Thursday morning, Tessa sat on her porch swing in the early morning chill, waiting for Josiah to pick her up for their trip into the mountains.

Gloria had stayed until Sunday morning, then hurriedly left her, having already forgotten about the handsome repairman from Friday night. Tessa hadn't forgotten him. She had played the entire episode repeatedly in her mind, wondering how she would be able to face Josiah the following week. Her sister had been obnoxiously hitting on him, and then, instead of being angry or insulted, he complimented Tessa in an attempt to make her feel better before he left.

Tessa had never desired a man before. No man had ever made her heart stop with his words or blaze a trail of fire where his fingers touched her. It was all new for her, and it was also scary and concerning. Josiah had made it very clear that he didn't have relationships or affairs with staff, and she was staff. These were feelings she should not be having about her boss.

Whatever she did, she couldn't let him know that he affected her.

Monday morning had rolled around, and her worry had intensified when she received an email from Josiah asking her for a Tuesday lunch meeting at the hotel. She had agreed, then stewed for another day until she had seen him arrive at the hotel. He flirted with all the women who were working on his way to her office, and Tessa had a sudden moment of clarity watching him. He was a flirt. He loved women, and he loved to compliment them. It came as naturally to him as breathing, which meant that Saturday night's interaction had been nothing more than words to make her feel better, and she should not read too much into them.

After her realization, she was able to greet him calmly when he arrived at her office and even teased him a little about the female staff getting the wrong idea.

Josiah had only grinned and said he couldn't help himself, then allowed Tessa to lead him to their table, where he told her that Tuesday's lunch meetings would be a standing date on their calendar so she could catch him up on everything regarding the hotel.

He asked after Becky, then updated her on his conversation with Levi about potentially opening a local emergency clinic. They needed to research it, especially the liability aspect, but it was intriguing.

Tessa was pleased to have been heard and taken seriously and offered to help in any way she could, including research if necessary.

The conversation continued with the staff serving them as they discussed little details. She told him about the faucets and asked him to please give her the contractor's name so she could make sure he corrected the mistake.

"I have to say, I'm glad that one landed on your desk and not mine," he said before his perfect teeth bit into his pasta dish.

"Why is that?" Tessa asked, reaching for her iced tea.

"I went out a few times with the contractor's daughter, and it didn't end well." Josiah had a little smile, which let Tessa know he wasn't overly concerned by the situation.

"You broke that poor girl's heart, didn't you?" Tess lifted her eyebrow, trying to joke about it, but she couldn't help but feel a little compassion for the woman, whoever she was.

"A few dates does not a romance make," Josiah denied.

Tessa gave an impatient sigh at his words. "You underestimate a woman's ability to plan an entire lifetime with a man after one date."

"An entire lifetime?" Josiah asked, pausing mid-bite.

"Yes, even down to the children's names," Tessa whispered as if she were sharing a state secret and enjoying herself a little.

"Yikes, have you ever done that?" He leaned back in his chair, watching her intently. It was a look that made Tessa feel a little uncomfortable. It was almost as if he was asking her about her love life, and she hated to admit that she had never really had one.

Tessa gave a small smile. "Sadly, no. I've never met anyone who's inspired the urge to nest." Tessa couldn't help the thought that Josiah might be the man who could make that happen if she let him.

"The urge to nest?" Josiah frowned.

"Didn't your mother teach you about any of this?" Tessa asked with a confused frown of her own.

"No." It was a short, curt answer that let her know that all had not been well with Josiah and his mother. "But we got off track, didn't we?"

Then they started talking about business again, and shortly after that he left, with a brief word to dress in work clothes and boots for Thursday's trip.

Tessa didn't have work clothes and boots, so she called Rita to ask where she could get the proper clothing. Rita seemed surprised that Josiah was taking her to the cabins without anyone else.

Exactly why Rita was concerned about her and Josiah traveling alone was a question she would have to ask Josiah when she got a chance.

Tessa debated going inside to wait for Josiah because she was cold when she saw his truck turn down her street. He pulled up in front of her house and stayed in the truck while Tessa threw her bag in the back before climbing into the front seat.

The truck cab smelled like him, and she inhaled deeply, then gave a little shiver as she pulled on her seat belt. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this cold." Tessa said trying to cover her reaction.

"Good morning to you, too," Josiah greeted as she turned on the seat heater for her.

Tessa smiled at him as he drove the truck and started down the street. "Where are you're boots?" he asked looking at her sneaker clad feet.

"The store didn't have any in my size," she said defensively, remembering the embarrassing moment when all of the employees had joined in the search for a pair that was supposed to be in inventory but wasn't.  How far to the first cabin?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I thought we would go to the furthest and work our way back down the mountain. There's a risk of bad weather, but it's slight. If it hits, I would rather be closer to town than not.

"What do you mean by bad weather? Snow?" Tessa asked, unable to keep a touch of excitement out of her voice.

He looked over at her, amused. "Yes, snow."

Tessa couldn't help but feel childlike glee at the thought. "We don't get much snow where I'm from. I think I've only seen a light dusting of it once or twice."

"This snow would be more than a dusting. I put extra supplies in the truck just in case."

"But you said it was only a slight chance, right?" She wasn't sure if she was concerned or not. Snow sounded fun, but being trapped somewhere for days with only Josiah didn't.

"Don't worry. If you stay here long enough, you'll see plenty of snow. It took Trinity a few seasons to get the hang of it, but she did. Now she's a pro," Josiah soothed.

Tessa did not find his comment soothing for more than one reason.

"What if we get trapped? Is that why Rita was concerned that only the two of us were going?" Tessa frowned. Surely, Rita would be concerned even if there were more of them going in that case.

"No, I think Rita's concern comes from the fact that when people find out that we went into the mountains alone they will start to make up stories about us having an affair." Josiah shook his head.

"About us?" Tessa asked, calming her heart which had started racing at the idea of he and Josiah having an affair. "Unlikely." She shook her head in denial.

"Why is that unlikely?" Josiah asked thoughtfully, his eyes glued to the road.

"Look at you and then look at me!" Tessa blushed as soon as the words left her mouth. "I mean, I'm not the femme fatale type. I get why people would think I would go for a man like you, but no one would ever believe that you would go for a woman like me." Stop, her mind yelled at her.

Josiah didn't respond to her comment, which made it more awkward. Tessa, of course, took it as agreement, and her blush deepened.

"You underestimate a small town's love for gossip." Josiah shook his head. "Trinity only traveled with both me and Levi, or one of us and Rita." Josiah looked at her from the corner of his eye. "That would be my preference for this trip as well, but neither Trinity nor Levi is up to traveling, and Rita would have a hard time with the trip since she recently had surgery. I thought about someone else, but most of the other people we could have brought with us would have been a hindrance."

And he's not worried about rumors starting about us because I'm not the type he would go for, Tessa thought to herself.

"We really need to get these cabins open, and it's already late in the season," he continued.

Tessa jumped on it to escape the awkward conversation she had unintentionally landed them in.

"So, what's our end goal?" Tessa watched Josiah's tense shoulder relax a bit at her question.

"We primarily check the buildings' safety. We check the roof, windows, turn on the water and gas, and ensure no critters live in them."

"Critters?" Tessa asked with a gulp. "I don't do critters, that wasn't in the job description." She shook her head.

"Sure it was. It was under, and 'other duties as assigned'." Josiah shook his head when she crossed her arms defensively and clenched her jaw, ready to fight it. "Don't worry, I'm on critter duty."

"Yes, you are." She agreed, then they lapsed into silence as she let her mind wander into a lovely daydream where Josiah flirted with her like he did every other woman who came into his orbit, and the whole town talked about nothing but them.