Chapter 5
Linc
I rub at the back of my neck before I get up from the small table and start to pace back and forth around my room. Since I got up this morning, I’ve been trying to use my laptop to access some files on my office computer. No luck. The damn program that’s supposed to let me do this keeps hanging, doing nothing while I wait and tap my foot impatiently.
This cabin is a nice place, sure. I really enjoy using it when I get to come up here. But now it’s really grating on my nerves. It’s bad enough to have to endure a work retreat out here in the wilderness. But the damn retreat’s delayed with this snow. I could have been anywhere else but here.
I don’t get the thinking behind this at all. Yeah, yeah. Get all the remote workers together so we can get to know each other. Build the team. Whatever.
But some of us work remotely for a reason. And that reason is to not have to spend excess time with coworkers. I work on my own. No team needed for me, not even for the times that I’m forced to interact with the people that I have to. I’m independent. Always have been. Some people like to call me a loner. I just like to get things done when I’m working. Socializing is for outside of work hours. Why waste time?
I like to party as hard as I work. Work hard, play hard. That’s what my father taught me and I’ve discovered that his old saying makes a lot of sense. I live by those words as much as possible.
Not that I’ve had much in the way of play lately. It’s mostly down to the current project I’m working on. But it’s not just that. I’ve been hanging around home a lot more since my ex and I broke up. Not interested in dating again, either. A one night stand now and then does me just fine. On the day I was going to propose to her, we broke up instead. Not going through that again.
And I’ve come to realize something. It’s best to approach relationships like work. Just put in what you need to get the job done. No less. No more. And if the other person isn’t on board, then fuck it. My time is valuable. I’m coming around to believing that a relationship isn’t. Not everyone needs to settle down. I realized since I’ve been single now that I don’t even want to settle down. I make that very clear to the women I bring back to my place. I’m not looking for anything more than a good time. One night only.
I’m determined to move up fast in this company too. It was fucking annoying that Jase got promoted ahead of me. We’re equally qualified. I worked harder than he did. That’s the main reason I’m here now. He’s been to every single one of these damn retreats since he joined the company, right around the same time I did. That’s the only difference. He got to know all of our bosses well. I’ve only even met the one who hired me in person. The rest I’ve only communicated with electronically, never in person. And when I asked why I wasn’t the one promoted, they all but said flat out that was the reason. Face to face time, being so important in a tech company. Who knew.
So here I am. Taking the leap and committing to spending three weeks with a bunch of strangers. And the damn thing’s not happening. I know it’s just delayed. But that’s more time wasted.
I go over to the window and crack it open so I can lean outside and get a good look around. But as I squint out the window into the early morning glare of the sun reflecting off the snow, I don’t think this retreat’s going to start any time soon. The snow’s piled so high, I can’t even believe it. The roads were bad enough before this storm. I can’t see how anyone’s going to get in.
Or out. I was planning on getting the hell out of here and into a hotel until this work thing gets underway. There’s no point being here now. If I’d known it was going to be like this, I’d have picked up some skis to bring along.
I check my laptop one last time. It’s still attempting to access my other computer, or at least I think it is. My growling stomach gets my attention. I need to go find something to eat.
Closing the door behind me, I leave the room and head to the kitchen to see what I can scrounge up for breakfast. On my way, I walk past the room I still think of as mine. It’s the only one I use when I come up here. Now Mykayla’s in there. It’s just a room, of course. But sometimes I can be a creature of habit. Or so my ex used to tell me. I don’t see how that’s a bad thing, although she didn’t like it.
Now I’m going to remember that room and Mykayla in the bed. By herself. Sexy hot body and face twisted up in ecstasy. Christ, that was fucking hot. Hot enough to make me have thoughts I definitely never thought I’d have about her.
Being stuck here with Jason and Mykayla is the last thing I need right now. That’s the other fucking frustrating thing. Jason and I could get some real work done now that we’re here together. But he’s so damn busy drooling over Mykayla, he doesn’t see what we could accomplish.
And her. Being her with her is not what I signed up for. Yeah, I knew she was coming. First year with the company, of course she wouldn’t miss an event like this. But Christ, she’s annoying.
She’s a lot better looking than I thought she was. Those tiny images on the chat app we use don’t reveal much but usually you get a sense of what a person looks like. Mykayla’s picture doesn’t do her justice.
Not at all.
She’s beautiful. Hot. Really hot. Not what I expected at all. I’d thought she was okay-looking. Maybe a little pretty. But she’s more than that.
Not what I expected. Not that it matters. She’s way too annoyingly cheerful for me. I can tolerate that for only a very short time at most.
But I can’t get her off my damn mind. Not since I caught her in bed that first night here. Now that was something unforgettable. Unbelievably sexy.
That’s an image that’s going to stay with me for a long time. Enough so that I was thinking about making a move on her myself. That idea didn’t last. I got rid of that thought quick. Keep it out of the office. That’s another rule I have. And I couldn’t leave her after anyway, not at the beginning of this retreat. That would be a kind of awkward I don’t need. Not ever and especially not when I’m here to make a good impression on all the higher-ups in the company.
It’s eerily quiet when I get to the kitchen. I figured the others would be up but a quick glance at the time lets me know it’s still pretty early. I can’t break my habit of waking up early, even on weekends.
Not that I mind. I’m not in a hurry to see either one of them yet. I find a coffee machine and some coffee to go in it without too much trouble. After I get it going, I grab some bread and stick it in the big toaster they have here. It’s an odd kitchen. Clearly set up to feed large groups, but the coffee maker’s normal size.
Maybe Mykayla’ll make breakfast too. That dinner she cooked up last night was great. So much better than just plain old pasta. I could stand being around her for awhile if she’s that good with breakfast too.
But I’m too hungry to wait. Just when I settle in with the toast and coffee, my phone rings. A smile forms on my lips when I see who it is. It’s always great to hear from my sister.
“Hey, Grace.”
“Hi, Linc. How are you, you okay?”
I swallow some coffee. I rarely make my own coffee, but this came out pretty good. “Yeah, fine. Why?”
“Because you said you were going upstate for that work thing, right? Well, I’ve been watching the news. There’s a storm heading your way, and it’s going to be a big one. Bigger than the one last night, even. So I wanted to make sure you weren’t stuck in a snow bank somewhere.”
“I’m fine. I got in the night before. It’s going to snow more, really?” I haven’t looked at any news sites or anything but work since I got here. Since I’m here, I wanted a bit of a vacation from the news. A mental break from all the noise out there in the world. I keep up with what’s going on, of course. But sometimes, you just need a break. “There’s already piles of it here. It’s crazy.”
“Yeah, they say it’s going to make last night look like nothing. Everything else okay with you too?”
I smile again. Grace’s always looked out for me, especially when we were kids. But even more so now, since she became a mother herself. It’s like she can’t turn it off no matter who she’s talking to. “All good.”
She starts telling me what my niece has been up to. It’s nice to listen to her while I sit drinking coffee. Grace’s amazing. Driven like me, but still has time to start a family on top of her career too. I don’t know how she does it.
“Oh, Linc. I have to go, I’m hearing some suspicious noises from the playroom. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“You too. Talk to you soon.”
I end the call and set my phone aside. At least she didn’t get on me about seeing someone. That’s the only thing we disagree on. Grace thinks I need to settle down. Ha.
“Morning, Linc.”
It’s Jason. All bright-eyed, dressed in a snug plaid shirt and some very well-fitting jeans. He looks just like he belongs here. Which he does, or so I’ve heard. He’s quite the outdoorsy guy. That’s something he has in common with our main boss. Sometimes it comes up in the beginning of the conference calls we have. He and Sam go way past normal politeness and detail what they did on their weekends. I can’t add anything to the conversation because I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about camping, hiking, or whatever it is they’re always on about. Usually something involving some mountain or other. It’s irritating as fuck. And it gives Jason a natural advantage over me.
We compete against each other, but I still do respect him. I tip my head towards the counter. “There’s coffee if you want it.”
“Great. Thanks.” After he pours himself some, he comes to sit across from me at the small wooden table. “You have a good night?”
I frown. “Good as it can be up here in a cabin with nothing much to do. Any word on when this retreat is going to start up? Anyone getting through on the roads?”
He shrugs. “I haven’t really checked in. Mykayla was keeping in touch, I think they were all saying they’d give it a shot at making it up here today. I know Sam doesn’t want to give in and cancel yet.”
I drink the last of my coffee. “That might be a problem. Apparently we’re in for another big storm soon.”
“Really?” Jase sets him mug down. “That’s no good. I went out for a quick walk earlier. The parking lot’s impossible already. No-one’s getting in or out of it. I didn’t go out as far as the road, but I can’t imagine it’s any better.”
“Great. Two nights here already and nothing’s going to come of it? What a waste of time.”
“I think we’ve got bigger problems. If they can’t get in, we can’t get out.” He gets up to check the fridge. “There’s food here. We’ve got water. But we’re going to need more firewood, that’s for sure.”
I get up for some more coffee. “This place has electric heat.”
“It might not be enough. Better safe than sorry. I brought over what was in the shed yesterday, so there’s that. But we’ll definitely need more. You want to help me go out and cut some?”
Cutting firewood? Yeah, right. I’m about to laugh at Jason, but something in his expression stops me. He already thinks I’m going to say no. Does this guy actually think I can’t do it? Like he’s better than me or something?
That’ll be the day. That he can do anything that I can’t. Not going to happen, and I’ll prove it right now.
“Sure.” I fill my mug. “Sounds like fun. We can go out after we eat.”
Jason’s tapping away at his phone. “I think we should go out now. That storm you mentioned? It’s almost certainly going to hit us. And if it does, it’ll be soon.”
Does he really think he’s going to put me off that easily? He doesn’t know me at all. “Fine. No problem. Let’s go.”
We both stop short when I swing the front door open. “What the fuck?” I’m totally taken aback. It’s a lot worse than it looked from above.
“Whoa.” Even Jason’s caught by surprise. “We’ve got to get that fire wood.”
“How do you suggest we do that?” Snow’s piled high and the path is nowhere to be seen.
He frowns. “Carefully. We need to get to the shed and get the axes. There’s a log behind it that they’ve been chopping up. But it might be buried too deep for us to get to. We’ll manage if we can get to the woods. The trees are pretty dense so the snow won’t be too bad there.”
“Lead the way.” I gesture for him to go ahead of me, since I have no idea where the damn shed might be. I trudge after him. With every single step, my foot sinks further into the soft, messy snow. It’s slow going. I haven’t had nearly enough coffee for this. Or breakfast.
But neither has Jason. Two slices of toast didn’t put a dent in my hunger, but he’s not complaining, so neither am I.
At least the shed isn’t far, although it takes way longer than it should to get there. Of course, the door’s blocked by a massive snowdrift.
“So, what now?” We can’t even see the handle.
“We’ll have to get in through one of the windows. Come on.”
Resourceful outdoors guy. Great. We go around to the side of the small shack and there it is. A high window, right above the snow line.
“It’s latched from the inside. I don’t want to damage it, but we might not have a choice but to break in.”
“Hang on.” I kneel down so I can examine it closely. “It’s a side lock. I can get it open without breaking anything. If I have the right tool. Do you have a something flat, like a file or a screwdriver?”
“Yeah.” He produces a mini screwdriver from his jacket pocket. Figures. But I’m glad he has it. It takes me less than five minutes to work the lock open and swing the window out of our way.
Jason looks impressed. “Nice work. How’d you figure that one out?”
“It’s a really old-fashioned system. I learned how to get by it at my grandparent’s house. Sometimes when they forced me to go play outside when I didn’t want to, I’d sneak back into the basement.”
My fingers are nearly numb so I jam my hands deep into my pockets. “This was the kind of latch they had on their windows. It took awhile to figure out how to work it open from the outside. But once I did, it was easy to do. Haven’t seen window locks like these ones in years.”
Jason peers through the window. “This won’t be a bad jump.”
Before I can reply, he’s already climbing through it. Works for me. I’m not interested in snagging my coat on anything that would just brush off his waterproof one.
It starts snowing as Jason passes me the first axe.
“Is there a shovel in there?” I’m toying with the idea of digging my car out so I can cut my losses. If I leave soon, there’s a chance I can dodge the storm and be in a nice bar sipping whiskey by the early evening.
“No. Not much to work with here at all.”
Jason climbs out and I give him a hand up. “Do you keep one in your car?”
He cocks his eyebrow at me. “Usually I do. But I’ve loaned it to a friend, so it’s not with me now. Too bad. Would have be really useful right about now.”
“I’ll say.”
We make our way over to the nearby grove of trees and it’s just as slow going as it was to get to the shed. We’re already both soaked from the wet snow and we haven’t even started cutting wood yet.
But we catch a break when we get there. Just inside the grove, there’s some fallen trees that aren’t buried in snow.
“You know how to use an axe, Linc?”
“Yeah, sure.” I turn away from him and get to work. Jason’s question gets under my skin even though he’s not being an asshole about it.
“Pretty good, city boy.” He starts up himself. “How’d a metro guy like you learn how to wield an axe?”
I hold back a sarcastic reply. His tone is nothing but teasing. “Grandparents again. I stayed at their farm a lot when I was a kid. Both of them liked to teach me stuff. It was fun, working on things with them.”
“I would have hated that kind of thing as a kid.”
I glance up at him. “Really? You? Mr. Outdoorsman?”
“I was a city kid myself growing up.”
“So what happened?” I’m interested in spite of myself. “Don’t you live somewhere around here? Also known as the middle of nowhere?”
“That’s right. I used to live in Manhattan. Loved it. But after awhile, I got burned out. I didn’t want to keep the pace up anymore. Or rather, I couldn’t do it. Everything became a grind. I stopped caring about everything, including my job. So I changed my life up. And now I don’t even miss the city anymore.”
I snort. “I couldn’t do that. The idea of three weeks up here is way more than enough for me.” Straightening up, I check out the big pile we’re amassing. “Looks like we’ve got enough.”
“Yeah, looks good. Let’s get back.”
Snow hits me in the face the moment we step out from under the cover of the trees. Shit. It’s really picked up, swirling around hard and fast in the freezing cold air.
“Which way did we come from?” Our footprints have already been swept away.
Even Jason has to figure it out. “This way, I think.”
“You sure?”
“Not exactly.” He sets off anyway and I go along with him. We’re surrounded by blankets of white. I can’t even make out the shed we came from.
I almost bump into Jason when he stops abruptly. “What’s up?”
“No idea where we’re going now. Hang on.” Rummaging deep, he pulls a compass out from his pocket. Normally I’d mock him for carrying one. Now I’m grateful he has it.
“Yeah. We’re mostly going in the right direction. We need to head a little more east and then we should hit the cabin.”
I frown. “Should?”
“Probably will.”
If Jason can’t say for sure, that’s fucked. We start up again, our heads down against the way the wind whips snow at us.
I trip over something I can’t even see. It was so unexpected, I’m about to fall face-first when Jason grabs my arm, stopping my fall at the last minute.
“You okay?”
“Sure. Thanks.” I squint around. “Do you still know where we’re going?”
“Yeah. We’re nearly there. Look up that way.”
I can just barely make out the outline of the cabin, even though we’re actually close to it. When did it get so dark out? The sky’s menacing.
Carefully we continue on. I heave a sigh when we climb the stairs up to the porch. “That was something. Although I bet it’s normal for your kind of adventures.”
“Not exactly. I usually make sure to avoid this kind of situation.”
The warmth of the cabin pours out at us the moment we open the door. Never thought I’d be happy to get back to it.
In spite of his weather-proof jacket, Jason’s nearly as soaked as I am. We start climbing out of our wet outerwear when someone calls out.
“Jase.” It’s Mykayla, hurrying towards us. “Where were you? I was starting to worry.”
She comes right up to him and my jaw falls open when she goes right in and gives him a hug. He doesn’t pull back, either. Just hugs her back like it’s a natural thing to do.
The realization hits me like a truck.
Jason and Mykayla.
They’re sleeping together.