All For You: Halfway ThereBuckhorn Ever AfterThe One You WantOne Perfect Night

by Susan Mallery

  “If he likes any of those things,” Mia said with a grimace, “I’m out. Besides, he probably wouldn’t want to sit around admiring engagement rings, either.”

  Their friends Janet and Ellen were both newly engaged, and if Colbie was anything but happy for them, she refused to admit it to herself. Just because she’d caught her last boyfriend locked in the missionary position on New Year’s Eve with the woman he’d sworn was “just a good friend from work” didn’t give her license to spill sour milk all over her friends’ happiness.

  “You could have told them about Rob and what a scumbag he turned out to be, you know.”

  Only Mia knew what had happened with Colbie’s ex-boyfriend. “I didn’t want our celebration this weekend to turn into a pity party.” She worked to shake away the image of her ex in bed with another woman. “Besides, I refuse to let him ruin my vacation in one of the most beautiful places in the world.” Especially after he’d ruined her New Year’s so thoroughly.

  Intent on relaxing her too-tight muscles, she took a deep breath and looked out at the truly spectacular view from her seat high above Lake Tahoe. It really was a winter wonderland. The sky was blue, the air smelled crisp and clean, the fresh snow from the night before was soft and fluffy on the branches of trees. Even before the small jet had touched down at the Lake Tahoe airport two days ago, Colbie’s first sight of the partially frozen lake had taken her breath away.

  Plus, there was nothing better than spending time with people who knew her almost better than she knew herself. Yesterday they’d gone out snowshoeing during the day and then spent the night drinking too much and laughing more than she’d laughed since their vacation last year.

  Between the gorgeous view and a few deep belly-breaths, she finally started to calm down. But as the chair moved closer to the top of the mountain, she knew she didn’t have a prayer of relaxing completely.

  She was mere minutes from having to face her next challenge: skiing down the hill...and getting to the bottom in one piece. In other sports, such as tennis and swimming, she was perfectly coordinated, but as soon as she stuck skis to her feet, they went haywire.

  She knew Mia was going to offer to hang back with her once they got off the lift, but Colbie couldn’t stand the thought of getting in the way of her fun, especially when Mia was a black-diamond girl all the way. Last year they’d all agreed to meet in San Diego for sand and sun, something they didn’t get nearly enough of in Seattle. This year she’d been perfectly happy to let the skiing fanatics like Mia decide the location.

  “Thanks for joining me on the lift,” she said to Mia, “but I refuse to let you babysit me for the rest of the day. As soon as we get to the top, you’re going to go ski to your heart’s content.”

  Her friend raised an eyebrow. “Look who’s using the dominatrix voice now.” Mia was one of the prettiest women she’d ever met, but Colbie would always see her as that little girl with the messy pigtails and the missing tooth.

  “Don’t make me get out my whip,” she teased.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mia said with a jaunty salute that shook their seat a little too much for Colbie’s peace of mind.

  She held her breath as the chair scooted closer to the landing at the top of the hill. Forcing her hands to unclench from the bar, she tipped up her skis and hopped off the seat in unison with Mia. A moment later, her friend had slipped on her goggles and was waving goodbye as she gracefully skied away, heading over to the other side of the mountain, where all the terrifyingly difficult runs were.

  Mia made it look so easy. Snow was soft, right? How much damage could Colbie do to herself on one little mountain? Maybe this time, she decided, everything would go fine. And for a moment, as her skis actually moved her in the direction she pointed them, sliding easily through the fresh snow, it seemed like it would.

  Until a small child suddenly came careening toward her.

  Assuming the little girl with the flying pigtails was as out of control as Colbie usually was on a pair of skis, she knew she had to at least try to save the child.

  Wobbling a bit, she dropped her poles and reached out to catch the girl as she passed. Seeing Colbie’s arms outstretched, the little girl simply laughed and scooted effortlessly out of her reach.

  At which point Colbie wibble-wobbled all the way over—losing a ski in the process—and landed flat on her face with a barely muffled splat.

  The fresh snow was shockingly cold on her cheeks and chin and forehead. Scratch that—it was freezing every inch of her face that wasn’t covered, including her earlobes and the spot on her neck where her scarf must have gaped open when she fell.

  Knowing she needed to get out of the way of the next skier, she tried to get up on her hands and knees, but the snow was too soft and the one ski that had stayed on kept going deeper into the snow, twisting her ankle something fierce.

  Yup, no question about it. She was stuck.

  A fleeting thought passed through her mind. The only thing that could make her situation worse would be if some hot, single guy—one she might have had a soul-deep love affair with in another reality—found her with her butt up in the air and snow plastered to her face.

  But even she didn’t have luck that bad. Or at least she didn’t think she did until a few seconds later when she heard a deep, slightly rough voice ask, “Are you okay?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  SHE LIFTED HER HEAD, trying to put a face to the sinfully sexy voice behind her, but there were too many ice crystals on her eyelashes for her to see much more than a blurry face and dark hair.

  And then he was saying, “Don’t worry—I’ve got you,” and his big, strong hands were coming around her waist, lifting her up out of the snow. She made the mistake of trying to help her rescuer by pushing herself up, but that tipped him off balance and knocked him down beside her. Still gripping her as he fell, they rolled a few feet down the steep hill, their skis popping off before they finally came to a stop.

  Colbie’s back was to the snow and the stranger’s weight was heavy on top of her, but it felt protective rather than crushing. Her head was pressed against the stranger’s chest, and their arms and legs were entangled from the fall. Mmm, she thought as a low moan slipped from her throat. She loved this feeling of being so close with a man, to hard muscles and a heat that radiated all the way through her chilled body.

  As the warm arms around her quickly melted her chill away and she instinctively snuggled in closer, it occurred to Colbie that she hadn’t been this close to a man since the last time she and Rob had made lo—

  A sharp sting of pain at her ex’s betrayal had her stiffening beneath the man who had attempted to pull her out of the snow.

  Hadn’t she vowed to keep her distance from men until she felt strong enough to tell a good one from a bad one? Not only was it completely inappropriate to be lying in such an intimate position with a total stranger, but she definitely shouldn’t be pulling him closer.

  One, she didn’t know this man’s name.

  Two, she didn’t even know what he looked like.

  Three, she’d sworn off men!

  She needed to get up, say thank you, somehow ski down the impossibly high mountain she’d so foolishly climbed in the ski lift...and then drown her complete and total embarrassment in a glass—or three—of wine back at the resort’s bar.

  Forcing herself to unwrap her arms from the man’s neck when he shifted above her, she moved into a sitting position as quickly as she could, given the fairly big dent their bodies had made in the snow.

  Using snow-covered gloves to brush away the ice crystals all over her face was messy work. She started to say, “Thank you so much. I hope I didn’t hurt yo—” when she finally got a good look at her savior.

  Oh. My. God.

  She’d never seen a man this good-looking before. Ever. Maybe in a movie or magazi
ne, but never live and in person.

  Mortification rode her even harder at the complete and utter fool she’d made of herself in front of him. Her luck really was that bad. Not only because she’d fallen face-first into the snow, but also because she’d been unable to stop herself from rubbing all over him like a cat in heat.

  She may even, she suddenly realized with dismay as she blinked at his perfect face, have moaned aloud at the sinfully delicious feel of his body pressing hers into the cold snow.

  Amazingly, he wasn’t looking at her with disgust. Instead, there was a smile on his lips and a sparkle in his green eyes. “Rescuing you was my pleasure. And, no, you definitely didn’t hurt me at all.”

  Despite the depths of her humiliation, her own lips were on the verge of turning up at the corners. “I’m not a very good skier,” she admitted, before adding, “but you probably already guessed that.”

  “I saw what happened. You thought that little girl was in trouble, didn’t you?”

  She had to laugh at herself. “She’s probably been skiing since she could walk, huh?”

  He nodded. “I’m thinking we should keep an eye out for her in the Winter Olympics in another ten years or so.”

  Something like this would have had Rob laughing at her the rest of the day. But this man was simply laughing with her.

  “I’m Noah.”

  “I’m Colbie.”

  “Colbie,” he repeated in that low, rough voice that sent shivers running across her skin as they shook hands...or thick ski gloves, anyway. But these shivers had nothing to do with the icy mountain they were sitting on and everything to do with him. His green eyes darkened slightly as he said, “That’s a pretty name. Unique, too.”

  She’d never, ever had to forcibly restrain herself from launching herself at a man to steal a kiss—a kiss she knew with 100 percent certainty would blow her mind. But he hadn’t saved her so that she could maul him.

  He brushed a lump of snow off her forehead, and, when she shivered, he said, “You must be freezing.”

  She couldn’t tell him she was shivering at his nearness and from naughty thoughts of the things she wanted to do to him. Not to mention all the things she wanted him to do to her.

  If she were Mia, she’d be wowing him by saying something sexy and witty about how he could keep her warm. Of course, since Colbie was feeling anything but sexy and witty right at that moment, all she could think to say was, “We should probably find our skis before they take anyone else down.”

  Without waiting for his agreement, she started to make her way back up the mountain, but they were close enough to the tree line that the snow was quite soft and really deep, and a couple of steps were all it took for her to fall in again.

  Noah reached for her. “Hold on to me.”

  Grateful—and more turned on than she could ever remember being with nothing more than a man’s arm wrapped around her waist—she moved back up the mountain with him until they found all four of their skis.

  Ignoring his own, he picked up hers and said, “Sit, and I’ll put them on for you.”

  As the quiet one in school, she’d learned to excel in other ways. Everyone had always told her how capable she was, and she’d done her best to live up to their expectations. When was the last time she hadn’t had to take care of everyone else? Even last night with her girlfriends, she’d tucked each of them into their beds, drunk and giggling, before cleaning up the cabin’s kitchen and living room and finally getting to bed herself. For once, it was a pleasure to let someone else take charge for a few minutes.

  Watching Noah slide one of her skis into place on her ski boot, she said, “You look like you’ve done that before. Do you have kids?” Her unasked question—Or a wife?—hung between them.

  “No wife. No kids.” He attached her other ski. “But I used to be a ski instructor back in college.”

  She made a face. “I’m pretty sure the last instructor I took a class from quit.”

  He gave her that breath-stealing grin again. “I’ve always thrived on a challenge.”

  What was he saying? Was he offering to give her lessons?

  A fantasy of spending an entire day with Noah, his hot eyes caressing her, his hands on her as he picked her up when she fell, spun through her brain. If she could manage to redeem her earlier performance, would he reward her progress with a kiss? Or more?

  Watching her carefully, he said, “All you need to do is listen to your body. It isn’t about the skis or poles or your feet or the mountain. It’s only about you. And how you feel.” His seductive words wrapped around her. “I could show you how to do that, Colbie.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” she said in a far less steady voice than she would have liked.

  “Not necessarily easy,” he countered, “but worth it.”

  She was tempted, so very tempted, to take him up on his offer. But how could she forget what had happened at Christmas with Rob? He’d wanted to spend the weekend at a ritzy ski resort in Colorado and had promised her that it would be no big deal to teach her how to ski well. Of course, after only an hour on the mountain, he’d started cursing when she’d accidentally cut him off and he had to take a nosedive in the snow to avoid crashing into her.

  Almost certain that any impromptu lesson with Noah was bound to end the same way, and not at all in the mood to look any more like a fool than she already did, she forced herself to turn him down.

  “You came to have a good time today. Not to surmount the insurmountable challenge of teaching me to ski. Besides,” she said, grasping for any reason she could find, “I’m here with some girlfriends for the weekend.”

  He made a show of looking all around her. “Your friends let you go skiing by yourself?”

  “Not exactly,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to hold them back, so I told them to go on without me to the harder runs.”

  “Sounds to me like you’ve got the whole day to yourself then, Colbie.” The way he said her name felt like a heated whisper across her skin. “Let me prove to you that I’m up to the challenge.”

  If he had said anything else, she might simply have thanked him for helping her get her skis, pushed off with her poles and been down at the bottom of the hill within a matter of minutes, leaving him behind. But the word challenge got her. After all, it was why she’d gotten on the ski lift in the first place. It was also the reason she’d quit her job and signed a twelve-month retail lease for her new store just a handful of weeks ago.

  Colbie looked like a practical woman on the surface, but at her core, she was a true sensualist. She loved the finest silks and lace against her skin and had happily spent way too much on the perfect evocative scent. It had always been her dream to open a store that sold luxury products for women...but she’d never been able to justify giving up a good job to chase a dream. Not until last month, when in the wake of the disaster with her ex, she’d finally decided to take charge of her life and had signed the lease for her new store: Indulgence. The time for practicality was over. All her life she’d worked hard to please other people, but the way Rob had treated her had been the last straw. Finally, she’d decided to start pleasing herself.

  Suddenly, she couldn’t think of anything that would please her more than spending a day with a gorgeous man on a snowy mountain in Lake Tahoe.

  She looked up at Noah and smiled. “If you’re really up to playing teacher today, then I’ll try to be the best student you’ve ever had.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  NOAH’S ENTIRE BODY reacted to the unintentional sensuality of Colbie’s words. He wanted to pull her against him again and find out if her mouth tasted as good as it looked. But he could sense how wary she was about spending a few hours with him, so he knew better than to push her too hard.

  Later, after she felt more comfortable with him, he’d attempt to st
eal a kiss.

  “Leave your poles in the snow for now,” he told her. “I want you to hold on to my hands instead.”

  She hesitated for a moment. “Is this how you taught all of your students?”

  He grinned at her. “Only the pretty ones.”

  Flushing, she put her hands in his. “Okay, now what?”

  “Close your eyes.” Her immediate frown was so cute, he had to laugh out loud. “Don’t worry, you’ll be keeping them open once we head down the hill.”

  She looked down toward the bottom and grimaced. “If only we could stay up here forever.”

  “Colbie.” He waited until she looked back at him. “I’m not going to make you do anything you’re not ready for. Trust me.”

  He could see in her eyes that she understood he wasn’t just talking about skiing. He was talking about the two of them. Maybe it was too soon to suggest that there could be something between them, but he felt it anyway—and he had a feeling she did, too. After a long moment, she finally nodded, then closed her eyes as he’d asked her to.

  “Adjust your weight so that you’re standing evenly on both skis.” When she wobbled a little on her skis and stiffened, he said, “Don’t worry—I’ve got you and I’m not going to let you fall.” Again, he let his promise settle into her before continuing. “I want you to get comfortable, to feel like you’re standing as normally as possible, even though you’re in boots and skis. That’s why I asked you to close your eyes, so that you’re not depending on anything but what you’re feeling.”

  As she adjusted her weight from one foot to the other with her eyes closed, he took the opportunity to stare at her. She had long dark eyelashes and her features were beautifully defined, her cheekbones high, her mouth lush and kissable. Her eyes had been as blue as the lake and her dark hair fell in waves down her shoulders, falling to cover the curve of her chest. If she was this beautiful in a ski jacket and pants, he couldn’t imagine how gorgeous she’d be with nothing on at all, her hair like silk over creamy skin, her big blue eyes blurry with desire as she looked up at him from his bed.