Page 9 of Colton On Guard
That had all been in a larger city. Honestly, coming home to Shelby, she’d thought life would be different. The way she remembered it being. But the Fiancée Killer had changed all that.
Like everyone else in town, Genna hoped he or she would be caught soon. Sooner or later, a mistake would be made and it would be over. Until then, all she and everyone else could do was be careful.
The rest of her first week at RTA went by quickly. As she got used to the various aspects of her position, she started to relax. She expanded the customer satisfaction survey that Lakin had instituted and made sure to ask each guest about their experience. On the rare occasion that a problem arose, she made sure to take care of it with courtesy and kindness.
Though the tour guides were in and out, she got to know several of them. As Friday approached, she found herself looking forward to hanging out with them for a meal and a drink.
Except for Parker. Though on the surface he acted friendly, she could sense him going out of his way to avoid being alone with her for any longer than absolutely necessary. She understood, sort of. She guessed she must have bruised his ego when she’d told him she’d never given him a second thought after their torrid night together. A bold-faced lie to be sure, but she knew a man as hot as Parker would have had no shortage of females vying for his attention. To be honest, she’d been surprised that he’d even remembered their one-night stand.
As for Genna, she wondered if she’d ever be able to forget it.
Luckily, her job kept her too busy to dwell much on Parker. Tuesday and Wednesday had been a flurry of guests, meeting other guides, and making sure everything ran smoothly. Reservations were coming in for winter as well as for next spring. She had to update the software, make sure each tour group wasn’t overbooked, and handle the schedule months in advance.
She loved every freaking second of it.
As she became accustomed to the routine, her confidence grew. She’d always loved customer service work, especially here. The guests were universally in a great mood, excited about their adventure to come. And since RTA did exactly as theyadvertised, Genna had yet to have an unsatisfied customer.
Lakin’s notes in the computer helped Genna identify repeat customers and some of the personal details enabled her to ask about their children or pets. Genna loved the way some of the guest’s faces lit up when she mentioned their family.
All of the guides seemed friendly, too. With RTA so busy, often with back-to-back groups leaving for different adventures, she’d met most of them. Even if their interactions were necessarily brief, most mentioned how much they were looking forward to their planned dinner out on Friday.
Despite her full days, her entire body knew every single time Parker was near. She didn’t understand it, but her nerve endings would prickle, her skin would flush, and despite trying not to, she was uber aware of his movements. If he happened to glance at her, she felt the heat of his gaze all the way to the soles of her feet.
Hopefully, that would be only temporary. She was bound to get used to being around him eventually.
At the end of every workday, even though the sun wouldn’t fully set until almost seven, she appreciated how one of the male guides always hung around the place to make sure she wasn’t alone. The last tours usually came in around six and once she’d finished processing everyone, it would be time to close for the day.
They’d had to figure out her schedule, because she couldn’t work twelve-hour days every day of the week. Since she lived fairly close to the building, she volunteered to do split shifts, but in the end, she’d decided to base her daily schedule on what tours they had booked. Their slowest days seemed to be Mondays and Thursdays, so she said those would be her days off.
Everyone seemed relieved and Parker and Spence promised to make sure her desk was covered when she wasn’t there.
Teamwork, she thought. Always a good thing. Now she just needed to figure out how to think of Parker as just another coworker and she’d be all set.
CHAPTER 3
The next morning, which was Friday, Parker arrived at RTA shortly after sunrise. He’d slept well and grabbed breakfast and coffee on the way in to work. His first tour group would be a morning hike finishing up with some trout fishing, but they weren’t due to arrive for another hour.
Even though they’d agreed that Genna would have Thursdays off, her new schedule wasn’t set to start until the following week. Selfishly, Parker was glad. Though he didn’t spend a lot of time inside the office, when he did, he found himself constantly wanting to be near her.
He didn’t understand how she could have such a strong effect on him, especially after all this time. Since she’d clearly moved on and regarded him as just another coworker, he wanted to do the same.
But he couldn’t. And for good reason. Not only was she beautiful, but there was something about her. When she smiled, the woman freakingglowed.
The guests adored her. The other RTA guides did, too. No wonder Parker still struggled with a fierce rush of attraction every time they shared the same space.
He wondered how long it would take for him to get past that. If he wouldeverbe able to change the way he felt about her. He had to.
Tonight, they’d all be going out for an informal meal and a drink or two. He’d already told himself several times that heneeded to keep his distance from her and to let the others all get to know her.
Even if he wanted to do exactly that more than he would have ever believed possible. In the few days that she’d worked for RTA, she’d been politely professional. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Once at the office, Parker made a pot of coffee and poured himself a second cup.
Genna walked in about thirty minutes later. “Good morning,” she said, smiling. “You sure are here early. If I remember right, your group isn’t scheduled to leave for another half an hour.”
Though his heart leapt into his throat the instant her bright green gaze found his, he managed to smile back. “The weather is looking iffy,” he said, pulling out his phone and opening the weather app. “See. Look at the radar.”
Accepting his phone, she studied the screen before handing it back. “It’s a few hours out,” she said. “Hopefully, it will break up before it reaches us.”