“I promise I’ll meet all of your demands. Anticipate them, even,” Emma added with a ready smile, hoping to soothe her. Emma’d spent most of her life accommodating the demands of others in order to keep things running smoothly. She much preferred peace and harmony to confrontation. “Including the privacy I assume you want,” she finished.
Thankfully, Andy walked in at that moment, paying no immediate notice to the guests. “Hey, Em. I need to get the ice off that walkway.” Then his gaze fell on the small group. “But I can take the bags first.”
Andy’s twin sister, Avery, had been one of Emma’s best friends since kindergarten. There had been a brief period when Emma had had a little crush on Andy, but like with the other guys in her long history of unrequited crushes, it had more or less passed. He might as well be her brother, too. As such, when his drunk driving accident last winter cost him his job as a ski pro, she’d hired him to help her around the inn.
“Everyone, this is Andy. Andy, this is—” Emma began.
“Holy shit! You’re Wyatt Lawson.” Andy’s eyes twinkled and his jaw dropped. “Dude, you’re awesome. What the hell are you doing in Sterling Canyon?”
“Andy, I think Mr. Lawson would like some privacy.” Emma shot him a “back-off” look.
“It’s cool.” Wyatt waved at Andy. “I’m here to train.”
“Gentlemen, we really need to keep to a schedule. We have a lot of ground to cover today to set things up,” Mari broke in, laying her hand on Wyatt’s arm, effectively yanking him away from Andy. “If you could please see our bags to our rooms, that would be perfect. We’ll leave the cameras and other equipment down here.” Then she addressed the film crew. “Let’s meet in the front parlor in an hour to go over the shooting schedule and get some establishing shots.”
Andy winked at Emma. “This is gonna be the best month ever.”
Wyatt glanced at his brother while uttering, “It better be.”
“Andy, could you please see Ryder to Room 101 while I take the others upstairs?” Emma asked. “Then you can come grab these other bags and bring them to their rooms.”
“No problem.” Andy took the key and slowly went off with Ryder. In the meantime, Mari and the cameramen had already headed upstairs, leaving Emma alone with Wyatt, who appeared lost in thought as he watched his brother walk off.
“Shall we?” Emma gestured toward the stairs.
She should be worried about Mari’s demands. But with Wyatt on her heels, all she could think about was whether or not her butt looked okay in her sweatpants. Good grief, she was her father’s daughter, which meant she was in trouble.
Wyatt had chosen Sterling Canyon as the training location for his return to competition because its off-the-beaten-path location would likely make it more private. He needed a distraction-free environment. The enormity of his task left no room for complications—or women, which tended to be the same thing.
Normally he wouldn’t notice a girl like Emma. Buried beneath such boxy clothes, he could barely make out her figure. At least, not until he followed her up the stairs and got a perfect view of her heart-shaped ass.
He’d always liked red hair, too, although she’d pulled hers into some kind of knot, so he couldn’t tell if it was straight or wavy, shoulder- or waist-length. Not that it mattered.
Yet it did. Why’d she stiffen whenever he caught her eye? Unlike other women who threw themselves at him, this one seemed almost determined to repel him. He should let her keep her distance so he could maintain his priorities.
Nothing like the pressure of a film crew documenting his every move—and potential mistakes—to keep him focused. He needed to stay focused if he wanted to achieve his goals without ending up in a hospital bed like his brother had.
The very thought sent a shiver down his spine.
“Is it too cold in here?” Emma asked, apparently having noticed his reaction. For a second, he caught a glimpse of something warmer shining through.
“Maybe a touch,” he lied. Glancing around, he noticed a bunch of Native American artifacts. Although clean, everything about the place looked old and run-down. At first glance, he’d have said Emma, with her absence of makeup and oversize clothing, perfectly matched the surroundings. But on closer inspection, a little spark of something glimmered from her lively green eyes. And Wyatt had never been one to discriminate against older chicks.
Out of nowhere, Emma let loose a whopper of a sneeze, then promptly flushed. “Excuse me.”
“Bless you.” He grinned as a piece of trivia popped into place, as usual. “Did you know that people exhale at up to one hundred miles per hour when they sneeze? It’s why they can’t keep their eyes open.”