Jo McNally - A Man You Can Trust

“G’morning, Cassie! Once you get settled, stop in, okay?”

Ugh. No employee wanted to be called into the boss’s office first thing on a Monday.

Blake Randall managed not only this resort from Gallant Lake, but half a dozen others around the world. It hadn’t taken long for Cassie to understand that Blake was one of those rare—at least in her world—men who wore their honor like a mantle. He took pride in protecting the people he cared for. Tall, with a swath of black hair that was constantly falling across his forehead, the man was ridiculously good-looking. His wife, Amanda, really hit the jackpot with this guy, and he adored her and their children.

Blake was all business in the office, though. Focused and driven, he’d intimidated the daylights out of Cassie at first. Amanda teasingly called him Tall, Dark and Broody, and the nickname fit. But Cassie had come to appreciate his steady leadership. He had high expectations, and he frowned on drama in the workplace.

He’d offered her a job at the resort’s front desk when she first arrived in Gallant Lake. It was a charity job—a favor to Cathy—and Cassie knew it. It took only one irate male guest venting at her during check-in for everyone to realize she wasn’t ready to be working with an unpredictable public. She’d frozen like a deer in headlights. Once she moved up here to the private offices, she’d found her footing and had impressed Blake with her problem-solving skills. Because Blake hated problems.

She tossed her purse into the bottom drawer of her desk and checked her computer quickly to make sure there weren’t any urgent issues to deal with. Then she made herself a cup of hot tea, loaded it with sugar and poured Blake a mug of black coffee before heading into his office.

He looked up from behind his massive desk and gave her a quick nod of thanks as she set his coffee down in front of him. Everyone knew to stay out of Blake’s way until they saw a cup of coffee in his hand. He was well-known for not being a morning person. He took a sip and sighed.

“I was ready to book a flight to Barbados after hearing about the wedding disaster down there this weekend, but then I heard that apparently I —” he emphasized the one-letter word with air quotes “—already resolved everything by flying some photographer in to take wedding photos yesterday, along with discounting some rooms. Not at our resort, but at a competitor . I hear I’m quite the hero to the bride’s mother, but I’ll be damned if I remember doing any of it.”

Blake’s dark brows furrowed as he studied her over the rim of his coffee cup, but she could see a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. The tension in her shoulders eased. Despite his tone, he wasn’t really angry.

“The manager called Saturday looking for you,” she explained. “Monique was in a panic, so I made a few calls. The bride’s mother used the son of a ‘dear family friend’ to organize the wedding, instead of using our concierge service. The idiot didn’t book the rooms until the last minute, and we didn’t have enough available, which he neglected to mention to the bride’s mom. Then he booked the photographer for the wrong date.” She smiled at the look of horror on Blake’s face. “We’re talking wrong by a full month. It was quite a melodrama—none of which was our fault—but the bride is some internet fashion icon with half a million followers on Instagram. So we found rooms at the neighboring resort for the guests we couldn’t handle, and convinced the wedding party to get back into their gowns and tuxes for a full photo shoot the day after the wedding, which was the fastest we could get the photographer there. Mom’s happy. Bride’s happy. Social media is flooded with great photos and stories with the resort as a backdrop. I assumed you’d approve.”

Blake chuckled. “Approve? It was freaking brilliant, Cassie. That kind of problem-solving is more along the lines of a VP than an executive assistant. You should have an office of your own.”

She still wasn’t used to receiving compliments, and her cheeks warmed. When she’d first arrived, she’d barely been able to handle answering calls and emails, always afraid of doing something wrong, of disappointing someone. But as the months went by, she’d started to polish her rusty professional skills and found she was pretty good at getting things done, especially over the phone. Face-to-face confrontation was a different story.

This wasn’t the first time Blake had mentioned a promotion, but she wasn’t ready. Oh, she was plenty qualified, with a bachelor’s degree in business admin. But if things went bad back in Milwaukee, she’d have to change her name again and vanish, so it didn’t make sense to put down roots anywhere. She let Blake’s comment hang in the air without responding. He finally shook his head.

“Fine. Keep whatever job title you want, but I need your help with something.”

Cassie frowned when Blake hesitated. “What is it?”

“You know I hired a new director of security.” Cassie nodded. She was going to miss Ken Taylor, who was retiring to the Carolinas with his wife, Dianne. Ken had taken the job on a temporary basis after Blake’s last security guy left for a job in Boston. Ken was soft-spoken and kind, and he looked like Mr. Rogers, right down to the cardigan sweaters. He was aware of Cassie’s situation, and he’d made every effort to make sure she felt safe here, including arranging her reserved parking space.

“Nick West starts today. I’d like you to work with him.”

“Me? Why?” Cassie blurted the words without thinking. She laughed nervously. “I don’t know anything about security!”

But she knew all about needing security.

Blake held up his hand. “Relax. I’m not putting you on the security team. He’ll need help with putting data together and learning our processes. I need someone I can trust to make sure he has a smooth transition.”

“So...I’m going to be his executive assistant instead of yours?” Her palms went clammy at the thought of working for a stranger.

“First, we’ve already established you’re a hell of a lot more than my EA. And this is just temporary, to help him get settled in the office.” Blake drained his coffee mug and set it down with a thunk, not noticing the way Cassie flinched at the sound. “He’s a good guy. Talented. Educated. He’s got a master’s in criminal justice, and he was literally a hero cop in LA—recognized by the mayor, the whole deal.”

A shiver traced its way down Cassie’s spine. Her ex had been a “hero cop,” too. Blake’s next words barely registered.

“I’m a little worried about him making the shift from the hustle of LA to quiet Gallant Lake, but he says he’s looking for a change of pace. His thesis was on predictive policing—using data to spot trouble before it reaches a critical point.” That explained why Blake hired the guy. Blake was all about preventing problems before they happened. He did not like surprises. “It’ll be interesting to see how he applies that to facility security. His approach requires a ton of data to build predictive models, and that’s where you come in. You create reports faster than anyone else here.”

Cassie loved crunching numbers and analyzing results. She started to relax. If Blake wanted her to do some research for the new guy, she could handle that.

“I also want you to mentor him a bit, help him get acclimated.”

“Meaning...?”

“Amanda and I are headed to Vegas this week for that conference and a little vacation time. Nick’s going to need someone to show him around, make introductions and answer any questions that come up. He just got to town this weekend, and he doesn’t know anyone or anything in Gallant Lake.”