by Bella Andre
And Megan definitely couldn’t see him again anytime soon.
Not until she was holding much firmer reins on her self-control.
Despite being high season in Lake Tahoe, Megan figured they were due a little good luck. She picked up the phone. Summer watched her with wide, excited eyes as she was connected through to the Heavenly Ski Resort.
“Hi. I know this is last minute, but I was wondering if you might have a room that we could rent?” She gave her daughter a thumbs-up. “You just got a cancellation for tonight? And tomorrow night, too? Fantastic!”
By the time she’d given the reservations person her credit card information, Summer had run back to her room and was gathering up her new winter clothes.
Megan stood in her doorway and said, “Is that what you were hoping for?”
Her daughter almost tackled her with a hug. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Funny, Megan thought as she hugged her back, Summer had never been this excited about skiing before.
“Oh no,” Megan thought aloud, “I forgot all about the tire. I doubt anyone will be open to fix it on a Sunday.” Summer’s mouth turned down so fast that Megan knew she was in for the second part of yesterday’s partial tantrum. “What a minute. Zach said he could fix it.”
She’d had no intention of calling him to come over to fix her tire today, even though he’d offered more than once. Now she found herself going to find his cell phone number in her purse.
How, she wondered, had she gone from zero Sullivans in her life to three in a matter of days?
* * *
Five hours later, as they pulled up to the ski resort, Megan couldn’t stop thinking what a great idea this trip already was. During the drive from the city, they’d sung along with songs on the radio and then they’d finally had a chance to talk about second grade, everything from the teacher to Summer’s friends and even a little bit about boys.
While they checked in, Summer kept scanning the hotel, for what, Megan didn’t know. “Look,” she said when the man behind the check-in desk switched their room from the second to the first floor, then gave her the schedule of activities, “there’s a horse-drawn sleigh ride tonight at six.” It was late afternoon already, just about the time the slopes were closing and skiers were coming in looking exhilarated and exhausted from a day in the snow. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“Kids only, Mom.”
Megan frowned. “Oh. I hadn’t noticed that. Well, maybe they can make an exception for me.”
Summer didn’t say anything for a moment, but she scanned the lobby extra hard. At long last, Megan had to acknowledge that something fishy was going on. Hadn’t there been more than one sign that something was up?
“Summer, what aren’t you telling me?”
Her daughter pressed her lips together as though that would mean she didn’t need to say. Deciding she’d get to the bottom of things after they settled in upstairs, Megan was just about to pick up their bags and head to the elevator when she heard a familiar voice.
The same deep voice she’d been daydreaming about all day long.
“Megan? Summer?”
Oh God.
Now she knew what was up. Megan didn’t have time to shoot a glare at Summer before turning to Gabe.
“Hi.”
She was going to kill her daughter!
He was clearly surprised to see them standing there in the lobby. Just as surprised as she was.
Summer, on the other hand, didn’t seem the least bit surprised. Relieved was more like it.
“Hi Gabe!”
He turned his frown into a smile for her daughter. “Hey, pretty girl. You going skiing tomorrow?”
She nodded happily. “Actually, I’m hoping to learn how to snowboard.”
This was the first Megan had heard about it.
“Do you know how?” Summer asked him.
Oh no, Megan could see where this was going. She tried to shoot Gabe a look to let him know he shouldn’t agree to anything right now, that even a yes was too much at this point. But he was already nodding.
“Will you teach me?”
No! You’re busy on your own winter vacation. There are plenty of professional snowboard teachers we could pay to teach her.
When Gabe looked up at her, Megan used every ounce of mental telepathy she could. He looked like he was trying to figure something out, like he was weighing facts before coming to a decision.
When he gave her a short nod, she nearly fell over in her relief that he understood.
“Sure I will.”
“What?” The sharp question was out before Megan could stop it. She turned to her daughter. “Gabe is not going to teach you to snowboard.”
“But he just said he wanted to!” Summer’s chin was out now, a picture of stubbornness.
Megan put her hands on her hips. “First of all, you didn’t even ask me if you could snowboard. And second—” She was about to lay into her daughter about organizing this whole “accidental” run into Gabe when it hit her just how much it would embarrass Summer.
Not that she was going to let her get away with it, of course. She just didn’t need to do it in front of Gabe. Or in front of the check-in desk for the whole hotel to hear about.
“Megan, I agree that Summer should have definitely asked you first if it was okay,” he said in a perfectly reasonable voice, “but if it is, I’d like to teach her how to snowboard.”
Summer practically glowed at his words. Megan hadn’t seen that glow since David had been around when she was a toddler. How she’d loved her father.
And that glow was the only reason Megan finally said, “Okay.”
She wasn’t prepared for Gabe to say, “What about you? Do you know how?”
“No.”
His grin was slow and way too powerful, if the way her heartbeat ratcheted up another zillion beats was anything to go by. He shouldn’t be looking at her that way after they’d agreed they’d had their very last kiss at her front door the night before.
They’d agreed, darn it!
“Want to learn?”
Someone had to be the voice of reason here. Someone needed to stand firm and think things through. But, oh, why did it have to be her? And why did he have to be such a ridiculously good kisser?
She forced the word “No” from her lips.
Only, for some reason, her repeatedly sharp replies weren’t having the right effect on him. He shouldn’t still be smiling at her, shouldn’t be nodding as if he knew exactly what she was afraid of. Not of learning a new sport, but of being with him all day. As if he knew she didn’t have it in her to tough it out and not give in to kissing him during a day on the slopes.
She shouldn’t have read it as a challenge. But her daughter hadn’t come by her personality by accident. Megan was just as stubborn. Heck, that stubbornness had been a large part of why they’d survived David’s death so well, why their transition from losing everything in the fire to getting back to living their normal lives had been relatively smooth.
Which was why there was no stopping her own chin from jutting out, and the words, “You know what, I’m sure snowboarding can’t be that big a deal.” Just like resisting him wasn’t going to be a big deal. No problem. She’d just shut down every part of her that was female, every cell connected to attraction and arousal, and she’d be fine.
A young woman started ringing a bell in the hall where the big fireplace was. “The kids’ group is meeting here for the sleigh ride in five minutes.”
Summer grabbed Megan’s hand. “Mom, please, can I go?”
She was still extremely upset with her daughter for orchestrating this whole trip just to see Gabe again. But it didn’t make sense to spend the next two days punishing her for wanting to be around the nice man who’d saved their lives.
Really, how could she blame Summer just because Gabe was irresistible to girls of all ages? Especially twenty-seven-year-old single mothers who knew better.
“Can you keep an eye
on our things for a minute?” she said to Gabe, before taking Summer’s hand and heading over to the kids’ group leader. After making sure that Summer would be meeting her at eight o’clock, sharp, in the same spot in front of the fireplace, she gave her a kiss then headed back over to her bags.
And Gabe.
“You’re not going on the sleigh ride, too?”
“Kids only.” She gestured to their things. “Thanks for watching our stuff. I’m going to head up to my room now.” She’d order room service and buy a book on her e-reader. Something mathematical and dry. It would be a perfectly mellow night. She was really looking forward to it.
Seriously. It was going to be great.
“Have dinner with me, Megan.”
Having dinner with Gabe was the last thing she should do. Well, next to snowboarding with him tomorrow, anyway.
“Look,” she said in what she hoped was a friendly, normal voice, “we both know it’s better if we don’t.” When he didn’t look convinced, she said, “We agreed, remember?”
“I’m not going to kiss you in a crowded restaurant, Megan.”
She felt her breath go, tingles immediately landing on her mouth, with nothing but the word kiss from Gabe’s lips.
While she was still trying to figure out how to breathe normally, he continued, “And we both need to eat.”
“You must have friends you were going to see tonight.”
“Nope, they’re staying out for night skiing,” he said, and then, “We’ll talk. That’s it. And tomorrow we’ll have fun out on the mountain.”
As oxygen finally hit her lungs, she realized how crazy she was being. Especially since he was the height of sensibility, actually having to remind her that he wasn’t exactly going to throw her down on the table in a crowded restaurant and ravish her. Heck, he made it sound like the thought hadn’t ever crossed his mind. Just food and snowboarding, that’s all he was thinking about.
“Okay. How about we meet back down here in thirty minutes?”
“Thirty minutes sounds good.”
She was about to pick up the two small bags she and Summer had brought with them—their snow gear had all burned up in the fire and they were going to rent for the next couple of days—when Gabe grabbed them.
“I’ve got it,” she told him.
He said, “I know you do,” but he didn’t let go of her bags.
She supposed she could have seen it as some sort of macho move on his part. But, instead, she realized it was simply good manners.
He was heading to the elevators when she said, “I’m on the first floor.”
He frowned for a moment before nodding and following her to her room. She refused to let herself be nervous about being alone in her hotel room with Gabe for the split second it would take him to bring her bags in. He’d help her with her things, she’d clean up from the drive, and they’d have a nice, perfectly platonic dinner, followed by a friendly day out on the snowy mountain tomorrow.
Still, it was incredibly awkward the way they’d shown up at the very same ski resort he was at on the same exact day he was here. Somehow Summer must have found out about his holiday plans at the party last night. Megan was about to say as much when a group of loud teens shoved past them.
They were both inside her room a few moments later. It wasn’t a small room, but she couldn’t help but think it wasn’t big enough for her and Gabe both at the same time.
“The bed’s fine,” she told him, trying not to let her thoughts wander back where they’d been the night before, when she’d been unable to stop herself from fantasizing about what it might be like to share a bed with the hunky firefighter. She turned a too-bright smile on him. “I’ll see you downstairs in a little bit.”
He stared at her for a beat too long before nodding and closing the door behind him.
* * *
Gabe was known in the firehouse for his determination. He’d always had a knack for quickly sifting through data and then making good decisions on a course of action. But now, for the first time in his life, he felt as if he’d stepped onto a runaway train. One where he saw Megan through the window and he was leaping on board without thinking.
Megan was his ultimate temptation, plain and simple, and he wasn’t fool enough to think he’d be able to hold out against her allure much longer. Fortunately, he’d promised her he wouldn’t kiss her at the restaurant. And making a pass at her in front of her daughter on the slopes was out of the question.
Both of those things meant the pressure should be off. At least for the time being.
Eventually, however, Gabe had a feeling that if they didn’t get a handle on the situation, just like the flashover point of a fire, the force of their attraction was bound to blow apart their good intentions to stay away from each other.
Facts were facts: he had no business asking her to dinner tonight. Snowboarding lessons for her and Summer weren’t much smarter.
The situation was cut and dried. They’d laid it out to each other the night before. They were both off limits to each other.
And yet...every time he had a chance to walk away, he found himself needing to move closer to her instead.
Chapter Ten
Megan hated the nervous butterflies in her stomach.
It wasn’t a date. It was just dinner...with a really hot guy. They’d talk about Summer, the state of the slopes, favorite runs to ski, and then she’d pick up her daughter from the sleigh ride. Nothing more than two people who had been thrown together enough times to accept that they should be friends.
She smoothed down the long-sleeved dark green wool dress she’d thrown into her bag at the last minute. It wasn’t high fashion by any means, but at least she felt pretty. And sometimes a girl needed a little armor to make it through the night in one piece, which was why she’d redone her makeup after her quick shower.
Gabe was waiting for her by the fireplace and her stupid heart actually skipped a beat when he smiled. Hoping her expression didn’t betray her, she smiled back.
“You look great, Megan.”
“Thanks.” She took in his jeans and dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. “So do you.”
The growing heat in his eyes was response enough for her to realize she’d already gone off course on the whole “nothing but friends” thing.
She put her hand over her stomach. “I’m starved. Let’s eat!” Okay, so maybe that was overly cheerful, and maybe she wasn’t actually hungry at all after she and Summer had pigged out on Cracker Jacks and beef jerky all afternoon in the car, but keeping everything completely nonsexual was the key to making it through dinner in one piece.
Yes, she could do that. Heck, by the end of the evening she vowed to win an award for being the least sensual woman on the planet.
Gabe followed her into the restaurant, where he told the host, “Two for Sullivan.”
His low, slightly husky voice made thrill bumps rise across her skin.
They were, unfortunately, shown to a table in a dimly lit corner. One quite obviously set up for romance with a flower and a candle. She wasn’t usually all that picky about where she sat, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking for another option. Wouldn’t you know it, all the other tables were full.
She realized, belatedly, that Gabe had pulled out the chair for her and was waiting with a small smile for her to take it. She got the sense he knew exactly what she was thinking, especially when he said, “Don’t worry, I’m going to keep my promise,” in a low voice as she finally sat.
Her face flamed as the young waitress waited for Gabe to take his seat. She handed them menus and told them the specials.
The girl was just turning away when Megan grabbed her arm. “Wait. I need a drink. Please.” Wracking her brain for something that had a ton of alcohol in it, she said, “A Long Island iced tea.”
“Um, okay,” the girl said, and Megan realized in horror that she was still holding her arm.
“Sorry!”
The girl shrugged. “I’ll tell you
r server you’re thirsty.”
Megan felt hot all over—not the good kind of hot, but at what an idiot she was making of herself around Gabe.
“So you’re a big drinker, huh?”
She looked up at him in surprise, before realizing he was teasing her.
“No.” She licked her lips, made herself hold his gorgeous gaze. She was only getting herself into trouble by trying to act like this dinner was no big deal.
By trying to feign not wanting him.
“I only drink when I’m nervous.”
“Do I make you nervous?”
She refused to look away. “You know you do.”
He didn’t look away, either. “If it makes you feel any better, you make me nervous, too.”
Bad. This was bad. They were both heading down the wrong path.
So even though she had trouble taking her next breath, she made herself say, “Tell me about the snow. How was it out there today?”
He continued to stare at her for several long moments. Please, she silently prayed, please follow me away from temptation. They both knew platonic was the only thing that made sense.
Finally, he said, “The snow is good. Perfect powder after the recent storm. Should be great conditions to learn to board tomorrow.”
“About that. It’s really sweet of you to agree to teach Summer—”
“—and you—”
“—and me to snowboard. But I know you came here to—”
“—have fun with friends on the mountain. That’s what we’re going to do tomorrow. Be friends, having fun.”
But, thought Megan a little wildly, what about when she had a little too much fun? What about when she lost all control and couldn’t bear to be just friends for another second?
The waitress came with her drink and took their order. As soon as the woman left, Megan knew it was time to say, “I’m beyond mortified about what Summer did. I haven’t actually figured out how she got wind of your trip here. If you’re upset with us, I completely understand.”
