The woman—Mary, she thought her name was—startled and gave a brief smile. Odd.
Laurie returned the smallest grin she could manage and continued to the kitchen, her body shivering. Suddenly the entire lodge seemed off. She couldn’t explain in words what she felt, but it wasn’t pleasant. First that weird guy, Brock, sort of hit on her. And now this woman appeared—who had seemed excited to meet Laurie the day she went in to interview. The same woman completely changed her tune not one day later, stating that she actually had no openings. Unstated was the insinuation she could not hire Laurie because her patrons preferred that their all-white kids be taught by all-white teachers.
That was fucked up and illegal, but it wasn’t something Laurie wanted to pursue under the circumstances. Lying low was more her motto these days. Drawing even more attention to herself and her two mates would only make things worse.
Melinda grabbed Laurie’s hand and dragged her to a stock room behind the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Laurie glanced down, trying to hide her emotions—as if that were a possibility where Melinda was concerned.
“Don’t give me that shit. Your emotions are all over the place. You’re hot and cold. I can feel every nuance even when you aren’t in the room.”
Laurie shrugged. “The woman who interviewed me that first day is here. And some strange employee who gives me the heebie-jeebies is also. I’m probably imagining things.” She tried to smile, knowing it was forced.
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Brock something.”
“Did you touch him?”
“No. And I don’t want to. He makes my skin crawl enough without getting that close.”
Melinda dropped Laurie’s hand. “I’m going to find him.”
Laurie groaned. “Could you not? It’s probably nothing. I don’t need Corbin and Zach getting all upset. They’re already on me like white on rice.”
Melinda paused and turned around. She gave Laurie a full-on glare. “Fine. But if I sense your emotions all over the place like that again, I’m hunting that asshole down and making his acquaintance.”
What she meant by that was she would introduce herself and shake his hand. It was how Melinda operated. Laurie knew she didn’t like to touch many people, but she had already proven that as the new big sister, she felt a sense of protection where Laurie was concerned.
Laurie bit her lip and tried not to giggle. “Okay, Wonder Woman. Rein it in. I’m fine.” She rolled her eyes as she walked away.
»»•««
It was nearly midnight before Laurie dropped onto one of the employee couches in the locker room and leaned her head back. No one else was currently in the room, and she needed a moment to rest. She had never been so exhausted in her life.
Suddenly, someone spoke, shocking the piss out of her, considering she had no warning of another person’s presence, nor had she sensed anyone in the room when she entered.
“Anyone sitting here?” Brock. He pointed at the other half of the love seat.
Fuck.
He plopped down without waiting for a response, one arm landing over the back of the couch as though they were a couple in a movie theater. “Wow. I’m exhausted. Long night, huh?”
She lifted her head off the back of the couch to put some more distance between them. If he touched her… “Yeah. I was kind of hoping for a few minutes to rest, if you don’t mind.”
He grinned. “Nope. Not at all. I think I’ll do the same.” He snuggled down deeper into the cushion and closed his eyes, as if she intended to nap with this asshole on the love seat.
What the fuck was he up to? Her pulse sped up. The man had ulterior motives. Hell, the man always had ulterior motives no matter what he was doing in life. She got that vibe from him easily without direct contact. But tonight was worse than usual. He was truly filled with something malevolent.
Laurie leaned forward, intent on standing and walking away. She was done being polite. This was crazy.
The moment she lifted off the couch, Brock grabbed her hand and tugged her back down. “Where you going, sexy? I was hoping to get to know you better.” He leaned his body toward her and hovered inches from her face.
Every instinct she had told her to kick him in the balls and run. Goose bumps rose all over her skin at the instant he made direct contact. His hand was clammy. He smelled of beer—which she was quite certain the employees weren’t supposed to be drinking during this crisis.
But the worst part was the visions that swam through her mind. This guy had been a jackass all his life. He was a bully—the kind of man who pushed women around and got away with it. Until now.