Deep breath. Levi Cade really wasn’t as handsome as Emily remembered.

Who was she kidding? He was as good-looking as he was the day she’d met him seven years ago. When he was dating her sister. Better looking—because he was older now, more refined yet rugged, with a small red scar above his eye that hadn’t been there before…and he was single.

Emily might have had a daydream or two about her sister’s handsome boyfriend back in the day. At the time, he’d been training to become a firefighter and had just landed his first job. Emily hadn’t realized he was no longer fighting fires until his father came to her over a year ago to check in on her. Or, at least, that was what she’d thought Ethan Cade was doing. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Had Levi’s father known he was sick those many months ago? Why would he seek her out, of all people? Sure, he’d mentored her, but there had to be dozens of qualified locals to fill the position. Ethan could have given it to one of his employees as a promotion. But he’d hired Emily instead.

Levi had seemed genuinely surprised when she told him his father mentored her. She shook her head. It didn’t make sense or even matter why she got the job. Because she would have taken it regardless…to repay Ethan for his kindness.

She’d had no one, aside from her adopted mother whom her half-sister had been generous enough to share. Ethan had spent long lunches explaining the importance of gaining a higher education and teaching her how he ran his business—tools she would later use to attain her dreams. So when he’d shown up and asked her to fill the executive assistant position at Club Tahoe, she’d accepted without hesitation. She had been days away from leaving for her temporary job in Korea, but it was only a yearlong commitment. With a short, one-month break between jobs, the timing had been perfect.

Now she wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Did all firefighters have biceps that bulged beneath business shirts? It was seriously distracting.

All she knew was that she could hardly catch her breath or keep a clear head around Levi Cade, which took her straight back to when she’d first met him. She’d yammered on in his office like the awkward young woman she’d been. She might have education and life experience behind her now, but not much had changed when she was around Levi.

Emily propped her elbows on the desk she’d been given until Esther’s official last day on Friday, and rubbed her temples. How would she get through this? Even if Levi saw her as nothing more than his new assistant, she didn’t see him as merely a boss.

It had been years since Emily last glimpsed Levi. She’d completed graduate school and had a boyfriend or two between then and now. She’d moved on from her dirty, secret crush on her sister’s boyfriend.

Until she walked into Levi’s office yesterday and saw him again. The rush of emotions that hit her today had been no different.

What kind of woman lusted after her sister’s boyfriend?

So. Wrong.

She pressed her palms on the desk and stared straight ahead. “It’ll be fine.” The guy didn’t even remember her. Once she was around him for a while, her crush would wear off the way all young crushes did. Levi was a fantasy; Emily didn’t really know him. She’d simply liked the way he looked. But she was older now, wiser. She needed more than a pretty face. And a hot body. And a powerful, masculine demeanor…

She was so screwed.

Emily stacked a few files together and pulled her workbag over her shoulder. She’d simply have to focus on work and keep her eyeballs trained elsewhere. There were plenty of handsome men at the resort. Lots of eye candy to keep her mind off her boss. Matter of fact, with the foreign company coming in next week, she’d be far too busy with preparations to ogle Levi. And she knew just where to start distracting herself.

She’d go visit another handsome Cade—one who wasn’t off-limits.

God save her from attractive Cade brothers.

* * *

“You’re Lisa’s sister?” Wes—tall, fit, with dark hair and blue eyes—scanned Emily’s face, gaze dropping to her figure. He turned back to stacking bags of golf clubs on a rack.

Okay, so she wasn’t as physically impressive as her sister, whom she dearly loved, but ouch.

She smoothed her poufy hair, cursing the wavy locks her father had given her. Lisa got her mother’s silky, dark hair, while Emily was damned with their father’s blond mop. “We look different.”

“I’ll say.” He snapped his fingers at a clerk lining up golf shoes on display. “Get those buckets in the aisle out of the way before someone trips and breaks their neck.”

Emily cleared her throat. Charming the Cade men one by one. Not. “So anyway, I’ll be taking over for Esther.”

“That sucks.”

“I’m sorry?”

He glanced over. “Not you. It’s just that this place won’t be the same without Esther.”

If Levi could be stoic and hard-edged, Wes was straight up brusque. “I’ll have large shoes to fill. Speaking of which, I actually came here to talk to you about the guests arriving next week. I thought we could plan some activities and make sure the course and club are prepared.”

He looked over, and this time his stare held. “What do you think we should do? I could close off the course one morning for a couple of hours so they have it to themselves.”

“That would be great.” She typed notes onto her tablet and looked around. “I’ll grab a few items to add to the gift baskets we’re providing for their rooms and find out the number of people who might be interested in a round of golf. Do you have extra clubs? Rentals, maybe?”

“If they’re diehard players, they might bring their own, but yeah, we’ve got plenty of high-end rentals just in case. Finding out the number of players who’ll need them would be a big help, though.”

Emily made another notation. She looked out at the course. It seemed nice. Green. What other criteria were important? She’d played golf, but she wasn’t an expert. “The grounds need to be gorgeous. Are they in good condition?”

He shot her a look of disbelief. “First of all, we have some of the finest greens on the West Coast. Second, if they weren’t perfect, one week wouldn’t be enough time to change that.”

She gave a humble smile. “Good point. I guess I’m not much of a golfer. But you were, right? Are you still competing?”

Wes’s eyes darkened and he snapped his fingers at another clerk in a red Club Tahoe shirt. “The yuppie over there has been standing for thirty seconds looking around,” he said to the younger guy. “Go help him.”

The clerk scurried away, clearly intimidated by Wes’s attitude.

Wes shoved another bag full of new clubs on the rack. “My game is shit. It’s good enough to be the pro at this place, but not for the tour. That won’t last forever, though. As soon as we have this place running like a machine, I’m going for the tour again, no matter what Levi says.”

So that was a sore subject. Great job, Emily. “Um, okay, well, I hope it works out.”

“It will.” He stopped what he was doing, sighed, and turned to her. “I’m glad you’re here, Emily. We need all the help we can get. Let me know if you have any more ideas for next week. Email me.”

“Of course. It’s good to see you again, Wes.”

He scratched his smooth jaw. “Have we met before?”

Emily nearly laughed. “Yes, we’ve met, but it’s been a long time. I look different. My hair is…bigger.”

Her hair was bigger. She didn’t wear it as long as she used to, and that made it poufier. But long hair was a pain. She accepted the lesser of the two evils and wore it a few inches past her shoulders.

He stared blankly, then shrugged. “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything else.”

A short while later, Emily returned to her desk inside the executive offices. Wes was handsome, but she felt no spark of attraction to him. When he didn’t remember her, it hadn’t stung the way it did when Levi had forgotten she existed.

This wasn’t a romantic comedy where the handsome hero secretly pined for the buttoned-up nerd. She might have come a long way emerging from her shell, but around Levi she was the same awkward girl she used to be. Only now she wore heels instead of sneakers and pencil skirts instead of jeans.

Deep down, nothing had changed.

She was still attracted to Levi Cade.

And she still didn’t have a chance with him.