“What in the ever-loving hell are you talking about, Lila? Just because his stage name is Easy, it doesn’t mean he’ll roll over for any woman he happens to be around, right? Otherwise, you’d have had him in the janitor’s closet by now, I expect.”
Lila gaped at her. “Don’t be catty, Nell. I’m just saying you’re lucky, that’s all. And that if I were in your shoes, I’d be packing condoms with the rest of my shit tonight.” Giggling, Lila turned to leave.
“Wait. Easy Yarrow? I assumed it was Baxter. Tommy’s his uncle.”
“Dunno. His HR file says Yarrow.”
Nell tried not to let her surprise show on her face. Lila went snooping in Eamonn’s HR file? She hadn’t figured Lila would have the computer skills to get into a restricted part of the database. “What else did you learn?”
Lila giggled again. “Oh, his birthday, his age, where he lives, how much he’s being paid.”
“Pretty sure I can find out that stuff by asking him, Lila.”
“Enjoy your trip. Aidan told me one time that Champagne Cascades is a pretty freaking romantic place.”
“Do you want me to sleep with Eamonn?” Nell asked, puzzled. “I thought you were crushing on him.”
“Oh, I am, who wouldn’t be? But you need to get laid, sunshine. And I think he could do the job just fine. Besides, I’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Well, all that’s pretty… ah… enlightening,” said Eamonn from the doorway, where he’d obviously caught at least the last little bit of their exchange.
Lila turned bright red, muttered, “We were just joking around,” and scuttled out of Nell’s office.
Eamonn stepped into the office and closed the door. “Uncle Tommy tells me we’re going on a road trip.”
“Door open, please,” Nell ordered, using her no-nonsense instructor voice. It was way too intimate with the door closed. And she didn’t get involved with co-workers.
“Why?” he asked. “I’m not going to do anything to you. Like you said, we’re at the office. We’re just talking.”
“I just… it just feels weirdly private.” Nell shrugged, not wanting to make too big a deal of it. “Whatever.”
With a thoughtful look, Eamonn turned and cracked the door so it stood open a few inches. “Better?” The look on his face said he was humoring her. Bastard.
“Oh, sure, an inch or two makes so much difference.”
Eamonn burst out laughing. “I’m told my extra inches make a pretty nice difference.” Nell fixed him with a murderous gaze, and he raised his hands to ward off her anger. “Hey, hey, I’m just winding you up. Tell me about this road trip.”
Nell sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to Champagne Cascades before — I only got assigned the property the day before you started. And I’ve always done site visits alone and left my assistant in the office. But Tommy wants me to take you with me.”
“He says it’s a long drive, through mountains and shit.”
“And he thinks I’m a little lady who can’t take care of myself without a man’s protection. Screw that!” Nell couldn’t keep the scowl off her face. Tommy’s antiquated attitude toward women always enraged her.
“Simmer down. I know you can take care of yourself. Black belt, I think you said? I was on the ground and in pain at the time, so… you made your point.”
Nell, who never blushed, felt her cheeks getting hot. “So maybe I overreacted. I thought you were planning on stepping up from harassment to assault, though, and — adrenaline took over. Muscle memory and training. I didn’t think, I just… acted.”
“Dude. I never thought — I was just flirting — I’d never rape anyone!”
“You think an unwanted grope is just flirting?”
“No. Fuck me, I — all the time I was playing with Smidge, girls were practically lining up to have a go with me in the bathrooms. Like, where else can you do it at a bar? And they wanted to say they’d screwed a rock star. I just lived up to my name.” Easy.
Nell shook her head. “So you assumed I’d be into it too. Yeah, no.”
“Sorry,” Eamonn muttered.
“Forgiven. Just remember that any time you get that close to a woman who’s not actively saying yes, there’s a strong chance she’s wondering if you’re planning to rape her. Let’s move on.”
He looked a bit stunned. “I, ah, never thought of it like that.” When she gave him a prompting look, he nodded. “Sure, moving on. You were saying you haven’t been to Champagne Cascades before?”
“That’s right. From Google Maps, it looks pretty remote, up toward the Canadian border on the other side of Wenatchee National Park. The nearest town is called Winthrop. It’ll be upwards of a four-hour drive, so we’ll have to leave really early.” She pulled the map up on her computer and angled the screen so he could see it. The blue line of the recommended route followed a scooping curve, taking I-90 across the narrowest part of the mountains and then US-97 up through Wenatchee on the other side, until they’d get to smaller local roads after Brewster.
“Just how early are you talking about?”
Four hours. Need to be there for checkout at ten. “You’re not a fan of mornings, are you? We’re going to have to be on the road by six.”
“Oh, that’s ugly. I don’t function before ten. How come we don’t head out now and sleep there tonight?” Eamonn asked.
Nell blinked. She hadn’t even thought of it. “I haven’t packed. And even if we left in less than an hour, we’d be driving ’til at least nine, later if we stop anywhere.”
He shrugged. “Just an idea. Your call.”
“I’m not a fan of night driving, especially in the mountains,” she admitted. She never liked to have her weaknesses brought to light, but she’d been a city dweller all her life and her experience was more tied to public transit than rural highways.
Eamonn reached
