A Little Secret About Love

by Karice Bolton

  Dina’s eyes locked on his and pure desire drilled through her. It didn’t take much being in Sam’s presence and the chemistry between them wasn’t decreasing in the slightest, but she didn’t want him to know how much he affected her.

  “You’re perfect, Sam, just as you are, but I think we’re probably looking for two very different things in life.” She ate another chip and a surge of nausea came from nowhere. Her gaze dropped to the table as a cold sweat covered every inch of her body.

  “I did get a puppy,” he offered.

  “You did,” she said softly, trying to force the nausea away. “But I don’t think a puppy means that you’re ready for everything a relationship can bring.” She braced herself and took a deep breath in.

  “Not that I’m looking for a relationship,” she added.

  “You okay?” Sam asked, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen over her face. “You look really green.”

  “I feel really green,” Dina muttered as the thought of guacamole covering his kitchen suddenly entered her mind. “You know...” She stood from the chair. “I’m so sorry, but I think I need to get home.”

  Sam quickly darted over to the stove and turned off the burner before returning his attention back to Dina.

  “I can’t let you drive home like this,” he told her as he made his way back to her side.

  Dina held her head as another wave of sickness spread through her. She drew a deep breath and leaned against Sam as her head spun and her stomach roiled with a nausea she’d never experienced before.

  “I’ve got it. I’ll be fine,” Dina barely muttered.

  Fear churned through her veins as she thought about getting sick in front of Sam. There were a lot of ways she imagined tonight going wrong, but this certainly wasn’t one of them.

  “Sorry, but I’m taking you home.” Sam shook his head and grabbed his car keys. “Your car will be safe here and I can run it down tomorrow.”

  “I’m so sorry. The soup smelled so good and the bread…” Although, the thought now officially did her in.

  “Judging by your reaction to the guacamole, I’m not sure I’d want you eating the soup.” Sam grimaced and helped Dina through his house and into his SUV. The short journey was a blur as she focused on keeping her insides away from the outside.

  Dina groaned as soon as he shut the door and she buckled herself in. Every inch of her body felt as if it had been spun through a hurricane, and all she’d done was eat one of her favorite foods. But what she wanted most was make it to her house without throwing up in front of Sam.

  Was that too much to ask?

  Sam climbed in the SUV and glanced at her.

  “Even when you’re sicker than a dog, you’re beautiful.”

  “You are a real charmer.” Dina propped her elbow against the door and steadied her breathing so she wouldn’t get sick in his car. That would be far worse than his house.

  “What can I say?” He gripped the steering wheel tightly and glanced over at Dina. “I’m really sorry about the guacamole.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she assured him. “I’m sure it’s just a quick bug or something.”

  She held in a laugh as she thought about Emilia’s blog and the dozens of articles she’d read on it. She was certain Emilia hadn’t covered any scenario like this one on her blog.

  By the time he pulled into her driveway, her hair was sticking to her scalp and a line of sweat dotted her upper lip. It was only a matter of time before she’d be greeting the porcelain goddess. If she’d been in the car by herself, she probably would have ripped off her sweater and driven in her bra with the air-conditioning blasting.

  “Thank you for everything. We’ll have to do a rain check.” Dina opened the door before Sam had a chance to even get out of the car. Another jolt of nausea struck deep within her belly and she slammed the door, quickly making her way to the porch.

  The front door opened and James’ jaw dropped as he saw Dina and then glanced over her shoulder to see Sam staring at them both. James gave a quick wave and helped Dina inside just as she danced with the guacamole again, promising herself she’d never touch the green stuff again.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sam North wasn’t a man who confused easily, but he was completely puzzled when it came to Dina.

  He liked her.

  A lot.

  But it seemed like every other man who encountered her did too, and they all decided to show up at her house at one time or another since she moved to Silver Ridge. Okay, not that many, but he hadn’t expected any man to drive hours to a mountain town so two shirtless men were a lot in this short time. Not that he was worried about a little competition. He knew the chemistry and attraction he felt with her wasn’t one-sided, but he wasn’t sure how to convince her that he was relationship material.

  After all, it was his fault she was leery of him with his loud proclamations about being single and not being a family man. Even Romeo had been suspicious of him at first but look how well that had turned out. Romeo was turning into a wonderful, little man who respected boundaries and had a bright future ahead of him.

  Sam and Romeo pulled in front of Dina’s house and tried to ignore the extra car in the driveway that must belong to Mr. Blondie. One thing Sam didn’t understand was why all these men who visited her felt the need to wander around shirtless. Like yesterday, here Dina attempted to get into her own house, and Mr. Blondie threw open the door and stood there completely shirtless as she was about to get sick all over everything.

  The thought made Sam’s chest tighten. He hated the idea that she got sick from his guacamole. He glanced at the flowers in the passenger seat and grumbled under his breath as he climbed out of her hatchback with Romeo bounding by his side and marched up to the front door, arrangement in hand.

  Before he pressed the doorbell, he took in a deep breath and glanced at the roses and peonies in the vase. They probably wouldn’t make up for giving her food poisoning but at least it was a start.

  Sam pressed the doorbell and heard loud footsteps leading up to the door and realized it wasn’t going to be Dina who answered.

  And just like that Mr. Blondie was standing shirtless in the doorway. His gaze dropped down briefly to Romeo before bringing his eyes back to Sam’s.

  “The guy who gave my girl food poisoning.” Mr. Blondie’s smile only widened, which made Sam’s fists tingle. The thought of Dina sleeping with this guy was nearly more than he could bear and hearing him call Dina his girl was extremely hard to take.

  “How’s she doing?” Sam asked, glancing behind the guy and not seeing any sign of Dina.

  “She’s in the shower. She had a pretty rough night, but I got her through it the best way I could.” Sam was certain he caught a sneer as he stepped to the side. “Would you like to come in?”

  Sam shook his head. “No. I’ve got to get into work. I just dropped off her car and wanted to give her these.”

  “I’m sure she’ll love them.” Mr. Blondie took the arrangement and keys. “Sam, isn’t it?”

  “It is.” Sam nodded. “And you are?”

  “James.” He crossed his arms over his bare chest. “You’re going to work on a Saturday?”

  “That’s what happens when you own a business.”

  James nodded and set the vase on the foyer table. “I’ll let her know you stopped by.”

  “Thanks and please tell her how sorry I am.” Sam cleared his throat and spun around on his heels.

  “Sure thing.”

  Once the door shut behind him, he scooped up Romeo in his arms.

  The truth was he had no plans on working today, but he knew his brother Joel was going to be in the office, and he needed someone to bounce some ideas off of, and he could finally introduce Romeo.

  Joel was always good at giving him a dose of reality and that was exactly what he needed. Dina wasn’t interested in a relationship with him, and he wanted to respect her wishes, but the problem was that he couldn’t. He didn’t comple
tely believe that she didn’t want to be with him again.

  Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

  The doors to the lodge opened and the warm air sucked Sam back into reality. He wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to walk all the way over to the lodge without remembering the journey at all.

  “Hey, Sam,” a woman’s voice echoed through the lodge, and he spotted her immediately.

  Aubrey Dixson.

  “Hi, Aubrey.” He gave a quick wave and continued toward the elevators, hoping she wouldn’t follow.

  “You remember what next weekend is, right?” She caught up to him and was nearly breathless as she stepped onto the elevator with him.

  “Next weekend?” He looked at her confused.

  “It’s Thanksgiving. Remember, I told you my family would be up for Thanksgiving? Well, here I am.” Her eyes fell to Romeos for a split second before returning to Sam’s.

  “Here you are.” Sam let out a slow breath.

  Aubrey was someone he’d met last spring. She’d been here with her family. She was single, attractive, and vivacious.

  But she wasn’t Dina.

  “I kept my hair blonde just like you liked it.” She giggled and pushed her fingers through her curls.

  He actually had no idea what she was talking about. He’d never been particularly picky when it came to hair color, and he highly doubted he’d mention anything about hers.

  “You don’t remember?” Her expression dropped as the carriage doors shut.

  “I don’t remember what I said about your blonde hair, but you look lovely. It’s really nice to see you again.” He readjusted Romeo, and Aubrey let out an insulted huff.

  “You made me promise if I came back for the holidays, I wouldn’t change a thing about myself.”

  Well, that did sound like something Sam would say, but he wasn’t necessarily referring to her hair color.

  “So what do you have planned for me, Sam North?” She fluttered her lashes and all he could think about was escaping from the elevator. “My nights are free and I could even make some of my days free.”

  Sam scanned the elevator buttons and noticed she hadn’t clicked on one. “I’m headed into the office for a bit. Is there a floor I should push for you?”

  Aubrey furrowed her brows and pushed the fourth floor. They were already on the fifth so she’d have to ride back down.

  “When can I see you?” Aubrey asked.

  The elevator doors opened and Sam hid his sigh of relief as he stepped into the office space. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other.”

  “I’m sure we will.” Aubrey smiled and blew him a kiss as his brother Joel let out a laugh.

  “Well, well.” Joel leaned against the empty reception desk. “I don’t know whether to be more impressed with the blonde or the dog.”

  “Don’t be rude.” Sam smiled, scratching his puppy’s ear. “He’s not just a dog.”

  “Rude? Me?” Joel wandered over to his brother and lifted the puppy from his arms. “So you finally did it.”

  “I did it weeks ago, actually. I just wanted to get him some training before I introduced the two of you.”

  “And his name?” Joel put the puppy on the desk.

  “Romeo.”

  Joel’s brow arched and he shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding. Did he at least come with the name?”

  “I named him.”

  “Of course you did.” Joel shook his head. “So you’re still bringing the sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving, right? Autumn is a nervous wreck at the thought of hosting our entire family.”

  “I’ll be there with casserole and Romeo in hand.”

  “Good.” Joel nodded. “So what is it you wanted to talk about? Is it about the ski runs? Do we have a problem?”

  They walked toward Joel’s office, and Sam’s heart rate started climbing. Shouldn’t his heart rate be climbing over Aubrey and easy access? He’d built his life around the different seasons of women and staying unattached while always accessible.

  Now, all he wanted to do was talk about how he could prove he was a changed man.

  Joel took a seat behind his desk and kept Romeo on his lap. “This dog is really sweet.”

  “He didn’t used to be. He ate up everything in sight. It was all fair game.”

  “You’re telling me you trained him?” Joel stretched out his legs and put them on the desk.

  “I found a trainer to train us both.” Sam smiled and watched his little dog with pure adoration.

  “I’m sure that poor trainer didn’t charge enough.”

  “Har-dee-har-har.”

  “So what’s up?”

  “It’s Dina.” Sam shifted in his chair. “I poisoned her.”

  “What?” Joel scratched his chin. “What do you mean you poisoned her?”

  “She came over for dinner and couldn’t get through the guacamole.” He ran his fingers through his hair and his shoulders sank. “I had to take her home.”

  “And you’re sure it was the guac?” Joel asked, his brows furrowing.

  “Positive. It was almost instantaneous.”

  “But you didn’t get sick?”

  Sam shook his head.

  “You think she’s going to sue you?” Joel teased.

  “No, I just feel bad.” Sam let out a breath. “This is the deal. It doesn’t matter what I do. I can’t get her out of the friend zone. She doesn’t think I’m relationship material.”

  “Are you?” Joel asked, sliding his legs off his desk and repositioning Romeo.

  “I could be.” Sam stood up and paced near the window overlooking the bunny hill.

  A huge snowstorm was expected this afternoon, which was supposed to drop off enough snow to allow them to open all the runs. They usually had the resort fully operational by Thanksgiving and it looked as if it would be that way again.

  “But why do you want to be in a relationship?” Joel asked and Sam came to a stop.

  “Dina.”

  “Dina what?”

  “Dina makes me want to be a relationship man.” Sam smiled. “I mean, come on. You saw Aubrey in the elevator. She’s more than ready to start right where we left off and I have absolutely no interest. In fact, the thought grosses me out.”

  “That was her name?” Joel’s brow arched. “Aubrey? How about a last name?”

  “Dixson.” Sam rolled his eyes and sat back down. “All I can think about is Dina. Morning, noon, and night. When I’m not with her, I miss her and want to be with her.”

  “What a concept.” Joel let out a grimace.

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I.” Joel stood up and handed Romeo back over. “Just because you think you might want to try out a relationship doesn’t mean you should, especially not with Dina. She’s new to town and has a lot on her plate. If you screw this up, it could screw up a lot. For starters, Autumn is her best friend.”

  “I know.” Sam nodded. “I wouldn’t screw it up.”

  “Okay then. What do you see in the future when you think about your life?”

  “I see Dina.” Sam drew in a breath. “Maybe another dog. Maybe a family.”

  “And does she know this?”

  “I couldn’t even get her through the appetizers.”

  Joel laughed. “If you’re serious about this then I say follow your gut. You might be surprised.”

  “Why do you say that? Have you heard something from Autumn?”

  “Surprisingly enough, you aren’t the topic of most of our conversations.” Joel laughed again. “I’m only saying that life has a way of working out how it should. If you’re developing feelings for Dina and they aren’t fleeting—”

  “They aren’t fleeting.” Sam shook his head. “In fact, they’re only getting worse and it doesn’t help when some Joe Blow shows up to her house, walking around all shirtless and full of himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if they slept together. Not that it matters. She’s allowed to see whoever she wants.”

  “I
haven’t seen you like this since you were sixteen, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.” Joel walked over to the window and let out a sigh. “Just be careful. Dina’s a great girl, and she’s been through a lot, and don’t forget she’s coming over on Thanksgiving.”

  “I’ll be on my best behavior.” Sam brought Romeo into his chest. “You know what makes me annoyed the most?”

  “What’s that?”

  “That I could let dad’s behavior completely shape my adult life.”

  Joel narrowed his eyes on his brother. It was true. Their father had been a horrible husband and only a marginally better father until he created his new family, which was when he completely fell off the face of the earth. That was precisely what Sam never wanted to become, and Sam figured his father never went into his parents’ marriage thinking he’d destroy his mother’s heart, but he did. His father never gave them a second thought and Sam never wanted to become like him.

  “I always figured it would be easy to stay away from love.” Sam stood and squeezed Romeo. “But it’s like it just sneaks up on you.”

  He kissed his puppy on the top of its head and walked out of the office with a new plan of attack.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You didn’t tell me the entire North family was going to be at your house for Thanksgiving.” Dina folded her arms over her chest and plunked down on the stool in Autumn’s kitchen. “I only brought enough punch for like four or five people, not for however many people are going to be showing up any second.”

  “We’ve got plenty of drinks,” Autumn assured her. “And just be happy it’s not your family showing up.”

  Dina chuckled as Autumn opened the oven to baste the turkey.

  “How long have you known they’d all be coming over?” Dina asked.

  “Since the beginning.” Autumn flashed an evil grin and winked at Dina.

  “And you didn’t think to tell me?” Dina stood up from the stool and walked over to the bowl of celery stalks.