Apres Ski

by Christie Butler

  “Good night, Jud.” Chelsea’s smile lingered as he stepped out the SUV and strolled to the entrance of the bar. She was still smiling as she pulled up in front of her condo, five miles away in Edwards.

  After that kiss, the last thing Jud needed was his coat. He felt as if he was about to burst into flames. Chelsea’s lips were soft and warm, and her breath tasted sweet. He wanted more, he wanted all of her. Back inside, he grabbed a beer at the bar and sat to formulate a game plan.

  Patience. Chelsea Ryan was not a woman to be picked up in a bar for a one-night stand. Still, he was desperate to have her. It was funny how he’d known her for a year and spent most of that time treating her like a little sister, but one day he saw her in a totally new light. And it was just that quick. He’d been living his life, minding his own business, hanging out with his friend Chelsea. Then one day, he’d been skiing down to meet Roger for lunch. It was one of those days that the brilliant sun reflecting off the snow actually made your head hurt. Stepping out of his skis, he’d driven the tails into a drift and hung his poles from the tips.

  A woman’s raucous laughter had drawn his attention. He’d turned to find Chelsea goofing around with Josh and Rocket. Josh had probably been telling her about some jump he’d made on the half-pipe, mimicking a dramatic wipeout.

  Jud’s gaze had zeroed in on Chelsea. She looked so happy, so animated, so completely unguarded. So…sexy. Despite the chilly temperatures, heat shot to his groin. He’d been taken aback by his instant response to this woman who’d been just a buddy a few minutes before, and the feeling had only grown. Every time he’d seen her since, he’d expected to find his desire had cooled. Instead he’d discover yet another reason to want her naked in his bed. Another reason to want her in his life.

  As for Chelsea, her reaction to him seemed unchanged. She was polite, friendly, even teasing on occasion. But he wanted to bring that look of fun and joy to her face, as it was that fateful sunny day. He wanted to be the reason she smiled with glee. He cared about her as a friend and now he wanted to fuck her. He was doomed.

  Until now, he’d never lacked for female companionship—and it was first-class ass at that. But it was never anything long-term and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was getting tired of it. He was ready for a relationship now, and the woman he wanted seemed disinterested at best. Until tonight, anyway.

  Jud had never had trouble reading women, and now that Chelsea had agreed to a date, she’d opened up like a flower. He could see the desire in her eyes and he wondered how long she’d felt that way about him.

  No, Chelsea wasn’t a one-night stand type of woman. He just hoped he’d be able to make it through dinner Friday without dragging her to the restroom and bending her over the sink. His cock stiffened just thinking about it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman this badly.

  “Jud! You’re back.” Kayla appeared next to him, leaning back against the bar. “I knew you couldn’t possibly be going home with Chelsea.” She smiled at him, propping herself up on her elbows and thrusting her breasts in his face.

  He knew that Kayla was basically harmless but still he wanted to wipe the smile from her face. Instead of replying, he took a sip of his beer.

  Kayla straightened and moved in toward him. “I have a good idea.”

  “Yeah?”

  She placed a hand on his knee and then slid her palm up his thigh. In his groin, she found the remnants of his erection. She grinned, apparently thinking it was for her. She ran a fingernail along his cock. “Mmm, that’s what I’m talking about.”

  In spite of himself, Jud found his cock responding, reacting to the stroking of her finger through his jeans. He dropped his hand to hers and pulled it away.

  Kayla leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Take me home and I’ll suck that delicious cock of yours.”

  Shaking his head, he said, “Kayla—”

  “Or even better,” she interrupted. “I’ll let you stick it in my ass. I know you love that.”

  Jud pushed his stool away from her. “It’s not gonna happen, Kayla. You and me, well, that ship has sailed.”

  Pouting, she crossed her arms under her breasts, creating some impressive cleavage.

  He wasn’t interested. “I’m sorry, Kayla. I like you, I really do. But I’m interested in someone else.” He stood up to take his leave.

  “Not that homely little thing, Chelsea Ryan, I hope.”

  Now he was getting angry. “It’s really none of your business, Kayla. And I happen to like Chelsea, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak about her that way.” He spun away from her and walked off.

  “You’ll be sorry!” she called after him.

  “Doubtful,” he muttered as he almost ran into Roger and Megan, their arms wrapped around each other.

  “We’re outta here, man,” Roger said. “See ya tomorrow.”

  “Hold on.” Jud grabbed his coat. “I’ll walk out with you.”

  “You’re leaving already?”

  “Yeah, I’m done,” Jud said. “All of a sudden, I’m not really liking the company.” Jud followed them outside, a little envious that Rog was going to get laid tonight. Not so envious that he’d consider Kayla’s offer though. Besides, he had only one woman on his mind.

  “Here we are, dude,” Roger said. “Wanna do breakfast at Jimmy’s?”

  Jud nodded. “Seven thirty?”

  “See ya then.”

  Jud grabbed Roger’s coat collar and pulled him away from Megan. “Don’t be an asshole,” he whispered.

  Roger merely grinned in response.

  Jud watched as they got into Roger’s pickup and drove off. Another look up at the threatening clouds left him cold. He hurried to his Explorer and hopped in, peeling out before Kayla could rush out and present him with another offer.

  Chapter Three

  Chelsea’s pussy ached with need, her hips gyrating under Jud’s nicely muscled body. His lips were soft and warm against hers. God, he was a great kisser. She wanted to find out what else he was great at.

  “I want you, Jud.”

  He trailed his lips down her neck and between her breasts. “I want you too, Chels.” He pushed her top up to bare her breasts and his wet mouth suckled at her nipples.

  She clutched his head and held him to her, thrilling at the sensations from the warmth of his tongue, the scraping of his teeth. He moved down her belly, unzipping her jeans and removing them along with her panties. Between her thighs, he placed a kiss on her pussy lips. She gasped, trying to hold still for his tongue. It was so good.

  All too soon, Jud sat up and stared at her. Somehow he was naked, and his cock was hard and huge. She reached for him but he pushed her hands away.

  “I gonna fuck you now, Chels,” he growled.

  “Yeeeees.” She spread her legs wide for him and he rubbed his cock in her juices. She braced herself and waited—

  A shrill ringing filled the air and Chelsea was torn away from the ecstasy of her dream. She slapped at the clock to silence the offensive beeping and dropped back to her bed in frustration. She could feel the wetness between her thighs.

  What the hell, so her hot sex dream had been interrupted. She had a dinner date with Judson Tate Friday night. The smile on her face quickly turned into a giggle of glee. The man she’d been lusting after for the better part of a year had asked her out. She hugged herself, rolling back and forth until letting loose a series of excited kicks to diffuse her pent-up energy.

  Still smiling, she hopped out of bed and made her way to the kitchen for breakfast. Nearly dancing to the cabinets, she grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice, sipping while she found a clean cereal bowl.

  “Nice legs, Chels.”

  Chelsea jumped and turned to see Roger sprawled on the couch, drinking coffee. She tugged down the T-shirt she was wearing for PJ’s and moved behind the counter. “Morning, Roger.”

  He sat up and pulled his shoes on. “Morning. I’m just on my way out, so don’t go
and get dressed for my sake.” He smiled.

  The door to Megan’s bedroom opened and she trudged out yawning, her hair bunched up in the back in a classic “freshly fucked” manner, her pink terry robe wrapped around her. “Hey, Chels,” she said, helping herself to some coffee. She smiled at Roger. “This is pretty good coffee, Rog.”

  He stood and moved over beside her, nuzzling her neck. “I do have other talents outside the bedroom.”

  Megan and Chelsea exchanged pointed looks and then Megan ushered Roger to the door. Chelsea had just taken her first bite of granola when Megan returned to the kitchen.

  “Sorry about that, Chels. I was hoping he’d be gone by the time you woke up.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

  Megan sipped her coffee and smiled. “I got lucky when I found you for a roommate. You’re so easy to get along with.”

  “Ditto.” Chelsea took a sip of juice and smiled knowingly. “So how was it?”

  Megan returned her smile, then burst out laughing. “It was surprisingly good.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Chelsea asked, “Are you going to see him again?”

  “Yeah, for sure. What about you? I saw you and Jud had a nice little talk.”

  Chelsea was unable to keep a smile from her lips. “We did. He, uh, asked me out for dinner Friday night.”

  “What? That’s awesome! My God, Chels. You must be so excited.”

  “I am.” She could hear the tinge of uncertainty in her voice, and of course Megan picked up on it.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, Megan. Don’t get me wrong—I’m thrilled to be going out with Jud. It’s just that, I’m not like his other women. I’m not drop-dead gorgeous and I don’t have their…experience.”

  “Damn, Chelsea. Be glad you’re not like those idiot women. Kayla? Come on, she’s a total bitch. Jud asked you out for a reason. Go on the date, relax and be yourself, have fun. You’re smart, you’re fun to hang with and you are pretty, Chels. That’s why Jud finally came to his senses and asked you out.”

  Finished with her cereal, Chelsea nodded and got up to rinse out her dishes. “I’ve gotta hop in the shower.”

  Megan pushed herself up with a groan. “Me too.”

  Just as Chelsea reached her bedroom door, Megan called to her. “Chels, Roger says there’s a storm moving in today. Be careful up there.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  * * * * *

  The snowflakes felt like needles, stinging Jud’s cheeks as a ferocious wind kicked up. Nasty dark clouds had moved in throughout the morning, dropping several inches of snow by early afternoon. He stood at the peak, the only sound the whistling and roaring of the wind. The lifts had been shut down fifteen minutes earlier after they’d registered wind speeds in excess of fifty miles per hour.

  Surely everyone had headed down the mountain by now, but he had no way of knowing with the poor visibility. Shaking the snow off his skis, he planted his poles and started to step off when his radio crackled to life.

  “J.T., what’s your twenty? Over.” It was Roger.

  “Up top. Over.”

  “We’ve got a transport at the top of sixteen. Get down here. But be careful. Over.”

  “Copy.” This was their first injury of the day—surprising considering the conditions. Wasn’t too crowded though—this was a day for serious skiers. The bunnies stayed away, out of the elements.

  Jud pushed off the ridge and headed down. He had to make quick turns because he could see only about fifteen feet ahead. Hopefully their patient wasn’t critical—it was going to take him forever to get down.

  The run was arduous. It was hard work to ski slowly down a mountain, the cutting turns making his legs burn. His eyes focusing on the terrain that he could see, his thoughts wandered to a pile of work on his desk at home. Luckily he was off tomorrow and could tackle a good portion of it.

  Finally he reached the top of lift sixteen, nearly running into the crossed skis that had been placed in the snow to warn other skiers about the accident. He pulled to a stop next to Josh. “What’s up?”

  “It’s Chelsea, J.T.,” he said.

  “What?” Jud’s heart jumped into his throat.

  Josh shook his head, angry. “Some knuckle-dragging kid on a board sideswiped her. Didn’t hit her too hard, but it knocked her down and she slid into the trail map sign, banged her head on the post.”

  “Shit.” Jud skated over to where Roger was leaning over a litter. “How is she?”

  “I’m fine, Jud,” Chelsea called to him.

  He breathed a sigh of relief that she was awake and talking. “Wasn’t talking to you, Chels.”

  “She looks okay,” Roger said, hooking up the litter to the snowmobile. “But she did hit her head pretty good.”

  “She needs to go to the hospital,” Jud said.

  “No, I don’t!” Chelsea tried to sit up.

  Roger held her down. “Yeah, she does.”

  “Don’t I have a say in this?” Chelsea asked.

  “No, you don’t.” Still in his skis, Jud bent at the waist and leaned over her, supporting his upper body on his poles. “Chels, please lie still. You could hurt yourself even more.”

  “Jud, I’m fine.”

  “Uh-huh. You’re wincing in pain, your skin is pale and your lips are blue.”

  “Damn it, it’s cold out here!”

  “Settle down, Chels. We’re going to take you to the hospital. Is it okay if we take you to the hospital and make sure you don’t have a head bleed? Can we please do that for you?” Under the circumstances, he tried to use his most charming and persuasive voice. She didn’t respond and he took that as acquiescence. But then, even if she’d started kicking and screaming, he was going to make sure she saw a doctor. He watched as Roger checked that Chelsea was strapped safely into the gurney. “Let’s go.”

  As Jud followed the snowmobile down, the snow started to let up. He was in rescue mode, so he was relatively calm, especially considering who his patient was. Still, if he ever found that shredder who’d nailed Chelsea, he’d knock the guy’s teeth out.

  They made it down to the base relatively quickly and Jud watched as Chelsea was loaded into the ambulance.

  “I’ll see you at the hospital, Chels,” Jud said.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Didn’t hear that,” he said as he closed the ambulance door.

  * * * * *

  Chelsea had been poked, prodded, questioned, CT’ed and now she just wanted to go home. She had a little bump on the head. Big deal. But damn, her head hurt. She lay back on the bed in the emergency room and closed her eyes. After a moment, she heard the curtain being pulled back. She opened her eyes to a beautiful sight—Judson Tate.

  While she’d waited, Chelsea had been daydreaming about Jud rescuing her, whisking her off to safety. Of course there’d been no visit to the hospital. Her fantasy involved a large comfy bed, a fireplace, candles and no clothes.

  Jud pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed, squeezing her hand. “How are you feeling?”

  “My head’s pounding but I’m okay.”

  He smiled at her. “You know, if you wanted to get out of our date for Friday, you could have just told me. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

  Chelsea winced. “Funny. I’m sure I’ll be fine by Friday night.”

  “We’ll see.” He raised her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “You scared the shit out of me, Chels.”

  She rolled her eyes and then grimaced from the pain of the simple act. “I’m fine.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Chelsea turned her head to look at him, her heart melting when she saw his look of concern. “You have the most beautiful blue eyes.”

  He gave her hand another squeeze. “I think you’re delirious.”

  Smiling, she shook her head. “Ow, that hurt.” She heard an authoritative male voice.

  “Ms. Ryan.”

  Chelsea turne
d to see that her hunky doctor had returned. “Yes, doctor?” She smiled at him, pleased by Jud’s little grunt of disapproval. Hell, she was medicated, right? That certainly gave her license to flirt with attractive doctors.

  “Your neuro exam is fine and there are no abnormalities on the head CT. You have a mild concussion, so you need to rest for a couple days.”

  “Great.” Chelsea pulled herself up to sit. “When can I get out of here?”

  “I’ll go sign you out right now.”

  “Uh, doc?” Jud said. “She shouldn’t be alone, right?”

  “It’d be best if someone was with her, yes.”

  Jud looked at her.

  “Megan can take care of me,” she said. “Oh wait. She has a book club meeting tonight.”

  “You’ll stay with me,” Jud said. “I’ll take you to my place.”

  “No, that’s not necessary.” Chelsea saw her doctor sidle away from her bedside and move toward the door. “I’ll be fine by myself, won’t I?” He kept walking and she called out to him. “Coward!”

  “Leave the poor doctor alone, Chels. You’re coming home with me.”

  Twenty minutes later, Jud was wheeling her to the exit, saying hello to various pretty nurses. Does the man know every beautiful woman in town? Probably.

  What was she getting herself into?

  * * * * *

  “We’re here.”

  Chelsea opened her eyes to see that Jud had pulled to a stop in front of a cedar-sided townhome. The pain medicine they’d given her had somewhat relieved her headache—now it was down to a dull roar—but it had also made her sleepy.

  Wearing only the thin cotton scrubs from the hospital, she clutched her coat to her chest while Jud rounded the Explorer to open her door for her. He held out his hand and she grasped it for support as she stepped out of the vehicle. A little woozy from the medicine, she stumbled against him.

  “Okay.” Jud bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

  “Whoa, head rush.”

  “Sorry.” Jud carried her effortlessly to his door.

  Chelsea wrapped her arms around his neck. “My knight in shining armor.”