Desire In The Mountains (Greene Mountain Boys), page 1
Desire In The Mountains
Greene Mountain Boys
Olivia T. Turner
Contents
Copyright
Desire In The Mountains
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Epilogue
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Copyright© 2023 by Olivia T. Turner.
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, businesses, companies, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Edited by Karen Collins Editing
Desire In The Mountains
First week on the job and I have to bring the grumpy recluse mountain man owner of this lodge some bad news.
There was a fire in the break room.
And I started it.
Mr. Wallis is going to kill me.
I have to tell him in person (because of course the bearded recluse has no phone).
So, I head to his cabin deep in the mountain wilderness to find him chopping wood shirtless and drinking whiskey straight from the bottle.
They definitely don’t have men like him where I’m from.
If they did, I never would have left.
Mr. Wallis takes one look at me and my blushing cheeks and says he’s going to punish me his way.
We’re far enough from civilization that no one can hear me scream.
Or moan…
Or beg for more…
Lauren is about to find out how a hot possessive mountain man hands out a punishment. Lucky her!
Age-gap insta-love at its finest in a SAFE read with no cheating and a super sweet HEA guaranteed. Double V-cards. Enjoy!
To the hot guy who works at my gym.
You cut your beard.
Prepare to die.
Chapter One
Lauren
“Excuse me,” the middle-aged woman wearing the red coat says in an impatient tone as she glares over the reception desk at us.
Tina and Tiffany don’t look up from their computers, which… of course, they don’t.
“Yes, Mrs. Carter,” I say with a big smile. “What can I do for you?”
“The accommodations in this lodge are horrific.”
Tina snorts out a laugh and then does a poor job of hiding it with a fake coughing fit. Mrs. Carter frowns.
“Is this funny to you?”
“Sorry, I’m on the phone,” Tina says as she suddenly grabs the receiver and puts it to her ear. “Lauren will be happy to help you.”
“What have you found unsatisfactory?” I ask.
The lodge is anything but horrific. It’s stunning. It’s the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen.
Greene Mountain Lodge is the ultimate in luxury. It’s a ski-in, ski-out lodge at the base of Greene Mountain with a spectacular lake that’s walking distance from the front door.
The huge building has every amenity possible from an indoor pool, outdoor pool, multiple hot tubs, a sauna, a spa, a five-star restaurant, and an amazing bar with live singers every night. Every inch of this place is immaculate. It’s expansive, yet cozy at the same time. I feel like I’m a princess in a fairytale whenever I’m walking around it.
Every suite has rustic wooden beams running along the ceiling, a cast-iron fireplace, and a private balcony overlooking the spectacular Montana mountains or the beautiful lake.
Any guest who gets to stay here is incredibly lucky. Even this irritated woman, although she doesn’t seem to realize it.
“I found a hair in my bed,” she says with a look of revulsion on her face. Everything about her screams money from her designer coat, purse, and shoes to the expensive diamond jewelery hanging around her neck and on her fingers and wrists. “I would like an upgrade.”
“An upgrade?” I say, managing to keep the pleasant smile on my face. “Unfortunately, you’re already in our platinum room and there’s nothing to upgrade to.”
“What about the Aspen Suite?”
“The Aspen Suite is taken.”
Both Tina and Tiffany glance at me.
“This is unacceptable. I’m paying a fortune for this room and look at what I have to deal with—a hair! In my bed!”
“Are you sure it wasn’t yours?” Tiffany asks.
The woman whips her head around and gives her a vile look. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry,” Tiffany says as she grabs her phone, just like her twin sister. “I got to take this.”
I hold in a breath as Mrs. Carter turns that vileness onto me. “It was not my hair,” she hisses. “I’ll go get it and you unhelpful clowns can tell me if you think it came from my head.”
She storms away with her scarf flowing behind her.
“Maybe it came from her chin,” Tina mutters as she hangs up the phone.
“Or from her chest,” Tiffany says as she hangs up hers.
“Thanks for the help,” I say as I sit down with a deep breath.
“You’re the one who wants the manager job,” Tina says with a shrug. “It’s good practice for you. You’re going to be the last stop to deal with all sorts of Karens.”
Tiffany nods. “The manager position is basically a Karen tamer.”
“Can we stop with the whole Karen thing?” I say with a frustrated breath.
They both look at me with blank faces. Having them on either side of my chair, staring at me with the same brown eyes, behind the same round black-rimmed glasses, with the same black hair cut and styled into the same bob makes me think there’s a glitch in the Matrix.
As far as I can tell, these twins have the same look, the same personality, and might just be clones of each other. If it weren’t for their nametags, I would never know who was who.
“My sister’s name is Karen, okay?” I say as they both stare at me like I’m not making any sense. “And I think that we as a collective society need to move on. We had our fun with the name, and Karens were a good sport about it, but it’s time to let it go.”
Tina snorts out a laugh. “Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk,” she says in a horrible imitation of me.
“You mean, thank you for coming to my Karen Talk,” Tiffany corrects.
They both laugh. I don’t.
“Are you a Karen spokesperson?” Tiffany asks.
“What? No. That’s not even a thing.”
“I think her name is secretly Karen,” Tina says. “Can we see your birth certificate?”
“No,” I say, getting flustered. They always do this. They’re so annoying. I sit between them and they just make fun of me and get me riled up all day. I feel like a ping pong ball they’re batting back and forth.
“My name is Lauren Hurst.”
“Lauren Karen Hurst?”
“Karen Lauren Hurst?”
“Stop it,” I say in a firm voice. “I have an important guest coming and I have to concentrate.”
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves as I open the reservation program on the computer.
“The important guest in the Aspen Suite?” Tina asks.
I don’t want to get sucked into their trap, but I nod. “Yes.”
“Who is it?” Tiffany asks. “There’s no credit card on the account.”
“That’s because I comped it.”
They both give each other big juicy smiles like they just found out something scandalous. My stomach rumbles with worry.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…
Yes, it was, I tell myself in a confident voice. You want the manager position? You have to stand out and take some initiative.
And I do want the manager position. Badly.
I’ve only been here for ten days and I’m desperate to prove that I can handle it.
“Let me get this straight,” Tiffany says slowly. “You comped the ten thousand dollar a night Aspen Suite?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did Mr. Wallis okay it?”
“I didn’t ask him.”
They both smirk at each other and I feel a twinge of nausea taking over. Maybe it was a bad idea…
“Well, then you can kiss the manager promotion goodbye,” Tina says.
Tiffany laughs. “She can kiss her job goodbye too.”
“For your information,” I say with my shoulders back and my chin in the air. I’m not going to let these two get to me. I’m not. “I comped it for Mikey Reynolds from The Luxury Traveller Magazine.”
I turn to them with a satisfied smirk, but they’re staring back at me with blank faces. “Who?”
“Mikey Reynolds! The number one reviewer at the number one travel magazine. Hello? You should know this, it’s your job!”
“She’s not very good at it,” Tiffany says, shaking her head. “She swore at that annoying kid last week.”
“It’s true,” Tina says with a nod. “He said I looked like Auntie Edna from The Incredibles.”
I can’t let them distract me. Mikey Reynolds will be here any moment. This has to go well.
It took a lot of work to get him to agree to an article for the May edition of the magazine. I’m really hoping for a five-star review. If we can get that and maybe even the cover, that manager position is mine.
It was ballsy of me to comp the Aspen Suite and set this up without asking during my second week here, but I believe you have to be bold in life. I believe that owners want to see initiative from their employees and this was a great way to help me stand out from the pack.
And if it all fails, well, I also believe it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
“Excuse me,” a little girl says as she pokes her tiny head over the counter. She’s adorable with a big bouncing pom pom on her woolen hat. “My mittens got wet.”
She places them on the reception desk.
“Were you making a snowwoman?” I ask with a big smile as I take them.
“Or, snowballs?” Tina asks.
“If you were, make sure to nail the Karen wearing the red coat in the face,” Tiffany tells her.
“Tiffany!” I snap. “Don’t say that!”
I put her mittens on the radiator to warm up. It’s an old-fashioned one that gets really hot, so it shouldn’t take long.
“It should be ready in a minute,” I tell her. “Want to go warm up by the fireplace and I’ll call you when they’re dry?”
She shrugs her little shoulders and then waddles over there in her oversized snowsuit. There’s a giant fireplace in the middle of the lobby that could fit whole trees inside it. She sits in one of the big comfy chairs as I turn to check that her mittens aren’t burning.
“Is that your VIP guest?” Tina asks.
I whip my head around and smile when I see him. Mikey Reynolds.
He nods as he looks around the lobby. He has his iPhone to his mouth and is recording his thoughts. “When you walk into the Greene Mountain Lodge,” he says in a low voice, “you’re greeted by a cozy cottage feel set in a giant package. The roaring fire devours humungous logs, warming the children who have spent the day playing in the snow. No. Playing outside… Hm. Warming the adorable children who have shuttered their video games and screens for the weekend. Ugh. Needs some work.”
He sees me smiling at him and frowns as he turns off his phone and slips it into his pocket. “Were you listening to my notes?”
“Not at all,” I say, shaking my head with a big smile. “You must be Mr. Reynolds. I’m Lauren. We spoke on the phone.”
He nods as he looks around. His forehead scrunches up when he looks at Tina and Tiffany who haven’t glanced up from their computers. Gosh, don’t they care who this is? Would it kill them to throw him a smile? I swear, when I become manager, these two aren’t going to get away with this whole crabby employee shtick they got going anymore.
“I was hesitant to drive to Montana in the winter with my family in the car,” he says as he shakes off his hat. “I nearly slipped off the road twice.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it safely. Is your family here?”
“My wife and daughter are waiting in the car. I like to get the first impression of a place without any distractions. I take my work very seriously.”
“Then we’re going to get along just fine,” I say with a big smile. “I’m the same way. You’ll be staying in the stunning Aspen Suite with your wife and daughter. I think you’ll find it impeccable.”
He huffs out a breath. “Let’s hope so.”
“Our Greene Mountain Lodge is nothing but the best in luxury accommodations.”
“This is it!” Mrs. Carter screeches as she comes marching over with the hair between her fingers. “This is the hair I found in my bed!”
Mr. Reynolds raises his eyebrow as he turns to me.
Oh shit! Not now!
I forgot all about her.
“Explain this!” Mrs. Carter says as she places the short brown hair on the counter between us. Mr. Reynolds is right beside her, staring at it too.
Damn it! I can see the May cover of The Luxury Traveller Magazine now—Avoid Greene Mountain Lodge Unless You Like Little Brown Hairs In Your Bed.
We’ll get a one-star review. I’ll be fired for sure.
“Again,” I say with the most sympathetic smile I can muster. “You have my most sincere apologies. I’ll have housekeeping change the bed immediately.”
“That’s not good enough!” she snaps. “I’m practically traumatized.”
Oh, give me a break.
This woman was annoying enough to deal with on her own, but now she’s making us look horrible in front of Mikey Reynolds.
Every challenge is an opportunity to display your professionalism and patience.
Maybe this is a good thing. Mikey will be able to see how well we handle frustrated guests. Maybe he’ll be so impressed that he’ll mention me by name in the article—Receptionist extraordinaire, Lauren Hurst, is the epitome of a professional employee who will take care of your every need.
“I want a full refund!”
Mikey Reynolds is definitely watching. In fact, he’s pulling out his phone and recording the interaction.
I swallow hard as I face this entitled bitch.
“I can offer you a complimentary dinner in our five-star restaurant.” I turn to his recording phone and smile. “The menu was developed by famous Michelin chef, Roberto Aguilar. I recommend the crab cakes for a delicious appetizer. You’ll love it.”
“I’m over here!” she snaps as she smacks the counter. “Am I going to find a hair in my dinner too?”
Oh my, God! This lady!!
I look at Tina and Tiffany for help, but they’re both completely focused on their screens, which is strange since the freaking screensavers are on!
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves which are starting to fray at the edges. I’d like to take this woman by her frizzy hair and throw her out of the damn lodge!
“Excuse me,” Mikey says to her. “Where did you find that hair?”
“In my bed!” she screeches. “Isn’t that horrific?”
He’s nodding. No! Why is he nodding? Why is he even talking to her?!
“Maybe Tina here can take you to your room and settle this while I serve Mr. Reynolds,” I say as I look at Tina with wide eyes and a clenched jaw. She ignores me. I kick the bottom of her seat. “Tina?”
“I’m kind of busy here,” she says as she pretends to work. “Plus, you’re doing a bang-up job.”
“Were there any other disappointments to your stay?” Mikey asks her.
“Yes!” Mrs. Carter says. Oh crap. She’s going into it, giving him a whole laundry list of complaints from toilet paper not being folded to the carpet in the lobby being wet.
“Um!” Mikey says with big round eyes as he looks over my shoulder. “Fire!”
Oh shit! I smell the smoke as soon as I turn around.
The mittens! Nooooooo!!! Fuck!
Flames lick up the wall and spread to the curtain. The whole thing goes up with a whoosh like it was dipped in gasoline before it was shipped from the factory.
“Where’s the fire extinguisher?!” I shout as Tina and Tiffany both watch.
“Do we have one of those?” Tina says, being zero help at all as usual!
I grab my glass of water and run over. The flames have spread to the other curtain now. I throw my water on it, but it does nothing. No! Part of the burning curtain falls to the floor and the carpet catches on fire too!
NO!!! I’m going to burn the whole place down!
