“We’re great.” He tilted his head to Kari. “Unless my date needs a late-night dessert.”
Jade’s smile froze as she turned to Kari. Gavin noticed the surprise flicker in Kari’s eyes, but she must’ve sensed the predatory gleam in Jade’s eyes and wanted to snuff it out as much as he did. “Oh, Gav, you’re too sweet,” Kari said in a fake, dripping kind of voice. She put her hand over Gavin’s fist on the table.
Usually, Gavin would flinch or recoil, but even knowing that Kari had read his cues and was just trying to help him keep Jade professional, he loved the feel of her soft palm resting on top of the back of his hand. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he had no desire to pull away from an unrelated woman’s touch.
“Sweet?” Jade muttered, probably thinking Gavin had never been sweet with anyone. He was fair and kind to his employees, but never “sweet” or over-complimentary.
“This is my new girlfriend, Kari,” Austin said.
“What?” Jade pretended to explode. “I’m your girlfriend.”
“You know I have hundreds of girlfriends and you have to share me,” Austin said, all innocent and cute. “Sorry about that.”
“I know.” Jade laughed and whipped out her pad. “What would you like for dinner?”
Gavin felt relief that she’d moved on so quickly. Usually, she’d flirt or chat with them for five to ten minutes before she’d take their order. He didn’t really care, as she kept most of her focus on Austin and his son ate it up, but it was nice to have a break from it. It was more than nice to have Kari’s hand still resting on his.
Jade’s eyes flickered to Kari’s hand wrapped around the back of his as they ordered, but she wisely didn’t say anything. Kari ordered the teriyaki chicken with the veggies. Gavin got the salmon and au gratin potatoes.
As Jade walked away, Austin’s eyes narrowed. “You two are holding hands.”
Gavin waited for Kari to pull away, but she didn’t. Instead, she squeezed her palm around his fingers and said, “I like Gavin’s hands.”
Gavin shocked even himself as he turned his hand over, lined their palms up, and then intertwined his fingers with hers. Kari pulled in a breath, and Austin looked surprised. Gavin’s heart was going so fast, he was having a hard time catching a breath. He was twenty-nine this month, and the last time he’d voluntarily held hands with a woman was eleven years ago. He felt like a teenager on his first date as he gently pulled their clasped hands off the table and rested them on his thigh. The back of Kari’s hand brushed his knee, setting off even more of a reaction. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the excitement of her touch, but for the first time in a long time, he wanted to explore much more of it.
Austin shook his head and said, “You two better not get all smoochy on me like Trey and Ella.”
Gavin’s body heated up at the thought of being “smoochy” like Trey and Ella. He hadn’t approved of his best friend chasing his sister at first, but the two of them were perfect for each other. Was there some crazy chance that he and Kari could be perfect for each other also? He didn’t dare hope, but as she squeezed his hand again and gave him a significant look, he felt like he was in some beautiful dream that he’d never thought would become reality.
“When we stayed with them in Kauai, Gav and I would escape to the beach or on a hike so they could kiss more.” Austin wrinkled his nose.
“When did you go to Kauai?” Kari asked.
Austin started talking about their trip the first of the month, with Gavin inserting or clarifying a few of the stories. The time passed quickly, as Kari wanted to know every detail of Kauai, down to the smells and how the roosters never stopped crowing. The entire time, Gavin and Kari held hands. It was crazy that such a simple touch could have him so keyed up and invested in her.
When their food came, she had to let go to eat. Gavin couldn’t believe how swift the dart of disappointment was. She eased closer to him and her leg pressed against his, and he contented himself with that appealing contact and the scent of her perfume.
Dinner flew by as Kari asked them questions about Kauai and the few other places they’d traveled: Florida, California, and all the places where Heath had resorts—Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wyoming, and Utah. Gavin thought he’d come off as pathetic for never leaving the US, except for the time he’d flown to Mexico on a private jet to rescue his sister, Cassie. He soon discovered Kari had less travel experience than he did.
“I’ve been to Disneyland and the beach a couple of times, and we went to Kansas once, but that’s not a lot to brag about.”
“Man, you’re lame,” Austin said, plunging a fry in ketchup and then into his mouth.
“Austin,” Gavin warned.
“Sorry, but my sister Cassie is maybe younger than you, and she’s been to every country in the world. Why don’t you like to go places?” Austin asked.
Gavin didn’t correct the exaggeration, though Cassie had traveled extensively with her humanitarian missions. She and her fiancé, Jed, were in Costa Rica right now, but they would be home in two weeks to get married and settle down in Park City, where Jed was from. That would be a relief, not worrying about Cassie anymore.
Kari shrugged and focused on cutting a piece of chicken. “I concentrated on school at Arizona State, and then I’ve been so busy writing … I researched for over a year before I found your resort and decided to book my stay. Taking this trip was a huge leap for me. I want to experience more of what my characters do, make it more real, right?” She looked at Gavin as she said that.
Experience the place, or experience the romance? He was surprised how much he wanted to help her experience the romance, but he didn’t want to just be a test subject for her and then have her move on, ditching him and hurting him worse than Janielle had. He startled. That couldn’t be possible. He’d dated Janielle for almost a year and had thought he loved her before she betrayed him. He hardly knew Kari.
They finished eating, and Gavin slid out of the bench and stood.
“Where’s the bill?” Kari asked. “I wanted to pay it to thank you both for skiing with me.”
“There is no bill,” Gavin explained, though he thought it was adorable that she wanted to pay it.
“Oh …” She blushed. “Because you own the place.”
She slid out of the booth and stood next to him. Gavin quickly dropped a twenty on the table for Jade. He knew he should walk up to Kari’s room right now and get his ski poles. Instead, he did something he should never have done as he asked, “Will you go on a short ride with us? I need to drop Austin off at Mama’s for story time.”
Austin lit up. “Mama has time tonight?”
Gavin nodded. “Half an hour before you have to be in bed.”
Austin grabbed Kari’s hand and tugged her toward the arched doorway of the restaurant and the lodge’s huge open lobby. “My mama likes to read to me at night.”
“What are you reading?”
“A new one by Daniel Coleman. Have you heard of him?”
“Yeah, I have,” said Kari. “My friend Sarah Gay uses him for editing, but I haven’t had a chance to read any of his books. You like them?”
“Like them?” Austin asked as he hurried her along, and Gavin took up the rear. “I love them. We already read Hatter, Red Knight, and Jabberwocky, and he just came out with A Bout of Yours.”
“A Route of Wares,” Gavin corrected. He’d ordered the book on Amazon as soon as he’d gotten the notice that there was a new release from one of Austin’s favorite authors. Anything he could do to keep the kid off video games was a win for him.
“Your friend Sarah must have good books if Daniel Coleman edits them,” Austin said. “She’s not a smoochy romance author, is she?”
Kari laughed as they walked through the parking lot. “Yeah, she is.”
“What?” Austin exploded. “But Daniel Coleman writes ‘sic’ books with lots of fighting and creatures that would give you nightmares.” He pumped his eyebrows. “Why would he want to edit rom
ance?”
Kari shrugged her shoulders. “Sarah’s books are complex and funny. Maybe he enjoys the crossover. Maybe you’d like romance if you gave it a try.”
They reached the car and Austin climbed into the back, muttering, “Probably not.”
Gavin walked around with Kari and got her door. She glanced up at him. “Do you think you might like romance?”
Gavin’s heart slammed against his chest. If anyone else had asked him that question, he’d scoff. With Kari looking at him like that, he wanted to go home and download one of her romance novels right now. No. He’d rather be with her for as long as she’d let him, then download a romance novel. “Maybe,” he managed to get out of his dry throat.
She smiled sweetly up at him and then slid into her seat. He shut her door and hurried around. Austin started telling her more about A Route of Wares, explaining how it was about a reality TV show that turned out to be sinister, as the characters were getting killed on and off the screen, and there were vampires, ninjas, and rangers.
Kari kept the conversation going as they slowly drove out of the lodge and then stopped at the gate to the west that led to his and Mama’s houses. Gavin punched in the code at the gate, and they drove up the slot canyon. The canyon widened, and the houses came into view. He looked to Kari for a reaction. It was too dark to see the incredible slot canyon and the beautiful wider canyon nestled around their property, but she could see his house easily as it was all lit up. He loved the house he’d built for himself and Austin. Never in the past nine months had he thought about bringing an unrelated woman to it. He wasn’t about to right now, as he pulled up to Mama and Papa’s smaller rambler.
Austin popped out of the Lexus, calling back, “Bye, Kari. See you soon, Gav.” His door slammed, and they were alone.
Gavin was itching to drive her over to his house, give her a tour, sit on the couch, and reach for her hand again, but he couldn’t do it. Taking her alone to his house would be pushing too hard too fast for him, and maybe for her too. She was too trusting for sure, but he’d preached to her last night at dinner about not going somewhere alone with a man.
“This is your mom’s house?”
“Yeah.”
“Whose house is that?” She pointed, and he could hear the awe in her voice. His house was a large two-story with a wraparound porch and huge windows. The rock exterior and massive wooden beams made it fit in perfectly with the beautiful valley.
“It’s mine.” He waited, hoping she would ask for a tour.
“Wow, that looks incredible,” was all she said.
Gavin waited a couple more beats, but he wasn’t brave enough to push her to go check out his house, and he didn’t want to be some peacock strutting off his stuff. He turned the Lexus and headed back down out of the valley. The air in the car crackled with the tension rising between them. He liked her. He could admit to that much. Would it be out of line to not only walk her to her room, but ask her to go out tomorrow, and then lean in for a kiss? His neck was so hot he had to rub it and take slow breaths to try to calm down.
They quickly made it to the lodge. He rushed around to get her door, and she thanked him. “I’ll walk you to your room,” he said. They walked side by side into the lodge, and for some reason, he felt the stupid need to clarify why he was walking her to her room. “To get my poles.”
“Thanks,” she murmured.
He greeted the night receptionist, Janson, and they headed to the elevator.
“Do you know all of your employees’ names?” Kari asked.
“I try to.”
“That’s great,” she said.
“Thanks.”
They got into the elevator, and the very air felt charged. Gavin wished he dared take her hand in his like he had at dinner, but he didn’t. He risked a glance at her, and she was looking at him. She smiled, an almost shy and much too appealing smile. He had visions of him pinning her against the elevator wall and kissing her until someone interrupted them. Instead, he clenched his jaw and focused on the doors in front of him.
They got to the fifth floor and walked toward 506. The first and second floors were all open spaces: a few offices, conference rooms, and the restaurant. The third and fourth floors were standard hotel rooms. The fifth and sixth floors were suites. The sixth-floor suites were two stories and incredibly nice. The fifth-floor suites were still nice, but they weren’t as big and were more moderately priced. As Kari used her key card and swung open the door, Gavin caught it. He wanted so badly to walk in with her, stay for a few minutes or hours, but he didn’t want to overstep any bounds.
“I’ll wait here,” he said.
“Okay.” Was he crazy thinking her voice was full of disappointment?
He watched her walk into the bedroom portion of the suite and could see that her bed was turned down with chocolates and a towel shaped like an elephant on it. The fireplace was also on, casting the room in low lighting. Good, his maid service was doing their job.
He couldn’t peel his eyes from Kari as she walked back toward him, holding his poles. She handed them over.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“Thank you,” she said. “I had a great day with you and Austin.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’m glad.” He met her gaze, and the longing in her blue eyes sent adrenaline pumping through his veins. He wanted to drop the poles and rush into her room, sweep her off her feet, and see if kissing her was anything like he was dreaming about. After eleven years without dating or kissing a woman, he’d convinced himself that he didn’t care, he only wanted to be with Austin and raise him right, and Janielle had ruined him for another relationship. But he didn’t think any of that was true at this moment.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” he heard himself ask.
Her blue eyes lit up as she lifted her shoulders. “I thought I’d ski every day, but it uses different muscles than running.” She grimaced. “I’m sore.”
He smiled at that and had a great idea. “I’ll book you a massage and some time in the therapy pools at the spa in the morning.”
Her face registered a pleased surprise. “Thank you. I’d love that.”
“Austin has early out Friday. Would you want to go ice skating with us in the afternoon?” He wanted to throw in dinner Friday night, but he didn’t know if he was that brave. Would he dare ask Mama if Austin could stay with her and Papa? What would it be like to take Kari on a real date? Would he even be able to keep up his end of the conversation without Austin there? He talked to people professionally all the time, but a date? He was suddenly sweating.
“I would love to learn to ice-skate,” she said. “At the arena in Vail?”
“We actually have a lake up behind my house. It’s about a two-mile hike.”
“Oh, yes, please. I ran on the treadmill this morning at the gym because it was too cold to go outside. I’d love an afternoon hike in the mountains.”
“Perfect.” He didn’t mind all this smiling, but his cheeks were sore from the overuse. He regularly smiled at Austin, but that was more a smile of “my kid is so cute.” This was a shared smile with an incredible woman. “If I come get you about one-thirty tomorrow, you could ride with me to pick up Austin and we can tell him the plan. He’d love that.”
“Perfect,” she repeated, grinning at him. “You’re sure you’re okay teaching me to ice-skate? I feel bad you keep teaching me everything.”
“I don’t.” It wasn’t some eloquent line, but it was said in a husky enough voice that she seemed to get the message. Gavin stood there, smiling like an idiot. He should’ve backed up and walked away. He didn’t move.
Kari crossed the distance between them and flung her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. Gavin grunted in surprise and didn’t respond for half a beat. The feeling of her close was so incredible, exhilarating, and exciting, he didn’t know enough cheesy words to describe it, but it felt great. Kari started to pull back, and fear of losing this fee
ling—or worse, of losing her—spurred him to act. He dropped the poles and quickly wrapped his arms around her lower back as if grasping a lifeline. He pulled her in tight against his chest.
Kari let out a satisfied sigh and cuddled into him. Her head nestled perfectly in the crook of his neck, and he inhaled her sweet, musky perfume as her silky hair tickled his cheek. Warmth, satisfaction, desire, and contentment all filled him. Heaven. That’s what this was. Who knew? Apparently, his brothers, Trey, Jed, and all the other men who had found their match. Nobody had ever told him, not that he’d asked. Truly, if any of his friends or brothers had described this to him, he would’ve begged them to stop talking.
Had he found his match? Reality washed over Gavin like he’d been dumped in the freezing lake behind his house in the springtime. He wasn’t trying to find his match, no matter how amazing Kari was. She was leaving on Monday. He released her, stepped back, and cleared his throat. “See you tomorrow.”
Kari gave him a soft smile, but he could see in her eyes that she hadn’t wanted him to pull away. He hadn’t wanted to either, but he had to be rational. He grabbed his poles, pivoted, and strode for the stairs. Waiting for the elevator wasn’t smart right now; any pause would give him a chance to change his mind, and he’d be sprinting back to her room.
He’d see her tomorrow, ice skating with Austin. That would be fun, giving the guest a wintertime experience. That was all. He planned in his mind the spa treatments he would set up for her in the morning and the amazing therapy pools that would probably be vacant before the weekend crowd arrived that afternoon, but stray thoughts were pelting him. See her in the afternoon to pick Austin up from school? Not if this crazy part of him who craved more time with her didn’t shut up.
He pounded down the stairs and through the lobby, muttered goodbye to Janson, and finally emerged into the crisp, cold air. He needed to get home, needed to be with Austin, needed to remember his purpose in life. That gorgeous romance writer was messing with his head. He didn’t sense any guile in her, but he hadn’t sensed any in Janielle before the night he’d told her he was going to Texas A&M on a football scholarship and detailed his plans of working hard until he got an NFL offer. She’d worked on him from that night on, and admittedly, it hadn’t been too difficult for her to get him in a compromising situation and take things much too far. He’d deluded himself that they’d get married and live happily ever after. She’d disappeared for a better offer, and with his limited funds and experience as a high school senior, he hadn’t been able to find her. Luckily, Mama had found and rescued Austin weeks after he was born.
The Strong Family Romance Collection Page 65
