by Fiona Starr
The thought flies across my mind and leaves as quickly as it comes. I just met her; I don’t know anything about Katie except that she’s got a killer fucking body that feels like it was made for me to touch. I don’t know what she wants, what her plans are, nothing. And there’s an alarm going off inside me that realizes I’ve gone from thinking I would spend my life alone to thinking about tomorrow and tomorrow with Katie. What the fuck is happening with me?
I shake off the thought and get back to business.
She writhes under me, pressing her body against my mouth, moving with my hands as I kiss her collarbone, her ribs, the soft flesh of her belly and the curve of her hips.
She grabs me and pulls me to her. “Adam, please.”
I reach into the night table and pull out a condom. I take care of it and toss the wrapper aside and watch as Katie gets up on her knees. She faces away from me and grabs the corners of the headboard, arching her back and turning to look at me over her shoulder.
My cock is throbbing for her. I move toward her, wrapping one arm around her as I press my cock against her opening, feeling the warmth of her pussy teasing me. She’s so wet, so ready.
When I enter her she lets out a sigh an eases her body down onto me. The muscles in her arms bunch and stretch as she maneuvers her body against the headboard. She rocks against me, matching me thrust for thrust.
I reach around and press my fingers to her clit. She whimpers under my touch. I start slowly, running over her in soft circles as she gasps and her breath catches. Then she lets go of the bed and covers my hand with hers, pressing my fingers against her clit, making me rub her faster, harder, harder as I fill her with my cock.
When she comes, I feel her pussy press against my length, and I can’t hold on any longer. I grab her hips and drive myself into her, deeper, harder, lost in this further than I have ever been in my life. I can’t get enough. I can’t… “Oh, god. Katie. Oh…”
“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes. So good. Yes.”
We fall into a heap on the bed, our bodies sweaty and hot. Every one of my muscles is limp and weak, spent and useless. “You thirsty?” I kiss her and then run my nose against hers.
She nods. “Water sounds great.”
I slip away to dispose of the condom then head to the kitchen. When I return, she’s standing at the window, a blanket wrapped around her, lit up by the colorful Christmas lights twinkling in my tree.
Chapter Eight
KATIE
The view outside Adam’s apartment is spectacular. The bonfire is still raging off to the left, the huge Christmas tree stands in the center of an ice-skating rink on the far side of the village. Horse-drawn sleighs swoosh by in the distance, the gigantic Clydesdales raising clouds of twinkling snow that billows out behind them. Above it all, the ski runs on the mountain are dotted with lights, and the night skiers are tiny specks weaving down into the village.
Adam arrives next to me and hands me a glass of water. “For you.”
I take the glass and watch him as I take a sip. “Thank you.” He’s wearing a pair of sweat pants and no shirt, and my god is he ripped. His hair is a mess, standing up all over the place; evidence of the explosive sex that still has my body buzzing.
“What’s funny?” he asks.
“Your hair.” I bite my lip. “It isn’t funny though. It’s… cute.”
“Cute, huh?” He runs his fingers through it in an attempt to calm things down, but it doesn’t work.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
We stand at the window, watching the people outside. I can feel the heat coming off his arms next to me and I’m suddenly very aware of the fact that I am naked under the blanket I dragged off the bed.
As if sensing my sudden awareness, Adam puts his water down and hurries over to his closet and returns with a sweatshirt.
I slip into the sweatshirt, which hangs down mid-thigh, and I’m overcome with the smell of citrus and pine. My stomach growls audibly.
“How about some food?” he asks.
I’m actually starving. “That sounds great.”
He pads over to the kitchen and opens the fridge. “Not much here,” he calls out. “You want to order in or go out?”
I think about it for about a second. “Is it weird if I say I want to order in?” I ask, feeling self-conscious but also not wanting to break the mood.
He wraps his arms around me and smiles. “Is it weird if I tell you that I don’t want you to go?” His kiss is soft and tender, and moves from my lips down to my neck and my ear. The fire inside me flares as we move back to the bed and he pulls be down on top of him.
Chapter Nine
ADAM
We eat Chinese food out of the containers, sharing bites like we’ve known each other for years. I can’t explain the easy feeling I have sitting on the couch with Katie. I’ve had a few one-night stands, and they usually end with an awkward departure full of uncertainty and embarrassment. But that’s not what’s happening here. Katie seems as relaxed as I am, and it makes me smile.
“What?” She digs into the carton of noodles and sucks one off her chopstick like a kid.
I shrug. “This is nice. It’s nice to hang out and eat.”
Her smile tells me everything I need to know. “Agreed, though…”
“Though?”
“You don’t know anything about me.” She blushes and it’s all I can do not to climb across the couch and kiss her.
“Well, that’s not true. I know your name is Katie.”
She arches a brow at me.
“Where are you from? What brings you to Blaze?”
“From back east. I moved here last week and I am a chef. I just started working at The Log Cabin.”
“The Log Cabin? Okay, so you’re a five-star chef, nice.”
She waves the compliment off. “What about you?”
“Well, you know that I’m ski patrol when I am not having panic attacks and getting concussions. But I am only in town for the holiday and a friend’s wedding. I’m working patrol to help out. I live in Vegas, though my family is lobbying hard to get me back here.”
“A concussion? My god. I knew you hit your head, but… wow.”
“Yeah. I bruised my lung too, which was why I was having such a hard time breathing. It was crazy.”
She nods. “It was pretty crazy. I am glad I was there to be with you.”
“Me too. It still feels like a dream.”
“I know what you mean.” She smiles and digs her chopsticks into my carton. “Okay, so there’s no way you’re ski patrol in Vegas. What do you do when you’re there?”
“Oh, well, I don’t want you to get too excited. But, I am an accountant. I work in a firm managing some casinos down there.”
“Really?” She grins wolfishly. “It’s like you’re Superman. Ski Patrol by day, intrepid accountant by night. Do you wear thick rimmed glasses to hide your secret identity?”
“Actually…” I nod.
“No!” She throws her head back and laughs.
“If you tell anyone, I will deny everything.”
“Your secret is safe with me. Promise.”
“So, Chef Katie, new resident of Blaze, Colorado… What’s your last name?”
She extends her hand across the cushion and smiles. “Katie Mason. Nice to meet you.”
“Adam Blaze, the pleasure is all mine.”
A shadow moves over her face. “Blaze? What are the odds that your name is Blaze and you live in Blaze?”
I shrug. “Pretty good actually. There are a lot of us. My family owns the resort.”
Katie sticks her chopsticks into her carton and places it on the coffee table. She looks like she’s going to be sick.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I… I just… I have to go.”
I have no idea what just happened but I don’t try to stop her from gathering up her things. She heads into the bathroom and when she comes out she’s dressed in her own clothes and her h
air is pulled back. I meet her at the door to the bedroom.
She leans up and kisses me. “Thank you, Adam. This was… you were… incredible.”
I watch the door close and stand in the hallway, stunned.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter Ten
KATIE
What the fuck, Katie! You loser! It’s like you have radar for the wrong guy every time! My thoughts spin out of control as I punch the button for the elevator. In my defense, I had no idea who he was until just a moment ago. His family owns the fucking resort? Are you kidding me?
It’s bad enough that I got stuck in a relationship that went south after sleeping with the boss, but this? My god, girl… you left Florida because you didn’t want that stain on your life. You don’t sleep your way to the top. You are not a climber. And you don’t use sexual relationships to advance your career.
I take a deep breath and try to reconcile the ache in my chest. The look on his face. A mix of surprise and bummed-out confusion.
“Shit. Damn it to hell!” My voice echoes in the empty elevator.
Adam is really a nice guy. Like, a true good person. For a while there I could imagine spending some real time with him. Dating, or something more serious. And the sex… holy fuck. But it doesn’t matter how good he is in bed, or how nice he is… you can’t sleep with the son of the family that owns the restaurant where you work, the mountain it’s on, the resort, and the whole fucking zip code!
I step out of the elevator and head for the door and the night air.
I’m all right. Everything is all right.
I am a lot of things, but I am not stupid. I am going to have to put Adam and our amazing connection behind me and just savor the memories. I won’t make that mistake twice.
Chapter Eleven
ADAM
I spent the rest of last night awake, pacing my apartment, unable to sleep or to stop thinking about Katie. I have no idea what happened to turn a perfectly nice night into a rush out the door. I stood at my window and watched her leave my building and walk away into the night.
I don’t understand, and it’s killing me.
I’m not the kind of guy who would have forced her to explain anything. It was clear that something had changed and she needed to leave. Did she suddenly remember something? Was it something I’d said?
I watch the sunrise on the mountain and then get into the shower. There’s no point trying to sleep now, and besides. I replay the conversation over and over in my head. I don’t understand what went wrong, and I can’t stand not knowing.
Normally I can just walk away too. But something here is different. There’s something else, something bigger looming in my chest. It feels like I just lost something important. Like I just had a glimpse of something real and now it’s gone.
I towel off and pull on the sweatshirt Katie left on the counter. It smells like her and sends me back into the spiral of confusion and unanswered questions.
I look at my reflection in the mirror, searching my face for help.
“Fuck it.” I finish getting dressed and head out the door.
Chapter Twelve
KATIE
I stifle a yawn as I step into the kitchen at The Log Cabin, ready to prepare for the lunch service. The rest of the staff are busy with their own list of things to do so I’m grateful I don’t have to talk to anyone.
I haven’t slept at all. My mind is a jumble of crazy hot sex, gorgeous green eyes, and the way we just hung out after and talked. Who does that?
Ugh… the talking is what did me in. Part of me wants to go back in time and cut the night off before the conversation started. But then I would have missed hearing his laugh, and watching the way his mouth moves when he speaks. The dimples when he smiles…
Damn it. Maybe I have a curse hanging over me. I mean, how in the world do I get run off from my old life because I slept with the boss, only to land here and do the same exact thing?
Well, Adam Blaze isn’t technically my boss, and I had no idea who he was at the time we… oh my god. I’ve already broken all the rules. I’ve slept with the boss. Fuck.
I know there are lots of resorts around here, and tons of restaurants. Maybe I can find something in a nearby town so I can just disappear from Blaze for good.
I grab a pot from the freezer and bring it to the stove. The flames lick the ice on the outside of the metal and I search the space for the long-handled whisk I need to stir with. The utensil drawer is empty. I open the next one, and then the next.
“They’re at the bar up front,” Patrick, the sous chef says. “Our washing sink clogged last night so we washed the small stuff at the bar.”
“Thanks.” I turn off the burner, head out of the kitchen, and walk into the dining room and straight into Adam Blaze.
I stop short. “Adam. What are you doing here?” My voice sounds harsher than I intended, but I don’t correct myself. I can’t risk sending any mixed messages.
He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Hey. I’m sorry to bother you here. I had to speak to you. I just… I hope I didn’t do something wrong… yesterday. I wouldn’t ever want to hurt or… Shit. I shouldn’t have come.”
My chest tightens as I watch his struggle to explain himself. I want to kiss him and tell him it’s all right, everything is going to be fine. I look at my watch. I really don’t have a lot of time right now.
“Adam, look. It’s nothing you did. God, yesterday was amazing. Like, totally amazing. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“I like you. But I just can’t right now. It’s complicated.” And I am definitely not going to humiliate myself in the dining room of my new job while all my co-workers look on.
He puts up a hand. “No, it’s all right. I should go. Sorry to have intruded; it’s inappropriate for me to be here.”
I let him leave, even though it crushes me to watch him walk away.
Chapter Thirteen
ADAM
I lean back in the deck chair and bundle the blanket over me. The sky is cloudless tonight and the stars look so bright they appear fake. I spent the whole day wandering around the resort, aimless and lost in thought, trying to get to the bottom of what’s happening to me.
I can’t work because of my concussion. I can’t ski for the same reason. I can’t sleep because even though I am freaking exhausted, my mind is racing with Katie. I haven’t been able to eat all day, and I can’t go talk to Katie.
One, she clearly doesn’t want to see me and two, if I did show up there, I’d just have to walk away all over again and as much as I respect her feelings, that was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
There’s something special about her that I can’t explain. It makes absolutely no sense, and yet… I feel it in my bones. It’s not just the all-star sex we had. That was fucking out of this world, but it’s more than that. Deeper. More… real. I close my eyes and picture her the way she looked standing at my window. It’s an image I will never forget. I try to conjure up the sound of her voice. The soft tone and the little raspy quality.
“If you fall asleep, you’ll freeze to death out here.”
My eyes fly open. “Katie.” I am so surprised, I don’t know what else to say. I move to stand.
She sits on the chair next to me. “No. Don’t get up. I’ve been looking for you all evening.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I wanted to talk to you.”
I sit up in my chair and watch her face. She seems really uncomfortable. I want to reassure her, tell her that she can say whatever she needs to say and it will be fine. But when I open my mouth to speak, she holds up a hand.
“I owe you an apology.”
I shake my head to tell her no, but she interrupts me again.
“This is really hard. Let me just get it out, all right?”
“All right.”
“When I left Florida, it wasn’t by choice. Well, I chose to leave, but I didn’t feel like
I had another option.” She sighs and the weight of whatever she has been carrying is obvious. “I was in a relationship before I came here. With a co-worker, who also happened to be my boss.”
As she tells her story, I find myself getting angrier and angrier on her behalf. The guy she was with is an asshole for ruining her reputation and trying to ruin her career like that. Jesus. But when she gets to the part where she can’t believe what we did and then finding out my family owns the whole place… it makes me smile.
“This isn’t funny, Adam. I am serious.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because I just realized that we don’t have a problem.”
“What do you mean, of course we do. We have a big problem.”
“Actually we don’t. Let me explain. Blaze Resort was started by my dad and his three brothers. My dad met my mom at the real estate office when they bought this land. My uncle Malcom met his wife Anika when he hired her as a ski instructor. My uncle Danny met his wife when he was her family’s attorney for a huge horse purchase. My uncle Patrick lives out of state now, but his wife used to run his stable. My cousin Amelia runs the B&B on the other side of the village with her husband, whose family used to own their property, my cousin Daphne is married to the guy who manages all the liquor distribution coming into the resort. There are twenty of us cousins, should I continue?”
She’s smiling and it gives me the tiniest shred of hope. “What does all of your family have to do with us?”
“Don’t you see? The entire Blaze empire was built on people meeting at work and falling in love.” Holy shit. Did I just say that to her? Me, who hasn’t wanted anything to do with love? Who was freaking out over being the last single guy of all of my friends? What’s she going to think? I shake my head a little and continue. Maybe she won’t notice. “You don’t have to worry that I’m going to do anything to risk your job or your reputation. That’s not who I am, no matter what. But you also don’t have to worry about being with me and working for my family… if you wanted to.”
