Forever Flint

“My trip packet clearly states that Sam Carmody, the director of marketing for Paradise Outdoors, who is also in charge of this expedition, will meet my plane at the airport,” Ashlinn insisted.

“Carmody is in the hospital in traction for the next three weeks. Skateboard accident. The idiot,” Flint muttered under his breath before he could catch himself.

“You’re not very sympathetic. Three weeks in traction sounds awful.”

“I’ve been trying to be sympathetic since I got the bad news last night. But all I can think of is that any thirty-two-year-old man who tries to skateboard down the front steps of the high school is an idiot.” Flint grimaced. “I’m only a year older than he is, and I wouldn’t dream of going near a skateboard. Especially one day before the camping trip that’s been his own pet project from the start.”

“To be perfectly honest, I think I’d rather be in traction myself than to go to a place called the Badlands. I mean, the name itself says it all, doesn’t it? What can be good about going there?” Ashlinn smiled for the first time. “Since the trip is canceled, I’ll just book a flight back to New York and...”

“The trip is still on. The other four guys have already arrived and are raring to go. I’m the new leader of the pack, so to speak.”

Flint dragged his eyes away from her, a defensive move on his part because her smile had affected him tangibly, like a blow upside the head. He felt queerly disoriented.

Flint was appalled. And bewildered. First, the sight of her set his body on fire, then her smile literally dazed him. What was going on here? he wondered with a consternation mingled with alarm. He had never been the emotional type, succumbing to the impulses of a hot and instant physical attraction. He was a thinker, a planner, rational and controlled.

The last tune he’d been goaded into acting on impulse. . .

Flint frowned, remembering last year’s folly when his twin brother, Rafe, had persuaded him to pick up a blond businesswoman in a downtown hotel coffee shop. Within an hour, he had been back in his office, without ever laying a hand—or anything else—on the woman. He’d recognized that it was Rafe’s ribbing, not his own attraction to the blonde that had prompted his actions, and swiftly ended the impetuous date.

But Rafe hadn’t chided him about the lack of women in his life for months In fact, Rafe was so absorbed in his new marriage that Flint doubted that he even noticed his twin’s lack of a social life. No, he couldn’t blame his inconvenient impulses toward Ashlinn Carey on his brother.

Flint’s frown deepened. “Anyway, we’re not going to the Badlands, we’re going to the Black Hills. Since you’ve obviously not done your homework for this assignment, let me clue you in—they’re two different places.”

“Oh.” Ashlinn’s face flushed. “I. . . I was only recently given this assignment.”

“Sure” Flint made it clear that he didn’t believe her Great, just great. In addition to everything else, she was a slacker. As a devout workaholic, he couldn’t abide such behavior.

Ashlinn was looking none too pleased herself.

“Four other guys are taking this trip?” she asked succinctly. “I’m supposed to spend two weeks on an all-male adventure into the wild?”

Flint shrugged. “We took it for granted this trip was for men only. What woman reads a magazine like Tour & Travel? So why would they even have women writers on the staff?”

“Have you ever read Tour & Travel?” demanded Ashlinn. “Most of it is geared toward professional women who enjoy interesting weekend getaways and vacations to charming little places where. . .”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same magazine? Carmody showed me a copy, and it was geared toward—well, guys like Carmody.”

“Thirty-two-year-old idiots who skateboard with teenagers,” Ashlinn said darkly.

“Men who are free from domestic responsibilities and have a penchant for adventure and challenge,” Flint found himself lapsing into the marketing-speak of Carmody himself. “And who also have plenty of disposable income to spend on the specialty items that Paradise Outdoors sells.”

“And that would be skateboards and other toys for the alleged adult male?” Ashlinn inquired sarcastically.

“Let’s stick to your magazine and its focus—whatever that is,” countered Flint. “For starters, redefine what you mean by ‘charming.’ Because if it involves things like running water and gourmet dinners and shopping, none of those were in last month’s issue of Tour & Travel.”

“Oh no, last month’s issue!” Ashlinn heaved a groan. “I’d actually managed to forget about it. Or maybe it’s simply pure denial. That issue was the first one to come out under the. . .new publisher. He’s changed the entire format, the entire concept of the magazine. Everything is different now.”

“I see. Sort of.” Flint gazed quizzically at her. “That still doesn’t explain why the magazine sent you out here. I can’t imagine that Carmody wasn’t clear about this being an all-male excursion.”

“Well, I guess the ‘Asher’ could have been a typo. But I’m becoming more and more convinced that he—Presley Oakes Jr., the new publisher of T & T—did this on purpose.” Ashlinn’s deep-brown eyes flashed fire. “It would be exactly like him to pull a stunt like this, first assigning me to write an article, then making it about a testosterone-fueled trip into some godforsaken wilderness.”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you don’t much care for your new boss,” Flint said dryly.

She drew a sharp breath. “I was a senior editor at the magazine until Junior’s father bought it and turned it over to him. Do you know what it’s like to work for a boss who’s just celebrated his twenty-third birthday?”

“Twenty-three, huh?” Flint wondered what response she was expecting. Weren’t women notoriously touchy about their age? He cleared his throat. “Er, I guess that makes him younger than you?”

“Duh!”

“I was trying to be tactful,” Flint defended himself.

“You needn’t bother. I’m not ashamed of my age, which is five years older than Junior. Five pivotal, crucial years!”

“I’m guessing things got off to a rocky start when Junior took the helm,” Flint surmised. “So he’s making a senior editor write about a camping trip, and to top it off, he sends a female to go with a bunch of guys. Yeah, things are beginning to fall into place now.” Flint nodded his head knowingly. “Too bad Paradise Outdoors got dragged into Junior’s scheme to get rid of you. Wait until I talk to Carmody! He should’ve picked up on the. . .”

“There is no scheme to get rid of me!” cried Ashlinn.

“No?” Flint arched his brows. “If you’re so secure in your position, then why didn’t you refuse this assignment? It doesn’t sound like you were very enthused about it, even before you got here and found out it was men only.”

“That’s not true, I. . .”

“Shall I quote yourself to you? ‘The Badlands, the name itself says it all’ . . .‘what can be good about going there?’ Let’s not forget ‘some godforsaken wilderness.’ And then there was your unsurpassed glee when you assumed the trip was canceled. You actually smiled.”

He remembered the flash of sexual heat her smile had inspired in him. He’d better make sure that didn’t happen again.

Ashlinn’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, you’re right. I wasn’t looking forward to the trip. And I . . . didn’t do much reading about the state of South Dakota so I thought the Black Hills were in the Badlands, not separate areas. No offense.”

“None taken. Not too much, anyway. So you felt you couldn’t just say no when you were given the assignment?”

“One doesn’t say ‘no’ to Junior and still have a job. So far I’ve survived the purge that followed his takeover.” She heaved a sigh.

“Sounds bad. Why haven’t you quit?” Flint was genuinely curious.

She made a wry face. “I have this practical side that asserts itself, reminding me that I can’t afford to be unemployed. I’ve barely made a dent in my student loans and I have other key bills to. pay—you know, like food and rent. I’d really hate to give up eating and live on the streets.”

“Cheer up, this expedition should definitely broaden your options. You’ll learn survival skills so you can live off the land.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“Well, yes.” Flint’s lips twitched. “I thought a little humor couldn’t hurt.”

“You might notice that I’m not laughing.” She glowered at him.

There was nothing remotely humorous about her predicament, Ashlinn mused glumly. As if this assignment from the little weasel who’d pronounced T & T’s format—and staff—stale and stodgy and too old weren’t bad enough, it was now quite clear that she was unwelcome on the expedition. The group leader was as eager to be rid of her as Junior was to replace her at Tour & Travel with one of his young buddies.

Well, she wasn’t going to give either one the satisfaction of her quitting!

Ashlinn clutched her overnight bag so tightly that her fingers ached. To say that she hadn’t been looking forward to this trip was definitely an understatement. She’d always loathed Carey family camping vacations while growing up, and as an adult gladly avoided places where sleeping bags, cooking over an open fire and applying mosquito repellent by the quart were required.