by Taylor Hart
The sun was long gone, and Mike was hungry by the end of it. His father had ordered pizza and had waters and cookies for all the people that had come out to help.
It was amazing to chat with everyone. There was such a feeling of community. He saw some of his high school friends, like Morgan Moon and Harris Snow. They were talking with Zoey, and then he saw her laugh. It was a real laugh, and the sides of her eyes crinkled. He honestly thought he’d never seen anything so beautiful. Part of him wanted to just watch her look so happy.
Her eyes met his. She said something to his friends and headed his way. On her way, she stopped to grab her pizza and water before coming to his side. “Hey.”
He leaned into her. “Thanks for all your work today.”
Looking around, she shrugged. “That was the deal, right? A Snow Valley wedding. You were right. They’re kind of epic.”
“Seems like you were enjoying yourself over there.”
A small smile played at her lips. “Your friends are funny. They think Nellie’s going to want to fight me tomorrow night.”
He grunted. “Might be right.” He didn’t want to deal with Nellie. “Too bad she’d have to deal with my mother, and she’s not going to want to do that.”
She leaned up and gently kissed the side of his cheek. “I’ll be ready.”
Stunned by the kiss, Mike gazed into her mischievous green eyes and knew he was lost.
Chapter 11
Zoey stared into Mike’s eyes. Every part of her felt on edge. Why had she just done that?
He seemed to be asking the same question with his eyes, even as he said aloud, “So, I guess you got out of the poetry tonight. Since the snow slowed everything up and this took so long, they decided to dispel with a real rehearsal dinner.”
She sucked in a breath and turned away, blowing it out. “Oh, good.” But she felt that trying to make up a poem was the least of her problems.
“Mike, will you come help me?” his father called out.
Zoey turned and saw some containers being loaded up to store in a truck.
“Yeah,” Mike called back, then turned to her. “We’re almost done here, but do you want to see something tonight?”
It was almost eight o’clock, and it was pretty dark. She wondered if he meant a tree-lighting ceremony. “Ah, sure.”
The edges of his lips turned up. “Great, I’ll meet you back at the house in half an hour.” He winked at her. “Put your swimsuit on beneath some sweats, and meet me by the front door.”
“What?”
He laughed and turned away. “Trust me.”
Half an hour later, she stood by the front door, swimsuit on under her sweats, boots, and coat. She couldn’t help but feel excited.
Lacey and Dom walked into the living room on their way up to Lacey’s room, and Lacey smacked Dom in the shoulder. “Ah, you know where he’s taking her.”
Dom winked at her, looking tired. “You’re going to love it.”
Dom and Lacey stopped at the bottom of the stairs and began a full on make-out session.
“Oh.” Zoey immediately felt uncomfortable.
Lacey laughed and pulled away from him. “Sorry. It’s just he can’t come up with me, so we’re getting some smooching in.”
Dom captured her lips and began kissing her again.
This wasn’t going to work for Zoey. She opened the front door and stepped out onto the wraparound porch. Her breath came out in puffs and she knew she couldn’t wait too long, but she had to laugh. She stared up at the moon and sucked in a long breath, trying not to remember her and Josh’s wedding night.
“Hey.” Mike strolled around the corner of the house. He was dressed in boots, but he looked funny because he was wearing a swimsuit and his bare legs were exposed to the cold.
Attraction wove through her. His legs were not too bad. He wore a tan beanie cap with “Boston” on it, as well as his lumberjack coat with matching boots. It was the same outfit he’d been wearing last night.
Had it only been one day since they’d met?
“Are you ready?” He waited at the end of the stairs and held out a hand.
Nervously, she walked down the stairs, but didn’t take his hand. “I don’t think we need to do that, right? I mean, there’s nobody out here.”
He shrugged and started walking toward some kind of trail that had obviously been shoveled. “You might slip, so it’s best you take my hand.”
She complied, humming with anticipation as they walked down the path. “Where are we going?”
He looked down at their joined hands. His hand was warm; hers was less so. “Okay, remind me to get you some good gloves. Your hands are like icicles. Just wait, you’re going to love this.”
The fact that they were wearing swimsuits and walking through the snow made her believe they must have a pool or something. When she’d inspected the property while she’d helped decorate, she’d noticed lots of land, two huge barns, and horses. Plus, there was a dance studio/boxing area that Mike’s mother had pointed out to her on a break. “Don’t tell me you wanted to be an Olympic swimmer so your dad had a facility installed.”
Letting out a laugh, he shook his head and tugged her closer. “Walk a bit faster.”
She upped her pace and noticed the path they followed was almost like a hike into something. Now there were passing by boulders.
“This property has been on Snow land for a long time. When my parents met up later in life, the land was on the verge of being sold.” He smiled at her as they approached a structure. “But my dad bought it, and he put the tree house here for her. He was a romantic because he’d helped her build a similar tree house when they were in high school.”
“So your parents were high school sweethearts?”
He shook his head, and they kept walking down the trail. “Nope. Well, yes, but my dad had to move away his senior year. They lost contact. When he came back after high school for her, she was married.”
“The plot thickens.” They reached a clearing, and Zoey noticed the water and the hot springs. The snow melting everywhere made it look like a haven. “Wow.” It took her breath away.
“I know, right?” Mike pointed to a big rock. “Let’s get in over there, and we can put our clothes right there.”
Zoey felt self-conscious but didn’t really know why. It wasn’t like she was embarrassed of her body, but she hadn’t been in a swimsuit situation like this with a guy in a long time. Her mouth went dry as she followed Mike.
He quickly shed the boots, coat, and hat. Bam, she had a bare-chested mountain man right in front of her. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. Mike Hamilton didn’t disappoint in the chest area. His muscles were very defined.
“I know you like to check me out, but it’s freezing, Zoey.”
Jolted out of her blatant staring, she turned away from him. “I wasn’t.” But it sounded stupid even to her. She tugged off her coat.
A small laugh escaped from him. “It’s your story. You can tell it.”
Annoyed at herself, she went into business mode, pretending that it was a nursing thing she was doing. When she had to give people shots in the butt or see something she didn’t want to see, she’d slip into clinical mode and find it didn’t matter anymore. Without looking at him, she stepped on the rock and put her boots beside his, then shed her sweats. She’d worn a black one-piece. Luckily, she had bought it last summer, so it was fairly new.
“Nice,” Mike said casually.
When she met his eyes, he was obviously checking her out. She glared at him and didn’t know what to say.
His grin widened, and he put his hand out. “Wanna jump in with me?”
She stared into the steaming water. “I have no idea where the rocks are.”
“C’mon, you think I would let you get hurt?”
The way he said it, half offended, made her realize that this man would never let her get hurt. “Of course not, hero.” Reluctantly, she took his hand, stepping over the rest of the cloth
es. Good thing Mike had brought two beach towels, she noted.
They both stood on the edge. He pointed with his other hand to the center of the water. “We’re going to jump on three and land right in the middle. We’ll go all the way under, okay?”
Anticipation wove through her, but she hesitated.
“Hey, a girl like you—on rooftops, hitchhiking. Again, that’s all dangerous, but you should love this.”
Her heart raced. He was right. It was why she didn’t mind running up on that roof and why she didn’t mind hitchhiking. She liked the rush of doing stuff like that.
“One, two three.” They both jumped.
The water engulfed her and kind of scalded her skin. She flailed to the surface and sucked in a breath.
“Yeah, baby!” Mike yelled, pumping a fist into the air.
She laughed and said, “You’re certifiably crazy, you know that?”
He shook his head, and once again, she was reminded of a dog shaking out water. Of course, it got in her eyes.
She wiped the water from her face. “Down, boy!”
He laughed and gestured to the side of the hot spring. “There’s a bench over there. We can sit or jump off some more.”
She swam with him, and when they got to it, Mike stood on it and jumped in again. “Cannonball!” he yelled out.
More laughter ensued, and she found that she wasn’t tired at all anymore. She copied him and jumped, yelling out, “Yahtzee!”
He roared out a laugh and cheered her on.
When she surfaced, he was already jumping in again.
They did that for the next twenty minutes, and she loved it.
Finally, she sat. “I think I just want to soak.”
“Okay.” He moved and sat right next to her. “Then we’ll soak.”
It was electric when he got this close. The bubbles washed over her as she sank a bit deeper.
“What do you think?” Mike asked after a while.
“Do I not look like I’m enjoying myself?”
He nodded.
“And you haven’t tried to kill me this time, so there’s that.”
Lightly, he splashed her. “I was helping you.”
She reflexively splashed him back, but with more umph. “Right, keep reminding me.”
He laughed. “Dang, woman, I was saving you all those times, and you didn’t even thank me.”
She grunted. “I guess it’s your story, and you can tell it,” she said, mimicking him.
“Right.”
For a few moments, neither of them spoke. She marveled at how it was freezing and yet they were sitting out here, enjoying the weather. “This place is cool,” she finally said.
Mike nodded. “So would you really be okay doing a poem at the wedding? My parents keep asking me.”
She frowned. “I don’t know any. Well …”
“You do?”
“I wrote a poem once. I turned it into a song for Josh, but that was a long time ago, and—”
“No, don’t worry about it,” he said quickly.
She sighed. “I could just say it as poetry.”
Mike smiled at her. “If you’re okay with that.”
She was curious about Mike, and something had been bugging her, so she took this opportunity to bring it up. “Have you photographed this place?”
“What?” He turned to her, surprised.
“Your sister said you love taking landscapes, that you took a ton in Boston the past couple of months, so I was just wondering if you have some of the hot springs.”
Mike hesitated, looking suspicious. Then he cupped some water in his hands and stared into it. “Was she telling you I was lonely?”
The question sounded tentative, like he was vulnerable about it. Join the club. “Yeah, she did.”
“I’ve taken photos of this place. I’ve shot pictures of the whole ranch.” He waved a hand in the air. “Of all of Snow Valley.” He let out a laugh. “We have this crazy helicopter guy that served in Vietnam, and he takes people up in a helicopter sometimes. Anyway, I got to take pictures up there too. It was awesome. I’m even Lacey’s photographer for the wedding tomorrow. I have some really great shots planned.”
She studied him. “Sounds like you love it.”
“I do.”
This made sense. She felt a bit selfish about him not being able to hang out with her. “So why don’t you do that?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Like permanently?”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
“No. It’s not like—” He exhaled. “It’s fun, and I like it, but it’s not my dream.”
Hesitating, she asked, “What is your dream?”
He frowned.
“Fair is fair. You know mine, to be on The Voice. What is yours?”
“Why?” he asked. “I thought we didn’t need to know each other.”
It was true. She had said that earlier. “Fine.”
They were quiet for a long time.
He sighed. “Okay, but you can’t think it’s stupid.”
“I would never think that.”
“I have this dream of having a life like the one I grew up with.” He shrugged, belying the intensity in his eyes. “Being a dad, a husband. I just want to be able to support us like my dad did.”
His sincerity touched her. “It doesn’t sound stupid.”
Their eyes held, and emotion passed between them. She thought of how she would love to sit in the hot springs with him for pretty much ever. Immediately, she banished that thought. Why was she thinking about being in this dream with him?
He put his hand out for hers. “I bet what you’re really worrying about is when I’ll have time to dance with you at the wedding. Don’t worry, I will.”
She tugged her hand away. “I … you do what you need to do, but we don’t need to be holding hands right now. Not part of the deal. Only in public.”
He let out a sigh. “Right. Yep. That’s what this is. A deal. Best we remember that.”
She met his pale blue eyes, and once again, there was that zing between them.
“Just like that kiss today,” he said, gently tracing her top lip.
Every part of her felt like it was on fire. “What do you mean?”
“You felt it. I know it.”
She turned away, wishing she wouldn’t have come out here with him tonight.
Silence reigned.
“Listen,” he finally said. “Let’s just have fun the next couple of days, okay? I mean, I know you were married, and …”
“And he’s dead, Mike. My husband is dead. I’m a widow, and …” She started swimming back to the other side. “I shouldn’t even be here.” Guilt plagued her. Why was she here? Hanging out with him wasn’t part of the deal.
“Wait!” He followed her.
She pulled herself out of the water and grabbed a towel. “I want to go back. I’m tired.”
He leapt up after her, drying himself off as well. “Zoey, look. You can’t shut down every time we talk about your husband or your past.”
“Hey, I’m Ann, and I’m just here for a couple of days. Then I’ll be …”
A grin swept over his face. “Slamming it down on The Voice.” He put up a hand to high-five. “Following your dreams is cool.”
It confused her, how he could switch like that. Like she wasn’t weird because she had just “shut him down” about her dead husband. She high-fived him and couldn’t help but smile. “You’re like a puppy, you know that?”
He pulled her into his arms. “Ahh, you like it.”
This guy was determined. She pushed away from him, but she was laughing. “Seriously, stop.”
He quickly put on his boots and then his coat.
She’d given up on the sweats and just put on her boots.
“Listen, Zoey,” he said very formally. “I know this all is just—well, thank you for doing this. I can tell you that I’d probably already be …” He trailed off.
She grunted and put on her coat, then
began to walk back. “Here with Nellie,” she said flippantly.
His hand took hers and tugged her to a stop. “No. Listen, I don’t want to be with Nellie, but I would probably be grilled by my parents and then pretty much the whole town tomorrow, so you’re saving me from a huge headache, okay?”
She let out a breath and squeezed his hand back. “You can just say thank you.”
“Thank you.” A smile played at his lips.
She hesitated before smiling back. “No, thank you.”
Chapter 12
The next morning, Mike wasn’t surprised when Dom tried to haul his butt out of bed at the horrible time of six in the morning.
He put his pillow over his head to block the happy singing that belted through the guesthouse. “Fight time, fight time! Oh yeah, it’s fight time!”
When Dom yanked the pillow out of his hand and gave a crazy yell, Mike could only jump out of bed. “Just because it’s your wedding day doesn’t mean I’m not going to whip your butt.”
Of course, Dom was pretty good at whipping butts. Half an hour later, they engaged in a little sparring: half boxing, half MMA-style. Mike could hold his own, but he hadn’t been trained to kill people.
Mike laughed and jumped through the air, doing a roundhouse kick.
Dom easily blocked it and stepped away, causing Mike to plow into the ground.
“So what’s the scoop with Ann?” Dom asked, giving him a funny look. “She doesn’t seem like an Ann, does she?” He jabbed Mike in the gut.
Mike’s hand flew to his gut, and then he went back to tactical bobbing and weaving. “I like her, so shut up.”
Dom grinned. “I didn’t say I didn’t like her. I do. She worked her tail off yesterday, but Lacey and I were saying that we felt bad because we didn’t think she’d be …”
“What?” Mike was defensive, partly because he was covering a lie.
“We didn’t think she’d work like that yesterday. We thought she’d be very proper.”
Mike glared at him. The real Ann would have been exactly what Dom and Lacey had imagined: a bit stuck-up. She definitely wouldn’t have worked at helping with the wedding setup like Zoey had yesterday.
