I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “Why not? If she’s got office skills, we could use her.”
“Wouldn’t it complicate things, seeing as you’ve already bedded her and moved on?” Nix added.
I got the sense they were teaming up on me, and they likely were. As Sage’s best friend, Nix would feel protective of her, and Parker would back him. The Hutchinson family always had each others’ backs.
“I can keep things professional,” I scowled.
Besides, who said I’d moved on? Sure, I’d tried to, but I hadn’t felt that pull of attraction, and I’d lost interest. I’d spent the last several weeks focusing on the resort and my family, not random conquests at the bar.
I hadn’t let myself think too hard about why that was, though, and I wasn’t about to admit that to the guys.
Chapter Four
Nellie
* * *
“I heard the resort is looking for a full-time office administrator.”
My ears perked up at that piece of information as I strolled arm in arm with Sage along the downtown core of Hartwood Creek. It was the twenty-third of December, and I had one more day to find gifts for everyone on my list.
I’d put off shopping, first because I hadn’t been feeling the greatest and it was all I could do to make it to work every day, then because I’d needed to process the earth-shattering revelation of impending motherhood and figure out my next steps. This last week, I’d been far too consumed with quitting my job and moving to worry about Christmas. But time was running out.
My shopping list was rather small. I had already gotten Sage a present months ago, and now I was on the hunt for a gift for Daphne and a host gift for Sage’s aunt and uncle. It’d been kind of them to extend an invitation for me to join them for Christmas dinner, so I didn’t want to turn up empty-handed.
I also wanted to buy a present for Parker and Tabitha, as a thank you for letting me live in their bachelor apartment without having to put down a deposit, as well gifts for their three kids, because buying gifts for kids was my favourite thing ever.
Sage still needed to get a couple of gifts, too, so we’d decided to spend the afternoon shopping. Nix was hanging out with Daphne, and we had plans to meet up later in the evening for dinner at The Hungry Hub and take a horsedrawn carriage ride through the snowy streets after. Nix insisted it was an experience we had to have for our first Christmas in Hartwood Creek.
I’d be having my first Christmas in Hartwood Creek the same time as Sage and Daphne. It felt like they’d lived here for years, even though they’d moved at the end of August. Still, it felt like a lifetime ago that Sage and Daphne had left Guelph—and me.
“Oh really?” I murmured, my eyes going to a mom-and-pop toy shop down the street that looked like a good candidate for the kids’ gifts I needed to purchase.
“Yeah, Nix mentioned it this morning. You should send in your resume,” Sage nudged me gently with her elbow.
“I’ve never really done office work before,” I wrinkled my nose. My last several years of work experience had been at the café. I knew how to manage staff, run the café, and do up schedules, but that was the extent of my experience.
“I’m sure it’s not that hard. You answer phone calls, book reservations, and I think do some light laundry. Linens and stuff.”
“Where is this resort?”
“North of town. Whimsical Woods Resort,” Sage said carefully.
“Wait…Whimsical Woods…as in Noah’s family’s resort?” I asked, whirling to stare at my friend.
“How’d you know his family owned it?”
“We did some talking that night,” I replied, my cheeks heating at the dubious expression on her face. “Okay, maybe I stalked him a little after, but whatever. I’m not working for his family’s resort, Sage. That’s a bad idea.”
“Or it’s a fantastic idea,” Sage arched her brow at me.
I glared at her, shaking my head. “I don’t even know if he’s the…you know.” I whispered this last part, not wanting anyone on the street to overhear me, even though nobody was paying us any attention.
“It’s not like you have to tell him anything about that,” Sage waved away my concern with her free hand.
“I think he’d notice over time. It’d be so awkward having to work for him,” I shook my head again. “It can’t happen. It’s not going to happen. The last thing I need is more…entanglement with him.”
I thought about how he’d looked at me the other night when we’d run into each other in the grocery store—with hungry appreciation and unveiled longing.
