Goodbye Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A 'HOT' Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Book 5) (14 page)

“Yeah,” she said with a giggle. “We owe him a punch in the nose.”

Dylan kissed her on the tip of her nose and laughed. “Already took care of it, darling.”

Dylan would have been happy kissing and laughing all day, but it didn’t take a genius to see that Carmen was falling asleep on her feet, and she needed to get some sleep. He walked her back to her apartment, and reluctant to be away from her, tucked her into bed and curled up behind her, pulling her close.

She snuggled into him, a perfect fit.

“Dylan?”

“I’m here.”

“It’s time to say goodbye,” she mumbled. “I know you have work to do.”

He shook his head even though she couldn’t see him and inhaled the sweet smell of her shampoo that lingered in her hair. “I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he said. “I want to spend every minute with you. Even if you’re sleeping.”

She shifted and turned in his arms so she was looking at him. “But what about later? I mean, you can’t stay here forever. You have a resort to run and I…” She trailed off and wouldn’t look at him.

Dylan tilted her chin up. “I know your career is here,” he said. “And I wouldn’t dream of trying to take that away from you. And I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we’ll make it work. I care about you too much, not to make every effort to…”

Her lips turned up into a mischievous smile.

“What?” Dylan asked.

“I was just wondering,” she said slowly. “I know you said you weren’t trying to recruit me for the Springs, but maybe…I mean, if I suddenly found myself unemployed and looking for a change…would there maybe be a position for me there?”

Dylan didn’t even try to hide the smile that spread across his face. The distance between them had been the one detail he couldn’t work out, and he’d never dream of taking her career away from her. It was part of what made Carmen so strong and so special.

“What are you saying?” He tried to hide the hope behind his words.

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “I resigned my position at the Lodge last night,” she said. “At the time, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next. I just knew I needed a change. It’s time. But now…I think working at the Springs might be just the challenge I’m looking for.”

“Oh, yeah?” He couldn’t help but tease her a little. “And the fact that I’m going to be there has nothing to do with your sudden change of heart?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It may have factored in to the decision-making process slightly.”

“Well, since you need a job—“

Carmen swatted at him playfully and dropped her head down next to his on the pillow. He couldn’t have contained his smile if he’d tried. He picked up a few strands of her silky hair and let them slide between his fingers. “I don’t know,” he said, keeping his voice light, “but I think we might just be able to work something out. I know the owners.”

If you enjoyed Goodbye Gifts, you’ll probably like the next in the series,
Tempting Gifts.
The steamy version is available now. Check out an excerpt, right after a note from the author.

Thank you so much for taking a chance on Goodbye Gifts. I absolutely believe the mountains are a magical place and they hold a very special place in my heart. The love continues at Castle Mountain Lodge with
Tempting Gifts,
the next in the series. Enjoy an excerpt after this note.

If you want to know about my new releases and other special deals, you can sign up for my newsletter list
here.

I offer discount prices for my fans, so you’ll want to make sure you’re subscribed, PLUS you’ll get a free copy of the exclusive short story, Fingers Crossed!

If you enjoyed Goodbye Gifts, please share it with a friend. And if leaving reviews is your thing and you want to make sure others discover Castle Mountain Lodge, I’d really appreciate it if you took a moment to leave a review
here.

And if you do, make sure to send an email to
[email protected]
with a link to the review and we’ll be sure to add you to a list of advanced copy reviewers.

Finally, as well as falling in love at the Lodge, my new spin off series, The Springs is also now available. I know you’ll enjoy these stories that are so much more than just love stories, but also stories of friendship and growth. Right now you can download it for
FREE
!

Read Tempting Gifts, the next in the Castle Mountain Lodge Series,
NOW!

Also by Elena Aitken

Castle Mountain Lodge Series (Steamy Versions)
Unexpected Gifts

Hidden Gifts

Mistaken Gifts

Secret Gifts

Goodbye Gifts Tempting Gifts

Summer of Change
—FREE

Falling Into Forever

Winter’s Burn

Midnight Springs

Second Glances

She’s Making a List-Holiday Novella

Nothing Stays In Vegas

Drawing Free

Sugar Crash

Composing Myself

Betty and Veronica

Halfway to Nowhere

The Escape Collection

Read the first chapter of Tempting Gifts, the much anticipated sixth Castle Mountain Lodge Book!

Available NOW!

Lisa Gibbs wiped a smear of blue finger paint off her cheek and then, before the little girl who sat at the miniature table across from her could squirm away, used the cloth to clean most of the paint off her smiling face. She couldn’t do anything about the paint that had found its way into her hair, but it would wash out. Besides, a messy child after arts and crafts was almost always a happy child. And if her parents didn’t like it when they came to pick her up from the Cub Club, well, that was too bad.

“Why don’t you go play, Emily?” Lisa suggested. “I’ll put your painting on the rack to dry and you can take it with you when you leave.”

The little girl nodded. “It’s for my mommy. I love her the mostest.”

Lisa felt the familiar pinch of jealousy. Which was ridiculous because she didn’t even know the little girl’s mother. But it didn’t matter. She didn’t need to know the woman to envy her. Whoever she was, she had a beautiful little girl, and Lisa could guess she also had a husband who doted on her. The perfect family. Just like all the families who visited Castle Mountain Lodge.

Lisa watched Emily join a group of children building Lego before she cleaned up the painting supplies and returned them to the supply cupboard. She loved her job. Loved working with the children. It was their parents she had trouble with. They were all so damn perfect and happy and…the complete opposite from anything she’d ever had, or likely ever would.

The bells on the door chimed, alerting her to the arrival of a new guest. Instinctively, Lisa looked for Morgan. Her boss—and friend—was in the middle of reading a story to a small group who hung off her every word. Morgan waved at Lisa to handle the visitor and she nodded her response. Lisa grabbed the registration clipboard and turned around.

When she saw the man in front of her, tall and filling out his T-shirt with muscles that looked to be earned by many hard hours in the gym, Lisa momentarily forgot what to say. She’d certainly never seen him before. But that wasn’t unusual at the Lodge. Guests were always coming and going, bringing their kids in and out of the child care center.

“Welcome to the Cub Club,” she said. She gave him a bright friendly smile. “What can I help you with?” He didn’t have a child with him, which was unusual. “Are you picking up your child?” She scanned the list, trying to figure out who he might be picking up. “Because I’ll have to see some ID before we release them to you.”

“Oh no. I’m not here to pick anyone up.” She raised her eyebrows at his choice of words; he tipped his head briefly and gave her a strange look before he added, “I’m just wondering how this works here.” He gestured around the room.

“Well, usually you have a child to register in the program.” If he was some creeper who was just trying to figure out a way to be close to the kids, there was no way he’d be getting past her. The fact that he looked as if he could pick her up and throw her over his shoulder hardly seemed like an important detail. She forced a smile and tried to be as friendly as possible until she could figure out what he was after. “This is a club for kids, but if you’re looking for something to do at the Lodge, I could direct you in the right direction. We have a wide variety of activities for our older guests as well, sir.” She put her clipboard down and looked at him pointedly.

“Oh no.” A smile crossed his face and he laughed as he realized what she was implying. “It’s not like that at all.”

Lisa’s instincts were to believe him. Despite his broad chest and thick arms, he didn’t look like the threatening type. In fact, he looked like the type of guy she would normally be attracted to. Very attracted. But that was before. Things were different now and a man, even one as attractive as the one who stood in front of her, was not on her agenda. “Well, how is it then, sir?”

“Jason,” he said. “My name’s Jason. And I actually am wondering about the Cub Club. Not for myself obviously,” he added quickly.

The man crossed his arms over his chest, which drew more attention to them as far as Lisa was concerned. She tried not to stare at his defined muscles.

“Obviously.” She looked directly into his big green eyes. “That would be weird.”

He chuckled and nodded. “That it would. But don’t worry, I’m not some kind of crazy. I actually need to register Kayden .”

“Kayden? That’s a nice name.”

“Yeah. His mom named him after his grandfather.” There was a time, not too long ago, when Lisa would’ve inquired further about Kayden, his mom, and whether his extremely good-looking and charismatic father was a single father and potentially in need of a date. But that was before she almost lost everything she’d worked for at the Lodge because of her tendency to flirt, and well, more than flirt, with guests. After the Gage Mitchell incident, when she took her attraction to the movie star who was staying at the Lodge a little too far, she was lucky she still had a job at all. And there was no way she was going to make that mistake again. Things had changed. She had changed.

She glanced up from her clipboard where she’d started writing. “Okay.” She returned her attention to the clipboard with the professional detachment she’d perfected since the
incident
. “We can get your son registered without a problem. How many days will you be visiting us at Castle Mountain?”

She held the pen poised in her hand and waited for his response. When he didn’t say anything, she looked up. “Sir? How many days?”

“It’s Jason,” he said finally. Amusement laced his voice. “Remember?”

“I remember.” She returned his smile. He was so disarming, she couldn’t help how her body responded to him. “How many days would you like to register for, Jason?” She emphasized his name this time. “Basically, how it works is every day we plan different activities for the children so they can enjoy some fun, kid time, and you and um…Kayden’s mom…”She tilted her head with the implied question that she knew she had no business asking and tried to tell herself that she didn’t care what the answer was. When Jason only shrugged in response, she continued. “Well, then the two of you are free to enjoy some of the activities at the Lodge that aren’t quite so child friendly, and everyone has a good time.”

“Sounds good,” Jason said. “I’ll sign him up for the day after tomorrow.”

“Great. You said your son’s name was Kayden?” Lisa scribbled down the date next to his name.

“Oh, he’s not my son.”

His words caught her and she looked up and took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Your stepson then?”

Jason chuckled. Apparently he found her funny. “I never said he belonged to me. Kayden’s actually my nephew. My sister’s still checking in so I thought I’d come down and take care of things for her.”

A flush passed over Lisa’s face. She really shouldn’t jump to conclusions. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just assumed. But we generally only get parents coming into the Cub Club. It was an easy mistake.”

“And do you flirt with all the parents?”

“I wasn’t flirting.” Lisa thrust her shoulders back and crossed her arms, because the last thing she was doing or intended to do was flirt.

“Oh, really?” He grinned.

She wanted to be irritated by his grin, but it only made him more attractive and that was way too dangerous. “Absolutely not.” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes into a glare.

“Well,” he said with an easy smile, “if you were, I’d be flattered.”

Damn it.
He
flirted with
her
.

She bit her bottom lip a little and forced any and all thoughts that were even remotely inappropriate from her head. She wasn’t going to go down that road again. Not even for a man who looked like Jason. She shook her head firmly. “Sorry to disappoint, but I was just doing my job. I am definitely not interested.” She emphasized the words so there’d be no further misunderstanding. And by the transformation on his face, Lisa was pretty sure he got the point. A part of her, especially the part that thought he was a nice guy, felt bad.

“If you say so.”

“It’s not that—”

“Hey, whatever you say.” He tucked his hand in his back pocket, a move so effortlessly casual, it made Lisa’s stomach flip in a way that both annoyed and excited her. “So, what else do we need to get Kayden registered?”

Lisa swallowed hard; for some unknown reason, she felt the need to explain. “Look, it’s not you; it’s just that I kind of make it a point not to date guests.” She searched his face for an indication that he wasn’t still upset with her, and she couldn’t help but wonder why she cared at all. He was just a guest. He’d be gone in a few days, and as long as she behaved, she’d still have her job. It wasn’t like her to care about what anyone thought, let alone some random guy she’d just met. But there was something about Jason. “Seriously. If it wasn’t for that, I would totally be flirting with you.”
Why on earth did she just say that?
Lisa bit the end of her pen to keep from talking any more.