Sighing quietly, she carefully made her way out of the bed and threw on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. They had been together almost every minute for the last two days, and right now, she needed a little time to herself.
Sliding her sneakers on, she grabbed her jacket and slipped out of the cabin. For a moment, she stood on the porch and wondered where she should go and ultimately decided to head down toward the lake. The air was so crisp that she could see her breath floating right in front of her. She’d never been out this early and she’d certainly never been out in nature at this time of day.
Following the path, she shivered even as she marveled at what she was seeing. The morning mist was clinging to the trees, slowly lifting to reveal a crystal-clear lake that mirrored the surrounding peaks. In the distance, she could hear what sounded like the faint sound of a waterfall tumbling over rocks, and the occasional call of a loon or the rustle of deer moving through the woods.
When she stepped out onto the dock, she was practically speechless. “Wow.” It was beautiful, so perfect it almost didn’t seem real. She’d spent her entire life living in Manhattan surrounded by skyscrapers, so this was all new to her.
Yesterday, when Axel had asked questions about her life, she had completely panicked. Telling him that her family did the usual stuff—the beach, Disney, nothing major—while technically true, was still an understatement.
The beach? They owned houses in Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Montauk.
Disney? They owned a house in a gated community owned by Disney and only went to the parks with VIP guides so they wouldn’t have to wait on lines.
And the nothing major? It wasn’t unusual for them to go to France, Switzerland, or Australia at least once a year.
But admitting all of that to a man who essentially grew up with nothing just felt wrong.
Most people would hear that about her life and think she was living the dream but the reality was far from it.
At some point, she was going to have to tell him the truth about herself, but…not yet. Right now, this was a beautiful break from her miserable life.
“Pfft…yeah. Poor little rich girl,” she mumbled. “No one’s going to have sympathy for you.”
And until recently, she was fine with that. She was fine with being the introverted child of Dominique and Alexander Quinnland. Her paternal great-grandfather had made a fortune designing race cars, and the family had transitioned into luxury cars in later years. Her maternal grandfather had been a software designer back in the 1980s and created a security program that is now loaded on every computer in the world. Between the two families, they were beyond rich. Everyone had invested in different areas, and the wealth just kept building.
Technically, Maisie knew she didn’t have to work. She wouldn’t be the first heiress to simply live off of her family’s money. But that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to do something with her life, something that fed her creative side and made her feel like there was more to her than her last name.
Well, her real last name. The name she’d used professionally was to keep her identity as her own. Most of her clients before this falling out with her parents had been family acquaintances. Now that she was trying to branch out on her own, she didn’t want anyone to associate her with the famous Quinnland name.
It was messy and complicated, and she longed for a quiet, normal life.
“That’s never going to happen.”
Marrying someone she despised wasn’t part of the plan either.
With this commission at the Lakeview Harbor Resort, Maisie was on her way to getting the upper hand with her parents. She was playing by their rules and living so far out of her comfort zone that it was almost comical. For weeks she’d been struggling, but then she showed up here, and staying in a tiny cabin and eating very basic food suddenly didn’t seem so bad.
Although she had a feeling some of that had to do with the sexy man she was essentially living with. She wasn’t looking forward to leaving. It would be wrong to wish that the tree crews were too tied up cleaning up around town so they couldn’t make it all the way out here to clear the roads, but that’s exactly what she was wishing.
“Selfish much?”
Axel told her he was in no rush for the roads to open either. He didn’t need to go into town for anything, and they were fine on food for at least another three to four days. Was it too much to ask for them to have that time to themselves?
Once the roads were clear, there wouldn’t be a reason for her to stay, and he mentioned that his business partners would be returning soon too. And as much as she was enjoying this carefree time with Axel, she wouldn’t feel comfortable staying with him once the other guys came back. It would just be weird.
And unprofessional.
The last thing she wanted was a reputation for sleeping with her clients because that was a crappy way for her to start her business.
She might not care what her family thought, but when it came to this sort of thing, she kind of did. She knew they’d use that as an excuse to completely discount the work she’d accomplished and force her into a loveless marriage.
Bryce.
Ick.
Like serious, serious ick.
He was a total kiss-ass to her father, and he just reminded her of the kind of man who couldn’t be trusted, like the kind who’d have a mistress even before the wedding. And even though it wouldn’t bother her because she certainly didn’t want to sleep with him, it was still gross. Was it too much to ask for her parents to love her enough to at least find a man who was decent? Kind? Someone who would love her and be faithful? Was it so wrong to want her own happily ever after with a good man?
