by Leslie North
The calls started early the next morning. Michael woke him with coffee and a dour face. “It’s started.” For a moment, Dominic didn’t know what he was talking about, but then his brain kicked in. “It’s five AM!”
“It’s noon somewhere,” Michael said.
Dominic went downstairs. He had the hotel booked solid for the next month by noon and had started a waiting list.
He also started packing. He brought his bag downstairs, and Michael came out from the bar, wiping his hands on a towel. He looked at Dominic and frowned. “What’s up, you leaving?”
“Yes, time for me to head home. In fact, it’s probably long overdue.”
“Paris shouldn’t be long getting home.” Michael fixed him with a stare. “They’ve been clearing the roads, and she called to say she’ll be getting a ride back from the hospital.”
Dominic’s chest tightened. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He forced down a breath and shook Michael’s hand. “Here’s my card. Call me. I was impressed with your snow machine. I’d like to help you with that.” He walked out the front doors and kept on walking down the dirt road that was lightly covered in snow.
“Dominic McCarthy,” Michael asked. “That’s you? What happened to Dan Murphy?”
Dominic shook his head. “Ask Paris. Tell her if she ever gets to New York, she can look me up. I’ll buy her a drink.” He headed outside to his car.
***
Paris stepped into the lodge, still cold inside but tired of being fussed with. She’d been poked, checked, rechecked, and poked some more. Michael had a face like thunder, and the phone kept ringing. Amazing what a little snow did.
Tossing her coat—and Mur, no, Dominic’s— onto a chair she asked, “Michael. What is it?”
“You’ve done it good and proper.”
Paris didn’t feel like a lecture. She longed for a bath—a hot one. For fresh clothes and a decent soup. She frowned. “Where’s…Dominic.”
“Dominic is it? Not Dan? He booked the lodge solid, and then booked himself out of here. I think…I could be wrong, but I think he’s running scared.”
“Of what?”
“On the upside, he gave me his card and asked me to contact him about one of my inventions.” Michael handed Paris the business card. “Seems your Dominic is a fancy business man. And why would he pose as an artist?”
She shrugged. “He wanted a break. But how long ago did he leave?”
“Not that long. My bet is he’s stuck behind a snow plough. Now are you going after him?”
Paris bit her lower lip. She shook her head. “He was free to leave if he wanted. I’ll…I can use his business card to send him a thank you card and his coat back to him.”
Michael nodded. “Ah, so you’re scared, too.”
Paris stiffened. “I am not! And scared of what?”
“Him. Love. Life. Take your pick. Being hurt. Girl, you almost died yesterday. I’d think that would give you a little perspective about what matters.”
She blinked at him. “I…it’s happening so fast.”
“You want slow? The girl who does ninety downhill on her skis? Doesn’t he make you happy? Doesn’t he know how to use that booking system you bought?”
“He does? He’s a miracle. Are you…?”
“I’m leaving the answering machine on. And you’re going after him.”
Paris ran out and jumped into her Outback. What was she going to say? Was she about to make a fool of herself? Oh, who cared. She was heads over heels for that guy, and it didn’t matter if his name was Dan, Dom, Dominic, or even Damnyou!
She reversed out and took off fast. The roads had been ploughed, but only half way down the other side of the hill. Her car slipped on the slushy snow and Paris slowed. She kept driving. The snow was starting to fall again. Typical. After ten minutes, she saw him ahead. She would have missed him if he’d gone into town, but he was headed for the highway. Heart pounding, she pulled over and jumped out.
The snow plough had him crawling. She pounded on his window. “Dammit, Dom, I thought we’d shared something that was worth a shot! So what are you doing?”
He rolled down his window. “I’m going home. Where I belong.”
“In this snow? You aren’t leaving tonight. We need to talk.”
He stared at her, eyes wary.
Her pulse kicked up. She sucked in a breath. It was like being at the top of a black diamond run and looking down—you just had to go. “I love you, you idiot. I love that you came to get me when you hate hiking. I love that you decided you had to save me from Hamilton Marshall even though I’d already decided to throw his offer to buy the place in the trash can. And I love you no matter what your name is—but I really love you for booking the lodge solid.”
He glared at her then. “Oh, hell,” he muttered. Reaching out, he grabbed her face and kissed her. When he let her breath again, he grinned and then said, “I about lost my mind when I thought I might lose you. But I…Paris, can you really love a rich guy? I can get rid of the money if you want. It’s actually harder than you think to do that—money likes me and keeps finding its way to me. But I’ve already got Zach working on taking apart my last deal—I bought a town and now Zach’s setting it up as non-profit since he knows about that, and—”
“Are you going to talk business all night?”
“No. Please no.”
She grinned. “Follow me back.”
It was tough turning the Outback around—the ploughs hadn’t gone that wide yet. But she did it. Dominic followed in his car, staying close on her tail. At the lodge, she parked and waited for him in the lobby.
As soon as he stepped in, she pulled him close and kissed his lips, lingering over those lush lips of his. Leaning back, she asked, “You really are Dominic McCarthy, right? No more changes of identity. Can you even draw?”
“I can manage a straight line and that’s about it.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m a lot better with other things.”
Grinning, she grabbed his hands and started pulling him with her. “Where are you taking me?” he asked.
“To your happy place, Dominic. To your happy place.”
Chapter Eighteen
She pulled out the good Macallan she kept in her bedroom. Michael already had a fire going in the woodstove. Dominic stood in front of the hearth, blowing on his fingers.
She stripped her jacket off and held her arms. “Come over and get warm. That’s the least I can do for you.”
He stepped close to her and smiled. “I know a better way to warm up.” He stripped her as he kissed her, trailing touches and kisses over every spot he bared. She gave a low hum. When she was naked, she put a hand on her hip. “You’re wearing too much.”
“Oh yeah.” He stripped down just as fast, picked her up and carried her to the bed. Putting her down, he slipped under the covers next to her.
“What about the whisky?” she asked.
“I’ve got what I need right here, right now.” He covered her mouth with his. Pleasure surged through her and she wrapped her arms around him. A worry nagged at her and she pulled back and stared up at him. “Dominic—ah, I still can’t get used to that—uh, where are we going to live?”
He kissed her fingers. “Well, I thought here, unless—”
She grinned. “Really? You like it here?”
“Honey, I may even take up skiing. Or art. I’ll become a terrible artist.”
She giggled. “You don’t have to make that sacrifice.”
“Well, we sure as hell have to put in a cell tower.”
Frowning, she asked, “What about this place as a retreat?”
“Okay, no cell tower. Maybe I’ll gift the town with a kick-ass library. Or a school. They’ll want Internet and decent cell coverage.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she let out a breath. “Will you promise to tell me you love me every day?”
“Twice a day and three times on Sunday.” He kissed her again.
She kissed h
im back. The need built inside her. She wiggled her hips against him and smiled when he groaned. Dominic cupped her breasts and teased her nipples until she could hardly breathe. She arched her back. She needed to be filled by him. She urged him inside. He pushed in deeper, and she cried out.
“More…oh, more.”
Wrapping her legs around him, she opened wider. She felt every inch of him as he slipped in again. The pleasure built again until light flashed behind her eyes and her body went up in flames. Dominic collapsed onto her, holding her tight.
She drew small circles on his chest, and he asked, “Do you want to get married here? Or how about in Fiji?”
Epilogue
The pop went off, a loud echoing sound. Dominic looked up from the mess of his canvas. He threw down his paint brush and let out a snort of disgust. “Dammit, don’t tell me hunting season has started already!”
Paris came out onto the lodge porch. She bounced their three-year-old on her hip. “Yep. That means we’ll be opening for ski season soon.”
He looked up at her. They’d gotten in the habit of closing the lodge for two months in the summer. One month the place became a retreat. The rest of the year, it was a businessman’s favorite get-away, and a ski heaven when the snow hit. Dominic still had to fly into town for a few business meetings, but Paris and his family always came first these days. Reaching out a hand to Paris, he caught her fingertips. “Paris, want to fly to Paris for our second honeymoon?”
She grinned. “I was thinking more of leaving Michael to babysit and we’d sneak up to the loft tonight. It’s faster.”
“I knew I married a smart woman. You going to teach little Jack to ski this year?”
“Uh, huh. And I was thinking we should start a downhill competition for disabled kids—give them something to aim for. We can use the turtle run you love so much.”
Dominic gave a groan. “I am not getting lumped in with the disabled kids. They’ll stomp me. You can put me in with the disabled adults.”
She laughed. Julie started to reach for her daddy and Paris tried to turn, but Dominic held out his arms. “Might as well give her over. She’s in love with my paints. I think we may have an artist in the family after all.”
Settling Julie in Dominic’s arms, Paris leaned on his shoulders. Dominic let out a breath. Some days he could hardly believe his luck. He wasn’t making the money he’d once made, he’d put most of his fortune into charity, and still he considered himself far richer than anyone he knew.
Paris leaned down. “Are you going to send your dad photos of the kids this year?”
Dominic’s stomach tightened. “I’m not sure he deserves to see them, or know them.”
“It’s not for him, silly. It’s for you. You said you wanted to show him you’d done better than him. That’s the only way he’ll ever see it. He’ll look into Julie’s eyes and he’ll see little Jack’s smile—and he’ll know.”
Turning, Dominic caught Paris’ hand. He pulled her down for a kiss. Julie’s laugher pulled them apart. Dominic glanced at his daughter—with her red hair like her mother’s—and saw blue. A lot of blue. All over Julie’s grinning face.
Paris gave a laugh. “Well, if she’s an artist, she’s going to be one of those immersive types who put on exhibits.”
“She’s an exhibit, all right.” Dominic held Julie up and away. She started to fret, so he pulled her in for a kiss. She giggled and Paris laughed. “Now you’re a blue man!”
Standing, Dominic grinned. “Come and give your husband a kiss.”
With a squeal, Paris ran inside. Putting Julie down, Dominic swatted her butt. “Go find mama and give her a kiss.” Julie toddled off after her mom.
Standing, Dominic looked in the window to see little Jack joining in the chase around the lobby, all of them running after Paris. His chest tightened—and this time he knew the cause. He had more love in his life than he’d ever thought possible. Maybe it was time to send his dad a few photos. Maybe it was time to admit to himself that he finally had everything he’d ever wanted—and more.
Dominic headed inside to chase his wife and kids around the lobby.
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Zora Strip Club
The sound of glasses crashing to the floor echoed through the bar causing Katya to flinch and catch her breath.
Nikolai stood up and held out his hand to her, “Come.” He pulled her from the booth. “I assume you have other clothing backstage?”
The short robe she had donned after her performance barely touched the top of her thighs and was diaphanous to the point of being almost completely see-through. While he was thoroughly enjoying the sight, some part of him recognized she was unused to dressing in such a way and would be horribly embarrassed to be seen leaving dressed like this.
Kat nodded, casually glancing around the bar, hoping Danil might have arrived while she was speaking with Nikolai. She needed to find Danil!
Nikolai watched her scan the bar, definitely searching for someone, but whom? She’d just arrived from the Midwest according to her own words, and she knew no one in the city. Or did she? Not liking to be played the fool, he took her arm and then tipped her head back to his own.
“Who are you searching for?”
He was 6’4” so Kat had to tip her head almost all the way back in order to meet his eyes. She did some fast thinking before she replied, “No one. Really. I was just trying to see if the same guys were here, or if different men came in here throughout the night.”
Nikolai knew she was lying, but decided to save further questioning for later. When he had her alone and could call her on it.
“Go change and then meet me out front.”
“Okay, but you know you don’t really have to take me to dinner. I know you only offered because of my reaction when Mickey asked me to dance again.”
“Oh, you think you can read my mind after only knowing me for what,” he glanced at his expensive watch, “fifteen minutes?”
“No, but isn’t that why you offered?”
His smirk let her know he was teasing her. “Yes, but I was going to convince you to join me for dinner anyway. Mickey just took away the asking part.”
Kat shook her head at his logic. It was clear that it never entered his mind that she might have declined his dinner invitation. “You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?”
“Am I wrong?”
Kat sighed, “Probably not, but know we’ll never know. Will we?”
She knew she was playing with fire teasing him, but she couldn’t help it. The attraction she felt for him was something new. Her last boyfriend had been more on the friend with benefits scale. Sexual attraction to Jimmy hadn’t been anything special, more like a mutual way to relieve stress after a long grueling practice session or stellar performance.
She’d never known such overwhelming desire upon meeting someone before. Up to now rather than put herself out there for some real human experimentation she had contented herself with reading books and fantasizing about romance and sex. Not to say she didn’t have any experience, but on a scale of one to ten, most of her physical encounters in the past would rate no higher than a four.
Something told her that getting involved with Nikolai would be off the charts. She gave him a small smile and then headed to the backstage area. The other women were all out, either working the lounge area or the more private backroom. Kat removed the see-through bra along with the G-string and put on her own underwear, wondering how women could willingly wear such skimpy underwear and be comfortable. Going commando would be more comfortable than what she’d just taken off. She quickly donned her street clothes: worn jeans that hugged her body and lean legs perfectly, brown leather ankle boots, and a black jersey-knit off the shoulder sweatshirt that bared her pale skin beneath.
Normally she would have worn a leotard beneath the top, but that was for another time and place. The bra situation wasn’t to be, as she hadn’t worn one to the bar this afternoon. She adjusted the top several times, trying to hide the fact that her nipples were hard after having spent the last fifteen minutes in the presence of Nikolai. She was turned on, and without the benefit of a bra, anyone willing to look would be able to see that fact. Knowing there was nothing to be done about it she fluffed her hair up, wiped off the garish makeup and lip gloss, and then retrieved her tip money.
Tucking the bills into her back pocket, she grabbed her sling backpack and the lockbox and then headed for the front door. She could see Nikolai talking with his bodyguards as she approached. After she handed the lockbox to the bouncer, he reached out and took her hand, pulling her out into the night.
