by Unknown
“I’m surprised your family let you go so far when you’re so young.” From Seattle to Colorado was quite a distance, and she didn’t look older than her early twenties. Most families these days seem to keep their children close to home.
After another long pause, she said, “I have no family.”
Well, he just stepped in it. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He was dying to know more, but wasn’t sure if he should ask.
“Thanks.”
All of a sudden, the woods ended. A wide area covered with packed-down snow led to a drop off. As they got closer to the edge, the vista unfolded in front of them. The small town looked so different from above. The streets were laid out in a grid, the quaint stores impossible to see from this distance. But he was able to make out the spire of one of the ten churches, and in the distance the tower and runways of the tiny airport where he’d arrived.
Zoe and Bastian stood side-by-side. As she’d promised, he could see the opposite mountain range on the other side of the town, its snow-capped peaks shrouded in clouds.
“It always feels so peaceful here,” she said. “I know there are lots of things going on down there in the town but here, so far removed, it’s almost like a picture.”
Finally, finally she was opening up to him. Now all he had to do was not screw it up. “It’s beautiful.”
They stood there for a few minutes, drinking in the view. Bastian wanted to reach out and take her hand but he could guess how well that would be received.
“We’d better head over to the waterfall,” Zoe said. “We have just enough time left to see it today.”
He silently followed her back into the woods. Partway through, she veered down a path that led away from the main hotel and toward the ski slopes. Five minutes later, the path ended at a large frozen-over stream. Zoe walked partway down the bank, stopped, then turned and pointed.
Bastian stopped beside her, standing just a little too close. He rested his hand on the small of her back before looking where she’d pointed. A waterfall in full motion catapulted over the rocks, headed toward them...completely frozen.
“Bastian.”
When she shifted to move away, he slipped his hand around her hip to hold her in place. “There’s no one here but us. You can’t tell me you don’t feel this, Zoe. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have to fight it so hard.”
***
Zoe wanted to give in so badly she could taste it. He might be just a guest, bound to leave in less than a week. He might be dangerous, apt to get her in hot water. But it had been so long since any man had paid attention to her. It had been so long since she was able to get her mind off her problems and think about something else instead.
Not that he wasn’t trouble with a capital T. But she stayed where she was, the warmth from his hand slowly leeching through her snow pants to burn her hip.
“I’m surprised the water freezes like that,” he said. “Like it was in motion and froze all at once.”
This she could talk about. “They brought me down here when it was in the process of freezing. You could see the ice on the rocks behind the waterfall and how it was starting to grow even though there was still water flowing at that time. I imagine the ice grew droplet by droplet while the water still flowed, until all that was left was the ice.”
His hand tightened on her hip. “Is this why you’re the one doing the guided tours? Because you love it?”
How did he know that? “Well…I mean, I like nature.” Wow, that didn’t sound lame, did it?
This time when his hand tightened on her, he pulled her just a little bit closer to him. “Right. You’re enthusiastic about it and so the powers that be put you in charge of showing the guests how beautiful it is. The guests get more out of the tour because you’re passionate about what you’re showing us.”
“I guess.” She saw what he meant, but she was having a hard time putting a thought together standing so close to him.
He pulled her even closer, twisting her so they faced each other. “You’re amazing, Zoe.”
Oh, no. No, this wasn’t supposed to happen. “Thanks, but I–” She took a step back but he held her fast.
“Where’re you going?”
“We’ve talked about this.”
“Zoe. No one’s here.” He gazed at her.
He was right. No one would see. And she wanted so badly just to kiss him. She leaned forward. “Just once,” she whispered.
He met her halfway, his lips surprisingly gentle against hers. She’d thought he would ravage her, try to sweep her off her feet, but instead he coaxed, he soothed, he worshipped.
Anything, anything, would have been easier to resist than this.
Bastian slipped his other arm around her so carefully she didn’t notice until he pulled her against him and wrapped around her like a warm cocoon. Still, every move was tender. Where he could have jerked her against him and held her tight in the bands of his arms, he instead enfolded her, his arms a comfort rather than a vice.
She was really in trouble.
Zoe broke the kiss, her breathing ragged. “Enough.”
“Not enough.” His voice sounded like a low growl. Now his arms tightened, now he kissed her hard, his mouth plundering hers with no mercy.
She couldn’t breathe, much less tell him to stop. Instead, she grabbed him around the waist and held onto him as tightly as he held onto her. She sank into him, offering herself up.
A rustling in the trees reminded her where she was and what she was doing. She jerked away from him. “Someone’s here.”
“Or it’s wildlife,” he said.
“Either way, we need to be alert.” She took an extra step away from him, not entirely sure he wouldn’t pursue her. She checked her watch. “We should head back.”
“I don’t regret this,” he said. “It was worth every second.”
She knew she should regret it, but damned if she didn’t feel exactly the way he did. “We can’t do it again.”
“We’ll see about that.” He turned, offering her his elbow. “Shall we go?”
“Yes.” She stalked by him. “Follow me.” She’d be damned if she’d arrive at the lodge arm in arm with a guest. Not to mention, it wasn’t the smartest way to walk through the woods.
As she headed back to safety, she kept her eyes open for the person or wildlife that had made the rustling noises earlier. It was probably a small animal, like a rabbit, but even if it was a bear, it couldn’t be more dangerous to her than the man walking at her back.
***
After Zoe left him at the lobby, Bastian didn’t see her the rest of the day. The next morning, he made sure to eat breakfast in one of the hotel’s restaurants hoping to see her but no luck. She didn’t have any hours at the concierge desk that day, either. Was he going to have to wait until their next guided tour before he saw her again?
He hadn’t known her long, so the idea that he missed her seemed a little ridiculous. And yet he had no other explanation for the way he was feeling.
He finally gave up and decided to go skiing. As he walked along the short path toward the lift, he recognized the trail he and Zoe had taken the day before to get to the waterfall. On a whim, he veered in that direction.
When he got close to the clearing by the frozen waterfall, he heard what sounded like a woman crying. He was just about to turn around and escape as quick as he could when Zoe appeared at the trail head, her face streaked with tears.
“What’s wrong?” He stalked toward her.
She shook her head. “Not now.” The words came out almost as a wail. She spun and hurried away from him, toward the falls.
“Zoe.” Bastian raced after her.
She stopped at the edge of the frozen stream. “I need some time alone.”
He came up to stand behind her, not touching her but close enough that he could pull her into his arms in a second. “I can’t leave you like this. What’s the matter? What happened?”
Her head dropped forward. “It’s no
thing. Don’t worry about it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” He circled her to stand in front of her, his boot heels touching the frozen ice of the stream. “If it were nothing, it wouldn’t be upsetting you. Tell me.”
She drew in a shuddering breath and lifted her eyes to his. “You can’t do anything about it.”
“Can’t? Or you don’t want me to?”
“Can’t.” She shifted, not moving away from him, but no longer facing him squarely. “My mom died a few months ago.”
“I’m sorry.” He was about to say more but realized she hadn’t finished.
“She was very sick and ran up a ton of medical bills. But she cared–” Zoe’s voice broke. “She cared about me and didn’t want the bills to fall on me when she died. So she made sure our finances were completely separate. She even consulted an accountant. But in spite of everything she did, they keep calling.”
He waited a second, but she didn’t say anything else. “Who keeps calling?”
“The collection agencies. I keep telling them I don’t owe them and I’m not going to pay. I liquidated my mother’s estate after she died and paid every penny to them. But that’s all I owe them. I don’t have to spend the rest of my life paying off her debt. But they say I do. And they’re so awful about it.”
She shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She peeled off one glove and quickly navigated on her phone. As she yanked the glove back on, a tinny voice came through the speaker.
“You’d better pay up, bitch, or I’m coming to your home and I’ll kill you. You can’t owe this much money and duck out on it, you dead-beat–” A string of obscenities followed.
Bastian could feel his neck getting hot. “Who’d she borrow money from, a loan shark?” He couldn’t believe a reputable collections agency would ever speak to someone that way.
“No. When she died, she owed money to the hospital and some doctors, but no one else. But all of the messages are like this now.”
He couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t have believed it, if he hadn’t heard it himself. “Do you know who they are? The agency name? No—forget that. What hospital and doctors did she owe?”
“You can’t do anything,” she said.
The hell he couldn’t. He didn’t know exactly what he’d do, but he’d make this right. And it had nothing to do with getting Zoe into his bed. It was about right and wrong, and this was dead wrong. “Give me the names.”
“Bastian, no.” She put her hand on his chest. “I can’t put you out. And I can’t accept favors from a guest.”
Right. Well, it wasn’t a favor if she didn’t know it was happening. He had plenty of resources. His people could find out who had bought her mother’s debts and then he’d find a way to stop them. “All right.” He pulled her into his arms, hugging her. “You don’t have to tell me.”
She slipped her arms around him and hugged him back. “Thank you. And thank you for being here. It helps.”
It didn’t help anywhere near enough. But it would. He squeezed her tight.
He held her for a while, long enough that he became aware of her, aware that he held not just a woman, but the woman he was very, very interested in. He pressed his lips to the crook of her neck then kissed the side of her cheek then kissed her forehead.
“Bastian,” she whispered.
“Don’t say no.” He kissed one cheekbone and then the other. “You already said no today.” His next kiss fell on her upper lip.
She tipped her head upward and kissed him back, clinging to him. Her mouth opened under his, their tongues tangling as he pulled her even tighter against him, mentally cursing the multiple layers of clothing between them.
Just like yesterday, he couldn’t even feel the softness of her skin because his fingers were encased in his gloves. All he felt was her, pressed against him, and the sweetness of her lips.
He wanted more.
His initial assessment had been correct. He’d seen her standing at that counter the first day, looking earnest and professional and innocently sexy all at the same time and he’d wanted her. He’d known if the two of them got together, it would be explosive, and it was. He just needed to convince her to do this in a warmer, more private location.
Not that he’d mention that just now. He’d kiss her for as long as she’d let him, even if every touch of her lips and tongue fanned a fire within him and made him want to pull her to the snow-covered earth and lay her bare.
She stirred, as though about to pull away. Bastian tightened his grip on her. It wasn’t time to let go. If he had his way, it’d never be time.
Then her phone rang out from her pocket, the instrumentals from a recent pop song he couldn’t remember the name of. She pulled out of his arms before he could react and had her phone out in an instant.
“Another one?” he said.
“No,” she said. “It’s Hannah’s ringtone.” She swiped the phone with her thumb, turning partly away from him as she put it to her ear. “Hey.”
Bastian tuned out what she was saying. He and Zoe obviously had chemistry together. What could he do to get her to admit it too?
When she hung up, he was still trying to figure it out. He moved to take her back into his arms, but she stepped away from him.
“This was a mistake.”
Chapter 4
“You can’t seriously mean that.” He stepped closer to her but didn’t try to touch her.
“I do mean that. I meant what I said in the beginning, when we met. I need to keep things professional between us. I owe it to Hannah.”
Hannah. The person who had just called her. No wonder she was so jumpy now. She’d just been reminded of her biggest reason for staying away from him. “You can’t deny that there’s something between us.”
“I’m not denying it. I’m just saying it can’t happen.” She moved to go around him.
He stepped into her path. “Give me a chance.” He almost sounded like he was begging. Dammit, he’d beg if he had to. This was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.
She stopped, but wouldn’t meet his gaze. “After my mother died, and I sold off everything she owned, I had nothing left. I didn’t have a job. I was going to lose the apartment we’d been living in because I couldn’t pay the rent. I didn’t even have a car. Our car had been my mother’s and I’d sold it with the rest of her estate. Just to make sure the creditors didn’t come after me.” She said that last sentence with a choking laugh. “That worked out well. Hannah’s the reason I’m not living on the street. She got me this job. I owe her everything.”
“Even your happiness?”
“My happiness? All you’re offering is a fling.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. She was right…and she was wrong. Something in him recoiled at the idea that all they had between them was a fling. And yet how could he consider anything else?
While he was thinking, she stepped around him and headed down the path.
He watched her go, her curvy backside swinging seductively encased in her Hunter green snow suit. One thing at a time. First, he had to figure out how to stop the assholes who kept calling her. Then he’d figure out the rest.
***
Zoe couldn’t believe Bastian had found her at such an awkward time. Could it be any worse? At least he’d dropped the idea of helping her with her debt. But what was all of that about chemistry? As though they could date or something. The kisses they’d shared had gone to his head.
As she hurried toward the main lodge, she knew what she had to do. She was the primary tour giver, but she did have a backup. And while she hated to impose, she had no choice. She couldn’t spend two hours alone with Bastian tomorrow. Her backup would have to do it instead.
Luckily for her, her backup was Thom, a guy in his mid-thirties who did odd jobs around the lodge. Unless she was very mistaken, Bastian wouldn’t be interested in Thom.
Not that it mattered to her. Okay fine, it mattered. But it sho
uldn’t. She couldn’t have Bastian, so it shouldn’t matter who he spent time with.
She kept telling herself that all the way back to the lodge.
She had to do some tasks for one of her guests then she tracked down Thom. He was repairing a generator out behind one of the cabins. She leaned against the corner of the cabin. “Hey.”
“Hi, Cutie.” Thom called her that but had never made a move. Zoe was convinced he’d simply decided it was a good nickname.
She chatted with him for a couple of minutes before getting to the point. “I’ve got a guided tour tomorrow for two hours and a conflict’s come up. Could you do the tour for me?”
He sat back on his heels. “You know I hate those things.”
“I know.” Dammit, he couldn’t say no.
“Maybe I could do the other thing–your conflict. Maybe I could do that instead and you could do the tour.”
Oh, no no no. She didn’t even have a conflict and that totally defeated the purpose anyway. She shifted her legs and crossed her arms over her chest. She’d have to lie. “It’s something personal, actually. Not really something I can hand off to you.”
He stood, moving a little closer to her. “Well, maybe you could reschedule the tour then.”
“Please.” She gave him her best puppy-dog look. “It would be a huge favor to me.”
Thom rested his arm against the building above her head, leaning toward her. “A favor, huh?”
“A big one.”
His eyes dropped to her lips. “What’ll you do for me in return?”
Zoe paused. What was going on here? Thom wasn’t interested in her...was he? “Uh. Maybe I could fix something?”
He chuckled low in his throat. “Not what I had in mind. Besides, didn’t you tell me you had two left thumbs?” He leaned even closer, so his forehead was less than an inch from hers.
Thom wasn’t unattractive but he wasn’t really her type, either. He didn’t stir her the way Bastian did. Thinking of Bastian, she realized she had the perfect excuse to get out of this mess. “Thom. You’re very attractive, but it would be a bad idea for anything to happen between us.”
