RONAN (The Wolf Hotel)

“What is that smell?” Connor murmurs, stepping through the front door.

“You.” We just finished playing Frisbee tag with Connor’s league and we’re drenched with sweat.

“No, man. That’s food smell.” He inhales deeply. “It smells fucking delicious!”

He’s right. Our condo smells like someone’s been baking.

A rack of muffins sits in the middle of the island, still warm from the oven. A note next to it reads, “Eat better.”

“Has hell frozen over?” Connor asks, confusion over his face.

“They must be laced with arsenic.” I glance down the hall. Ryan’s door is closed but the light peeks through the crack. She must have come home from class and baked them right away.

“That or ex-lax.”

“She has to share a bathroom with me though, remember.”

“Fair point. Definitely arsenic, then.” We stare at the pan of muffins for another ten seconds.

“Fuck it. I’ve led a good life.” Connor takes one and shoves it into his mouth. A deep frown furrows his brow as he moans and gives the thumbs-up.

We each polish off three before we part ways. I head straight for the bathroom, intent on taking that long, hot shower I didn’t get this morning.

I can see the hint of bare feet standing on the other side of Ryan’s door.

~ ~ ~ ~

I’ve just stepped out of the Wolf employee restroom, my pants barely done up, when Connor grabs my arm and starts tugging me down the hall. “Come on.”

“Fuck. I get it! You’re hungry! Relax already.” I jerk my arm from his grip.

“Baker just found out that his mother has cancer.”

“That sucks. And?” Not to be insensitive, but I don’t know the guy.

“He’s bailing on Alaska. So you’re taking his spot.”

“What?”

“Just keep paying rent on your room here and you’ll have it back when we come home.”

“But—”

“Dude, trust me. This is gonna be a summer you never forget. I heard this is a big gamble that Wolf is taking, opening a seasonal hotel up there. No one thinks he can pull it off. Do you know what that means?”

“No?”

Connor pauses his mad dash down the hall to meet my gaze. “It means he’s going to bring up the hottest fucking chicks you’ve ever seen in your life to work there. He’s all about image. Hottest chicks in cabins, all summer long. And us.”

“Okay, you’re beginning to sell this idea to me. But I doubt they’re going to let me and Baker swap. I just got here. Life just doesn’t work like that.”

Connor grins. “Wanna bet?”

~ ~  ~ ~

Ryan is at the counter when we step through the door, helping one of the Housekeeping staff, a polite smile touching her lips. It’s not exactly genuine, but it’s nice to see all the same. I was beginning to think her lips couldn’t curve upward.

Her hazel eyes flicker to us. They rest on me for a long moment before shifting back to the girl in front of her.

“Jean! Hey, Jean! Where are you?” Connor whisper-hisses, leaning over the counter.

Ryan shoots her brother a dirty look but doesn’t say anything as her coworker appears from around the cubicle partition.

“Thank God you’re here. We need your help.”

Jean tucks her hair behind her ear. “With what?”

“Baker’s not going to Alaska. Ronan’s going to take his place.”

“Oh? Okay?” Her onyx eyes flicker between the two of us.

“We need you to make that happen.”

Surprise lifts her brows. “I don’t have anything to do with Alaska recruitment. I don’t even know who—”

“You must know someone, though. Come on! You’re the outdoor staff coordinator! You’re our one contact for in here, and Alaska is taking two of us from you. You must know who to talk to.”

“I don’t, really…?” Her small, round face scrunches up with apology.

“Try Belinda Cartwright,” Ryan cuts in, pulled into the conversation despite the housekeeper in front of her. “She’s the general manager for Alaska and she’s in Miami right now, down in one of the conference rooms. Try the Pacific room.”

Connor slaps the counter. “Beautiful. Thanks, sis. Come on, Ronan. Let’s get you to Alaska.”

I shrug at Ryan. “You really want me out, don’t you?” She’d get an entire condo to herself for the summer.

“So, you’re not completely clueless after all.” She adjusts her glasses and continues to stare at me. The look on her face is unreadable.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Why didn’t you apply during the process?”

It’s a struggle not to look down at the soft mounds peeking out of her silky white blouse. The general manager of Wolf Alaska—a fucking gorgeous blonde who made my blood start racing just watching her stroll toward us in her red stilettos—has managed to make her suit look both professional and slutty at the same time. “I was in a different point in my life at the time.”

She folds her arms over her chest, a knowing smirk touching her lips. “And now?”

“Now I’d really like the opportunity to go to Alaska.” Am I even saying these words?

“It’s an easy swap,” Connor adds.

Her sharp eyes size him up behind a pair of designer black-rimmed glasses. “Yes, you’ve already said that. And you just started in Miami when?”

“Last Friday,” I admit reluctantly.

“You’d be leaving the team short-staffed.”

“They would have been short-staffed anyway if Baker had left.”

Her painted lips twist in thought, and I find myself staring at them, wondering what they’d look like wrapped around my—

“What’s your name again?”

“Ronan Lyle.”

She unlocks her phone and begins typing out an e-mail. “Well, Ronan Lyle, assuming you have a good work record—”

“I do.”

“Well then, I don’t see there being a problem with this. Though, I don’t normally get involved at this level of hiring. But, since you two hunted me down….”

I can’t help but note the absence of a wedding ring or the way she keeps sizing us up. “So, will HR give me the okay or—”

“I’m giving you the okay. The job is yours. I’ll handle them. You’ll get an information package by the end of the day and then you can book your ticket. You know it won’t be cheap, this close to travel dates, right?”

“I’ll make it work.” For what they’re paying up there and the money I’ll be saving, not going to clubs, it will all even out.

“You are awesome, Belinda.” Connor gives her his thousand-watt smile.

All he gets back is another long, intimidating gaze. “Shouldn’t you two be working right now?”

“Lunch break.”

“Hmm. Well, I doubt you’re supposed to be roaming the conference area in your construction boots. Okay, then. I’m sure I’ll see you two in Alaska.”

Connor and I watch her stalk away, her heels clicking loudly and hips swaying suggestively with each step, like she knows the two of us are standing here, gawking at her.

“Did she just make your dick hard?” Connor whispers.

“Like a flag pole. Holy hell, how is she a general manager?”

“You kidding? Henry Wolf handpicked her.”

“Of course.” Rich bastard. I’ve never met the guy but I’ve heard enough. The one time he came to the Wolf in Indianapolis, the female staff wouldn’t shut up about how attractive he was. I’m sure Belinda will be taking care of more than just his hotel for him.

“So, we’re golden. See? Told you I’d make this happen.”

“Yeah.” I’m going to Alaska. Like, next weekend.

Connor pats his stomach. “Now I need food before I pass out.”

~ ~ ~ ~

It’s after ten by the time Ryan walks through the door, throwing her backpack onto the floor with a thud. She looks exhausted.

And miserable. Like she’s fighting the urge to cry.

“You’re gonna have this place all to yourself for five months!” Connor bellows, oblivious to her mood. Or trying to cheer her up. I’m not sure that Connor is as obtuse as he plays at being.

Ryan’s gaze drifts over the laptop on the coffee table, to the cans of beer in our hands, and finally to me. “I take it you got the job?”

“Looks like it.” I got the welcome package two hours ago. For whatever else Belinda might be, she’s definitely on top of things.

“Yeah, we just booked our flights. We leave next Saturday.”

“You two gonna share a bed up there, too?” Ryan mutters, wandering over to the fridge. I expected some more excitement from her than she’s showing. She hasn’t hidden the fact that she doesn’t want me here.

“Depends how many girls are in it with us.”

Her face twists up. “Gross, Connor.”

He climbs off the couch and carries the empties over to the waiting case. Living with this guy is going to turn me into an alcoholic. “No it’s not. You need to get back to your Greek roots.”

“I have no Greek roots. Neither do you.”

He shrugs. “Live a little.”

“That’s your solution to every problem, isn’t it? Get laid?”

“Hasn’t failed me yet.” He lets out a belch. “I’m crashing. See you guys tomorrow.” With that, he vanishes into his bedroom.

I watch quietly as she rifles through her food, pulling out glass containers. Moving her things to the bottom shelf was a brilliant move on my part. It makes her bend over further, giving me a better view of that round ass, especially when she’s wearing leggings, and she wears those a lot. She’s got solid, muscular thighs. Not skinny, but proportionate to the rest of her. The only part of her that isn’t proportionate is her waist, which is extremely small. It works well on her though, making her breasts—I’d put them at a C—stand out and her hips all the more provocative.

Abruptly, she turns and catches me ogling her.

I’m slow in averting my gaze, not really caring if she knows I’m checking her out. “So, how are you doing today?”

“How do you think?” She sighs, tossing a bag of carrots onto the counter. “He sits two rows over and she comes in to visit him all the time. Walks right past my desk, too. Doesn’t even bother to go another way. And then everyone notices. I can feel them watching me to see how I’m going to react.”

“That sucks.”

I catch a hint of a sheen in her eyes but she blinks rapidly until it clears away. “It really does.”

“I guess they have those office dating rules for a reason.”

“Those are for managers and subordinates. I don’t report in to David.” She bites down hard on a raw carrot.

“Still… it’d be a lot easier if he didn’t work in your office.”

“I’m never dating anyone from work again, ever. It’s like high school—people gossiping about how David cheated on me, and how I had no clue. Don’t people grow out of that?”

I ease off the couch. “No, they don’t. They get worse as their lives get more boring. And sitting in those cubicles all day has got to be pretty fucking boring. They can’t keep their mouths shut.”

She rolls her eyes. “Please. This coming from the guy who told everyone he messed around with not one but three women last Friday night? Yeah, that’s right. I heard about it.” There’s no missing the disgust on her face.

“I didn’t tell anyone about anything. Thank your brother for that.”

“So your big ego doesn’t need stroking like my brother’s?”

“My big ego is not what needs stroking.” Her hazel eyes flash to me and I smirk. She walked right into that. “But I never talk about it. It’s none of anyone’s business who I’m with or what I do with them.”

“Unless they’re misfortunate enough to share a wall with you,” she says dryly.

“Hey, you questioned my skill. I had to prove you wrong.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Fine. I was drunk. It wasn’t one of my finer moments,” I concede.

“So that was all an act for me? How sweet.”

I’m not going to be able to convince her otherwise. And I’m tired. “Don’t worry, your ex and front desk girl won’t last long. I give them a month.”

I say it to give her some hope—that it won’t be thrown in her face every day for too much longer—but the crestfallen look says I haven’t helped much.

“Glad he threw away a year and a half with me for something meaningless.”

“I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”

“It’s okay.” There’s a long pause. “So, what do I do now? How do I stop feeling like such a fool?” She peers up at me, a rare vulnerable look on her fresh, pretty face, her rich, hazel eyes begging for an answer.

Her mouth isn’t very wide, but her lips are plump. Lipstick free. Soft looking. What would they feel like wrapped around me? What would they look like, parted as she moans? What would she do if I leaned down and kissed them right now? I haven’t kissed anyone besides Tasha in over four years. I haven’t felt any urge to.

Until now.

Too bad Ryan can only barely tolerate me. Maybe that’s why I feel this sudden, overwhelming urge to take her. To conquer her.

I finish off my beer and dump the empty into the case. “Your brother was right. Find someone to fuck until the pain dulls or you get back together.”

“Is that what you’re doing?”

“Trying.” I smile. “But I think I need someone who can at least tell their right from their left.” Maybe I’ll hit up that lioness server at Sin. If they let me back in, that is.

Her eyes drift to my mouth before averting quickly. “Good luck with your search. Maybe you’ll find her in Alaska.”

“Maybe.” Just a stone’s throw away, as Connor promises. Easy. Not as easy as it would be to have Ryan, just on the other side of my wall. “Too bad my roommate is such a shrew. Maybe I wouldn’t have to go so far.”

Her cheeks flush. “I don’t even like you.”

I lean over the island. “Then why can’t you stop watching me?”

“I can…. I mean, I don’t….” She stumbles over her words, completely disarmed.

I grin. The exact reaction I was going for. “You don’t have to like me to enjoy it. In fact, it’s better that you don’t. ’Night.”

I feel her eyes boring into my back all the way down the hall.

~ ~ ~ ~

It’s still dark when I wake. Checking the clock—2:00 a.m.—I roll onto my back with a groan, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room. It’s too bright for my liking, thanks to the shitty curtains that don’t block the street lights beyond.

A figure stands beside my bed.

“Jesus.” I jolt at the surprise. It takes me a moment to calm my racing heart. “Ryan?”

She doesn’t answer, simply standing over me, her arms dangling at her side, her long hair down, framing a tortured face. Her oversized white T-shirt billows over her body, hiding her curves, reaching down to midthigh. Without her glasses, I can see the pretty almond shape of her eyes.

“You’re here to kill me, aren’t you,” I say, half jokingly, although a part of me wonders. Maybe I shouldn’t have taunted her so much. “What’s wrong?”

She swallows. “Did you mean what you said?”

I sigh. “About?”

Her gaze slowly drifts over my bare chest and downward, to where my sheet covers my lower half.

Holy shit.

Am I dreaming?

I covertly pinch myself. Nope, awake. Wide awake.

The way she’s standing there, so vulnerable, staring at my body… my blood starts pumping. I’m going to be hard in about twenty seconds. “Okay, the shower was one thing. But this is hitting below the belt.”

“It’s not a prank.” Her gaze lifts to meet my face, letting me see a lustful heat in her eyes for the first time. She really isn’t kidding.

Seriously, is this happening? Is this a test? Because I’ll fail miserably. “You can’t come in here like this and expect me to be the decent guy and turn you away.” If I weren’t still groggy, I’d probably already have her on her back.

She reaches down to tug at my cover. It slides to my thighs, leaving me exposed. Her lips part with the softest sigh at the sight of my dick hardening in front of her. “You promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“I won’t tell anyone.” But, fuck me… this is Connor’s sister. What will he do if he finds out?

I can’t do this. I just….

Ryan seizes the hem of her T-shirt and lifts it up, over her head, letting it fall to the ground.