A Colorado Match. Deb Kastner

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      “Simple. Let me help you. This process is going to go a lot easier for both of us if you step back and allow me to do my work.”

      He stared at her a moment more before speaking. The expression on his face didn’t change, but the sudden spark in his eyes let her know something was afoot.

      “Okay,” he said at last.

      “Okay?” she repeated, completely in shock. After the scene yesterday, she hadn’t really expected him to give in so easily. Or give in at all, really. He’d seemed too stubborn to go down without a fight. And now he was conceding?

      “Sure.” His gaze narrowed as he smiled, or smirked, more like. Something was definitely afoot in Vince’s mind, and Melanie knew she wasn’t going to like whatever it was. “I have some paperwork to do in the back office. Because I’m short on help today, you can cover the front desk for me.”

      “What?” she said, tempering her voice so it didn’t become tight and shrill.

      The man was thoroughly exasperating. His eyes retained that amused spark, and the left corner of his lip completely betrayed him when it twitched upward oh so slightly. He was acting remarkably smug.

      Did he think he’d won this round?

      Well, then, he’d better just think again. She knew what he was up to. She arched her brow, her mind racing. Due to the restrictions laid on him by his family, he couldn’t turn her away outright.

      But if she quit on her own? That would be an entirely different proposition now, wouldn’t it?

      He was trying to annoy her on purpose—which would only work if she reacted as he expected her to do. It was, she realized, going to be a remarkably simple thing to turn the tables on him.

      “All right, I’ll do it,” she said, smothering a smile. He wanted to play? She was all in.

      He stared at her, looking unconvinced. His smug little smirk turned into a cute little frown, furrowing his brow under the top rim of his glasses.

      “Really,” she assured him as she stood and walked to the door to the front office. She opened it, gesturing for him to enter before her. “I’m guessing the front desk could use some of my organizational finesse. It’s as good a place to start as anywhere. Once you see my work, I know you’ll change your mind about me.”

      Vince shook his head and then nodded, looking a little bit dazed. Then, without a word, he pulled himself to his feet with his crutches and hobbled past her. He looked back only when he’d reached his office door.

      “I’m warning you. You’re going to get bored. Fast. There’s really nothing to this job but waiting on the guests if they have questions or need extra towels. This time of day it’s usually deathly quiet around here.”

      “I’m glad to hear it,” she answered. “Quiet is good. It will give you the chance to sit down and rest that leg of yours, and for me to get some work done.”

      Vince frowned. “This isn’t going to matter, you know. It’s only a matter of time before you realize your efforts are futile.”

      “Let me be the judge of that,” she said, twirling her finger to indicate he should turn back toward his office. “Now. You. Go. Sit.”

      Vince couldn’t argue with Melanie. He didn’t really want to argue with her, when it clearly wasn’t going to make a bit of difference. He sat down in his comfortable black leather office chair, resting his head back and pressing over his eyes with his palms. He was getting a tremendous headache, but as he had told Melanie, he had a lot of paperwork to do. With a tired sigh, he leaned forward, opened a ledger and then, for a good ten minutes, rhythmically tapped a pencil against the smooth oak of his desktop.

      At this rate he would accomplish nothing. She was already disrupting his routine, and she really hadn’t even started meddling yet. How was it going to be when she was standing over his shoulder, analyzing his business practices and criticizing his every move?

      He closed his eyes, willing himself to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him. If he could just center his thoughts, he might be able to get something constructive finished; but that wasn’t likely to happen, especially because he could hear Melanie bustling about the front desk.

      He couldn’t imagine what she was finding to do that was making so much noise. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Using his desk for leverage, he propped himself up and shuffled out to the front office. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to walking with the crutches, and he knew he must look ridiculously awkward and inept.

      Heat rushed to his face, and he frowned. He wasn’t usually so self-conscious. It wasn’t like him at all. These new, confusing feelings had arrived along with Melanie, and he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

      Melanie whirled about when she heard him, and for just the slightest moment, her breathtaking copper-colored eyes were wide and blinking, as if he’d caught her in some kind of mischief. It was enough to cause him to hesitate momentarily.

      But the startled look was gone, replaced by the self-possessed demeanor he’d already started associating with her personality. Maybe he was imagining things.

      “Ta-da!” she announced, sweeping her hand to indicate the front desk area.

      “Wow,” Vince said, giving a low whistle as his gaze swept across the newly cleaned and organized desk. Every scrap of paper was neatly stacked, the date books were perfectly arranged and opened on the counter and the whole room smelled like some kind of lemon-scented furniture polish.

      He hadn’t realized how messy he’d let the outer office become until he saw how much of a difference Melanie had made with it. Had the guests seen the same thing? Was he truly that disorganized?

      Melanie reached for a tin that held a dozen pencils and pulled them out for his inspection. “See? I even sharpened the pencils for you.”

      “You really didn’t need to do that,” he said gruffly, shaking his head.

      “Yes, I did,” she countered. “I know this project wasn’t your idea, and I know you don’t want me here. Frankly, that knowledge doesn’t exactly make me want to jump for joy at being here either. But if you think you’re going to somehow coerce me into quitting, think again. I’ve got a major promotion riding on this assignment, and I’m not about to lose it because the two of us can’t work together. You’d better get used to me being around because I’m here for the duration.”

      “Are you sure?” he prodded.

      She frowned and propped her hands on her hips. “You aren’t going to give me an inch, are you?”

      He wasn’t. Or at least he thought he wasn’t.

      He knew the moment he’d lost the battle, which was the second their gazes met. Her nose wrinkled, making the smattering of freckles dance on her cheeks. He couldn’t keep his gaze away from them.

      “Well?” she demanded when he didn’t immediately answer her. She sounded a little put out. Probably because he really wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying.

      Those freckles…

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