by SJ McCoy
She avoided his gaze, and he felt his heart sink.
“What’s up?”
“I have to tell you the truth. I wouldn’t have asked you—even though I love the idea. But the girls gave me a hard time.”
He frowned, wondering where this was going. “What about?”
“About the fact that I still haven’t gone all in with you—even though you have with me.”
He smiled. Glad to hear that the other girls were on his side. “You’re just taking your time. I know that. I have to earn your trust.”
She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips. “You are doing, with everything you say and do. I’ve been holding back, but it’s time for me to meet you halfway. I need to be honest with you.” She took a deep breath. “I love living here with you.”
He grinned. “Thanks for saying it. You can stay as long as you want.”
“I want.”
His heart raced, and he searched her face. She was smiling, and she nodded as if she were saying yes in advance to the question he had to ask next. “You want to live with me?”
She nodded. “I do.”
A rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins at the sound of those two words. He loved that she’d said that about living with him—and one day, he hoped they’d repeat them about wanting to make the arrangement permanent.
He closed his arms around her. “Thank you.”
She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you. I’m sorry I’ve been wishy-washy about it.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. I think that given my history, it’s only fair that I should be the one to go out on a limb and hope that you’ll go with me. I don’t mind putting myself up to be shot down. I know you could break my heart, but it’s a risk worth taking.”
She cupped his cheek in her hand. “I’d never do that.”
He turned and kissed her palm. “I hope not, but I need you to know that my heart is on the line here.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m messing this up. What I’m trying to say is that I love you, Roxy.”
“Oh.” She looked so adorable, her eyes wide with surprise, and her mouth open in a perfect little O shape that filled his mind with thoughts of what they could do later.
She pressed her lips together, and he placed a finger over them. “You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Do you want me to take your bag out to the truck?”
Roxy laughed at Logan, who was standing in the doorway waiting. She was sitting at the island in the kitchen, finishing her coffee.
“Are you trying to tell me to hurry my ass up?”
He laughed with her. “No. I wouldn’t do that. I’m just trying to get things ready.”
She nodded and smirked at him. “I would have thought that you were someone who just threw things together at the last minute and went.”
“I am. It’s just that what I consider to be the last minute already came and went.”
She laughed. “And now you’re waiting for me. Don’t worry. My bag’s ready. She nodded to where it was sitting by the door. And since you’re such a heathen that you won’t even take the time to enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee before we go, I’ll put this in a travel mug and get my coat.”
She got to her feet, and he came to close his arms around her. “I’m not trying to rush you. We can sit and drink coffee if that’s what you want to do.”
“We can drink it on the way. I’ll grab you a travel mug, too.” She stepped away from him to get the mugs ready.
“Thanks. I’m just excited to get going.”
“I am, too. I’ve never been up there. Do you have the directions?”
“I’ve already plugged the address into the GPS.”
“Wow. Aren’t you on the ball?! Okay. I have the coffees and my purse. If you want to grab my bag, we can go.”
It was a beautiful drive and a sunny, but cold day. She stared out of the window when he turned off Route Twenty onto a smaller highway that climbed up ahead of them.
“It’s so pretty up here.”
“It is. I love it. We used to come up here all the time as kids.”
“Your family?”
“No. I used to come with Colt and his family.”
“I love that you two have that—that you’ve been friends all your lives and are still so close.”
“Yeah. He’s like a brother. We don’t do much together these days, other than meeting up for a drink now and then, but it doesn’t matter.”
Roxy bit her lip and then decided to say it anyway. “We should invite him over for dinner one night. I like Colt. He and I have always gotten along well.”
Logan turned and grinned at her. “That’d be great. I’d like that.”
“Good. I think we need to find a way to manage our time.”
She could see his eyebrows knit together as he drove. “What do you mean?”
She laughed. “Nothing as anal as that sounded. I mean, I’m excited that we get this weekend to ourselves, and I love the time we hang out just the two of us, but we need to figure out what we do with girls’ nights and guys’ nights and couples’ nights, and I don’t like the idea of us not hanging out with our single friends. Angel and Luke and Maria and Zack made the effort to include me still. It’s felt awkward sometimes, but I like it, too. I get to see them in the new lives that they’re living.” She made a face. “I’m rambling, and I’m not sure I’m explaining myself very well.”
He reached across and gave her hand a squeeze. “It makes sense to me. You want to know which part I like the best?”
“Which?”
“The part where you don’t want to leave our friends out of this new life of ours. I like that you don’t want to leave them out, but I like it even better that you’re seeing it as our new life. That’s what I want it to be, Rox.”
She nodded. She did, too. She loved the idea. She just needed a little time to get used to it. She was trying to catch herself whenever she realized that she was focusing on how the old Logan might feel. She needed to let that go, and she was doing a better job of taking him at his word. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She still wasn’t letting herself think too hard about the three little words he’d said to her the other night. She couldn’t process that yet, at least, she didn’t want to. She knew that when she did, she’d have to admit to herself and to him, that she’d gone and fallen in love with him, too. She felt that her saying it back would take them past a point of no return. She smiled as she realized that was exactly how it would be. It’d be making a commitment—and Logan had already done it.
The road rose more steeply after a while, and the trees crowded in thicker and taller.
“Are we nearly there yet?” she asked.
Logan laughed. “You’re like a little kid. What’s up? Do you have to pee?”
She laughed with him. “No. I’m just excited.” She rolled her window down a little way and sniffed the cold air. “You can smell the snow. There’s something magical about snow. It’s all sparkly and pretty.” She rolled the window back up with a shiver.
“It’s also damned cold. I hope you brought lots of warm things.”
“I did. I told you. I used to ski. I dug out my old clothes.”
When they rounded the next turn in the road, she saw the snow. “Wow. Look at that. A minute ago, there was nothing on the ground, and there’s a couple of inches here.”
“It’s always been that way here. When I was a kid, I was disappointed every time that there was no snow. Colt’s dad would tell me to be patient, and every time when we turned that corner, there it was.”
“Aww. I’ll bet you were really cute as a kid.”
He laughed. “I don’t think anyone ever called me cute. I was a little rascal. Always in trouble for something.”
She laughed. “You’ve not changed much then.”
He shot her a mock hurt look. “I haven’t gotten myself in any kind of trouble
for a long time. Definitely not since I met you.”
She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Maybe I’ll get you in trouble this weekend.”
“I like the sound of that. What kind of trouble do you have in mind?”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think if something.”
He winked at her. “I think nudity and indecent behavior in a public place are out of the question this weekend—it’s too damned cold. But I’ll bring you back in the summer, and we can go for those then.”
Her tummy flipped over at the thought. He was talking about them having sex outside? Her body reacted just as strongly as if he’d said he was going to pull the truck over so that they could do it now. She could feel her stiff nipples chafe against her bra. Heat pooled between her legs, and she pressed her thighs together.
Logan raised an eyebrow at her. “You like that idea?”
She nodded breathlessly, surprised at just how much she liked it.
“In that case … It might be cold out there, but I’m sure we could come up with something.”
She loved the eager look on his face when she said, “I think we should.”
“You like it outside, huh?”
She could feel the heat in her cheeks, but she had to tell him. “I don’t know, but I like the idea.”
He reached over and rested his hand on her thigh—which only served to intensify the heat between her legs. “So, you want me to be your first?”
She nodded. For some reason, the way he phrased it made her even hornier. She loved the idea of him being her first—outdoors or anywhere else.
“Your wish is my command.”
She grinned. “What are you going to do?”
“Make it special. Your first time should always be special.”
~ ~ ~
Logan started to get a little concerned as he followed the gravel driveway. It’d been a couple of minutes since they’d turned off the main road, and there was still no cabin in sight. Navigation systems were notorious for being way off up here in the mountains. He started to look for a place to turn around. Then they rounded the corner, and he heard Roxy gasp beside him.
“Oh, look, Logan. It’s beautiful!”
She was right. Zack had sent him a link to the online listing for the place, and the cabin was as nice as he’d expected. What he hadn’t expected was the breathtaking view. There had been some photos online, but he’d assumed that they were taken around the area—not right from the cabin. It stood in a clearing on the slope of the mountain and laid out before it was a beautiful valley ringed by snowy peaks.
“It is,” he agreed as he brought the truck to a stop.
Roxy was out the door and ran through the snow to the deck, which led out in front of the cabin. He hurried after her eager to look out from there. He put his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned her head against him as they stood and took it all in. He didn’t feel like words were necessary. It was just so damned beautiful. It felt like a special moment to take in that view with her.
The sun shone down, making the snow sparkle, just as she’d described earlier. And he had to agree—it did feel like there was something magical about it. Though, whether that was the snow or the woman standing by his side, he wasn’t sure.
After a while, he felt her shiver and hugged her closer. “Come on. Let’s get the bags inside. The view will be just the same from in there, and we’ll be warmer.”
Once they’d brought everything inside, they explored the cabin. It was huge. Way more than they needed with its five bedrooms. He was glad that four of them would remain empty.
Roxy stopped when they came out of the fourth one and frowned. “Which bedroom shall we take?”
Logan had read the description of the place, and he already knew. He took hold of her hand and led her to a doorway at the end of the hall. It opened to a second set of stairs, and he led her up to the third floor.
“This is amazing!” She grinned at him. “It might be two sets of stairs, but we could easily spend all weekend up here.”
He laughed and went to sit on the bed, patting the space beside him for her to join him. “I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
The bedroom was a huge loft. The front wall was all glass, giving them an even more incredible view of the valley and mountain ranges stretching for miles into the distance. The inside was equally impressive. The bed was a fourposter, which gave Logan a couple of ideas.
Roxy got to her feet and went into the bathroom. “You have to see this.”
He went to join her and laughed when he saw the oversized tub, which looked like it would comfortably fit four people, let alone just the two of them. The shower looked more like a shower room than a stall. It had six showerheads, and what looked to Logan like steam nozzles, too.
He grinned at her. “I’m guessing we’ll be squeaky clean by the time we leave.”
“We will. I was so excited to explore this area, but now I doubt we’ll even leave the bedroom, let alone the cabin.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you wanted to ski?”
She shrugged and gave him a wicked smile. “We’ll have to see if we have the energy for it.”
“I won’t be disappointed if we don’t go anywhere else. We can always come back another time.”
She smiled. “I’d like that. I can see this becoming a regular haunt.”
His heart buzzed in his chest. Hearing her say that gave him hope. He knew he got carried away sometimes thinking about the future and what it might hold for them. Every time she said something that indicated she was thinking about them long-term made him feel that he wasn’t setting himself up for a fall. He had to believe that she felt it, that she wanted it, too. She was being more cautious than he was, that was all.
“I suppose we’d better go and unpack the cooler and see if we have everything we need. If we need to venture back down the mountain for supplies, I’d rather figure that out now. I don’t like the idea of driving on those roads in the dark.”
“Yeah. Let’s go and get unpacked, and then we can decide what I’m going to do to you?”
She raised an eyebrow, and he laughed.
“Sorry, I meant what we’re going to do.”
After they’d unpacked all the supplies they’d brought and explored the kitchen, it was clear that they wouldn’t need to go out in search of groceries.
Roxy laughed as she pulled the last packet of chips out. “I know you said you were going to make sure we had everything we might need. But were you planning for us to sit here and eat all weekend? Even if we ate non-stop, I don’t think we’d get through all the goodies you brought.”
He shrugged. “I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. This way, we don’t need to use up any of our time going grocery shopping.”
“True. I’m not complaining. I’m impressed.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Do you want me to impress you with my skiing abilities, too? It might be busy on a Saturday afternoon, but we can go and check out the resort if you’d like. They have rental equipment.”
“Yeah. Let’s go out and explore. I don’t want to waste all our time in line waiting for a ski lift if it’s busy. But we can at least scope the place out for another visit.”
When they got there, the ski resort was heaving with people. It took Logan a good five minutes just to find a space in the parking lot.
Roxy made a face at him when he cut the engine. “I don’t like our chances of getting to ski, do you?”
He shook his head. “No. But now that we’re here, we can have a wander around. See what the place is like these days. I haven’t been here for years. And if you want to do some people watching, we can sit and have a hot chocolate.”
“Ooh. Yes. Let’s do that.”
He took her hand as they walked across the parking lot, and she smiled up at him. “This is wonderful. I’m so glad we came.”
“I am, too. We should do what you said and make it a regular thing. If we plan
better, we can come up on Friday night and be first here and out on the slopes on Saturday morning.”
“Yeah, we should do that. The early bird gets the powder.”
“That’s true. And it looks like the late birds won’t even get a seat to watch.” They’d reached the main area near the bottom of the ski lifts. A long line waited at the bottom. Another line stretched out through the doors of the rental shop. The large terrace outside the café was heaving with people. Logan couldn’t see a single empty seat. Some people were sitting on the floor leaning back against the wall, and others were leaning on the railing to enjoy their drinks and the view.
Roxy made a face. “Jeez. I thought it’d be busy, but this place is a zoo.”
“Do you want to try for a hot chocolate?”
“No.” She looked so disappointed, he felt bad.
“Don’t worry, we knew this might happen.” He tugged on her hand and started heading back to the truck. “This isn’t our only option.”
“There’s another ski resort?”
“No, but there’s a place I’d like to show you. I think you’ll like it. And we should be able to get hot chocolate there.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Where are we going?” Roxy asked as he pulled out of the parking lot, and another truck pulled into his space immediately.
“Wait and see.”
“Do I have to wait long?”
He laughed. “You really are like a little kid, aren’t you? Hold tight. It’s only about ten minutes from here.”
When he reached the bottom of the mountain, he glanced over at her, wanting to see her reaction when they came into town.
“Oh, it’s like a fairy tale!” she exclaimed.
He chuckled. “I don’t know about that, but they always do a great job of decorating around here for the holidays.”
He drove down Main Street of the small tourist town, glancing at all the Christmas decorations as they went. He knew it would look even better after dark, but at least this was making up for her disappointment about the crowded ski resort. The town was busy, with lots of people on the sidewalk window-shopping and even sitting in the pavement cafes despite the cold.
