by J. H. Croix
What the hell were you thinking? Too close for comfort. You’re going to end up half-drooling over him and look like an idiot.
Lacey’s teasing that Gage might be the distraction she needed came to mind. But Marley couldn’t go there. Distraction or not, she was not his type. No way. He was all manly, sexy, and smoldering. She was the girl who buried her nose in books and computers. Though she didn’t know his story yet, he exuded dark and mysterious, precise and in control. If he knew she checked her locks repeatedly every evening and jumped at the sound of unknown noises, he’d think she was a bumbling idiot.
But you can whip up a website for him in no time. That’s all this has to be. You’ll be a friendly, good neighbor and keep your distance after that.
A few hours later, Marley walked to her car, set her computer bag on the passenger seat and drove up to the lodge. The afternoon light was fading rapidly. With summer gone, the fall nights were coming earlier and earlier. She hadn’t been home in the fall since she’d moved away over a decade ago. She’d forgotten how much she loved it—the cool bite in the air, the sharp scent of spruce, the sense that the quiet of winter was just ahead.
Moments later, she knocked on the main entrance door to the ski lodge. Gage opened the door almost immediately. He gestured her inside. Marley looked around as she walked through the entryway. The inside was as Gage indicated: a time warp. The furniture was covered with plastic, so she couldn’t see what was underneath, but the overall feel of the space was as she remembered, including a faded calendar on the wall behind the desk with pictures of mountains. The calendar was open to the month of October, the year nineteen ninety-four. Faded harvest decorations remained on the reception desk. She followed Gage down a hallway, passed through the restaurant area and into an office in the back. This room had been thoroughly cleaned and was furnished sparingly with a basic black desk and new leather office chair. A round table was situated nearby with chairs surrounding it.
She set her laptop on the table and looked around for an outlet. She met Gage’s eyes. “Do you have internet, or should I run back home to get my portable wireless device?”
He surprised her by nodding. “Oh yeah. I may be clueless when it comes to building websites, but I like my cable and stay in touch with friends and family online. Got to be a habit when I was in the military.”
So he was military. It didn’t surprise her at all, given his near physical perfection and the sense of precision he exuded. She filed that detail away and quickly logged onto his network. Gage drew a chair up beside her and watched as she pulled up various ski lodge websites. At first, he was quiet, but he quickly became focused, pointing out websites he did and didn’t like.
Not much later, Marley was contemplating how to find a graceful way to get out of there. Gage appeared oblivious to the effect he had on her. He had tugged his chair close to hers and frequently leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen as she built a template for the site. His nearness was distracting beyond belief. She was hot and flushed. The few times she turned to look at him, her pulse surged. His gray eyes were like the sky before a storm. His cheekbones looked sculpted from stone, his jaw was strong and square, and his lips…well, she couldn’t remember ever noticing a man’s lips. But when she looked at his, all she could think about was how they might feel on hers. His smile was rare, but when it happened, it tightened her nipples and spun a burst of wet heat—a ping of sensation that spiraled into the heat of desire she couldn’t seem to control around him.
She managed to keep herself half focused on what they were doing, but just barely. Thank god you could do this with your eyes closed. Otherwise, you’d be useless about now. You need to move away from him. Oh my god, his arm feels sooo good. Get a grip!
Gage leaned over to point at something on the screen.
“Can you make it have a button like that one?” he asked, gesturing to another site she had up beside the one she was working on.
The heat and hardness of his arm practically singed her skin. She’d taken her jacket off—like a fool—and he kept brushing against the skin on her bare arm. She looked to where he was pointing.
“Oh yeah, got it.” She quickly pulled up options for an icon and selected a bright green button for reservations. “How’s that?”
“Oh, wow. That’s it. It works?”
Marley made the mistake of turning to look at him. He turned exactly when she did, their eyes colliding. The gray of his eyes flickered and darkened. She felt the heat of a blush race up her neck and face. Her pulse pounded, butterflies thronged in her center, and she couldn’t seem to get enough air.
The space between them felt electrified. She was so rattled, she started to push back from the table. When she went to move, Gage put his hand on her arm. The warm heat of his palm curling around her forearm was so delicious, she gasped. She couldn’t break away from the smoky intensity of his gaze. She tried to remember his question, but she couldn’t. When she opened her mouth to try to say something, he moved swiftly. His lips came against hers in a fierce rush. Her body craved his touch so desperately, she didn’t stop to think. Her mouth opened under his instantly. The moment she opened to him, his touch shifted from fast and furious to slow and devastating. The intense rush spiraled into a drugging passion.
Gage kissed with a thoroughness Marley had never experienced. He explored her mouth completely, his tongue sweeping inside. He pulled away just enough to catch her bottom lip between his teeth before taking her mouth again in a deep, open-mouthed kiss. Long pulse-pounding, breath-stealing moments later, he pulled away. Dazed and aroused beyond measure, Marley opened her eyes to find his inches away. She couldn’t look away. He looked startled. His pulse was visible in his neck, which relieved her only in that he seemed as out of control as she felt.
He leaned back slightly. His hand remained on her arm, his touch sending waves of heat through her. He cleared his throat.
Certain he must have lost his mind by kissing her, Marley decided she’d best get out ahead of this. “I…” She had to stop and clear her throat, her voice raspy. “I’m, um, not sure what happened. I’m sure you didn’t mean…”
Gage put his finger on her lips, the touch burning into her, pinwheels of desire spinning inside. His smoky gaze was so intently focused on her, she had to fight the urge to squirm.
“I meant to do exactly what I did,” he said bluntly. His finger fell from her lips.
Stunned at his words and scrambling to gather her thoughts, she watched his hand come to rest on his muscled thigh. Even his hands turned her on—strong with evidence of hard work. A faded scar arced across the back of his hand as it flexed around his thigh. She brought her eyes back to his. “Oh, well then…I don’t know…”
His lips quirked in a small smile and her heart soared.
“You don’t know what?”
“I don’t know what that was about.”
“Maybe I don’t either, but I know this—I’ve wanted to kiss you every time I saw you, so I finally decided to stop fighting it,” he said simply.
“Oh.”
Marley tried to wrap her brain around the fact that this man, who was practically calendar material and all kinds of sexy, had wanted to kiss her since the moment he saw her. She supposed it was good they had that in common. She looked into his eyes again and saw a warm glint. A giggle bubbled up and next thing she knew she was laughing so hard she couldn’t stop.
Chapter 4
Gage watched Marley’s green eyes go wide and then she started to laugh. Her laugh was throaty. He hadn’t meant to kiss her in the sense that he planned it. But when he met her eyes—those gorgeous green eyes that made him think of a forest dappled with sun—he wanted to kiss her so badly it was all he wanted. In that split second, he abandoned his reservations and decided it was worth it to see if she felt as good as she looked. He’d spent the hour or so she’d been here dancing on the edge of a raging hard on. He was relieved as hell he was sitting down
, so the blatant evidence of his arousal wasn’t immediately obvious.
Now he knew. It was more than worth it and kissing her was like walking into a fire that curled and swirled around him and held him in its seductive flame. Watching her laugh made him want to kiss her again. There were only two problems: she seemed remarkably startled to hear how much he wanted her, and he had no intention of getting serious with anyone. Marley wasn’t the kind of girl a man just had fun with. He didn’t even do that lately either. Then, there was the double-edged sword of her being his neighbor in this small town in Alaska. He couldn’t avoid her, but at the moment, he didn’t think he had a chance in hell of keeping his hands off of her.
Her throaty laugh slowed and her eyes met his, dancing with warmth.
“Care to share what’s so funny?” he asked.
Her lush, sensual lips quirked with a smile again. Then she sobered, her eyes flickering with uncertainty. “It surprised me so much that you said you’ve wanted to kiss miss since you first saw me. It seemed ridiculous. I don’t mean that you meant it that way, more that I couldn’t believe it.”
“You couldn’t believe it? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
Her eyes widened. “Um, yeah.” He cheeks flushed as she met his gaze. He sensed she wanted to look away, but she didn’t. He wanted to know who planted the seeds of doubt he saw there.
“Well, I don’t know what you see, but you’re damn beautiful. You must not pay attention to the men I’m sure are thinking the same thing I’ve been thinking.”
Her eyes widened further. She brushed a loose lock of hair out of her eyes. “I think I’m supposed to say thank you.”
Gage had tons of questions, but decided to leave them for now.
“I also thought it was funny that we had something in common,” Marley added.
“What’s that?”
“I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I met you.” Her cheeks flushed bright red. She twirled her hair around her finger.
Her words made his heart feel strange, not to mention that his cock, barely under control, hardened at her frank statement. He closed his eyes, fighting to get his body in check. Because what he wanted was much more than a kiss, but he wasn’t about to go there right now. With a kiss, he could find a way to regroup and pull back if needed. Much more and he could ruin any chance at a friendship with her.
You want a hell of a lot more than friendship. What’s stopping you? Oh maybe the fact that Marley’s all kinds of amazing and way too good for you. Coward.
Gage ignored the taunt inside his mind and focused on Marley and her last words. “Good to know,” he replied, so damn pleased she’d wanted to kiss him too that he ignored all of his own rules—no complications, no commitments. It was easier that way. He’d already broken them with the kiss. He itched to touch her again. Her t-shirt was faded navy and pulled taut across her generous breasts. He’d give just about anything to see them. Her blush faded, but lingered in her bright cheeks. Up close, he could see tiny freckles scattered on her skin.
He forced himself to push his chair back a little and glanced at the computer screen. His eyes landed on the icon she’d added for people to click to make reservations. “So does that really work?”
Marley followed his eyes. “It will. We need to set up the back end, so when people click on this, it takes them to your payment system.” Her voice started breathy and steadied as she spoke.
“I can’t just have them pay when they get here?”
Marley grinned. “You could, but you might lose money that way. People are more likely to keep their reservations if they have to put down a deposit. We don’t have to make it complicated. I can help you set something up for that.”
Gage sighed and looked back at her. What he wanted to do was lose himself in another kiss and then some, but he knew that wasn’t the wisest plan. Not now. His chest tightened at the depth of his want for Marley. He shook his head sharply. He needed to focus on something other than kissing her. The brief time he’d spent with her had made him realize why his sisters insisted he’d better get the online situation set up sooner rather than later. He had the wherewithal to do all the repair work and construction for the lodge, but the stuff Marley did with a few clicks was foreign to him. If he wanted to make the lodge come back to life, he had to be ready to do whatever it took.
She tilted her head and smiled softly. “It’s not so bad. I offered to help, and I will. It’s pretty easy stuff for me. You don’t need to get all worried about it.”
He nodded, his chest easing. “Right. We didn’t talk about it, but I can pay you…”
She shook her head and started to say something, but he interjected again. “I can’t do this part. At all. If it’s not you, I’ll have to pay someone else. I trust you, and you’re already halfway there, so tell me whatever you’d normally charge someone for something like this.”
She smiled slowly and started to giggle again.
“What’s funny now?”
She swallowed her laugh. “I’m a programmer and I can do stuff like this, but it’s not something I’ve ever thought about charging for. I don’t even know what to say.”
“I’ll call someone and find out what they’d charge me and pay you that.”
Marley started to say no, and Gage couldn’t help it, he kissed her again. Her lips were soft, luscious and warm. And though she seemed surprised to realize he was attracted to her, she didn’t let it interfere once their lips met. Her mouth opened, her tongue tangled with his. He dove straight into the cauldron. By the time he came up for air, his breath was ragged, and lust streaked through him so hard, he could barely think. When her green eyes met his, dazed with passion, it was all he could do to stop.
***
Marley walked up the steps to her parents’ house. She knocked quickly on the kitchen door and walked inside. Her mother, Holly, was sitting at the kitchen table by the window, a laptop open in front of her. Holly looked up and smiled as soon as she saw Marley.
“Hey hon! How are you?” Holly stood and walked to the kitchen counter. “Coffee?” she asked, gesturing to the coffee pot.
“Sure,” Marley replied, tugging her jacket off and tossing it over the back of a chair before she sat down. The casual occurrence of sitting down for coffee with her mother was so comforting, it elicited a wave of emotion. She wondered when her emotions would stop being so raw. It chafed at her to feel out of control and struck at the core of anger she’d felt ever since the robbery.
Holly filled a mug with coffee and joined Marley at the table. Holly had passed on her auburn hair, green eyes, and lightly freckled complexion to Marley. Her hair was piled in a loose knot atop her head. She smiled warmly as she slid the mug across the table to Marley.
Marley cupped the warm mug in her palms, chilled from the cool walk down from her cabin.
“So?” her mother asked.
“So, what?”
Holly rolled her eyes. “How are you settling in? Any word on what you’re going to do for work?”
Marley sighed inside. Her mother meant well, but she wanted Marley settled and working full-time as soon as possible. Marley knew her parents were ecstatic she was back in Diamond Creek. They’d been so worried about her after what happened. But she was weary from trying to explain that the usual nine-to-five type job they were hoping she’d find wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. She was determined not to let the robbery steal everything from her. She wasn’t giving up her dreams, only relocating them.
She looked up and met her mother’s warm green gaze. A sense of safety stole over her, something she’d never thought she’d miss until it had been ripped away from her in a flash. Sitting here in her parents’ kitchen with her well-meaning and loving mother represented a simple degree of safety and warmth. She took a deep breath.
“I’m settling in okay. I don’t have a ton of stuff, so the cabin’s all set now. I promise, I’ll just be there over the winter. By next sum
mer, I’m sure I’ll find another place.”
Holly shook her head. “Honey, we told you not to worry about that. We haven’t rented that cabin out in years. Consider it yours.”
Marley didn’t have the heart to explain that treating the cabin as hers made her feel like a failure, like she couldn’t make it on her own. She needed the safety and respite of not worrying about finding a new place to live at the moment, but she had no intention of making her stay at the cabin anything other than temporary.
“I know, Mom. I’ll play it by ear. How’s that?”
Holly nodded as she sipped her coffee. “What’s happening on the work front?”
“Well, I’m helping design the website for the Last Frontier Lodge.”
Holly’s eyes widened. “What? The Lodge is opening again? I haven’t heard anything about it.”
Marley couldn’t help but feel a thrill at being in possession of gossip her mother didn’t know. “Yeah. I was up there the other day walking on one of the old ski trails when I met the new owner. Well, he’s not totally new. His grandparents owned the lodge, and he inherited it. It’s Gage Hamilton.”
Holly looked thoughtful. “Wow, he was just a boy when I last saw him. His parents used to live here, and then they moved away. That’s wonderful news! When does he plan to open and how did you end up doing the website?”
Marley offered a quick summary minus the details of how deliciously sexy Gage was and definitely omitting the fact that he’d kissed her senseless. She could hardly believe it herself and had spent half the night reliving his kisses in her mind. The news got her mother off the topic of problem-solving Marley’s work situation and onto reminiscing about the ski lodge.
