02 Avalanche Pass Read Online Free PDF Page B

one-ninety, one-ninety-five, two hundred. There you go, sir.”
    She glanced up quickly, smiling. Too quickly for the middle-aged man on the other side of the counter. His eyes were still fastened on the swell of her breasts against the silk blouse she was wearing. Her smile went down to freezing point. There were times when working the reception desk at the Canyon Lodge was a real pain in the ass. She was glad she didn’t have to do it often—only in times like these when the rostered girl was down with the flu and the hotel was a little shorthanded.
    The customer was gathering his bills together as she whisked the four fifty-dollar traveler’s checks into the cash drawer.
    “Thanks,” he mumbled, knowing he’d been caught. She felt herself wishing that at least he might have had the guts to keep looking after she’d caught him. At least that might have shown some strength of character.
    “You’re welcome,” she replied evenly. But her eyes told him he wasn’t. Not now. Not ever. Not in his wildest dreams.
    Stuffing the bills in his wallet, he shambled away from the desk. She glanced after him for a second or two: overweight, balding and tending to sweat. And firmly convinced that he was God’s gift to womankind. She tried to picture him naked but the result was just too ludicrous, too unpleasant to entertain. She laughed shortly.
    “Excuse me, miss…”
    Now he was different. Tall and rangy looking, with high cheekbones, a thin face and a prominent, aquiline nose. The eyes were avery dark brown and there was a hint of humor lurking somewhere behind them. Hair just a little bit too long, and just a little untidy. The jaw was strong and clean-shaven. She guessed his age around the late thirties. He was tanned and definitely not overweight. Wide shouldered and slim hipped, he would have been a classic light heavyweight build if he’d been a boxer, she thought, remembering a former boyfriend from her time in the Marines. A physical fitness and unarmed combat instructor, he’d gauged everyone by the weight division they would have fought if they’d been a boxer.
    “Yes, Mr.… ?” She let the word hang there as a question. The man smiled and she liked him even more. The lines around his eyes and mouth crinkled, seeming to accentuate and point to the deep brown eyes. Tina had always liked brown eyes.
    “Parker,” he was saying, in reply to her question. He continued. “I’ll be checking out in the morning.”
    “Yes, sir. Most of our guests will be doing the same,” she told him and saw one eyebrow raise in a question mark.
    “Is that so? Nothing wrong, is there?” She smiled reassuringly. A professional smile that she allowed just a little personal interest to creep into.
    “Not at all. It’s just the way we operate here. Most of the guests come on a week-long package, Sunday to Saturday. We have Saturday as the checkout day and a new group checks in the following day. That way we reduce the congestion at the desk. It also gives us a good break to clean and service the rooms.”
    He shrugged. “Sounds logical,” he said.
    Her smile widened and he grinned slightly in return, sensing her genuine friendliness.
    Having a pretty girl smile at you could go a long way toward chasing away the blues he thought, and took a closer look at the girl behind the desk. Late twenties or early thirties, he guessed, with honey blond hair cut short. He had an almost overwhelming temptation to reach forward and run his fingers through it. Slim, with a good figure, but athletic looking and well muscled, she stood around five seven, he’d guess. Her features and complexion were flawless, which he put down to a life spent in the clear mountain air. Thewide-set deep brown eyes reflected the same sense of humor that was present in the curve of her full mouth. He thought briefly of Lee, back in Routt County, and felt a small twinge of guilt.
    “Believe me, it is,” the girl was saying, following on from his comment.