Sarah Morgan - Snow Crystal Trilogy

“Book me in.” Smiling, Kayla scribbled romantic getaway on her pad. “And the rest of the accommodation?”

He talked, describing the resort and the changes he’d made.

She thought about the articles she’d read in the middle of the night when sleep had eluded her. A talented skier, he’d started a company for people like himself. The words used to describe him had included focused , ruthless and visionary , and his success with Snowdrift Leisure suggested they were accurate.

Kayla thought about the image of him plunging into a snow gully on skis.

Distracted by the image in her head, she rose to her feet and paced to the window. “I have a few more questions—what do you see as your main offering, Mr. O’Neil?” Apart from killer blue eyes and a hot sexy body .

“We offer the usual range of winter sports, together with skating on the lake and horse-drawn sleigh rides.” He pushed a brochure across the table toward her. “Despite the addition of the spa and the cabins, we’re losing money. Our occupancy rate is under forty percent. the only part of the business currently in profit is our restaurant.”

“Your strategy with Snowdrift was to target the high end of the market. Your clients were cash rich and time poor so you did everything for them apart from take the vacation yourself.” She paused, thinking. “Who do you see as your main target audience? Families? Couples? Lone travelers? Adventure seekers?” Christmas escapees?

The corners of his mouth flickered. “At the moment it’s anyone we can drag through the doors, but it’s definitely a good place for families. We had fun growing up at Snow Crystal. Now we want to offer that same opportunity to our guests.”

“How does your family feel about you bringing in an outside agency to work with you?”

“Unconvinced.”

“You’re confident you can persuade them to accept our recommendations?”

“It’s your job to persuade them. Can you do it?”

“Of course she can. Kayla is the best there is,” Brett drawled. “She’ll have them eating out of her hand after five minutes. No worries.”

“That’s good, because eating is something of a family pastime.” Jackson’s gaze was fixed on Kayla. “I’ve come to you because you’re reputed to be the best. It’s essential that you can engage my family in whatever recommendations you make.”

“Understood.” Kayla sat back down and wrote herself a note on her pad. “It’s always important to obtain buy-in from the whole management team.”

“It’s going to be a challenge.”

Brett smiled. “ Challenge is Kayla’s favourite breakfast dish, along with a side of difficult marinated in the impossible . Isn’t that right, Kayla?”

She wished Brett would shut up. “Who do you see as the most important person to influence?”

“My grandfather.” He didn’t hesitate. “He was born on Snow Crystal, lived and worked there all his life. He’d still like to be the one running the show. He resents the fact that he isn’t.”

And you resent the fact he won’t let you get on with it , Kayla thought.

“So he doesn’t leave you to run it yourself?”

“My grandfather lives and breathes the place. You know how it is with family.”

Something twisted deep in her gut.

No, she didn’t know how it was with family. She had no idea.

Kayla forced a smile. “So you’d like me to fly up there and meet them?”

“I want more than that. In order to persuade my grandfather to entertain the idea of taking on outside help, I’ve told them you’ll spend some time with us. Show that you understand our business.”

The fact that he’d done that without checking her schedule confirmed her suspicion that Jackson O’Neil was a man who hadn’t often heard the word no .

She kept her smile firmly in place. “That sounds like an excellent suggestion.”

“I want you to come for a week.”

A week!

Even Brett was shaken out of his customary cool. “Jackson—”

A week?

“You’ll spend quality time soaking up all that Snow Crystal has to offer.”

It was a test of commitment.

Those blue eyes were deceptive, Kayla thought, and dangerous. On the surface Jackson O’Neil seemed civil and approachable, but he was a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to go for it. She had a feeling he used those eyes to lull his prey into a stupor before he pounced.

“A week could be difficult.”

“But you feast on difficult , isn’t that right?” He strangled her objections with the rope provided by Brett. “You’ll find a way. Naturally I’ll pay for your time.”

Kayla could virtually see dollar signs tracking across Brett’s eyeballs.

Her boss relaxed. “In that case, no worries.”

She resisted the temptation to leap across the desk and squeeze Brett’s throat until the words no worries never left his lips again.

She tried to work out how she was going to find a week in her packed schedule when even peeing required forward planning. A day would have put her in a cold sweat, but a week?

Trying to find a response that didn’t include the words, find me a time machine and I’ll find you a week , she opened her mouth to attempt to negotiate for an overnight stay in the new year, and then an idea formed in her brain.

“Did you say those luxury log cabins were secluded?”

“Yes.”

“So secluded,” she said casually, “that when a person is staying there, they could be the only human being on the planet?”

Blue eyes locked on hers. “The only thing a guest in the cabin will see as they’re lying in the hot tub is local wildlife. White-tailed deer, raccoons, moose—the occasional black bear, although they’re denning at this time of year so that’s unlikely.”

“Denning?”

“They’re not true hibernators, but they den during the winter months.”

Kayla decided that given the choice between an encounter with Santa or a black bear, she’d take the bear. And as for the rest of it—presumably the local wildlife wouldn’t be banging on her door expecting her to celebrate Christmas. “You mentioned a log fire—”

“The cabins are luxurious.”

She tilted her head to one side, mesmerized by the image in her head. Her mood lifted and this time her smile was genuine. “I agree it’s important that I experience everything Snow Crystal has to offer. A week sounds reasonable. If there is a cabin free over the holidays, I’ll come.”

“The holidays?” Dark brows rose. “You mean Christmas?”

“If I’m going to feast on difficult—” she flashed a smile at Brett “—I like it served with cranberry sauce. Your grandfather needs evidence of my dedication…hopefully this will suffice. What better time for me to gain a feel for the charms of Snow Crystal? It will put me in a unique position to develop an integrated marketing plan that will make you stand out from the crowd.” And it would also put her in a unique position to avoid the one time of year she hated more than any other.

Thank you, God .

A secluded log cabin and a business run by a family who would resent her presence at this time of year and undoubtedly leave her alone.

Perfect. Or it would be, if Jackson O’Neil would stop looking at her.

It was unsettling, and not just because he was spectacularly good-looking. Thick, dark lashes shielded eyes that saw far too much.

“Don’t you have plans for the holidays?”

Yes. Her plan was to avoid the whole thing. To find a way of spending the holidays in a Santa-free zone. She was following the example of the black bear, which was clearly a highly evolved species.