Easy Kisses (The Boudreaux Series Book 4) (2 page)

I’m starving. I could order from room service, change into my yoga pants, and relax the rest of the evening.

Or, I could take advantage of being here and go be social.

I’m good at being social. It was bred into me. I can talk to anyone, and sell them shoes.

“Suck it up, Charlotte, and go experience what you came here for.” I nod once and slide my feet back into my heels, grab my bag and room key, make sure my name badge is on, and set out for the restaurant.

Once in the lobby, I run into Heidi again.

“You decided to come down,” she says with a friendly smile.

“So did you.”

“Well, I did pay to be here,” she says with a sigh. “Might as well soak it all in.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I reply. “Would you like to join me for dinner?”

“I would love to,” she says and we walk into the restaurant together. The lodge theme is carried through the place, with a stuffed bear and moose at the threshold of the restaurant.

“Two?” the hostess asks.

“Yes, please,” I reply.

“This way.” She leads us through the restaurant toward a table. I glance to my left, and sitting by the window is Simon, his assistant Todd, and a blonde woman I saw this morning named Shelly.

Simon’s eye catches mine, and he stands. “We have two empty chairs here. Would you ladies like to join us?”

Heidi and I share a glance, then a shrug. “Sure.”

We sit across from Simon, facing the lake and the mountains, and I can’t help but sigh at the view. Both the man and the nature behind him are amazing.

“Tired?” Simon asks with a knowing smile.

“A bit,” I reply with a nod. “And the view is incredible.”

“No kidding,” Shelly says with an annoying giggle, and I realize she thinks I’m talking about Simon.

For fuck sake.

“Actually, I was talking about the mountains,” I add, stifling a laugh when Heidi knocks her knee against mine. “The views here are unreal. When I saw that the conference was to be held in Montana, I just figured we’d be in the boonies, on a dude ranch or something with no wifi and hunting and gathering our food ourselves. I had no idea that this existed.”

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world,” Simon replies with one of his insane smiles. Seriously, he smiles and the room lights up. He’s changed into a casual blue T-shirt that hugs his shoulders and reveals the sleeve of tattoos down his left arm. In all of his public appearances, he wears long sleeves, covering the ink. It’s sexy as hell, not to mention the lean muscle there. His dark hair is disheveled from pushing his fingers through it all day, and his eyes look a bit tired, too. “Where are you from, Charly? Is that the South I hear in your voice?”

I grin. “Louisiana,” I confirm. “I’m from New Orleans.”

“Another of my favorite places,” he replies with a wink.

“Oh, I love it there too,” Shelly says. “What do you do there?”

“I own a shoe store.” I grin at the waitress as she fills my water glass.

“Well, that wouldn’t suck,” Heidi says and glances down at my feet. “I admired your shoes all day.”

“Thank you.”

“How long have you done that?” Simon asks, listening intently.

“Six years,” I reply. “But I’ve lived there all my life.”

He nods, and I can see in his eyes that he has more questions, but he shifts the focus to someone else, to my relief.

“And where are you from, Heidi?”

“Arizona,” she replies and begins telling us about her business raising assistance dogs. She pulls her phone out to show us photos, and I melt.

“Aww, what a sweet baby,” I croon when she shows me the yellow lab puppy she’s working with now. “Puppies are the best.”

“I think so too,” Heidi agrees. Dinner is surprisingly fun. We spend the next hour chatting about our homes, what we do, and things that interest us. Simon is funny and charming, easily deflecting Shelly’s blatant flirtations.

He’s professional. I assume he comes down and has dinner with a different group of women from the retreat each night. It’s a nice touch.

I wonder how many he sleeps with.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud and scold myself. Why am I always the pessimist? Maybe he’s just a good guy who likes helping women.

It could happen.

I glance up to find Simon watching me. His deep blue eyes are dancing with humor, and if I’m not mistaken, lust.

But he suddenly clears his throat, and it’s gone.

I sign my tab, wipe my mouth, and stand.

“Thanks for asking me to join you,” I say with a nod. “I’m heading up to bed.”

“I’m coming too,” Heidi says, joining me. “Good night, everyone.”

We wave and walk toward the elevators.

“So, I think I’ve figured out why Shelly’s here,” Heidi says. “I’m sorry, but that girl needs to turn down the flirt level.”

“Agreed,” I reply with a laugh. “He’s just a man, after all.”

“Exactly,” she says. “If she came here to stare at Simon all day, she could have saved a shit ton of money and joined a gym.”

I laugh, already feeling like Heidi and I are going to be friends.

“He may come in a pretty package,” I add, “but he puts his pants on just like anyone else. I’m sure there’s someone out there who thinks he’s a pain in the ass.”

“Oh, I like you,” Heidi says.

“I like you, too,” I reply as we reach our rooms. “Have a good night.”

****

Honestly, if I wasn’t so in love with New Orleans, I would move here. The morning air is crisp as I make my way on the trail around the lake. The woman at the front desk told me that the trail actually goes all the way around the lake, but I won’t make it that far.

Today.

But I will explore it on my day off this weekend. For this morning, I’m just jogging down about a mile and back. The cold air filling my lungs feels amazing, and the view continues to stun me.

Who knew that deep down I was a mountain girl?

Amazing.

Suddenly there’s a clearing and a small beach leading to the water, so I stop running and walk down on the coarse sand. It’s flat enough to stand here and move through a few yoga poses, so I do. The sky is the biggest and bluest I’ve ever seen, and the mountains are reflected in the water.

This is as peaceful as I’ve ever felt in my life.

It’s a damn shame I had to come all the way to Montana to find this.

I stand and take a few deep breaths, but footsteps behind me have me turning, my hand poised over the bear spray clipped to my waistband.

But it’s Simon.

Not a bear or a mountain lion.

So I turn back without a word and take another deep breath.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he murmurs as he stands next to me. He’s tall, probably as tall as my brothers, who stand at close to six and a half feet. And without my heels, I feel incredibly short next to him.

I glance up at him quickly and nod. “I love it.”

“Glacier Park is nearby,” he says, Britain falling off his tongue and making my stomach clench. His voice is like melted butter. Thank God he’s not smiling at me right now. The combination could be lethal. “I’ve hiked through there many times.”

“How long have you been coming here?” I ask and tip my head back so I can look up at his face. His eyes, the same color as the sky, are trained on the mountains.

“About three years,” he replies. He looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. He glances down at me and smiles, and my stomach drops.

God, that smile could end wars.

“If you have time, I recommend taking a day up in the Park. If you think this is beautiful, it will astonish you.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

He nods and shuffles his feet, crosses his arms over his chest, and we stand here, quietly, for a long moment, taking it all in. A bald eagle soars out of the trees, over the water, and suddenly dives down to pluck a fish from the water, then circles back to his tree.

“Did that just happen?” I whisper in awe.

“Indeed,” he replies softly. And then, without looking at me, he whispers, “Why are you here, Charly?”

“Because my sister made me,” I reply immediately and grin. “Childish, I suppose.”

“She made you?” He raises a brow and looks down at me. “What would the punishment be if you refused?”

“Refusing was never an option,” I say without thinking. “And Van isn’t the type to hand out punishments.”

No, she was on the receiving end of punishments for too long to dole them out.

We stand in silence again. It’s true that I came because of Van, but I came for me, too. I’m woman enough to admit it.

I needed a break. And maybe I needed to step back and take stock of things.

“I don’t know what I need,” I say, surprising both of us. “But I do know that I’m here because my sister isn’t strong enough to be here herself yet.”

I look up into the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen and into an ocean of questions. Before he can press for more, I smile and back away.

“If I’m going to make it to a lecture in an hour, I’d better get back to shower and get ready.”

“You look beautiful,” he replies and I think he means it. I wrinkle my nose.

“I’ve been running,” I remind him. “See you later.”

And with that, I run away, from the sexy man standing at the edge of the water and the troubling thoughts he’s stirred up in my head.

Damn him.

Chapter Two

~Simon~

“Okay, now take a deep breath.” I’m sitting on the edge of the stage, watching the women in the room. Some are seated at their tables with their heads down. Some are lying on the floor.

The room is silent, periodically broken by sniffles and soft sobs.

Today’s exercise is always a difficult one, for them
and
for me.

“You are magnificent women,” I say softly. “You are precious, just like the baby in the basket. You wouldn’t hurt that baby. You would comfort her. Hold her gently. Say sweet words to her.

“So why then, do you abuse yourself as an adult? I want you to take another deep breath, and then sit up carefully. Today has been an emotional one. I never said this journey was going to be an easy one.”

I smile as the room of women sit up and open their eyes, pinning them to me. Some are full of hurt and pain, and it twists my gut. This is the hardest day of the first week, and I save it for toward the end of the week. It’s a lot to take in, and it’s quite emotional. We will have a short lecture tomorrow, and then they’ll have the weekend to reflect and enjoy some time on their own.

My eyes find Charly, as they’ve come to do often over the past five days. She’s good at hiding her feelings behind her happy hazel eyes and smug smirk, but now she looks a bit haunted, and that’s my fault.

“I want you to take the rest of the evening to yourselves. I know I usually encourage you to have dinner together and to talk about the day, and if you want to do that, go for it. But, if you’d rather take time in your rooms to meditate, write in your journals, or just be calm, I encourage that as well.

“You did beautifully today, and I promise you that the pain you feel today is just a stepping stone to where you’re going to be a week from now, or even a year from now. Thank you for being brave and for walking through this journey with me. Have a lovely evening.”

The room typically erupts into chatter and laughter at the end of the day as the attendees gather their things and leave for dinner, but tonight the room is quiet. I stand and make myself available to anyone who wants to offer me a hug, or ask a question. Before long the room is empty. Todd approaches to take my mic from my ear.

“Today was intense,” he says quietly.

I nod. “It always is.” I don’t know how many times I tried using these same techniques with my ex-wife, trying to help her, to get through to her. But I never could, and it led to our eventual divorce.

So if it helps even one person at these seminars, it’s worth every difficult moment.

“I never get used to it,” he replies and stows the sound equipment away for tomorrow. “You’re changing their lives, you know.”

“No, mate, they’re changing their own lives; I’m just giving them the tools.” I clap him on the shoulder. “I’m not going to dinner tonight. I’m going to spend some time alone.”

“I figured,” he replies with a nod. Todd’s been my friend since childhood and part of my team since the beginning. He knows me well, maybe better than anyone else.

“Have a good night.”

“You as well,” he says as I walk away. I return to my room to file my notes and pull out tomorrow’s file. I toss it on the table and pull my shirt over my head on my way to the shower. I need to wash today off of me.

Rather than dwell on Amy and our horrible past, my mind wanders to a beautiful brunette.

Charly intrigues me. She’s stunning, yes, but there’s something else there that pulls at me. Her hazel eyes hide plenty, I think.

Then again, I could be an idiot and there’s nothing there at all except a pretty woman and my wishful thinking. Although, what I’m wishing for, I have no idea because she’s a client and I don’t do relationships, so it would do me well to simply forget about her altogether.

The part that surprises me the most is that a woman hasn’t turned my head in years. Not like this. I’ve had moments with pretty girls that ended mutually satisfyingly, but I didn’t want to get to know them. Yes, I know that I sound like a sod for saying that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

Yet, despite my better judgement, I want to get to know Charly, not just in a professional way, and that’s startling. I’ve mentored thousands of women, and I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve wanted to kiss one so badly it makes me sweat.

I scrub my hands over my face, dress, then pace to the window to look out on the lake. There’s still enough daylight left to take the boat out for a short trip. I could use the fresh air.

So, I grab a sweater and head down to the dock, waving at one of the dock workers as I climb into the boat I’ve rented during my time here and push away from shore.

The air is a bit crisper on the lake. I take a deep breath and glance to my right, surprised to see Charly sitting on a dock with her feet dangling over the side and her face tipped up to the sunshine, as if I conjured her up myself.