Taming His Montana Heart(7)

“Do you wish it was otherwise?”

“There’s no point in asking myself that. I’m where I am in my life.”

So am I. “All right,” he said because he didn’t want to push her any more than he had, “if you had a limitless budget, what would you do to improve the snowmobile operation?”

She’d started to open her mouth when his cell phone buzzed. He reluctantly answered it. “It doesn’t matter who messed up,” he said after the woman who was handling the reservation desk explained that someone had double booked one of the condos. “You’re going to have to give one of the parties an upgrade. I’ll come in tomorrow morning and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“My gosh,” Haley said after he’d ended the call. “There’s no end to what you have to deal with. I think I’d lose my mind.”

“I’ve come close.”

“Why do you do it?” She clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. Some people thrive in fast-paced, stressful situations.”

I do what I have to. “A lot of it is about making decisions and sticking with them.”

“Good point.” She sighed, looked out the window, sighed again. “I so seldom get to just sit and appreciate winter. I need to do that more, connect with the land. It really is beautiful here.”

So was she, in an unspoiled way. From what he could tell she wasn’t wearing makeup. To his way of thinking, she didn’t need to. Her rich brown hair nearly went to her shoulder blades and had some wave to it. Her bangs swept to the side. Her eyes were green while her eyebrows and lashes were thick. The brightness to her cheeks was most likely a combination of working outside in all kinds of weather and being a healthy young woman. He longed to connect on that level. To let her in.

She’d started answering the question he’d asked prior to when his phone had sounded before he realized what she was doing. “I’ve been trying to determine what the optimum number of snowmobiles should be,” she said. “Last weekend every working machine was rented the entire time. Twice I had to deal with people returning late from a morning rental and the afternoon folks understandably getting irritated.”

He didn’t what her to have to face irritated customers but a woman who didn’t hesitate getting grease under her short nails should be able to make customers abide by their agreements. Haley Walters was a long way from being a hothouse flower and yet there was something feminine about her down to her core. Maybe the contrast was what kept her on his mind. Something certainly was.

“All right,” she said after taking a sip, “if I had my way I’d replace the three oldest machines. If it isn’t in the budget, let me know. Believe me I know all about making a dollar stretch.” She swallowed again and turned her full attention to him.

As she did, he felt a sensual jolt throughout him. Oh, yes, she was feminine all right. Tempting and maybe dangerous. Capable of making him forget why he was at Lake Serene.

“One thing I believe needs to have priority is devising a better system for keeping the trails open,” she continued. “Grooming them by sending staff out on snowmobiles at night is a fool’s mission.”

“In what way?”

She held up an unadorned finger. “Poor use of staff time.” She added another. “The possibility of something happening to someone out alone at night.” A third finger came up. “There’s no way the machines we have can pack down all the trails, particularly the trails that are in the backcountry.”

He’d considered that but only briefly and occasionally because other things had taken priority. “What do you suggest?”

Instead of immediately answering, she went back to studying the falling snow that served as a testament to the vast country west of the continental divide. Even though it was still day, the outside lights were on. The illumination both fought with and complemented the drifting, swirling flakes and turned the setting into something almost magical. If he could carve out a little free time, and it was a big if, he’d spend it skiing around Lake Serene.

And he didn’t want to do it alone.

They would let silence and snow suck them in, lose themselves in the most beautiful country he’d ever seen, make plans to climb Mount Lynx, and keep an eye out for wildlife. Sometimes simply looking at each other and speaking without words.

In another world and time.

“We need at least one snow groomer,” she said. “There are reasonably priced ones that can be pulled behind an ATV. Those that operate like snowplows or have tracks are more expensive. They also get the job done in a fraction of the time.”

“And take less manpower,” he said, impressed by what she’d done to prepare for making her case.

She brightened. “If you’re interested, I can email you pictures of what I believe would work best here.”

He didn’t want an impersonal email from her. He wanted to hear her voice and watch the animation in her eyes. He hadn’t felt like this around a woman for a long time.

Maybe not since he’d been a cop.

Before everything had fallen apart.

*

Haley didn’t want her time with Shaw to end. It had a little to do with being given the opportunity to make her pitch for what she believed the snowmobile operation needed. Even more she wanted to go on listening to his voice. To decide if his eyes were really dark brown.