Tempt Me

The first installment in the Wolf Hotel series follows Abbi Mitchell, a sheltered 21-year-old college student whose life unravels after she catches her fiancé cheating, and whose summer escape to a luxury hotel in Alaska leads her into the arms of its billionaire owner.

In February, Abbi walks in on Jed Enderbey, her fiancé and lifelong neighbor in the small town of Greenbank, Pennsylvania, having sex with another woman. Jed, the reverend's son, tells her he needs to "get it out of his system" before they marry and asks her to wait for him. The couple has been saving themselves for their wedding night, and Abbi is devastated. She confides in her outspoken mother, Bernadette Mitchell, who spreads the news through town. By April, Jed is openly dating the other woman, Cammie. At a job fair in Chicago, where Abbi attends a Christian college called North Gate, she discovers a recruitment booth for Wolf Hotels and applies for an outdoor maintenance position at Wolf Cove, a new luxury hotel in remote Alaska. Despite her lack of hotel experience, she receives an offer a week later.

In May, Abbi arrives at Wolf Cove by ferry, slipping Jed's promise ring off her finger and pocketing it. The hotel manager, Belinda Cartwright, a beautiful but cold blonde, informs Abbi she has been assigned to Housekeeping instead of Outdoor Maintenance. Abbi settles into a staff cabin she shares with five roommates, including Tillie, a sharp-tongued housekeeper from Atlanta, and Katie, a friendly esthetician from Tampa. The women are open about drinking, nudity, and sex in ways entirely foreign to Abbi's sheltered upbringing.

That first night, Abbi drinks alcohol for the first time at the staff lodge. Growing intoxicated, she wanders to the guest docks and nearly falls into the freezing water. A large, bearded man in a flannel jacket grabs her. Unable to see without her glasses, Abbi mistakes him for a lumberjack, touches his face, calls him beautiful, and begins rambling about Jed and her desire to lose her virginity. The stranger carries her back to her cabin, telling her she should spend the next four months "fucking someone in every position imaginable" to get over Jed. At her door, he says his name is Henry. She kisses him lightly; he does not reciprocate but whispers that some people call him "the big bad wolf." Abbi realizes with horror that she has been throwing herself at Henry Wolf, the hotel's billionaire owner.

The next morning, Abbi attends a training session where Henry, clean-shaven and in a tailored suit, delivers a speech about earning Five Diamond status, a top luxury-hotel rating, for Wolf Cove. He warns of an "incident of drunk and disorderly conduct," which Abbi takes as a direct message to her. The following day, Henry drives her to a remote logging area on his personal land, where he chops firewood while she stacks it. He teaches her to swing an ax, positioning his body behind hers, creating intense physical tension. He reveals he personally hired her after watching her video interview because it looked like she "really needed this." When a young grizzly bear approaches, Henry keeps Abbi safe in the truck; in her panic, she scrambles onto his lap and feels his erection.

Soon after, Belinda informs Abbi she is being reassigned as the liaison for Penthouse Cabin One. Abbi discovers that Henry himself occupies it. He tells her the outdoor position was never real; he had Belinda change her assignment before she even arrived. He needs a personal assistant he can trust, and her duties include managing his calendar, e-mail, and cabin upkeep, since he bars regular staff for confidentiality reasons. He has her sign a confidentiality agreement. As Abbi leaves, she overhears Henry arguing with Belinda, who accuses him of sleeping with Abbi. Henry dismisses her jealousy, revealing they previously had a one-night encounter in Istanbul. He calls Abbi "an insecure, stupid little girl" who does not attract him. Abbi is stung but resolves to prove herself.

Tensions escalate. While retrieving Henry's suit, Abbi catches him masturbating in the shower through an ajar door. He locks eyes with her as he finishes, and she flees. The next day, he does not fire her. When he later finds his masseuse, Michael, giving Abbi a shoulder rub, Henry grows furious and demands that no one at Wolf Cove touch her. He addresses the shower incident by stripping naked in front of her, testing whether she will flee. Abbi holds her ground, firing back that she overheard him calling her a "stupid little girl." Henry admits he sometimes says things he does not mean, slides his thumb over her lip, and tells her not to tempt him.

Meanwhile, Abbi undergoes a physical transformation. Katie shapes her eyebrows, arranges a professional haircut and color, and convinces her to get a bikini wax. Henry pays for the salon session. However, a guest complains about staff using the spa, and at the next management meeting, Henry places a conduct warning in Abbi's file. He also demands the termination of Abbi's roommate Rachel, who gave free alcohol to a celebrity guest and slept with him. Afterward, Henry reprimands Abbi for letting jealousy show on her face during a lunch meeting, warning that if she cannot control her feelings, her work arrangement with him cannot continue.

The next morning, the dynamic shifts. As Abbi ties Henry's tie, he whispers that she was "not supposed to have this kind of impact" on him. That afternoon, he returns to find Abbi cleaning his cabin without her skirt or nylons. He touches her intimately for the first time, bringing her to orgasm. The following morning, they have sex for the first time, with Henry guiding her through the experience. Afterward, he frames their relationship plainly: She is getting over her ex and sleeping with her boss for four months; he is running a hotel and sleeping with his assistant. "That's all." No one can know until Wolf Hotels is officially transferred to him on June 30.

Their encounters grow more frequent and intense. One evening, Henry grows introspective. He tells Abbi his father accuses him of making "selfish, reckless decisions" and that he fears he has exploited her vulnerability. Despite her reassurances, he has aggressive sex with her that leaves Abbi feeling "truly used for the first time, and not in a good way." He walks her home in silence. As the grand opening approaches, Abbi overhears a tense call between Henry and his father, William Wolf, who threatens to give control of the hotel chain to Henry's older brother, Scott, calling Wolf Cove a "catastrophic failure." Henry warns Abbi that with his family and media arriving, they must be discreet. Meanwhile, Abbi deliberately sends a flattering photo of Henry and a breezy update to Jed's childhood friend Lucy, knowing the gossip will reach Jed. Soon after, Jed texts saying he has been thinking about Abbi, but she does not respond.

On the morning of grand opening preparations, Abbi accidentally opens a confidential e-mail from Henry's attorney revealing that Kiera Clayton, Henry's former personal assistant, has refused a settlement and is pressing criminal charges against Henry for forced sexual intercourse. The attorney warns about prosecutors uncovering "similar indiscretions." Abbi is shaken: Henry had the same arrangement with his previous assistant, and now that woman is accusing him of sexual assault. When Abbi later overhears Henry on a call with his attorney, denying the allegations and insisting Kiera "wanted it as much as I did," he discovers her listening and confesses the full crisis. Kiera is suing for ten million dollars, and if Henry is charged, he cannot take over Wolf Hotels. Abbi asks directly if he assaulted Kiera. Henry denies it but confirms he slept with his previous assistant, shattering Abbi's belief that their relationship is unique. Despite her hurt, Abbi believes Henry did not assault Kiera, but she is left grappling with the possibility that she is simply another assistant seduced and eventually discarded.