had given her just the right amount of passion combined with respect. Nearly reverence. They’d made love over and over again until they were both spent and she’d fallen asleep in his arms.
And when she’d woke in the morning, he’d been gone. He’d scrawled a note and left it on the nightstand.I’ll call.
Except he never had. Part of her hadn’t really expected him to. She’d left town without ever hearing from him again.
Until now. She couldn’t believe the mofo had had the nerve to call and offer her a job. Even though she really needed one.
These days she was putting all her effort into getting her life together. With her messy divorce and dissolution of property behind her, she’d taken her parents up on their offer to house-sit here in Shelby, Alaska, while they tried living in a long-term rental in Hawaii. Though she had the funds to survive indefinitely, she wanted to keep as much money in her savings as possible. Therefore, she needed to get some sort of job.
She hated that Parker’s offer actually tempted her.
Sure, working at Rough Terrain Adventures had been fun back in high school, but no way would she be able to spend her days side by side with Parker after what had happened. That kind of humiliation wasn’t easy to forget, especially when she’d just been shattered by her cheating husband.
Nope. Some other kind of work would come along. It had to. She didn’t want to blow through her savings, so she needed a source of income. Shelby might be on the small side, but she knew the right opportunity would open up in time.
Less than an hour after hanging up on Parker Colton, her doorbell rang. Frowning, since she wasn’t expecting anyone, she opened the door to find her old friend, Lakin Colton, on her doorstep. Still a stunning beauty, Lakin wore her brown-black hair long and straight. Her brown eyes sparkled with friendliness.
“Genna!” Lakin exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s so good to see you again.”
Smiling, Genna invited her in. Tall and athletic, Lakin dressed to hide her curves. She wore her long, dark hair straight.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” Genna said.
“Neither have you!”
They chatted for a while, Lakin full of enthusiasm for a hotel renovation project she was doing with her boyfriend Troy. It took a few minutes, but Lakin finally got to the reason for her surprise visit.
“I understand my brother called you to talk about coming to work at RTA,” she said. “They’ve kind of been floundering since I left.”
Genna stiffened. “He did,” she replied. “I turned him down.”
“But why?” Leaning forward, Lakin regarded her earnestly. “You know that business better than anyone outside of my family. We need you, you’re looking for work. The pay is decent. So why on earth would you say no to what seems like the perfect fit?”
Not wanting to go into the sordid details, Genna shrugged. “I just don’t want to,” she said.
Naturally, Lakin shook her head. “That’s not a good reason. Now, what are you not telling me?”
Before Genna could think up a nonresponse, her doorbell rang again. This time, Lakin and Parker’s cousin Spence stood outside. “We need your help,” he said, not bothering with pleasantries. “We can even bump up the salary, if that would help.”