“That was mean,” she objected.
“Hey, you laughed. My point is, I know how you feel, but I don’t think our feelings matter. He has to deal with his own issues. And if he’s not ready to stick around, we can’t try to force the situation. He’ll just leave again.”
“Am I interrupting?”
Justin turned to find Elisabeth, her eyes wide and her posture hesitant. “On the contrary, I was about to go looking for you. Arden says dinner’s ready.”
The meal was more pleasant than Justin had expected and not just because Arden’s first culinary attempt at lamb had turned out so well. Since Garrett and Elisabeth had never met before, they exchanged lots of stories about what it was like to live on a ranch and Elisabeth’s favorite—and least favorite—parts of running the lodge. Good food often had a way of making people mellow, and the wine didn’t hurt, either. Even Colin contributed to the conversation, the corner of his mouth lifting once or twice in what might have passed for a half smile.
When discussion turned to Arden and Garrett’s wedding, Justin’s shoulders involuntarily tensed. As recently as yesterday, Elisabeth had been looking forward to her own wedding. Would the broken engagement be a sore subject for her? But when he slanted a sidelong glance in her direction, he saw that she didn’t seem in the least bit agitated. She was leaning back in her chair, her finger idly tracing the rim of her empty wineglass, a serene smile on her face. She looked completely relaxed, more at ease than he’d seen her in days.
Catching him at his scrutiny, she scooted closer, her voice low. “Everything all right?”
He took the opportunity to drop his arm around her and pull her against his side. “Now it is.”
She nestled against him without protest, and moments later was stroking his arm in the same lazy caress she’d used on the wineglass. But Justin was made of flesh and blood, and she was driving him crazy, calling his nerve endings to attention. Her touch was so whisper-soft that it only stoked his desire for more potent contact. Following the conversation became more difficult, but he hoped his distraction wasn’t too blatant. He doubted she had any idea how maddening the feathery strokes were, how much he wanted her.
“Elisabeth, it was sweet of you to join us after putting in a full day at the lodge,” Arden said. “You must be getting tired.”
“Now that you mention it, I do have an early morning ahead of me.” Her hand slid away from his arm as she shifted in her chair. Moving so subtly that he didn’t notice at first, she lowered her hand to his knee, tracing that same idle pattern up his quad. “Maybe it’s time to think about going to bed.” She punctuated her sentence by gently squeezing his thigh.
Okay, he’d been wrong. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was only then that he noticed the grin she was trying to hide. Vixen. An answering grin tugged at his lips. He was so going to make her pay for this.
“Before we go, though,” Elisabeth said, “would you mind giving me your recipe for the cucumber dip, Arden? It was fantastic.”
Justin didn’t think much about the women leaving the table together—he didn’t currently have enough blood in his brain to do much thinking at all. But there seemed to be an awful lot of conspiratorial whispering in the kitchen for the simple exchange of a yogurt-based recipe. Wondering if he was imagining the suspicious behavior, he shot Colin a questioning look. His brother shrugged in an unmistakable I have no idea what she’s up to gesture.
Finally, they were exchanging their goodbyes. Arden walked Elisabeth and Justin to the front door. “Elisabeth, it was lovely to see you again. Call me anytime. I’ve still got a few weeks before I move, and I’d love to hang out. And Justin, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug that probably looked like an affectionate move to the untrained eye.
A bystander would have no way of knowing that Arden whispered, “I told you she’s the one for you, you stubborn ass.”
Justin didn’t say anything as he took Elisabeth’s hand and led her down the sidewalk through the Yard of a Million Lights. He opened her door for her, letting his hand trail down her spine. It took all his willpower not to go any lower, not to trace the beguiling curve of her butt.
As he started the car, he asked, “Enjoy yourself tonight?”
“Mmm-hmm.” It wasn’t dark enough to mask the laughing mischief in her gaze.
“I had fun, too. But not as much as I’m about to.” He parked at the end of the street, away from his family’s prying eyes, and reached for her with all the eagerness of a sixteen-year-old on his first car date.
She let out a small squeak of surprise that was absorbed by their kiss. He traced the seam of her lips, then slid his tongue into her mouth. She tasted like the honey and cinnamon from the baklava.
“Justin?” She was kissing her way up the side of his neck to his ear, and he gripped the steering wheel hard, lust roaring through him. “You realize we don’t have to do this in the SUV. I have an incredibly comfortable bed back at my place.”
Last night, snowed in at the cabin, he’d told himself he shouldn’t sleep with her because she’d been through too much and hadn’t had the chance to recover from breaking her engagement. But tonight, all that had changed. Tonight, she was his.
They made it to her loft in record time. But as she was unlocking the door, he stopped her with a hand over hers.
“You’re sure about this?” he asked raggedly. Once they crossed that threshold, he didn’t plan on there being much discussion.
She lowered the zipper on his sweater, dipping her tongue into the indention at his collarbone. “I told you last night I wanted you inside of me. That hasn’t changed. Make love to me, Justin.”
He fumbled for the doorknob behind her, then scooped her into his arms, kicking the door closed. He carried her to the bedroom, and had just lowered her to her feet when she insisted, “Wait!”
His muscles tensed in dread. “You changed your mind?”
“What? Lord, no.” She dotted his face with reassuring kisses. “I just wanted to ask if you could give me a minute. I have sort of a present for you.”
His pulse thudded in anticipation. This was the same woman who had given him those creatively naughty coupons for his birthday. He could hardly wait. “One minute,” he agreed. “Sixty seconds and not a single second more.”
She shooed him out of the room. He took the opportunity to pull off his shoes and socks. He’d just reached for his belt when she called breathlessly, “Okay, you can come in.”
She sat at the foot of the bed. “I know this isn’t your favorite time of the year, and I wanted to see if there was anything we could do to change that.”
His mouth went dry. “This is a good start.”
She grinned. “You did say you liked red on me.” A cute Santa hat was perched crookedly on her head, and she wore a sheer red robe belted around her waist. His fingers already itched to untie it. Beneath the robe was red lace. Was it wrong that he was already having fantasies about making love to her in nothing but the hat?
It only took him three purposeful strides to reach her. He caught her by the knotted sash and drew her to her feet. “You’re beautiful.” He nipped her bottom lip.
Her robe didn’t last long. It hit the floor as they kissed, along with his sweater and pants. Her jaunty Santa hat got knocked off somewhere along the line, maybe when she was tracing the outline of his erection with her soft hands and he gripped her shoulders. Or when she made him gasp by outlining the shell of his ear with her tongue.
When they were down to his black boxer briefs and her lacy scrap of a nightgown, he lowered her to the mattress. He slid one of her arms up over her head, then moved the other to join it. Holding both of her wrists with one hand, he swept his gaze down her body in a slow, appreciative perusal. She was the sexiest woman in Cielo Peak, but he hated the idea of any other man di
scovering it.
Her breasts were pushed upward by both the position of her arms and the lacy cups of the nightgown. He couldn’t get enough of touching them. She was so responsive, her husky murmurs and sharp cries addictive. He trailed the side of his hand over the swell of her breast, letting his thumb just barely graze the tip. She arched her back, encouraging him to do it again.
The red lace stopped right past the feminine flare of her hips, and he could tell she was bare underneath. One tug and she’d be nude, his for the taking. After the erotic torture of touching her last night, he was ready to thrust into her, but planned to take his time. With his free hand wrapped in her hair, he tilted her head to the side, giving himself unimpeded access.
He found the sensitive slope where her neck met her shoulder and bit gently. “Have I ever told you, you give the best gifts?”
“It gets better,” she promised. “Especially if you’d let go of my hands.”
He clucked his tongue at her in a tut-tut sound. “Patience. Remember?”
She groaned. “You haven’t shown a drop of patience since the day I met you, and you want to start now?”
“Oh, yeah.” Sliding the lace cups down, he circled the peak of her breast with his finger, moving with excruciating gentleness. When her breathing grew heavier and her hips were squirming beneath him, he suckled one breast, then the other.
“Justin.”
He let go of her wrists, and she plowed her fingers through his hair, holding him close. Then he raised his head and they were kissing with abandon, their skin feverish and their limbs tangled. Needing to know she was as ready and eager as he was, he slid his hand between her legs. She was slick and tight, moving against his fingers in a way that blanked out coherent thought. He was operating on sheer primal instinct. Need. Beth. Now.
Lacing his fingers with hers on either side of her head, he kissed her deeply, then drew his hips back and rocked forward, surging into her. God, I’ve missed you so much. He might have said it out loud but she was kissing him hungrily, her muscles squeezing him as he slid farther inside her. White-hot pleasure jolted through him. It had been months since they’d been together, but he knew her rhythm, knew when to speed up and take her to the edge. And knew just how to send her over.
She called his name, her body contracting around him in silky spasms, and he drove into her one last time, finding his own oblivion.
* * *
MOST CIELO PEAK citizens didn’t run their ceiling fans in December, but it was damn hot in Elisabeth’s bedroom. More specifically, the man in her bed was damn hot. They’d shared a large glass of ice water and had been cuddling for the past twenty minutes, yet her heartbeat still hadn’t returned to normal. Sex that phenomenal could only be described as an out-of-body experience.
While she rested her head on his chest, Justin lightly dragged his fingers through her hair. “That was...unexpected.”
Did he mean how powerful it had been between them, or that she’d had sex with him at all? It had been at the forefront of her mind since that mind-blowing orgasm he’d given her in the cabin. She’d fibbed a little at Arden’s about needing to assemble Christmas presents after dinner. She’d rushed through those this afternoon before he picked her up. Just in case.
She turned her head, propping herself up on her elbow so she could meet his eyes. “I wanted you,” she said simply.
“Back at you.” It was gratifying how dazed he looked. She’d made a definite impact. “But, at the risk of seeming ungrateful, I don’t understand what changed.”
“My expectations.” Could she explain this in such a way that didn’t make it sound as if she was devaluing herself? “When we dated before, I thought I loved you, thought I knew what our future should look like. But the more you’ve opened up to me the past few days, the more I realize I never fully knew you. And as for the future...everyone talked about whether moving to California would be good for Kaylee after the upheaval in her life, but my life got turned upside down, too. If ever there was a time to consider just living in the moment, it’s now. I need time to adjust to the present before I get too hung up on the future.”
“So that’s what this is?” he asked cautiously. “Living in the moment?”
She thought of Michelle, of his parents and his nephew. “We know better than most how life can be cut short. I overheard you and Arden talking about your brother. You said he had to deal with his issues and that nobody could force him before he was ready. The same is true of you. You mask it with your jokes and your charm and your devilishly distracting kisses, but you have a lot of baggage. I don’t know when—or if—you’ll ever sort through it and be ready for a real commitment. But in the meantime, for right now, I just want to be with you. That okay?”
“That,” he said as he sat up to capture her lips, “is perfect. You’re too good to be true.”
“Good, huh?” She rolled over so that she could straddle him, smiling down into his handsome face. “Shows what you know. I’m pretty sure I’m on the naughty list.”
* * *
DESPITE JUSTIN’S HABITUAL aversion to Christmas, it was impossible to dislike any day that began by waking to a gloriously naked redhead wrapped around him.
“Morning,” she said drowsily.
“Merry Christmas.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Your alarm went off.”
She wiggled her hips, scooting back against him. “I heard it. I just don’t want to go. Nowhere else in the world is going to be as comfortable as in bed with you.”
“So we’ll just have to make plans to do this again soon,” he reasoned. Very soon. “But for now, I have trails to patrol and you have a little girl who will be awake soon, anxious to know if Santa visited.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor. “Know what else you have to look forward to? Me. I’ll see you this evening.”
“Don’t forget your pajamas,” Elisabeth reminded him, amusement threading her voice. “House rules.”
Justin reached down, snagging the red lace on the tip of his finger and held it up. “If you’re looking for suggestions on what pj’s you should wear...”
She swung a pillow at his head, but missed by a mile. “You’d better go,” she advised, “before I have my morning coffee and try that again.”
* * *
IT WAS A beautiful, chilly Christmas morning—the kind that reminded Justin why he’d wanted to pursue a career that paid very little and carried high risks. He was in such a good mood that he didn’t even mind the teasing of other guys.
“This is getting scary,” Trey Grainger told Nate Washington in the hut where they all checked in each morning. “Yesterday at this time, he was barely speaking, and now he’s whistling Christmas carols! It’s like pod people have landed on the mountain.”
Nate identified the source of Justin’s good mood pretty quickly. “So who was she?” he asked as he pulled on his gloves. “The brunette from the bar last week?”
Refusing to answer any questions, Justin kept whistling all the way up the chairlift.
His family members, however, were more persistent. Once the distraction of opening gifts for baby Hope had passed, Arden kept commenting on how happy Justin looked and badgering him about whether it could have anything to do with a certain redheaded lodge manager.
He attempted to change the subject by playing on Arden’s guilt. He crossed the living room and stared mournfully out the snow-crusted window, injecting as much wounded severity into his tone as possible. “Did you ever consider that I’m simply happy because I’m enjoying one of the few days I have left surrounded by my family? Colin will be headed out of town by New Year’s, and you’re neck-deep in wedding plans. Neither of you seems to give much thought to me here, alone and left behind, with—”
“You know, if you’d toned that down a little,” Arden said, “I mig
ht have bought it. Now, tell me what happened when you took Elisabeth home! Did you kiss her? Did she kiss you? Who, when, where?”
Even though he truthfully would miss his siblings once they were both gone from Cielo Peak, it was a relief to escape his sister’s interrogation and head for the Donnellys’ home around three. Kaylee flung open the door while he was still making his way up the driveway. She was wearing bright yellow flannel pajamas and a pair of purple snow boots.
“Justin! Come see what Santa bought me! And come see the gingerbread houses I made with Grammy Patti. The roof fell in on my house and probably squashed anyone who lived inside, but Grammy says that’s okay, it still tastes good. Boy, you walk slow!”
“Maybe that’s because I’m hauling this giant sack of presents,” he pointed out.
Elisabeth appeared behind the girl. She wore a pale henley shirt and a pair of endearingly ludicrous pants. They were fuzzy and printed with bright pink penguins and sleepy purple polar bears. He was feeling a little understated in his soft black top and red-and-black plaid pajama bottoms. Maybe next year, he—
He stopped so suddenly, he almost slid on the walkway and launched the packages into the air. Next year? Where the hell had that come from? What had happened to Elisabeth’s brilliant plan of living in the moment?
Luckily, Elisabeth hadn’t noticed his near-stumble because she was busy quietly conferencing with her daughter. Then she looked up, addressing Justin, “You’ll have to excuse her. Someone ate too much of the chocolate that was in her stocking, and she’s a little wired. But someone also knows that if she can’t simmer down and mind her manners, she’s headed upstairs for a long time-out.”
Kaylee heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I’m the ‘someone,’” she informed Justin in a stage whisper.
Grinning, he tousled her hair. “Yeah, I got that, kiddo. Can you do me a big favor? Don’t get sent to time-out. It would ruin my holiday if I didn’t get to spend it hanging out with you.”
Second Chance Christmas (The Colorado Cades) Page 15
