Best Man with Benefits (Wedding Dare, #4, McCade Brothers, #3)(28)
“Sure that’s not by design?”
“Doubtful, considering it looks like they’ve been missing since yesterday’s scavenger hunt. Kady remembers seeing them head for the North Trail. Julie and Reed are already out searching that route.”
Yeah, but dozens of trails crisscrossed the mountains behind the resort, ranging from easy, out-and-back loops to three-thousand-foot ascents that would take a skilled hiker the better part of a day. Without the right equipment and provisions, even two young, healthy people wandering around unfamiliar terrain could find themselves in a world of hurt.
“Anybody talking to Beaver Creek management about a coordinated search?”
“Not yet. I’m just stepping into the lobby.”
“I’ll be down in five.” He disconnected, threw on cargo shorts, a T-shirt, a hoodie—which he figured someone who spent a chilly night on the mountain might appreciate—and his cross-trainers. Not exactly mountain rescue, but he could carry a few bottles of water, some basic first aid stuff, and his phone.
He stepped off the elevator in time to see Reed come through the lobby doors, followed by Tyler, carrying Christine, and Julie hovering at their side. The small crowd of onlookers gathered by the reception desk—mostly the rest of the wedding party—immediately swarmed them. He made his way over to assure himself everyone was present and accounted for, and got the gist of the story. Christine had fallen off a trail late yesterday and hurt her ankle. She and Tyler had spent the night on the mountain rather than risk descending the slope in darkness. Reed and Julie ran across them at dawn as they were making their way down.
Tyler was a top-flight ER doctor, which meant Christine’s ankle was in good hands. He lowered himself into a side chair next to Brock, wincing as his muscles reminded him Tyler and Christine weren’t the only ones who’d had a busy night, and automatically glanced around for Sophie. She stood at the edge of the cluster of people surrounding Tyler and Christine, draped in a big T-shirt and leggings, her hair tugged back into a short ponytail and her temples damp with sweat. He figured she’d just come from a workout.
Her gaze darted his way long enough to tell him she’d sensed his attention. Was it his imagination, or did she blush a little? His phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it. The only person he wanted to speak to was standing three feet away. Did she suffer from any sore muscles this morning? He shifted in his chair.
“Buddy,” Brock drawled. “You’ve been spending too much time behind your fancy desk if a scavenger hunt leaves you sore.”
So much for finding a more comfortable position. Not taking his eyes off Sophie, he answered, “Yeah. It’s like somebody kicked my ass and left me for dead.”
Sophie’s cheeks turned as red as the roses in the flower arrangement on the reception desk. She sent him a flustered look before she moved to stand on the other side of the group. When the drama turned to what shoes the bridesmaids should wear now that heels were out of the question, Logan tuned out, but for some inexplicable reason, the shoe crisis sprang Brock into action. The guy was all, “Silver shoes. I’m on it,” and then he was gone.
The rest of the crowd parted to allow Tyler to carry Christine to the elevator. Sophie hurried after them. He rose to follow, but his phone vibrated again. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at a series of panicked emails from people freaking out about his unavailability. With his attention glued to his electronic leash, he sensed Colt approach.
He must have made some kind of long-suffering noise, because Colt said, “I could throw the damn thing down a ravine for you, but it won’t solve your underlying problem.”
Sad but true. Colt’s observation was all the more pointed because his friend spoke from experience. He’d founded a private security firm, and he worked hard to make it successful, but somehow he’d managed to carve out time to find the love of his life. And though Logan couldn’t be happier for Colt and Kady, a small part of him envied them. And not just them. Marriage and fatherhood had turned his oldest brother, Trevor, a hard-assed homicide detective, into a baby-bouncing, lullaby-singing puddle of mush. His other brother, Michael, a stoic Marine Corps major, was happily married now, too, and he and his wife were busy feng shui-ing a nursery for their first child, due in a couple months.
After years of superficial relationships that always took a backseat to Defy Gravity, having someone to come home to—someone with whom to escape all the commitments and obligations of his professional life and just be himself—sounded pretty damn good.
But there was no reason to give Colt the satisfaction of admitting that. “Okay, Dr. Drew, what’s my underlying problem?”
“You are. Defy Gravity has taken over your life, and now—sur-f*cking-prise—you’re burned out. I don’t know if you remember, but when you started the company, all you really wanted was a better spring-locking carabiner. It was all about climbing faster and higher. But now”—he shook his head—“how long has it been since you climbed anything more challenging than a flight of stairs?”
The sentiments echoed the ones that had been expressed by his family, and his CFO, and frankly, the thoughts he’d had circling around in his head for too long now, but it irritated him to hear yet another person pegging him as the primary roadblock to his own happiness.
“I have obligations to investors and employees now, and different priorities.”