Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  Audrey swallowed hard. “No way.”

  “It isn’t fancy, I know, but it’s fully functional.”

  Fully functional? Oh, that was reassuring. When he walked beneath the main rotor and reached for the door, she grabbed his arm. “Zachary. No. I can’t go in that.”

  He turned to peer down at her, his eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m…terrified of flying.”

  He burst out laughing. “A flight attendant afraid to fly. I’ve been on planes with you, Ava.”

  Oh, crap. She’d forgotten. But she absolutely, positively was not going up on that teensy, tiny little helicopter that was hardly bigger than her Toyota.

  She grabbed his arm again. “Zach. I’m serious. I… I don’t mind big planes-” Liar, liar, pants on fire. She hated all planes. “But a helicopter…” Panic lodged somewhere between her stomach and her throat. “Didn’t you see Black Hawk Down?”

  His brows drew together. “Those choppers were shot down in a hostile foreign country, Ava. This is Idaho.”

  “But…” She hugged herself, and took a step backward.

  Zach pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, then gripped her shoulders. “You really are scared, aren’t you?” he asked, studying her face.

  She nodded, and looked past him to the scary machine.

  He rubbed her arms. “I’m an excellent pilot, Ava. I have an unblemished safety record.”

  “Zach. I don’t know.” Yes, she did know. No way.

  “Come on. Try it for me. It’s just a short flight. I promise.”

  When she met his gorgeous blue eyes, she knew she was a goner. She knew another thing, too. There were now two people in this world she couldn’t say no to.

  *****

  Zach stole glances at her throughout the liftoff and ascent. Her skin had paled whiter than the surrounding snow-tipped mountains. She clenched the sides of the seat so tightly her knuckles appeared ready to break through the skin.

  She looked adorable in headset and helmet. “You’re doing great,” he said into his mic. “We’re halfway there already.”

  “Really?” she muttered from between clenched teeth.

  “Almost.”

  As the chopper rose above the mountains, he said, “See, this isn’t so bad, is it?”

  “I’m going to be sick.”

  He chuckled and adjusted the cyclic pitch of the chopper, scanning the gauges in front of him. “You’ll be fine.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Talk to me. Get your mind off the flight.”

  “Talking won’t help.”

  “Sure it will. Tell me about your family. You said you have a sister.”

  She nodded. “Audrey.”

  “Younger or older?”

  “Same. She’s my twin.”

  He stared at her. “Really?”

  “We don’t see each other much.”

  “You don’t get along?”

  “We get along great. We just have completely different lifestyles. She wouldn’t know a designer label if it bit her in the butt.”

  Zach liked her twin already. “Is she as gorgeous as you?”

  Ava didn’t even smirk. “No. She’s actually quite plain.” In typical Ava fashion, she didn’t seem to realize how conceited that sounded.

  “What does she do for a living?” He kept her talking to prevent her use of the barf bag clenched in her hands.

  “She teaches junior high. Lives in Boise, in a little house that actually has a picket fence. How boring is that?”

  Didn’t sound so bad to him.

  “She’s dated school principals and accountants and cable TV installers. She’ll probably end up marrying someone like that and raising his kids, because she’s always settled for less than her dreams.” Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes.

  “I take it a devoted husband and kids aren’t your dream, Ava?”

  The paper bag crunched in her fists, and she shifted in her seat. “No way. Ava Divine needs excitement in her life. Constant change, new locations, new people. Lots of money. Audrey’s not into that. I guess you’d say she’s pretty boring, compared to us.” Her chest rose and fell with her sigh.

  “I guess,” he agreed, but not so sure he really did.

  “I have a picture of her. Want to see it?” She looked at him, and in her eyes he saw the unmistakable gleam of uncertainty.

  He nodded slowly. “Sure.”

  She retrieved her purse, and pulled a small picture from her wallet. “Here,” she said, holding it out for him to see. “That’s Audrey.”

  Zach stared at the photo. A sweeter, more conservative version of Ava Divine peered out at him. Unlike Ava’s perfectly highlighted and styled hair, Audrey’s flowed in soft, light brown waves around her shoulders. She wore hardly any makeup, and didn’t have to, with her natural beauty.

  He sighed. Ava seemed to be waiting for a response. “You’re right. She doesn’t hold a candle to you, dollface. In fact, you two don’t look at all alike.”

  Ava slipped the photo back into her wallet. Her lips pressed tightly together. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she looked hurt. “I’m going to close my eyes for a few minutes, and imagine I’m anywhere but up here,” she said, her voice clipped.

  He didn’t mind her tuning him out, because now he could stare at her without restriction. He studied her profile, and wondered what she’d look like without makeup. Would she have that same natural beauty as her sister? That same inner glow?

  He imagined combining Ava’s spunk and zest for life with her sister’s old-fashioned dreams, and couldn’t help smiling at the thought. Did such a woman even exist?

  Chapter Eight

  As far as landings went, Audrey supposed this one was good because she didn’t die. She planned to kiss the ground as soon as Zach helped her from the helicopter. Then she laid eyes on the scenery she’d been too scared to look at as they descended.

  Her anxiety fled, and she stood breathless.

  They’d landed in a meadow, smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Heavy silence hung in the air. A breeze blew through the surrounding trees, and a blanket of violets and buttercups covered the valley floor. As she watched, an eagle soared overhead, probably hunting prey. Serenity swept through her, and she exhaled with her whole body.

  Zach’s remarks about her “sister” were in the past. She inhaled the floral and grassy scents. “This is beautiful. Where are we?”

  “Welcome to my home,” he said, grinning like a kid with a bag full of Halloween candy.

  She didn’t see a house, just a small, weathered outbuilding. “Where?”

  He spread his hands. “All of it. Isn’t it great?”

  She had to agree, she thought as she bent and picked a few violets. “My favorite color,” she said, lifting them to her nose.

  Zach took a blossom from her fingers, and tucked it behind her ear. “There. Now you fit right in with the scenery.” He grinned and reached for their bags. “Come on.”

  Following, she said, “Hey, I can carry my own things. You shouldn’t have to do all the work.”

  His pace faltered a moment, then he resumed his stride toward the outbuilding. Opening a wide door, he gestured to a four-wheeler. “You ever ride on one of these?”

  She stepped across the planked floor, glad Zach had bought her some tennis shoes. “Not since I was a kid.”

  He attached their things to the back of the ATV, then climbed on, motioning her up behind him.

  She swung her leg over the seat, then gripped his shoulders as she adjusted her position. The machine coughed to life, and pulled out onto the lush grass.

  The vehicle vibrated over the bumpy ground. Audrey slipped her hands around Zach’s waist. His rock-hard abs tensed at her touch.

  “Where are we going?” she called over the roar of the engine, pressing her inner thighs against his hips to keep from falling off.

  “Somewhere really beautiful.”

 
“More beautiful than this?”

  “Trust me,” he said.

  They entered the forest. Sunlight filtered through the tall Austrian pines, and the shade cooled her skin. Twice, they startled a deer in their path, not to mention countless rabbits.

  A few minutes later, the trees disappeared and they entered a clearing. Audrey swore she’d never doubt Zach’s word again. A rustic log cabin nestled on the opposite side of the field, framed by cottonwood and firs.

  When he cut the engine and the silence of Mother Nature enveloped them, she heard the wind blowing through the forest and whistling in the tall grasses.

  “This is gorgeous,” she whispered, hating to break the solitude. “It’s like something out of a storybook. Can we go inside?”

  “Sure.”

  She glanced at him sideways and smirked. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” She sprinted ahead, but his footsteps pounded on the grass behind her.

  As she neared the cabin, Zach’s arm snaked around her waist and he hauled her out of his way. He slapped the log siding in triumph.

  Breathing hard, Audrey planted her hands on her hips. “No fair. You cheated.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  She swatted his arm, then stepped past him. She wiggled the doorknob, expecting it to be locked, but the door creaked open. “Didn’t your mama warn you to lock your doors?”

  Zach entered the cabin first. “My mama was more concerned with making sure we knew which fork to use,” he said. “I keep this unlocked for backpackers. Gives them a place to shelter.”

  “That’s thoughtful,” she gushed, really looking at this man, and seeing someone she’d never expected.

  He shrugged off the compliment. “Have a look around while I check on a couple of things. Then we’ll eat.”

  The cabin consisted of a single room. The only lighting came from the four windows, one on each wall. A wood stove with a couple of burners stood in the corner, a gigantic rack of antlers hanging above it. Probably a distant relative of her favorite deer head.

  “I don’t even want to know what happened to your head,” she muttered to the antlers.

  “What?” Zach paused in the doorway.

  “Just talking to Bambi.” She motioned over her shoulder.

  He grinned and disappeared outside.

  Open wooden shelves lined one wall of the kitchen area, filled with canned food, books, and outdoor necessities. A sturdy wooden table with two chairs occupied another corner, and pushed in front of the fireplace was a double bed piled high with folded quilts, blankets, and pillows.

  “How often do you come here?” she asked when he returned, charmed by the whole thing.

  “As often as I can,” he said, “which isn’t nearly often enough.”

  “Alone?” she ventured.

  He shot her a raised-eyebrow look. “Usually.”

  “I bet this goes over really well with the ladies.”

  He laughed, but didn’t sound amused. “The fact that you entered the cabin without making little sounds of disgust under your breath puts you in a league of your own.”

  “Are you serious? What kind of women have you brought up here?”

  “Your kind, actually.”

  Unexpected hurt welled up inside her, then she realized he referred to Ava’s kind.

  He turned toward the open door. “Come on. You haven’t seen the best part.”

  She pulled her sunglasses onto her nose and stepped into the sunlight. Zach disappeared around the corner of the cabin.

  As she circled the structure, she stopped in her tracks. “Oh, my,” she said.

  A clear mountain stream gurgled twenty feet from the cabin, lined with boulders big enough to lie on.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, moving toward the water. She bent and wriggled her fingers in it. “Ooh. It’s freezing.”

  “We’re in the mountains, Ava.”

  Ava. How she’d love to hear him call her “Audrey,” to know he’d brought Audrey to his special place. She straightened and wiped her wet hands onto her jeans, forcing a neutral expression onto her face. “So, is this some sort of test you give the women in your life?” Not that she was in his life.

  One of his brows lifted. “Am I that obvious?”

  She watched the water skim over the smooth stones. “Um, what happens if they fail?” Her belly tightened.

  “Then we leave.”

  “And you never see them again.”

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t go that far, but…”

  “And if they pass?” She suspended her breath as she awaited his answer.

  “I’ve yet to see that happen.”

  “You don’t trust easily, do you?” She kept her voice calm. “The test list must be long.”

  “Three. Including you.”

  “Incl-” She blinked, realizing the magnitude of his words. When she found her voice, she said, “How could any woman in her right mind not love it?” She sat on a flat rock and looked around, at the back of the darling cabin, at the trees, at the tips of the rugged mountain peaks, at the stream and colorful flora and fauna surrounding it. “This is heaven.”

  When he didn’t respond, she turned to find him staring at her. His blue eyes held hers, an unspoken question in their depths.

  Butterflies flitted through her stomach like the ones on the nearby wildflowers. If she thought for a moment it was Audrey Thompson who was “passing” his little test, she’d be elated. Even as Ava, though, her heart rate picked up.

  She turned her gaze to the rippling water, letting its soothing gurgles wash over her frazzled nerve endings.

  Zach climbed onto her boulder, then leapt over the narrow stream and planted himself on another big rock. Part of her wished he’d stayed beside her, close enough to touch, but the sensible part of her was glad he’d given her some breathing room.

  “You’re right about me,” he finally said, his eyes focused on the water.

  “In what way?”

  “About me not trusting women. When you grow up in a wealthy family, you get used to people wanting you for your money.” He hurled a small rock into the water. The splash disappeared into the slow-moving current. “Everyone has an ulterior motive. Most people aren’t upfront about who they are and what they want.”

  Audrey looked away, her face hot with guilt. She stared up at the blue sky, watching the breeze carry the clouds over the trees and out of her sight. The creek gurgled and bubbled beneath her. “What was her name?”

  “Who?”

  “The woman who broke your heart. The woman you last brought up here with such high hopes.”

  He sat with his legs bent, his forearms propped on his knees. “Rachel,” he said, his voice quiet.

  “Tell me.”

  He shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. We dated. It got serious. Then I found out she wasn’t who she said she was.”

  Thud. Audrey’s heart took a nosedive, and landed in the pit of her stomach. “What happened?” Thankfully, her voice didn’t give away her guilty conscience.

  “It was a match set up by our parents. It would be good for business, merging the two family companies. Rachel was in on it the whole time.”

  “That doesn’t mean she didn’t love you.”

  He sneered. “She loved my money. All her talk about wanting to settle down and raise a family was just a con.”

  Audrey stared at him, surprised. Ava had told her he was a confirmed bachelor who balked at commitments. She let this information sink in. Hope tap-danced around her heart.

  “Anyway,” he said, “I’m more careful now about who I trust.” His tone conveyed his desire to end the Rachel talk.

  His words presented the perfect segue for her to come clean, to let him know he could trust her, but the timing didn’t feel right. Not yet, anyway. “I know what you mean about feeling used,” she said, her voice quiet. “Growing up, everyone compared me to my sister. Ava was always the beautiful one, the popular one, the one all the boys
flocked to.”

  “That must have been really hard on Audrey.” He looked relieved to have changed the subject.

  Audrey met his gaze. Oh. Crap. She’d almost blown it. “She hated it,” she admitted, needing to be truthful in some capacity with him. “Every time a boy asked her out, she would wonder in the back of her mind if he was using her to get to Ava-er, me.”

  Zach stretched out on his rock, belly down, facing her with his chin resting on his folded arms. “I would imagine you face that to some extent, too.”

  She lay down in similar fashion. “In what way?”

  “Do you ever wonder if a man is interested in you for yourself, or is it just your beauty and amazing body?”

  She’d never really considered that. Did Ava have that problem, and did her sister even care?

  Then Zach’s words hit her on another level. Did he really think she was beautiful with an amazing body, or was he talking about Ava?

  “I-I guess I’ve never cared one way or another.” She blushed and dropped her gaze.

  “I’ll be honest with you, dollface. Before this weekend, I never really made it past your looks. I know that sounds shallow of me, but I’m a man. Comes with the territory.”

  “Thanks for the tip,” she murmured, feeling the tug on her lips. “I think it’s hard to make it past a person’s exterior, and see what’s inside. Even when you think you know them, you don’t.”

  “Are you referring to yourself, or to me?”

  She rolled to her back, and shielded her eyes with the crook of her arm. “Mostly myself, I suppose. What you see or think you see isn’t always what you get, and what you get isn’t always what you want.”

  At the slap of Zach’s shoes on her rock, she scooted over to make room for him, and he stretched out beside her.

  “Why don’t you let me be the judge of what I want and don’t want,” he said softly. He lifted a hand and trailed the backs of his fingers across her cheek and jaw line.

  She closed her eyes, wanting to believe what he said and did was really meant for Audrey Thompson’s benefit. It would be so easy to believe…she wanted to believe.

  His fingers moved to her lips, lingering over her lower one. “Kiss me, Ava.”