Finally, the tiniest smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “You promise to do all the driving?”
Grinning, Gabe’s chest expanded with relief. “Absolutely.” Then he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her long and slow, conveying all the love he had for her. She slipped her arms around his neck and sighed, allowing Gabe to deepen the kiss.
He couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, but Piper pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes. “Just so we’re clear, I love you too.”
Gabe hadn’t realized how much he wanted to hear those words. “Thank you for giving me another chance.”
Her lips parted into the sweetest smile. “Always,” she said before pulling his mouth back to hers.
He liked that… the idea of them always forgiving one another. Because he knew he’d mess up again, hopefully not as bad as he had this time.
A knock on the door broke them apart. “Oh no,” Piper said, putting a hand to her mouth. “I think that’s my date.”
Jealousy the size of Montana burned inside Gabe’s chest. “You already have a date?”
“With Nate.”
“You have a date with Nate?”
“This is sounding suspiciously like a Dr. Seuss rhyme,” Piper said with a giggle.
“Which one of us is going to tell Nate he’s too late and there won’t be a date?”
Laughing, she ducked underneath his arm and walked to the door. “I think I better.”
She opened the door, and Gabe heard her greet the girl at the front desk. “Hey, Presley, I was just about to call you.”
“Oh, about what?”
“I need to give Nate a message. Do you know him?”
“Yeah, in fact that’s why I’m here. Nate needed to get a message to you too.”
Gabe stepped up behind Piper and put his hands on her shoulders. “Hi.” He gave Presley the thumbs up, which let her know everything was going well. She and the other girl at the front desk had gone on and on about how romantic the whole thing was and wished they could be there when Piper discovered him in her room.
“Oh, hey, Mr. Wesson,” Presley said with a conspiratorial grin. “Good to see you again.”
“You too.”
“So about the message from Nate?” Gabe asked.
“Oh yeah. I just talked to him a few minutes ago, and when he told me about his dinner plans with Ms. Jensen, I broke the news about you waiting for her so you two could get back together and all.” She handed Piper a note. “So this is from him.”
Piper unfolded the paper, and Gabe leaned over her shoulder so he could read it too.
I should’ve known such a beautiful girl was already taken. I’m cool with it and hope things work out for you. If they don’t, you know how to reach me. But if they do then dinner for you and your boyfriend is on me. All the best, Nate.
“That is so sweet of him, but he doesn’t need to pay for our dinner,” Piper said.
Gabe didn’t care one way or the other just as long as Piper was no longer going out with the guy.
Presley gave a short laugh and waved her hand in front of her face. “Don’t worry about it. Nate’s dad is the executive chef, so his meals are always comped anyway.” She stepped back from the door. “Just tell them you’re a guest of Nate Owens, and the staff will take care of it.”
“Thank you,” Piper said. Closing the door, she turned around to face Gabe. “That was nice.”
“It was.” He snagged her around the waist and pulled her against him. “But I think I better get you out of here before any more men make a play for you.”
“I can’t believe I forgot why I’m here,” she said as a look of distress flitted across her face. “I want to go back with you, Gabe, but I’m supposed to start my new job tomorrow.”
“I know, so I have a backup plan.” He gave her a quick kiss on the mouth, wanting like crazy to linger. “This job is only for six weeks, right?”
“Yes,” she said, fingering the fabric of his shirt. “But it could be a permanent position and I still need a job.”
“I think I may have found one for you.”
“A teaching job?”
“Yes.” He tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “My secretary emailed me this morning to say her cousin mentioned something about the current drama and music teacher at the junior high retiring after the school year. I made a few phone calls and they are very interested in your credentials.”
She bit her lower lip. “But what about the scandal?”
“I told them all about it and that you’d been the victim, not Tucker Langston.” He smiled. “Turns out Caytie knew the former Miss California quite well from the private school she attended, and she made a call to Caroline Langston. She was pretty upset, but not with you, and told Caytie that she’d kicked Tucker out because he’d been cheating on her with someone else. Mrs. Langston already emailed the principle at the junior high to say Tucker had lied to both of you and that you were innocent.”
Piper’s lower lip quivered and moisture filled her eyes. “Truly?”
“Yes.” He wiped away a tear with his thumb. “The principle wants to do a phone interview with you at your earliest convenience.”
“Wow.” She smiled up at him. “So I’ll be done teaching here on March twentieth. Is there any chance a nanny position will be available if I move back then?”
“Definitely, but only on one condition,” Gabe said.
“What’s that?” Piper asked.
“That the nanny might consider a more permanent position.”
Piper’s hands slid around his neck. “The nanny is very much interested in a permanent position.”
“Good,” Gabe said, lowering his head, “because with that job comes some very enticing perks.”
Laughing, she lifted her mouth to meet his in a kiss full of promise, love and forgiveness. Gabe’s hands slipped to the lower curve of her back, bringing her closer as he deepened the kiss. He began to think that filling the permanent position might need to happen a little sooner than he planned. He had a feeling t
About Cindy Roland Anderson
Cindy Roland Anderson is an Amazon best selling author who writes clean, contemporary romance with a combination of humor, romantic tension and some pretty great kissing scenes. She and her husband, John, live in northern Utah, and have five amazing children. Their family has expanded by adding a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and five adorable grandchildren. She is a registered nurse and has worked in the NICU as well as the newborn nursery. She loves to read, almost as much as she loves writing. And she loves chocolate… probably a little too much. To contact her or to see other projects she is working on go to her website or her Amazon author page.
http://www.amazon.com/Cindy-Roland-Anderson
www.cindyrolandanderson.com
Also by Cindy Roland Anderson
Individual Titles
Fair Catch
Discovering Sophie
Georgia Moon Romance Series
Under a Georgia Moon
Just a Kiss in the Moonlight
*Blue Moon Kisses
Snow Valley Romance Series
An Unexpected Kiss
Catching Caytie
Operation Kiss the Girl
Destiny Came Knocking
Under the Mistletoe: A Timeless Romance Anthology
Forgotten Kisses
*This title has not yet been released
Starlight Kisses
Jeanette Lewis
Chapter 1
Mariah Lacoste eased her indigo Toyota Camry into a small pullout in the road, wincing as the tires sank in the snow. She peered through the windshield and chewed on her lip thoughtfully. The sun was up, but had not yet breached the towering mountainsides, so the deep canyon was still blanketed in shadow.
And trees. The low-hanging branches had thumped against her windshield and scraped along the sides of her car all the way up the road. Mariah thought of the deep blue paint job mournfully. Please,
please, please no scratches.
She reached for her phone and pulled up her cousin Amy’s number.
Amy answered quickly. “Where are you?”
“Up some canyon.”
“Canyon? Which one?”
“I don’t know.” Mariah glanced around, as if there would be some kind of sign blaring “Welcome to _________ Canyon” to tell her exactly where she was.
“Well, what’s going on?” Amy pressed.
“I’m not sure,” Mariah confessed. “It’s a pretty rough road and there’s a lot of snow. I don’t know if my car can make it.”
“You mean you lost him?”
“No, I didn’t lose him,” Mariah said. “He went up this road and sooner or later he’ll have to come back down. I can wait for him.”
“But that could be hours. Or there could be another way out. What if he slips by? Or what if he sees you?” Amy fretted. “This isn’t worth it, why don’t you come back?”
Mariah looked again at the bumpy, snow-packed road. Jake’s truck was wider than her car, but maybe she could stay mostly in his tracks. “No way,” she said determinedly. “I’m doing this.”
“Be careful,” Amy said, a note of worry in her voice.
They hung up and Mariah steered the car back onto the road, holding her breath as the wheels spun, then finally caught. Jake’s red truck was out of sight, but it couldn’t be too far ahead, even though he had the advantage of four-wheel drive.
The road forked, but the snow on the left side was undisturbed, so Mariah stayed to the right, slipping and sliding as she struggled to keep her car in Jake’s tracks.
After a few more minutes, she caught a glimpse of red through the trees. It had to be Jake’s truck. She slowed, then stopped in the road and watched the splotch of red, but when the truck hadn’t moved after ten minutes, Mariah parked in another pullout and climbed quietly out of the car, hoping the line of thick trees would shield her car and her. Her pale pink wool coat wasn’t exactly natural to the forest, even with the faux fur collar.
She stepped off the road and her boots broke through the thin crust of ice to send her sinking to mid-thigh into the snow. With a little squeak of protest, she pushed forward, heaving herself through the drifts until she was deeper into the trees where, thankfully, the snow only came halfway up her calves. Even so, her leather boots were going to be ruined.
“Ow!” She stubbed her toe on a fallen tree lying buried in the snow and stumbled forward, only managing to stay upright by grabbing the limbs of a pine that towered overhead. As the branch bent, it unleashed its burden of snow and Mariah gasped loudly as it showered over her head and shoulders.
“Stupid trees!” she hissed in a whisper, glaring at the forest. She brushed as much snow off as possible, but some had already slithered down her collar. The cold penetrated her coat and seeped through her gloves. Jake’s truck was faintly visible through the trees and looked to be parked in a clearing. Shivering, Mariah stood still, considering her options.
“What are you doing?” A man’s deep voice shattered the silence.
Mariah whipped around and froze. Fear pulsed through her, making her legs shake. She hadn’t even heard the man coming up behind her, which was amazing—he was so big there was no possible way he could have moved silently. A thick green camo coat covered broad shoulders and the matching camo pants hinted at long, muscular legs, ending in sturdy black boots. His mouth turned down in a scowl and his eyes glittered menacingly beneath a black ball cap. Clutched in one hand was a large rifle, the metal barrel glinting in the pale light.
Mariah sucked in a breath of the frigid air and screamed—a loud, piercing shriek that echoed through the forest.
The man jumped back. “Geeze, lady! What’re you doing?”
“What are you doing?” Now that she’d knocked him off guard, her fear was turning to anger. Mariah drew herself up to her full height and glared at him. “Don’t you threaten me with that thing.” She pointed wildly at the rifle.
The man dropped his eyes to his rifle and then looked back at her incredulously. “I’m not threatening you. What are you doing lurking in my trees?”
“I’m not lurking,” Mariah protested. “I’m just … hiking.”
He cast a look at her four-inch-heeled leather boots and the rather thin pink coat. “Uh-huh, sure.”
A door opened somewhere nearby and Jake’s voice filtered through the trees. “Riker?”
Mariah’s eyes widened. This had to be Riker Carmichael, Jake’s best friend and his soon-to-be best man. She’d heard all about him from Amy, but they hadn’t met yet. Then again, she’d only been in Snow Valley a couple of weeks.
“Riker?” Jake’s voice came again.
“Don’t tell him I’m here,” she pleaded.
Riker gave her a long, skeptical look, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The dark whiskers covering his jaw were too long to be stubble, but were not quite to the beard stage. More of a I don’t have to go anywhere so I don’t have to shave kind of look.
He ran one hand over the not-quite-beard as he turned and called toward Jake’s voice. “Coming. One second.”
There was silence, followed by the thud of the door closing.
Riker turned back to her, his thick eyebrows raised so high they disappeared under the brim of his hat. “What’s going on?”
“Okay,” Mariah said quickly, knowing the only thing to do was tell the truth. “I’m here because Amy was afraid Jake was … um … cheating on her.” She felt a blush of embarrassment rising to her cheeks. “Except, now I say it out loud, it does seem kind of improbable.”
Riker’s face darkened. “They’re getting married in less than two months and now she decides she doesn’t trust him?”
“Well …” Mariah hesitated. “He came over for dinner last night and when Amy asked him what he was doing today, he was vague, so I—”
“Wait. You’re the one who suggested he could be cheating?” Riker interrupted, his voice scraping like nails on a chalkboard.
“No! But she was worried so I offered to follow him and see what he was up to.”
He gave a grunt of disgust and Mariah bit the inside of her cheek. Now that she was here, ruining her boots and freezing half to death in her inadequate coat, it did seem silly. But it hadn’t felt silly late last night when Amy tapped on her bedroom door to confess her worries. She and Jake were getting married in six weeks, so why was he acting so distant? Could he be having second thoughts? Mariah had only seen the blazing pain of abandonment and vowed to do whatever it took to set Amy’s mind at ease.
“Jake would never cheat,” Riker said in a biting tone. “And you’re trespassing. I want you off my property.”
Mariah held up both hands. “Fine, I’m leaving. Only please, please don’t tell him I was here?” From the way Riker glared at her, it looked as if he’d be only too happy to rat her out to Jake. “Please?” she said again.
There was silence, made heavier by the muffled quality of the snow.
“Fine,” Riker finally sighed. “I won’t tell him if he doesn’t ask. But if he does ask, I’ll tell him the truth.” He tipped his head to one side and rubbed his ear with a gloved hand. “Geeze, what a scream. I think you broke my eardrums.”
“You shouldn’t have startled me,” Mariah said defensively. Though now that she wasn’t terrified, she could see the barrel of the rifle was safely tucked into the crook of his arm, pointed most definitely away from her.
Okay, so he hadn’t threatened her with a weapon; he still shouldn’t be sneaking up on people.
With as much dignity as she could muster, Mariah pulled her coat tighter and walked past him toward her car. She could feel his eyes on her back, but she kept her head high, though the effect was somewhat ruined when she reached the deep snow and had to clamor through the drifts. She thought she heard Riker give a low chuckle, but she refused to look back.
Her legs were shaking by the time she reached the car, but whether from the cold, fea
r, or something else, she didn’t know.
Chapter 2
Riker flung open the door to his cabin and stomped inside to find Jake feeding firewood into the wood-burning stove.
“Hey,” Jake said by way of greeting. “I figured you were already out tracking. Find anything?”
For a moment Riker thought Jake was talking about the girl, then he remembered the rifle he was still holding.
“Nope.” Riker set the rifle on the table, pulled off his cap, and ran his hand through his thick brown hair.
“Oh. I thought I heard something a few minutes ago … sounded like a scream?”
Riker shrugged out of his coat. “Yeah, I heard it too. The cat probably brought down a deer or something.” He’d found wildcat tracks only a few hundred yards from his cabin last night—definitely too close for comfort—and had been out scouting for it when he’d come across the girl floundering through the trees. If she’d thought she was being sneaky, she was delusional. He’d heard her from the other side of the clearing.
He threw himself into a kitchen chair and shook his head in disgust. He should tell Jake the truth. Why was he protecting some girl he’d never met before?
She was a little thing, reminded him a bit of a bird the way she’d puffed up when she got mad. Her long hair was held back by one of those knitted headband things girls liked, complete with a huge, ridiculous flower set above her ear. The dark hair spilling down her back was dusted with snow and when she’d turned away from him to go back to her car, he’d fought a sudden urge to reach out and brush it off. Her eyes were bright blue, almost like Casperson Pond on a warm summer day, and huge in her dainty, heart-shaped face, especially when she eyed his rifle.
The rifle. He snorted and shook his head. She’d obviously thought she was seconds away from being shot. What a ditz.
Winter in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance) Page 45
