by Stacy Gail
In more ways than one.
Funny, how time and distance—and the positive influence of another woman—cleared his perspective right the hell up.
With the thought of that other woman refusing to budge from the top spot in his head, Quinn went in search of her, walking through the open door of her room. He found Mia in her stocking feet, having kicked off those sexy boots of hers by the side of the bed, plugging her phone in with one hand while the other rubbed at the back of her neck.
“I made some headway in getting through my text messages, including leaving a message for my aunt to reassure her that I’m still alive, and then a text to remind her to call me when she had the time,” she announced by way of greeting. He didn’t miss her micro-wince when she turned her head to smile at him. “Oh, and I had a couple texts from the airline. Did you know the airport reopened night before last?”
“Yeah.” Gently he moved her hair to one side and replaced her hand with his, squeezing the abused muscles there and watching her expression for any sign that he was hurting, not helping. Fury burned way down deep at the memory of her head snapping violently back, but he made sure none of it showed as he tried to massage the tautness away. “I’ve been in touch with both the airlines and Mayor McBride to reassure everyone that you haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“Because for one thing, I got so busy around here I didn’t have time to drive you back down the mountain so you could catch a flight with your friend, the Gulag flight attendant. And that turned out to be a good thing, since your ex went and pulled his engagement announcement stunt online. You would’ve flown right into that shit storm, so the way I see it everything turned out for the best.”
“I don’t see it that way. Jackson is still unfinished business in my book.”
That brought his brows together, and the hand at her nape paused. “Look, I get it, all right? I do. We’re a lot alike, you and I, and now that you’ve met Lorette, you should be able to see that. You and I are way too loyal to people who don’t deserve it. Lorette was with me for the same reason that your former fiancée was with you—they both wanted to get whatever they could out of us. Luckily fate stepped in for me to get my eyes open enough to see that, and now I’m doing the same for you. That asshole isn’t worth the time we’re using right now to talk about him, Mia. Let him go.”
“I have. It’s just…” She loosed a short breath and looked away. “I just should have been told the airport was open, that’s all. Are all the roads open too? Considering there were about thirty people at the resort today, I’m assuming yes.”
“All the roads opened around the same time as the airport. It can be tricky getting up and down the mountain and into Honey Pot or Whitefish, but the people who live here are used to this kind of weather. And messy roads are all part of running a ski resort. Skiing takes place in the mountains and in the snow, so temporary closures are just part of the fun. But they’re just that—temporary.” His eyes suddenly narrowed. “Why? You thinking of heading out?”
“I’m going to have to go eventually. I can’t stay here like a freeloader who doesn’t have any place to go. With the roads and the airport open, it’s no wonder people are wondering why the hell I’m still here.”
“Don’t.” He took her mouth under his and kissed her until he was satisfied that word had been erased. “Everything that bitch said was trash, you understand? Everything she stands for is trash. Forget what she said, forget she even exists. That’s what I’m going to do.”
She scoffed as if she found that suggestion laughable before she darted him a curious glance. “Did you love her?”
“I thought I did,” he answered honestly. “We were officially together for almost three years, and unofficially one hell of a lot longer than that, dating off and on all the way back to our high school days. She kind of bounced between me and whatever other Kingfisher she could get her hands on, mainly Dev. West could never stand her, so knocking on his door was always a waste of time for her on that front. Come to think of it, West is probably the smartest of us all for not biting on the bait she was always throwing out.”
“But… you did fall in love with her.”
“That’s what I called it at the time, mainly because it seemed like a fair description of it. But it wasn’t love.” He gently brought her close to brush his lips against her brow. “Believe me, I get that now.”
“If it wasn’t love, what was it?”
“Lust. Familiarity. Convenience. She was an easy lay,” he explained when she frowned, clearly confused. “Or at least she was easy as long as she got something out of it, and she always made sure she got something out of it. She gave orgasms whenever she wanted something, but that was all she gave. And I gave it, because back then I didn’t know there could be anything else besides fucking that had any value in a relationship.”
Her brow puckered. “Like what?”
“Like everything you said back at the resort. Loyalty, support, being there when no one else is. See, making me come was the only thing Lorette had going for her, but I can do that myself without paying through the nose for it or wondering if I’m getting fucked in some other way that I don’t know about. I understand now that what we had was nothing special. In fact, it was pretty damn pathetic and I’m glad to be shut of it.”
She loosed a breath that sounded oddly like a sigh of relief. “You do deserve better, Boom. I’m relieved to hear that when she walked out, you realized that.”
“That wasn’t what made me wise up. You did that.”
Her jaw dropping was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. “What?”
“You schooling Lorette on how a real woman is with her man was just the cherry on top and I was glad I was there to witness it, but that wasn’t what did it. The first full day you were here wised me up fast.”
She stared at him, perplexed. “What happened that first day?”
“You made breakfast for the both of us and promised you wouldn’t even try to have a conversation with me until I’d had enough coffee to wake up.”
Her hand fluttered to her chest. “Quinn, that was nothing.”
“It was thoughtful, Red, and that’s everything. Everything you’ve done since you showed up here has been like that—thoughtful, considerate. Supportive. Just by being who you are naturally… that was all it took to convince me that Lorette and I were a bad fit from the start. Unlike the two of us.” Just in case she wasn’t getting the message, he pulled her to him until they were pressed together in one long line sealed together with growing heat. “We fit, Mia. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. We fit like we were made for each other.”
“Lorette’s small,” she blurted, surprising him. “Jackson never allowed me to wear high heels, did you know that? Small women made him feel manly. I’m not sure I fit anyone.”
That Grade-A fucker. “While I hate to hear that you’re still giving that asshole a thought, I can at least put your mind at ease on this one, babe. A man who’s a real man isn’t so fucking insecure he thinks something as ridiculous as his woman’s height somehow diminishes him and makes him less of a man. That’s just whacked. I’ve never even heard of that kind of thinking.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve never been a tall woman.”
“No, but I’m a man who understands other men. Believe me, I know a weak-ass guy who’s lacking in any legit self-confidence when I hear about him.”
She grimaced, looking doubtful. “I wouldn’t think Jackson is the kind of man who lacks in self-confidence.”
“You were smarter than him in law school, got better grades than he did, right? And I know he resented your excellent memory, to the point where he called it ‘cheating.’ He talked you into putting your dream of becoming a lawyer on ice for the sake of him getting there first. And making sure he had approval of your fucking footwear so you wouldn’t overshadow him… shit, this guy is a fucking basket case full of sad-apple inferio
rities. It’s like he can’t feel that he’s standing tall unless he’s tearing other people—better people—down. Dollars to donuts, I’ll bet he has a small prick.”
“Compared to you, every man is small.”
Nothing in the world could have stopped Quinn’s grin, or the deep, heated throb in the appendage in question. “He wasn’t man enough for you, Red, and something inside him knew it. That’s why he was such a douche. He did everything he could to smother your light and keep you down. But I won’t do that. I’ll do everything I can to help you find your wings.”
Right before his eyes, her face softened like a miracle straight out of a fantasy he hadn’t even known he’d woven, and it was the most beautiful damned thing he’d ever seen. Then she topped that expression by smiling brilliantly and pressing against him, but when she tilted her head back to offer up her mouth, she winced suddenly and grabbed at her nape. “Ow.”
“Baby.” He made a sound of concern before he again kissed her brow and took her hand to lead her out of her room. “I know just what you need.”
“A bottle of wine? Because I’m thinking that would work, but it’s a bit too early in the day for that.”
“We’ll go for that later tonight, during a nice, steamy soak in the hot tub upstairs. Sound good?”
Her hedonistic sigh nearly broke him in two. “Oh, yes.”
“But for now, we’ll try something nonalcoholic.” Leading her into his bathroom, he dug a bottle of OTC pain killers out of a drawer and handed it to her. “A few years back I had a nasty case of whiplash after taking a tumble off my snowboard. The memory of that pain is the reason I wanted a spa onsite, as well as a sauna in every suite. Those pills, combined with steam heat and a massage will fix you right up.”
“Do I still get wine time in the hot tub later?”
“Hell, yeah.” He got the heat timer from the sauna going as she took the pills with some water he’d poured into a glass, all the while smiling at what her priorities were. “I’m looking forward to it myself.”
Her pale eyes darkened, and she set the glass aside without taking her focus away from him. His pulse rocketed into the stratosphere. Damn, who knew that having the unwavering attention of a hot-as-hell woman could be the sexiest thing going? “I’ve never hot-tubbed before. Am I supposed to have a swimsuit for it?”
“If you’re with anyone else, yeah. With me? Never. Got it?”
She bit her lip. He watched her teeth sink into that rosy flesh with a hunger so vast it made his skin feel too tight for his body. “Got it. Though I’m not really used to bathing with other people.”
“You’ll get used to it. Just like you’ll get used to taking saunas with me.” With that statement making her eyes widen, he reached for her scarf and blouse and carefully pulled both over her head.
Her soft gasp reached his ears even as he dumped the clothing and reached for her pants. “I thought you said you had work today?”
“I have work morning, noon and night around here, but there’s no way I’d be able to get any of it done with you taking a sauna without me. Your soft, sweet skin getting all pink and hot and wet, all your muscles liquefying in the heat, and me not being there to take advantage… No way, Red. Not happening.” He shook his head and worked on chucking the rest of her clothes aside before he turned his attention to shrugging out of his. “If you hot tub, you do it with me. If you’re in the sauna, you do it with me. These are the rules.”
Her hands roamed over his chest while he kicked his jeans into a corner. “I think I like your rules.”
“You don’t sound sure. Guess I’ll have to work at convincing you.”
He had to laugh when she grabbed a towel to modestly wrap around herself right before he closed the sauna door, not buying her claim that she needed something to sit on. For all her fire, she was surprisingly uncertain in her appeal as a woman. That was something that could no doubt be left at her ex’s doorstep, but Quinn was cool with cleaning up that dickhead’s mess. He had both the tools and the determination to do it.
The only thing that he needed now was time.
“As much as I don’t want any of my guests to get hurt while they’re here at Whiteout, I know the reality of this outdoor paradise better than anyone.” After checking the temperature of the sauna’s lava rocks and ladling water over them, he sat on the highest bench directly behind her, where she perched delicately on the lower bench, still clutching that towel in the damned cutest way. “People come here for sport and for play. That means sore muscles and tired, half-frozen bodies at the end of the day. Nothing feels better than a sauna and a massage after something like that.”
“A massage does sound… oooh.”
“A promise is a promise.” Again he pushed past her hair, this time using both hands to grip the shoulder muscles slanting up to her neck. “I can keep this up until you’ve melted like butter.”
“I’m already there,” she mumbled, and he could feel her shiver beneath his hands despite the increasing heat. “I know I’m keeping you from your family, but damn, this feels so good that right at this moment I don’t even care.”
“I don’t give a shit about them right now. All I care about is making you feel better.”
“I guess you probably still feel cut off from them, after being estranged for so long,” she said after a moment, and her head dropped forward as he worked the taut cords along the back of her neck leading up to the base of her skull. “I get that. But you were right in pointing out that they all made the effort to come see you, see what you’ve built out here on Whiteout Mountain. I know we weren’t there long, but I got the feeling that many people were happy to see you today.”
“I don’t know if happy is the right word,” he drawled, working on a little muscle he could feel was trying to knot. “I think it’s more a matter of finally facing the reality of the situation now that I’ve built the place and they had to stand inside of it. But I’ll take what I can get.”
“That’s a healthy outlook.”
“Besides, it’s not like I was paying attention to who bothered to show up to mend fences today. All I saw was you. I was really proud of you, you know.”
She turned to look back at him, wincing slightly at the move. “What?”
“Yeah.” He pulled her closer, so that her shoulders were between his knees, before he resumed his kneading ministrations. “If you ask, most men’ll tell you that their idea of a perfect woman doesn’t go beyond a perpetually horny porn star wannabe, with tons of tits and ass and not much else.”
She made a sound of amusement. “Hate to tell you this, Boom, but that isn’t exactly a news flash.”
“Yeah, guys are simple creatures, and being simple creatures, most of us think only with our dicks and forget there’s other shit that has to be in the mix to make a man truly happy.”
“Thinking with your dicks, eh? Are you talking about Lorette again?”
“I’m talking about how you’re the whole package, Red. You’re a knockout with killer legs and a body that makes me hard just thinking about it. You’ve got a face so sweet and sexy I forget what I’m doing whenever you look my way, and then there’s that fierce, firecracker personality that redefines the word loyal. Everything about you gets me so hot that all I want to do is push you up against a wall and fuck your brains out, and that’s something that’s not going away. If anything, it’s getting worse.”
A fluttery breath escaped her, and it made that wonderful, crazy-making tightening of his skin get worse. “And this is why you were proud of me today? Because I turn you on?”
“Any man with a brain gets turned on by you. What got to me was how you jumped right in and had my back, telling the whole damn world how ballsy you think I am for making Whiteout Mountain a reality. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”
“All I did was tell the truth.”
“The truth how you see it. And how you see me, Mia… It makes me feel like I can fucking fly.” He slid his hands from her now-loose
ned, warm neck over the alluring but fragile ridges of her collarbones and down her chest to the edge of the towel she still had wrapped around herself. Gently he uncurled her fingers from the edges of the towel to let it fall away, and he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. “Thanks for having my back, baby.”
“You’re…” Her voice wobbled to a breathless close when he took her breasts in his hands, lifting them and reveling in the soft, feminine weight. “Welcome.”
He nudged her hair away from her neck with his face, then pressed his mouth there. “How’s the neck, love? Feel any better?”
“Mm-hm.” She leaned into the kiss while her hands crept up to cover his. “Hate to be a buzz kill, but you don’t happen to have a condom on you, do you?”
“I’ll take care of it, but I’m going to take care of you first.” With that, Quinn moved down off the benches and spread the towel puddled on either side of her so that it lay flat on the bench. “Lie down.”
She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the thrust of his cock, standing at attention and fully aroused. As he watched, her whole body began to glow with a feverish flush. “Uh, about that condom…?”
“I’m in complete control of things. You’re the one who matters now.”
“It doesn’t have to be either-or, Boom. In this, we both matter.”
“Perfect woman.” He bent to kiss her, because in that moment she needed to be kissed long and deep and made to feel like she’d never been more cherished. It must have worked, because she slowly melted back onto the bench, bringing him with her as if she couldn’t bear to lose the feel of his mouth. He was more than happy to oblige her; he hungrily tasted her mouth again and again, drunk on how seductively her tongue toyed with his. But all too soon he needed more. At last his mouth left hers to skim over her neck and down her chest to latch onto a rose-tipped nipple.
She arched into him, murmuring his name while her fingers sifted through his hair. He loved that, and wanted more. His hands roamed everywhere, reacquainting himself with her body, the flawless flow of long, lean lines and soft, feminine curves. If he’d spent a year thinking of elements that would make up his ideal woman, he couldn’t have dreamed up anyone more perfect than Mia. It was as if she’d been made for his hands, and he’d been made for hers. Fitting them together was such a thrill he could barely catch his breath.
