Lottie, as if sensing her gaze, turned and spotted her, and even from this distance, Erin saw her react, almost flinching. Will paused with her and, turning too, saw Erin. He smiled and waved, and the two of them strolled over to her.
“What are you doing here?” Lottie asked. Her eyes were flicking around nervously, unable to meet Erin’s. She was still holding Will’s hand.
“I might ask you the same thing.” Erin’s voice was quiet.
Will, oblivious to the awkwardness, jumped in. “I came up here as a kid when we were staying with you guys, but I wanted to see it again. Lottie was kind enough to offer herself as my escort.”
Erin kept her eyes on Lottie. “Your escort?”
Lottie flushed bright red and looked away again.
Again, Will didn’t seem to notice what was happening. “Yep! She told me she comes up here all the time with you, so I knew I’d get the locals’ point of view. She took the day off, and here we are.”
“Imagine that,” Erin said, still staring at Lottie.
Will finally seemed to sense something between them and frowned slightly. “Anyway, we have to get moving if we’re going to stay ahead of the weather. You’d be smart to get on the road soon, too. That sky looks deadly.”
Erin finally wrenched her eyes away from Lottie’s face to his. “We’re staying over.”
“Oh?” he said. “How nice. Well, have a good time then.”
“Thanks. Have a safe trip home.”
Lottie didn’t say anything, and Erin watched them walk over to Will’s car, both of them only releasing hands when they climbed inside. Erin’s surprise and disgust was so acute that she completely forgot her earlier awkwardness with Darcy. It had been a couple of weeks since they’d all been at her father’s place, and somehow in between now and then, Lottie had started dating that odious man. They seemed fairly comfortable with each other, so it likely wasn’t a brand-new thing. They’d probably been together ever since the dinner party, and Lottie hadn’t said a thing about him. Erin saw Lottie almost every day. In addition to her disgust, Erin felt betrayed and hurt. While Lottie wasn’t aware of the details about Will’s behavior to her when they were children—no one was but her and Will—Lottie knew that Erin didn’t like him. So, in addition to Lottie’s omission, she clearly didn’t care how Erin felt at all.
She rejoined the others, and some of her feelings must have shown on her face, as Jen immediately asked, “What’s wrong? You look like the dog died.”
Erin shook her head. “I just saw something terrible. Outside in the parking lot. Lottie and her new boyfriend.”
“Is it Will Collins?” Jen asked.
“Yes, it was. How did you know?”
Jen colored slightly, her face falling. “You didn’t know?”
“No. I didn’t.”
Jen opened her mouth to explain, but just then the server brought another round of tasters. As the four of them tried their extra-large samples, Erin decided to let the subject drop for now. It didn’t make sense to discuss it with Charlie and Darcy here. They knew Lottie only in passing. She would bring it up later when she and Jen were alone.
Another hour passed. Erin, still upset by both by her conversation with Darcy and with the revelation about Lottie and Will, drank in earnest. While the others sipped all their tasters, Erin drank all of hers and finished theirs. By the time Charlie and Darcy got up to settle their tab, she was past tipsy and well on her way toward being drunk.
“We should get a growler or two to drink in the cabins,” she suggested.
Jen leaned close enough to whisper, “I think you’ve had enough.”
“Pshaw!” Erin said, laughing. “There’s never enough.”
Jen’s face crinkled in concern. “Come on, Erin. Don’t get plastered today, okay?”
Erin put her hand on her sister’s arm. “I know my limits, Jen. I am an adult.”
“Well, you’re not acting like one right now. I’m asking you nicely to stop drinking. Don’t embarrass yourself or me.”
Erin was about to snipe a response, but Charlie and Darcy returned. Darcy was carrying two growlers of beer and held them up. “Thought we’d take some back to the cabins with us.”
“A woman after my own heart,” Erin said.
Darcy smiled, apparently confused, and Jen’s face darkened perceptibly. “Let’s get going then,” Jen said. “It’s really starting to come down out there, and we need to pick up something for dinner.”
Chapter Six
They stopped at a small grocery for sandwiches, snacks, and some toiletries before heading up to the little resort where they were staying. The flakes were falling from the sky in lazy, wet drops, but so far the roads were clear. By the time they drove across the little bridge to the resort, it was getting a little hard to see, and with the mountains all around them, the sun had already begun to set. Charlie insisted on checking in by himself so they could stay dry, and when he climbed into the car, his shoulders were covered in wet snow.
“We’re just up the road,” he explained, holding out a set of keys for Erin. “They said they’d bring some wood in a few minutes for fires. I guess we’re the only guests tonight.”
Erin took the keys, confused, wondering why he hadn’t given them to Jen. A terrible idea occurred to her, but she dismissed it. No way would Charlie and Jen make her stay with Darcy. That would be too much even for them.
The two little cabins were next to each other, and Erin was relieved when all four of them went into the larger one together to have an early dinner. At least they would discuss the sleeping arrangements later. In the meantime, she’d try to get Jen alone and convince her to stay with her. It would be way too awkward otherwise.
Darcy popped a bottle of sparkling wine for them, and while Charlie and Erin were game for a cup, Jen frowned a little when she saw the wine. Erin decided to ignore her. She could be a real spoil-sport sometimes. They each took a little Dixie Cup of the bubbly, and Darcy made a quick toast.
“To new friends,” she said.
“Hear, hear!” Erin said and then drank hers down in one long gulp. She held out her empty cup for a refill, and Darcy obliged before sitting down. Jen was giving her a dirty look, and Erin turned in her chair to give her sister her back.
“You like wine, too?” Darcy said, grinning slightly.
“I do. The only thing I don’t drink much is hard liquor—though I will imbibe a margarita now and again. But yes, I love wine. In fact, I did six months of my job training in a winery in Oregon.”
“Oh? Is that usual?”
“Not exactly. I did it mostly so I could have some training on the supply and business end of things. Jen’s the expert in that for us, but I needed to know a bit about it so I wouldn’t be completely useless in that department. I originally signed up to do a kind of internship with a brewery up there, but when it fell through, I decided that since I’d already rented a place in Oregon, I might as well go, and I found the winery pretty quickly after that. I’m sure if I’d grown up there or in California or somewhere on the coast, I’d be a winemaker instead.”
“Did you have other training beyond that? You’ve mentioned internships, but did you go to school for it, too?”
“Are you asking me if I went to college?” Erin asked. Seeing Darcy’s embarrassment, she laughed. “It’s okay. I know most people just assume that brewers are just the grown-up version of the slackers from high school.”
Darcy’s pale cheeks lit up, and Erin laughed again. She reached out and touched her arm. “It’s okay—I make assumptions about people, too. But yes, I did go to college. Colorado State, in Fort Collins.”
“Close to home, then.”
“Yes. I studied food chemistry and nutrition, and when they started offering the Fermentation Science and Technology BS, I got one. After that, I did some internships, got my MS in food chemistry, and then I won a grant for some advanced certificate programs at the Siebel in Chicago and a six-month training in Europe.”
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br /> Darcy’s eyes were wide. “Impressive.”
Erin shrugged, pretending nonchalance. “I’ve done a little more training than most of the brewers I know, but almost all of us have some kind of formal education. My dad wanted me to work for one of the big breweries in the area, but I was set on opening my own place. Then, finally, Jen and I got our loan, and here we are.”
“Well, it definitely paid off,” Darcy said quietly. “You make incredible beer. You’re very talented, you know.”
Erin’s stomach dropped perceptibly, and she was unable to tear her eyes away from Darcy’s. Darcy’s eyelids were lowered a little, her lips twisted into a slight grin. She was, Erin realized, flirting with her again. Erin suddenly saw that she was still touching Darcy’s arm. She yanked her hand away and turned toward her sister to break eye contact with Darcy, only to look away from Jen almost as quickly. Jen and Charlie were making out on the other side of the table. Erin and Darcy shared an amused glance, and Darcy got to her feet. Charlie and Jen broke apart, Jen’s cheeks flushed and red.
Darcy motioned toward the door. “Come on, Erin. We should give these two some privacy. I want to get our cabin warmed up a little, too.”
Charlie colored slightly and stood up, pulling Jen with him. He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable. “Actually, Darcy, Jen and I should be the ones to leave.” He gave them both a sheepish smile. “The other cabin has only one bed.”
Everyone was embarrassed now. Dumbstruck, Erin watched as her sister and Charlie left. Darcy followed them out and then came in a moment later, carrying an armload of wood.
“Is this enough? I don’t know how much we’ll need. I’ve never made a fire before.”
Erin found this incredibly funny, and, her drunkenness now verging on what her sister would called “plastered,” she struggled awkwardly to her feet to help. She suddenly realized that she didn’t care at all about Jen and Charlie. No, that wasn’t quite true—she cared, but she didn’t mind being left alone with Darcy. Darcy had been cordial and friendly with her all day. She hadn’t let the awkwardness of their conversation about the reviews and the overheard insults ruffle her feathers at all—in fact, she’d been honest about both. It also didn’t hurt that she was so attractive, and now, after so much wine and beer, Erin wanted to stare at her some more.
As Erin put the kindling and logs in the fireplace, she could feel Darcy’s gaze traveling across her, warming her wherever it landed. She couldn’t suppress a small shudder, and when the fire started to blaze, she stood up and turned to find Darcy, as expected, watching her closely.
“Listen,” Darcy said, stepping a little closer, “about earlier. About what you overheard—”
“Really, Darcy, let’s forget about it. I’m not even upset anymore.”
“Anymore?”
Erin sighed, her embarrassment making her angry and hot. “Fine. What you said about Jen and about me bothered me. Are you happy now?”
Darcy shook her head. “No. I’m not happy at all. I feel like an ass.”
“Well, you were an ass—that night anyway.”
Darcy laughed and raised an eyebrow. “But not tonight?”
Erin shrugged. “I don’t know. Something’s changed, I guess. And I’m sorry I keep making things awkward. You’ve been nice to me all day, and I don’t even know why. I’ve been a pest.”
Darcy took another step closer, and now they were close enough that Erin could see the fire dancing in Darcy’s gray eyes. A slight odor hung in the air—citrus—which Erin realized was her perfume.
“I was wrong, you know,” Darcy said. Her voice was low, almost purring.
Erin had to lick her lips a couple of times and swallow before she could talk again. “Wrong about what?”
“What I said about you.”
Erin flushed with heat. The sensation was so immediate, so sweeping, she started trembling all over. She reached out to surreptitiously grab a chair nearby, her legs actually weak.
“Oh?” she managed.
Darcy nodded and thankfully turned away, moving closer to the fire. With her back turned, Erin had an opportunity to take in the whole of Darcy’s figure at length. She was tall—three or four inches taller than Erin, and lithe. It made sense now to know that she was a skier, and Erin predicted that if she asked, she’d find that Darcy was also a runner—she had that lean build. It took almost every ounce of Erin’s willpower not to walk up and grab her from behind, and she put her hands in her pockets to steady herself.
The silence dragged on—both of them standing in the same spot, doing nothing, saying nothing—and finally Erin couldn’t take it anymore. She spotted the beer they’d bought earlier and blurted, “Want a beer? We’ve got two growlers just for us. Jen and Charlie forget to take one.”
Darcy turned toward her and laughed, clearly understanding that Erin had asked simply to say something. “We could save some for later.”
Erin wrinkled her nose. “Beer doesn’t last long in these things. It’ll be stale in a couple of days.”
Darcy smiled and shrugged. “Sure—I’ll take a beer. Do we have anything besides Dixie Cups to drink it in?”
“Let me look around. Might be some glasses somewhere.”
Erin started poking around, surprised by how dark the cabin already was. Not wanting to ruin the mood created by the fire in the living room, she stumbled around in the semi-darkness and eventually found two tumblers in one of the bedrooms. The tumblers weren’t much bigger than the Dixie Cups, but at least they were glass. She gave each a quick rinse in the little sink in the bathroom, and then, just as she was about to turn to leave, she caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a little mussy, and even in the dim light, she could see that her eyes were a little watery and drunk.
“What are you doing, Erin?” she asked herself. “Are you really going out there with that woman? What’s the end game here?” Her reflection didn’t answer, and no longer caring, she left the bathroom, grabbed the growler off the table, and rejoined Darcy in the living room.
She was sitting on a pile of pillows on the floor. Her platinum hair shone and flashed in the firelight. Her skin, normally so pale and cold-looking, seemed warmer in this light, and her eyes sparkled with amusement as she watched Erin fumble her way toward her. Erin’s breath caught in her throat and she swallowed, hard, stopping abruptly at the sight of her. She had to force herself to take the last few steps before sitting down a few feet away.
The cabin had been designed with a fairly large space in front of the fire for lounging like this, and Erin couldn’t help but notice the intimacy of the dim, warm light. She handed Darcy a tumbler and poured them both a small glass full of vanilla porter. They both sat, quietly drinking, staring into the fire. After a few minutes, Erin started to relax. Despite the awkward position the others had put them in, it really wasn’t that bad being here alone with Darcy. Nothing was going to happen. Erin glanced at Darcy surreptitiously and then quickly away. In this light, she’d changed from beautiful to stunning.
“This is nice,” Darcy finally said, holding up the beer. “I’m glad we brought some with us.”
“Yeah, I like it, too. And I usually don’t like flavored beers.”
Darcy poured them some more a moment later, and they watched the fire again. Erin’s hands were starting to sweat, and it wasn’t from the heat. Suddenly, without necessarily meaning to, she looked over at Darcy again only to find her staring, her lips curved in a slight smile.
“What? What is it?”
Darcy’s smile widened. “Nothing. I just like the view.”
Erin flushed, but she managed to keep her eyes on Darcy’s. They sat there, staring at each other, and the tension in the room grew denser as they stared at each other. Erin’s heart was racing, and she felt hot and jumpy. She licked her lips nervously. Darcy’s eyes grew dark, and then they rushed at each other, glasses of beer flying aside. Erin met Darcy’s lips in an anguished crush, their arms wrapping around each other in s
omething like desperation. Both Erin and Darcy were on their knees now, kissing as they kneeled. Darcy’s lips were flavored with the vanilla from the beer, and Erin sucked on her lower lip urgently. Darcy let out a little moan of pleasure, and the heat racing through Erin’s veins caught fire. She moved her lips to Darcy’s throat, sucking at her pulse point, and Darcy groaned and gripped her shoulders, pulling Erin closer. Their breasts collided, painfully, but Erin continued to kiss and lick Darcy’s neck. She pulled one earlobe into her mouth, and Darcy gave a brief shout, seeming surprised.
Suddenly Erin was on her back, Darcy topping her easily. Darcy was surprisingly strong despite her slimness, and Erin didn’t fight her. Several pillows were underneath her, and she squirmed beneath Darcy to move them. Darcy fought back a little, grinding into her between her legs to still her, and Erin let out a gasp of pleasure, becoming almost completely still at the cascading sensation of pure lust that raced through her. Darcy moved her hands up under her sweater a moment later, brushing her long fingers along the bottom of Erin’s breasts. Again, Erin froze in anticipation, and Darcy pinned her to the ground with her mouth. Erin responded, snaking her tongue out to touch Darcy’s lips, and when they finally parted to let her in, Erin couldn’t suppress a whimper of triumph. Darcy smiled against her lips and moved her hands more firmly onto Erin’s breasts, squeezing them and rolling her nipples. Erin sighed and threw her head back, arching into Darcy’s hands.
Footsteps sounded outside on the little porch, and they froze in place, listening. After a light knock sounded, Darcy sprang up, hurrying to her old spot a few feet away. Erin sat up equally fast, smoothing her sweater into place just before Charlie opened the door. Luckily, he was looking down as he came in, kicking the snow from his feet, which gave them a couple of crucial seconds to get themselves farther apart and settled.
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