Turn Up the Heat

by Kimberly Kincaid

  Right. The thought of Bellamy’s lips, turned up into that sweet little half smile, that’s what. Ten minutes, Shane rationalized. If he hadn’t found a reason to stay in ten minutes, he’d hit the road.

  Probably.

  After nine and a half minutes of milling through the growing crush of the bundled and huddled, a familiar voice called out from behind him.

  “Shane? Hey! I didn’t think you’d show.”

  Jackson’s voice caught Shane by surprise, but he turned and played it cool, as if standing outside with a couple hundred strangers ’til his legs went numb was his idea of unparalleled fun.

  “Yeah, well, I was at loose ends after swinging by Grady’s. Figured I’d come check it out after all.”

  Jackson nodded toward the resort. “You’ve got good timing. I’m running to grab a round of coffee for me and Samantha. I could do without the frilly whipped cream, but I gotta say that the Irish whiskey in those things knocks the chill right outta ya. Why don’t you come hang out with us?”

  “I don’t want to go all third-wheel on you, dude.” Shane shifted his weight and skimmed the crowd again with a careful glance.

  “Are you kidding? There are tons of people here. It’s not like you’re interrupting a private party. Yet,” Jackson added on a smirk.

  A flash of ice blue and blond curls caught the corner of Shane’s eye and held tight, but as soon as he focused, his gut sank.

  Bellamy was standing, sweet as could be, maybe ten feet from them. At about ten feet, four inches and much too close in Shane’s opinion, stood none other than Marcus Lawrenson. From the look of things, the old cheese bag was laying it on as thick as molasses in the winter, too, leaning in toward Bellamy as she spoke.

  Damn it, Shane knew coming here had been a bad idea. A classy girl like her belonged with the ski instructor set, anyway. He turned to give Jackson a sorry excuse and cut a path directly to his recliner. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch the second half of the game before falling asleep in the thing.

  But then the look on Bellamy’s face registered in his brain. Her tight, awkward smile seemed forced, and so at odds with the one she’d given at the grocery store. Shane’s legs did that independent-thinking thing again, refusing to move while he stared at her. He watched as her eyes skirted the crowd, darting toward the resort whenever Marcus wasn’t paying attention.

  She was looking for a lifeline.

  “You okay, man?” Jackson waved his hand in front of Shane with a nonverbal hello, in there.

  Shane nodded, crafting an idea in his head. “Yeah, sorry. Listen, I left my gloves in the truck. I’m just going to run and grab them.” He made a show of rubbing his bare hands together and blowing into them, even though they weren’t really that cold. This was either going to work like a charm or it was going to get him slugged. Shane took one last look in Bellamy’s direction.

  If she slugged him, it might be worth it.

  “Couple of Irish coffees and you won’t feel a thing,” Jackson said with a laugh. “We’re on the other side, over by the west gate. Just come over on your way back.”

  “Right.”

  His feet were moving toward Bellamy before the word was all the way out.

  “Bell-a-meeee,” Marcus sing-songed, and for the first time ever, Bellamy hated the sound of her own name. “I can’t believe you didn’t come down for a lesson today. The powder was as good as the view,” he continued, his tone sickly sweet as he leaned in close enough for her to smell the breath mint that was failing to cover up whatever he’d eaten for dinner.

  “The day must have gotten away from me, I guess.” Where the hell were Holly and Jenna? This was going to turn into a code red, Bellamy could feel it. Somebody should really invent a best friend panic button for these kinds of situations. She threw one last glance through the crowd while Marcus slicked back his hair with a hand.

  Nothing.

  “Well, we can’t let that happen again.” Marcus arched a brow at her in a way that made her want to bathe in Clorox, but then she felt a tiny pang of remorse. He wasn’t hurting anything, although she was a little worried about getting caught in the creep shrapnel if things went downhill. Still. For now, maybe there was a way out of this that didn’t involve her running and screaming.

  “Listen, Marcus, I, ah, should probably tell you. I’m waiting for . . . somebody.” Bellamy edged backward to regain her personal space and waited, hoping he’d jump to the wrong conclusion and get the not-interested vibe she was broadcasting on all channels. Never mind that ‘somebody’ was either Jenna or Holly, or better yet, both.

  “The more, the merrier, sweetheart,” he cooed, her implication going unnoticed.

  Bellamy groaned an inward curse. She should’ve known better than to expect a logic leap from a guy who used his head primarily as a hat rack.

  Marcus leaned in again, not seeming to notice that she took a step backward as he did. His voice reached Barry White status as he shuttered his lids to look at her. “Your girlfriends are always welcome to join us, if you want.”

  Okay, ew. Bellamy had reached her limit. “You know what, I—” Before she could even finish her sentence, Shane sauntered up and wrapped his arm around her, planting a kiss right on her lips just as easy as you please.

  “Hey, babe. Sorry I’m late. Parking was a bear.” His dark eyes flew to Marcus for a split second before returning to hers with an almost imperceptible nod.

  Holy shit. The fake-boyfriend routine was the oldest trick in the book.

  Shane was bailing her out.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you made it,” Bellamy gushed, playing it up by snuggling under the arm he’d left around her. “Shane, this is Marcus. He was just keeping me company while I waited for you.”

  Marcus was too busy picking his jaw up from the ground to do anything other than stammer. “Oh, uh, yeah. We know each other. Hey, Shane.”

  “Marcus. Thanks for looking after my girl while I parked my truck.” His dark eyes flashed over Marcus’s, glinting in the orange glow of the firelight.

  Wow, Bellamy thought. Shane was good. He really had the whole protective boyfriend act down cold.

  “Bellamy, you, ah, didn’t mention that you . . . knew Shane,” Marcus tsked weakly.

  “We only just met recently, but it’s been quite the whirlwind.” She smiled. Okay, at least that was the truth.

  “Well.” Marcus cleared his throat. “Maybe I’ll catch you another time.”

  “Maybe.” Shane’s tone flattened over the word.

  She waited until Marcus had taken about twenty paces through the crowd before pulling back to look at Shane. “Your girl?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

  He cracked a boyish you-got-me grin, and it snapped through her like a current. “Sorry. Too much?”

  Oh, God. Not enough.

  Bellamy blinked, her rib cage feeling like the new home for a fleet of hummingbirds. “Uh, no. No, I think it did the trick. Thanks. Did I look that desperate?”

  “Truth?”

  She gave him a look that said she expected nothing but. “Of course.”

  “You looked like you’d rather have a root canal,” Shane admitted.

  Bellamy’s laugh bubbled out of her, mostly because he wasn’t far from the mark. “Wow. You really know how to flatter a girl.”

  His baritone chuckle mixed in with her laughter. “Look, you’re the one who asked for the truth.”

  “I guess I did. I’d rather people just lay it on the line, you know? Then I know what I’m dealing with.” She shrugged, watching the warm breath of her words defer to the cold air that carried them.

  Shane fastened his gaze on hers with an unwavering smirk. “Okay. Let’s try this, then. I’d really like to buy you a cup of coffee. What do you say?”

  Bellamy grinned from ear to ear. Now this was a date.

  “I say that sounds great.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Can I get those in to-go cups, please?” Shane looked thro
ugh the crowded lodge to the spot where Bellamy stood with her friends as the guy behind the coffee counter snapped plastic lids on both cups. When she’d agreed to have coffee with him, her smile had traveled down his spine in a straight shot, overriding the circuitry in the rational part of his brain. Maybe it hadn’t been fair to judge Bellamy based on her car, or the fact that she sported diamond earrings that probably cost more than his truck was worth. She had a killer laugh, and while she could’ve easily flipped the bitch-switch to get Marcus Lawrenson to beat it, she hadn’t.

  Plus, as soon as he fixed her car, she would head back to the city, no harm, no foul. What could a cup of Joe and a couple hours outside hurt? He took a long swallow from one of the cups, letting it warm him before walking across the room, coffee in hand.

  “Ah, to-go cups. I take it you’re planning a field trip.” Bellamy tipped her head at the Styrofoam cup he passed her way as she took two packets of sugar from the bowl on the side table. Shane had no idea what she did to her hair to get it all shiny like that, but man, he was tempted to reach out and touch it.

  He took a long look at his cup and wondered what the hell was in his regular old black coffee to make a stupid thought like that take over his gray matter.

  “As long as you’re okay with a little off-roading, I figured we could head up to Carrington Ridge,” Shane said, looking at the two other women. “You’re both welcome to come. It’s not far, but the Ridge is pretty cool.” One of the added benefits of the Ridge was that not a lot of non-locals knew where it was, which made it virtually unpopulated by the hot toddy–sipping jet-setters who frequented the resort. As it was, standing inside the massive lobby, with its blazing fireplaces and yuppie crowds, was giving Shane the sweats.

  “That’s really nice of you to offer.” Bellamy’s friend Jenna gave a genuine smile. “But honestly, I don’t think Holly’s going to budge from the couch now that she’s figured out how much better Irish coffee tastes indoors.”

  “Sing that,” Holly acknowledged with a nod. “But thanks for the invite,” she added, toasting Shane with her mug.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” Bellamy murmured. Jenna flashed her a knowing glance that looked like it might mean something in girl-speak, but then it was gone, replaced by Jenna’s dimpled smile. What did he know about complex women-codes, anyway? Guys were so much simpler. If you didn’t mess with another man’s livelihood or his woman, you were pretty much set.

  Bellamy fell in step beside him as he headed toward the exit leading out the back of the resort. “Okay, so what’s Carrington Ridge?”

  He held the door for her, waiting until their feet were back in rhythm together before continuing. “It’s on the other side of the mountain from the resort, facing Big Gap in the east. The resort has the market cornered on skiing and snowboarding, but all of its trails are over here, on the west side.” Shane paused, gesturing over his shoulder. The night trails were lit up like a beacon, dotted with skiers gliding over the largely manufactured snow.

  “So it’s not part of the resort?”

  He chuckled. “If it was part of the resort, it wouldn’t be the best kept secret on the mountain, that’s for sure.” They walked in perfect rhythm together for a minute before Shane continued. “It’s one of my favorite places up here. Most people who know about it go for the great sunrises. They’re really something else.” Shane wasn’t much of a landscape guy, but if there were words to do justice to the sunrise over the valley at Big Gap, he sure couldn’t string them together.

  “Looks like it,” Bellamy said as they reached his truck and he unlocked her door.

  Shane paused. Maybe she’d gone off the tourist trail and seen it already or something. “Oh, sorry. Have you been there?”

  She gave a slight shake of her head, just enough to jostle the waves of her blond hair before she got into the truck. “No, I just assumed it must be something pretty special, judging from the look on your face.”

  Shane blanked his expression out of instinct. “Yeah, the view is even better at night.” He went around to the driver’s side and got in. As he started the truck, a ripple of something odd made its way up his spine. Shane couldn’t remember the last time anyone had pegged his emotions just from the look on his face. It sure as hell hadn’t been since he’d moved to Pine Mountain.

  ’Course, he just had to slip up in front of the prettiest and most intuitive girl he could find, didn’t he?

  Bellamy cleared her throat delicately. “Okay, I’ll bite. How is the view so good if it’s dark outside?”

  Shane scrambled to catch up to the moment, realizing she’d been waiting for him to continue telling her about Carrington Ridge. “Oh. Uh, well, it’s what you can’t see that makes it so cool, actually.”

  Her puzzled expression warmed him up faster than any heater, but he flipped the thing on high anyhow, watching her crease her brow in thought.

  “I don’t get it,” she admitted, lacing her fingers around her coffee cup and taking a sip.

  “You will when we get there,” he said, enjoying the frustrated frown he got in response.

  “So you’re just going to leave me hanging, then.” The playful edge to her voice teased around Shane’s ear, and he reached out to crank the heat down a notch. Man, the truck got hot quick.

  Or maybe that was just him.

  “You’re a smart girl. Figure it out.”

  In the dim glow of the dashboard lights, he could see her face, bent in concentration. “How do you know I’m smart?”

  “Law school or MBA?” Shane’s pulse quickened.

  “MBA. But you didn’t answer the question.”

  He looked at her for as long as the road would allow before returning his stare to the windshield. “Just a guess. Boy, you really weren’t kidding. You kinda like it right out on the table, don’t you?”

  “Yes. You’re seriously not going to tell me how we’re going to take in this spectacular view in the dark?” Bellamy persisted, not giving him an inch.

  She should’ve been a lawyer.

  “Nope,” Shane replied, grinning at her frustration.

  “Are you trying to get under my skin?”

  He smirked and let the question hang. “How’m I doing?”

  She arched a pale brow back at him. “You’re a natural.”

  They rode in silence for a few minutes before he found the turnoff from the main road. Shane angled the truck through the space that would’ve been nonexistent to anyone who didn’t know just where it was, guiding them onto a narrow dirt road.

  “Hold on, it gets a little bumpy.” He maneuvered over the back road as far as his aging F150 would let him before pulling onto a grassy stretch of land overlooking the twinkling lights of the valley below.

  Bellamy’s face was set in confusion as she squinted through the windshield. “Okay. There’s nothing here.”

  “Or everything. Just depends how you look at it.” Shane reached around to the tiny storage space behind her seat and grabbed the old army blanket he always kept there in case he got stranded in the snow. He’d kept her in the dark, so to speak, long enough, and although he had to admit that the irritation on her face was turning him on like a light switch, he didn’t want to piss her off completely. “Come on.”

  He walked around to her side of the truck, eyes adjusting to the darkness that came not just from the sun having long since set, but from the fact that there weren’t any city lights to speak of for miles around. The tiny town that lay at the mouth of the valley showed itself in a sprinkling of warm porch lights and barely visible streams of shadowy chimney smoke rising to greet the cold night air.

  “Are we going far? Because I’ll be honest. I can’t see a thing,” Bellamy admitted with an unsure waver in her voice.

  “Yeah, this is a totally different brand of dark than you get in the city. Here.” He captured her gloved hand in his bare one, just meaning to help her get her bearings.

  But the way she squeezed him made him forget his own.

>   “Sorry.” She laughed nervously. “You probably think I’m an idiot. I’m not normally scared of the dark.”

  He commanded his legs to move, leading her away from the truck. “Don’t worry. I felt the same way the first time I came up here.”

  “Well, sure. You were probably like eight or something when that happened, though.”

  Shane’s thoughts darted to the first time he’d stumbled upon Carrington Ridge, but quickly stuffed the memory away. By the feel of the hard, flattened grass under his boots, where they stood right now should do the trick. Most of the snow that had fallen the week before had melted, exposing big gaps of frozen earth. Shane stopped about halfway through the field, eyeballing it in the dark shadows. Yeah, this was good. He made quick work of unfurling the blanket, kneeling down to make sure no sharp twigs would poke through and hurt Bellamy when she sat down.

  Nope, not even a stray rock or anything below the dirt. This was perfect.

  “Okay. This’ll do it.” He sat down on the blanket, making sure there was plenty of room for her to sit next to him, but she hesitated.

  “You coming, or what?” he asked, jerking his head toward the space on the ground next to him.

  “Where?” she asked back, sounding thoroughly confused.

  Shane’s laughter felt warm and good as it left him. “To see the view, of course. It’s been right in front of you the whole time.”

  Bellamy’s eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, which now looked less like a pitch black abyss and more like layers of shadow on shadow. At least now she could make out Shane’s silhouette against the background of the night around them, with his legs kicked out casually over the blanket he’d put down. He seemed to be measuring her with his look, head tilted to one side, but she couldn’t quite tell in the dark.

  “So, you think you can trust me for a second? It’s better with your eyes closed.”

  Bellamy was tempted to retort that of course she trusted him, she’d ridden right into the heart of no-one-can-hear-you-screamville with him, for God’s sake, but instead she just gulped. The closest breathing person had to be miles from here. She and Shane were very, very alone together, and he’d just asked her to sit down next to him, close her eyes and trust him.