Vacation (46 page)

"Chloe. This is my buddy."
Parker's voice had a lightness to it that said he was on the verge of laughter.

I had my back to them, but I'd moved over
near a small embankment that wouldn't be too far of a fall for me and Finn.
Turning, I let my eyes grow wide and my brow crease.

"What are you doing here?" I
demanded, then looked at Parker.

His face dropped and concerned filled his
features. "I thought you would love this."

"You thought wrong." I turned my
angry stare on Finn and damn if he didn't have a sexy smirk on his face. I was
doing all I could to keep our rouse under-wraps, and he was smirking.

"Come on, Chloe. The kid was just
trying to help." He stood with his back to the small cliff and put his
hands on his hips. "Don't be like that."

"Like that?" I moved toward him
as Parker moved toward me. I pushed at my brother's chest, which surprised him.

"Chloe. Stop," Parker yelled at
me, but I was already in motion.

"Don't tell me anything, you sorry
bastard." I pushed my hands into Finn’s chest, and he put on a good show,
grabbing me at the last minute and pulling me with him. We slid down the hill
with me on top of Finn, both of us laughing.

When we stopped, I could hear Parker
yelling as he ran after us.

"I am not pretending like I'm
dead." Finn gave me a look.

"For a long hot kiss?"

"R.I.P." He closed his eyes and
sunk into the snow.

I did the same until I could hear Parker
getting closer. "Ready?"

"On your queue, you mean ass
witch."

I giggled. "Now."

Parker dropped beside us and we bolted up,
attacking him and laughing as he fell back.

"You assholes! That scared the crap
out of me." He rolled, and balled up a snowball, throwing the first at me
and the next at Finn.

An older guy in a uniform called down to
us. "Hey! No playing around down there, guys. It's off limits."

We all made our way to our feet and Finn
pointed to me. "It was all her, buddy. I'm sorry."

"Last time I help you, Finn."
Parker winked and walked back up the hill in front of us.

"I'm praying it's the last time I
need help." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and glanced down the
length of me. "Did I tell you that I'm missed you like crazy?"

"Yeah, but you can say it
again."

"I've missed you like crazy." He
pulled me close and smiled. "Where's my hot kiss?"

"Coming soon..."

Chapter 20

Finn

Chloe was a nightmare at snowboarding, but
we switched her back to skis and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside
together. Parker found a few friends and ditched us, which was fine by me. I
needed to talk with the beautiful girl who'd stolen my heart, anyway.

I waited at the bottom of the run for her,
my hands shading the top of my eyes so I could see her come down. Her long,
blonde hair flapped behind her, and her muted pink jacket and wind-pants fit
her incredibly well. I let out a long whistle as she stopped beside me.

"You got plans later, pretty girl? If
not, I know a great place in town that will cut you a steak fresh from the
rack. We can grab a few, and I'll grill them for us." I lifted an eyebrow
and waited for her response. Just having her with me lightened the load of
concerns I carried around all the time.

"Sounds wonderful. I can't imagine
anything better." She moved closer to me, and I popped my feet from my
board and stepped in between her skis, wrapping my arm tightly around her
middle.

"I can imagine something a lot
better, but we'll start with dinner and a long conversation." I leaned
forward and brushed my nose along hers, wanting to take things slow, and yet
not.

"How about a cup of coffee now at the
little shop at the clubhouse, and then we'll have our second date? I don't want
to talk about anything heavy tonight. Let's get it all out of the way before we
leave here."

She slid her pink mittens along my face
and pulled me in for a sweet kiss.

"Get a room!" Parker yelled as
he moved past us.

"I like that idea. There are so many
things we could do in a room if given enough time." I nipped at her lips
and smiled.

"You act like such a nice guy, but I
know there's a bad boy underneath it all. I keep seeing him peek out around the
edges of your personality." She pulled from me.

"Actually, I'm always a nice guy.
You're just making shit up." I licked at my lips again and glanced down at
her mouth. "I want my kiss."

"I do owe it to you." She slid
her arms around my neck and flattened herself against the front of me before tilting
her head up and capturing my lips.

I slid my hand over the curve of her ass
and squeezed tightly as I explored her mouth fully. She took every bit of what
I was giving and met me with a hot passion that left me needy. It wasn't
something I'd experienced in my past. Desire rolled through me and I pulled her
in even closer, deepening the kiss as my body hardened.

She broke the kiss and looked up at me a
little starry-eyed. "Damn, you're a good kisser."

"
Mmm
...
you
should see what else I can do with this tongue." I
smiled as she shook her head and pushed at my chest.

"Not here. Not now. So incredibly
bad."

"Not me. You're thinking of someone
else, which come to think of it is highly disturbing." I picked up my
board and tucked it under my arm before nodding to the lodge. "Let's go
have this talk and finish clearing the air between us."

"Yes. Then we should really test out
these promises about your magical tongue." She wagged her eyebrows.

I growled and reached for her hand, hoping
the talk would be short and the night long.

* * * *

I carried two cups of hot chocolate over
to the table as Chloe played with her nails. She was nervous, and she wasn't
the only one.

"Peppermint in yours or no?" I
held out both cups toward her.

"Yes. I love it, unless you do."

"Nope. It's all yours." I sat
down and pressed my forearms to the table. "I need to apologize."

"You already have, Finn." She
took a tentative sip and looked shocked. "This isn't scorching hot."

"I know. You tell them child's temp
and they make it to where you can drink it." I wagged my eyebrows.
"And here you thought I was just sexy. I'm smart, too."

She laughed, and the sound of it caused my
heart to beat fast. I couldn't even contemplate her leaving in a few weeks. It
was too much to consider.

"I owe the apology," she began.
I started to cut her off, but she lifted her hand in protest. "No, let me
finish. Please."

"Okay." I sat back and let my
free hand drop into my lap, willing to give her center stage.

"Coming here was something I did
begrudgingly and only because I had to." She shrugged and glanced down at
her mug. "I'm glad I did, but I think I wanted to just treat it like a
quick stop off in life and move on. I just wrapped up my degree and my dreams
have always been to be on the west coast."

"Which is beautiful." I nodded,
hoping to encourage her to forgo thinking about my feelings and just open up to
me.

"Yeah, but meeting you and things
spiking so fast between us has me wondering if maybe I was just trying to stay
in California because this place has too many memories. I mean... I do
seriously hate the cold, but this place really is fun." She tugged her cap
off and worked to smooth her long hair. "I'd be near my family if I
stayed, which would be great. Parker mentioned wanting me to this morning."

I leaned in and slid my open hand across
the table, wanting her to take it. She did, and I closed my fingers around
hers.

"Listen, you have to do what you
think is best, and remember that any decision you make can be undone. You move
here and don't like it? Go back to California. You stay there and it sucks?
Come back to us." I smiled, but my words only seemed to hurt her rather
than help.

"My apology is for the way I treated
you when I first got here. You didn't deserve it. I pre-judged you. Forgive
me."

"My actions and the way I lived my
life had everyone judging me the same, and you were all right." I pursed
my lips. "Your apology is accepted, but it wasn't needed. You were the
wake-up call that I needed so desperately."

"Why are you so damn nice?" She
tugged her hand away from me.

"Because I care about you, Chloe. I
want your happiness. Wherever that is, go there. Be free to live your
life." I forced a smile and picked up my hot chocolate. "You and I
will be friends no matter where you are."

"What if I want more than a
friendship?" She sucked her lip into her mouth as her eyebrows pulled
together.

"Then we work on that while you're
here, and when it's time to go, nothing changes. If we decide to be together
like that, then location shouldn't change anything. It would be hard, but worth
it, right?"

"Yeah. I'm overthinking this. I just
can't help myself."

"Let's finish up here and get on with
the rest of the afternoon. We don't need to sit here and figure out the future.
I'm sorry for being an ass, and you're sorry for being so fucking hot, and it's
all good." I lifted my hands and shrugged.

She laughed and leaned back in her chair
as the worry on her pretty face melted. "Did you find out anything about
our dads? Why they can't stand each other?"

"Nope. I mentioned it to my dad, but
he closed up tighter than a clam." I stood and offered her my hand.
"That's their problem, not ours. When it becomes ours, I'll deal with it
for us."

She took my hand and lifted her mug.
"Let's get these to go. I don't know what I figured we could work through
up here, but I'm over it."

"Good. Besides, I'd rather snuggle up
by the fireplace and work through our shit if anything comes up as it comes
up." I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head. "But, I'm a
simple man. I don't need complexity."

"I like that. A lot." She moved
up and kissed me once before taking my drink to have them put into to-go
containers. "So, if I didn't want the peppermint hot chocolate, were you
going to drink it?"

"Sure was." I slipped my hands
in my pockets and tilted my head as I studied her. Butterflies ripped through
the center of me as she narrowed her eyes a little.

"Even though you don't like it?"

"If momma
ain't
happy,
ain't
nobody happy." I chuckled, knowing
what was coming next, and said it in tandem with her.

"
Ain't
isn't a word." She smiled and walked back to the counter, leaving me with
my insides on fire and the future opened for anything to happen. It was
terrifying, but would be worth every minute that I got to enjoy.

* * * *

"How do you want your steak cooked,
baby?" I glanced over my shoulder at her. We were on the small porch I'd
built at the back of my cabin. Her long legs were stretched out as she lounged
in a chair beside me, the top half of her wrapped in three blankets. All I
could see was her little red nose and piercing green eyes.

"Medium." She lifted her mouth
out of the covers before slipping it back under quickly.

I turned the steaks and moved to sit
beside her on the lounge chair. "Did you have that meeting with your dad
over the jackets?"

The top of her cheeks lifted above the
covers as she nodded.

"And?" I reached out and tugged
the blanket down. "Tell me what happened."

"It went really well. He's going to
let me take one of the designs to market under his line. I guess he wants me to
understand the full cycle from idea to an actual product on the shelves."

"And, you're excited?" I pulled
the blanket back up.

She nodded, and I stood, checking the meat
one more time before pulling it off the grill.

"Let's get inside, Miss. I hate the
cold." I grabbed my beer and put my shoulder against the door as she moved
in quickly behind me, grumbling about the freezing cold weather.

After setting the steaks down in the
kitchen and checking on the potatoes and green beans on the stove, I walked
over to the fireplace and wrapped her in a hug from behind. She was thick due
to the blankets, but I still managed to get my arms around her. I snuggled my
face into the side of her neck as she swatted at me.

"Your nose is cold! Damn."

"Hush, woman. Part of being my girl
means you have to warm me up when I'm cold. It's in the contract." I
smiled and moved back as she turned to face me.

"All of you?" Her lips turned up
into a naughty smile and my chest tightened.

"Yeah. Every last inch." I
pulled her in tightly and kissed her with the intent of exploring her warm
mouth. The sensation of her cold lips and nose combined with the warm wetness
of her mouth caused a growl to slip from my lips. "I want you, Chloe. Say
you’ll stay the night with me."

She nodded and pulled her thick bottom lip
into her mouth as she watched me. It was enough of an agreement for me. I
kissed her nose and moved back to the kitchen. "I'm not the only one with
a freezing-ass cold nose."

Her laughter caused me to glance over my
shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

"Freezing-ass. We should just make
that our private joke. You're a grown-ass man with a freezing-ass cold
nose."

I laughed, too, and shook my head.
"Tell me a few things about you while I cut this up, then we'll eat."

"Like what?" She moved to sit on
the stool at my small two-seater table.

"Like your age. Where you were born.
Um...the color of your panties?" I kept my back to her, but couldn't help
the huge smile that lifted my lips.

"I'm twenty-four. I was born here in
Aspen, and I don't wear panties."

I jerked around and pinned her with a
stare. "You do, too. You had on panties the other night in your
bedroom."

"Those were my sleeping shorts."
She shrugged. "Panties get in the way. I don't like them."

"In the way of what, exactly?" I
lifted an eyebrow, loving this girl all the more. She was letting us have a
full on conversation over her underwear.

"Of my pants looking good." She
tilted her head to the side and smiled. "What did you think I meant?"

"I'm the town whore, remember? My
panties get in the way of a quickie." I winked, and turned back to the
stove after teasing her a little. I was surprised when her arms slid around my
waist tightly.

"Don't call yourself that again,
okay?" She pressed her lips to my back, and I relaxed against her.

"I was just teasing, baby."

"I know, but I don't like it. I don't
think you're a whore. Everyone needs warmth, Finn. You just find it in the arms
of a woman." She kissed my back a few more times, and I wished like hell
that I didn't have my shirt on.

I cut her a piece of the steak and turned
in her hold, offering it to her and smiling as she took it. Her eyes closed and
she groaned. "Delicious."

"I bet that's not the only thing that
tastes good." I tossed the fork behind me and took her face into my hands,
leaning down and kissing her. "Where do you find your warmth?"