LITMIR.BIZ

      To my daughter Sarah—a gift for

       which I will always be grateful

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

One

Two

Three

       Four

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

One

      Sean Ryan’s dreams were of hot beaches, ten-foot waves and ice-cold beer.

      His reality was just ice-cold.

      January in Wyoming was just...wrong, he told himself. A California guy had no business standing knee-deep in snow. And if he’d had a choice, Sean wouldn’t have been there at all.

      But it was his turn to change a run-down hotel into a role-playing fantasy based on one of his company’s bestselling video games. “Why I couldn’t have gotten a damn hotel in Tahiti is a good question, though.”

      But then, Celtic Knot video games were all based on ancient legends, and as far as Sean knew, there were no legendary Celtic tales set around a beach in Tahiti. Too damn bad.

      A tall man, with thick black hair that hung past the collar of the brown leather jacket he wore over sweaters, Sean tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gave a quick look around. The great room of the old hotel was gigantic and echoed with the sound of his footsteps every time his scarred brown boots hit the wooden floor. There were enough windows in the room to make the snow-covered outside feel like the inside. Double-paned glass kept most of the cold out, but even then, so much glass was enough to chill the cavernous room.

      The place wasn’t huge, only a hundred and fifty rooms, yet it gave the feeling of more. Probably all the wood and glass, Sean told himself. He could see how the hotel would be once the renovations were complete. And God knew there would be plenty of those. Every room needed to be freshened, brought up-to-date and then stocked with gaming systems and flat-screen televisions. They’d get their artists in to do the murals on the walls, bringing the “Forest Run” video game to life and making this a prime destination for gamers from around the country.

      And, he had to admit, the setting was perfect to mimic “Forest Run.” The hotel sat on two hundred acres of land, with forests, meadows and a wide, beautiful lake. But he couldn’t imagine people wanting to come to the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter when everything was covered in snow. Who the hell would pick snow over sand?

      Not him, that was for sure. But he had to hope that there were plenty of gamers who actually enjoyed freezing temperatures. As for Sean, he couldn’t wait to get back to Southern California. Shaking his head, Sean reminded himself that this trip was almost over. He’d been in Wyoming a week and now that all of the “consultations” with his contractor were finished, he’d be hopping into his company jet that afternoon and getting back to the real world. To his life.

      Turning his back on the view, Sean glanced toward the ceiling at the sound of footsteps overhead. Instantly, a buzz of awareness shot through him. Scowling, he deliberately pushed aside the feeling, buried it deeply enough that he wouldn’t have to acknowledge it.

      Nope. When he left, Sean wouldn’t miss the cold. Or the solitude, he assured himself. But the woman...that was

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