“Hello again, everyone.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Listen, I have some good news, and I have some bad news.”
Mila’s gaze, formerly trained on the tiny cookies served alongside her coffee, lifted to Vin’s face. “Oh no. What?”
Vin released a deep exhale. “We just got word that a storm is moving in. Fast. From the south. Radar tells us it’ll hit us in about thirty minutes. The good news is that you’ll have the good fortune of seeing some incredible views from the dining room. The bad news is that the one road leading in and out of the hotel has been closed.”
A collective groan rose up from the table, and Mila’s posture collapsed. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said.
“It’s April!” someone exclaimed. “How is it still snowing this hard up here?”
Mila met Jared’s eyes, and they shared a smirk. Snow in April? It wouldn’t even make the papers.
“I know,” Vin said. “It’s crazy, right? But this storm is pretty bad, and the state is taking every precaution to ensure safety. We’ll keep an eye on the radar and the roads, but another piece of good news is that you happen to be stranded at what will soon be Adirondack Park’s most preeminent hotel.”
Jared rolled his eyes. Preeminent. Thank God Mila had put an end to their fling. The thought of the two of them together made him want to claw his own eyes out.
“So,” Vin continued, “while not all of our rooms are completed enough for occupancy, we should be able to ensure everyone is comfortably accommodated for the night. We’ll have toiletry kits available, and if anyone has any special needs, just let me or my assistant know.”
“Shit.” The expletive slipped out of Mila’s downturned lips as she scraped a fork across the last remnants of maple panna cotta on her plate. “I’m supposed to work tomorrow morning at seven.”
Jared’s gut churned with uneasiness. A tiny part of him hoped she might be happy to spend more time together. She was always running home early to go to bed or disappearing from social functions to go to work. Tonight he had her all to himself.
“Benny will understand,” he said. “I mean, what are you gonna do, right? We’re stuck.”
She lifted her gaze, her eyes the color of golden autumn leaves. A shiver skittered across his skin, and he tried to swallow down the sensation but couldn’t. It remained, like the first frost in winter.
Vin instructed everyone to see him once they were finished with the meal, and he’d hand out room keys and toiletry kits. Jared told Mila she could stay seated and finish her coffee while he retrieved the keys. He’d happily intercept any Vin interactions for the rest of the evening if it meant saving Mila from this jerk.
“Hey, man,” Jared said when it was his turn in line. “I guess we’ll need two rooms.”
“Ah, sorry, dude.” Vin’s eyes remained trained on his iPad and he tapped twice. “We’re down to one room. We can set up some blankets for you in one of the ballrooms, but you’ll have to use the lobby bathroom.”
All the color drained from Jared’s face. This guy really was dying to be hit.
“Come on, man,” Jared said. “Seriously?”
“Look,” Vin snapped. “We didn’t plan on having guests tonight, all right? And we’ve got to put up the hotel and kitchen staff since they can’t get home, either. We’ve got ten available rooms for the contestants. Everybody else brought a spouse, so you’re the odd man out. Take it or leave it.”
With a deep inhale to steady him, Jared said, “What’s your problem? So she doesn’t want to go out with you. Are you really that thin-skinned?”
Vin’s lips tightened, and he thrust a single key card forward. “Here’s Mila’s key. We’ll get those blankets for you in the Black Bear conference room. It’s just down the hall to the left. Next to the kitchen.”
Jared snatched the key and the two denim Indigo Hotels–branded toiletry bags from Vin and stalked back to the table where Mila chatted with red-haired Kim from Buffalo by way of Potsdam. As he approached, she looked up, gifting him with a gentle smile on her lips.
“Did you get the keys?” she asked.
An annoyed exhale sailed through his lips. “Key. Singular. Apparently they only have ten rooms available, so I’m sleeping on some freaking blankets in the conference room.”
Her lips pursed in disapproval. “No way. You can just share with me.”
Jared swallowed. A thin sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead and he prayed his blush didn’t give him away. Share. With me.
“Oh,” he said. Be. Cool. “Okay. Thanks. You’re sure that’s okay?”
“Of course. We’re adults. We can share a hotel room.”
She patted her mouth with her napkin before tossing it down on the table and standing up. Practical, reliable Mila. Always making the sound decision. And apparently, tonight, the sound decision involved being adult about sharing a hotel bed because of course they were capable of being alone in a room with a bed with absolutely nothing sexual happening between them.
Her matter-of-fact attitude sobered him as they wished the other contestants good night. If she was committed to keeping it platonic, so be it. He had his answer. When she’d invited him tonight, he thought maybe, just maybe, she’d had something more on her mind. A date, she’d called it.
Interpreting her signals confused the shit out of him. One minute she stared at him with those sparkling copper eyes, sending his body into overdrive, and then another minute she reminded him they were just friends. It was like hopping from an icy pond into a hot tub and back again.
“Hey,” Mila said, as they reached the front of the room. “Wait here?”
She sauntered to the bar where Vin’s assistant tapped away at her phone, and Mila grinned as she asked the young woman something. The assistant grinned back and within minutes, handed over a bottle of wine and two glasses.
Mila returned to where Jared waited and winked, her grin spreading. His stomach tightened. Were they seriously adding wine to their hotel room situation? Was that a signal? They’d been drunk together a hundred times before, and many of those nights they’d been alone.
But this was new. Something sparkled between them that had never existed before.
When she reached him, her brow furrowed. “What’s wrong? You’re looking at me weird. Did you want bourbon instead?”
“No,” he said quickly. “This is perfect. Sorry, I was just . . . thinking.”
As they made their way out of the ballroom and followed the signs toward their room, Jared tried to channel Denny Torres. Be bold, bruh. His feelings toward Mila confused him, but for years, the attraction had grown. That much he knew for certain.
So, he didn’t want to get married. Was that the worst thing in the world? Mila had talked about getting married and having kids someday, but it didn’t seem like her top priority. He knew how she’d grown up—with parents who treated each other like roommates and sisters who dominated everyone around them, including their spouses. He couldn’t imagine Mila was dying to replicate any of that.
Maybe she wanted a friendship with benefits. Maybe she felt the way he did and, just like him, had been afraid to express it.
When they reached their room, she dipped the key card into the slot and pushed the door open. Two warm floor lamps glowed from beneath buffalo-plaid lamp shades, illuminating the room in soft, golden tones.
“Wow,” Mila said on a breath. “Gorgeous, right?”
A large leather armchair sat in the corner with a nubby camel throw draped over one arm, and creamy, textured wallpaper and sleek, dark wood furniture completed the room. The bed loomed large in the center of the far wall, piled high with champagne-colored Sherpa blankets and big, puffy pillows.
One bed. He inhaled deeply.
“It is gorgeous,” he said.
She kicked off her heels and wandered over to the window, peering through he
avy green wool curtains. She gasped.
“J. Come here and look at this.”
With nerves churning in his stomach, he joined her at the window. He craned his neck to see over her shoulder, inhaling the sweet amber scent of her skin before turning his attention outside.
Snow swirled through the air, blocking everything a foot beyond the glass with a wall of white. When they’d arrived a few hours ago, the air had been cold but clear. In an instant, everything had changed.
“Wow,” he said. “Guess they had reason to close the road. What a mess.”
“It’s so beautiful, though.” Her voice filled with wonder, breathy and curious. Her ability to find fresh adoration for Pine Ridge, the mountains, even the shitty weather, forced him into a new perspective. If she loved it that much, maybe there was more for him to uncover, too.
She let the curtains fall from her fingers. He didn’t move. He wanted to be close to her, wanted to see if her skin felt as smooth and soft as it looked. Being next to her drew him in and held his attention, with no room for thoughts of anything else.
Slowly, carefully, she turned to face him. Mere inches separated them as she lifted her long, dark lashes and gazed up into his eyes. His breath left him entirely.
“Jared.” His own name floated from her throat across his lips and landed on his tongue.
With his heart firmly lodged in his throat, he croaked out, “We should drink that wine.”
The hopeful look on her face softened, and she pressed her lips into half a smile. “Oh yeah? That’s what you’re thinking about right now? The wine?”
His throat tensed. Would she be the one to push them past the boundary they’d been dancing toward for five years? He’d slid easily into every single one of his past sexual encounters, charming women with slick conversation and focused body language. It only took a smile, a lean, a touch of her arm. Most girls were the same. They wanted attention.
Mila was different. He knew her too well, cared about her too much. She’d be immune to his charms. In fact, she’d probably roll her eyes. So, what then? How did he do this? He remembered Nicole’s advice. Whatever you do, make sure it’s really her. He’d have to think well past flowers on this one.
“I don’t know,” he croaked. Smooth.
“Come on, J.” Her voice remained breathy and light, pleading and teasing and making a mess of his head. “You’ve been here before. A dark hotel room, a bottle of wine. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what to do.”
She was wrong. He’d sure as hell never been here before, standing inches away from someone who meant everything to him just as she was and had the power to change his whole world if they took it one step further.
“Are we doing this?” he said. “Are we having this conversation?”
“Are we?” She lowered her shoulders as if readying for battle. “Or are you scared?”
His lips parted in a wry grin. “Scared?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Scared of something that might not be as easy as what you’re used to.”
He nodded slowly, refusing to put space between them. He breathed in. That had to be new perfume. He’d never smelled it on her before. The heady scent messed with his mind in the best way.
“You think everything is so easy for me?” he said.
“I think sometimes things in your life have been easy. And you’re cool with that. You’ve happily accepted the things that are easy. But the things you really want are things you might have to work for.”
Was she serious right now? Every single thing coming out of her mouth could be spit right back at her with accuracy. But she wanted something out of this conversation. He knew what he wanted. That dress in a puddle at her feet. The taste of her velvety skin on his tongue. He wanted them to push past the friendship line as if it had never existed.
“I’ll put the work in,” he said. “Whatever is worth working for, trust me, I’ll do it. I think you know that about me.”
Her eyes blazed. All the years of subtle flirtations, and they stood across from each other, daring the other to leap.
“What about you?” he said.
She licked her lips, her pout glistening as she looked up at him. Her copper eyes shone with questions. Did he have it in him to keep going? His gut told him to slow down, but the heart racing in his chest said, Keep going.
“I think you’re up for it, too,” he said. “You’ve changed, Lee Lee. It’s like you finally believe in yourself or something.”
She shrugged. “Maybe it’s getting easier.”
“It looks good on you.”
Waves of sparkling chemistry flowed between them as they stood perfectly still, gazes firmly locked. This was it. His moment. All he had to do was lean in and see if she met him halfway.
The old familiar doubt crept along his spine, crawled up his neck, and teased his brain. You can’t do this. She wants more than you can give her.
“What’s going on in your head?” She tilted her face, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
If she only knew.
“I’m not sure I could vocalize that at the moment,” he said. “Maybe we should um . . . relax. You know? Sit down?”
Relieve the tension in this pressure cooker?
His adrenaline pumped as if he’d been at the open door of an airplane, gripping his parachute, readying to take the leap. She adjusted the tight velvet fabric at her waist and winced.
“This dress,” she said. “It’s not exactly the best lounging outfit. I’m definitely not gonna be able to sleep in it.”
His nerves prickled again, and he flexed his hands to shake them. So that’s how she’d do it. He should’ve known she wouldn’t say it out loud. Subtly. The Mila Bailey way.
He cleared his throat. “I could sleep in my underwear if you want to wear my shirt?”
Did his eyesight short-circuit or did her cheeks flush? She shifted as if settling into the idea, narrowing her eyes as silence hung between them.
She rubbed her lips together. “Okay. Thanks.”
He hadn’t felt this fidgety and awkward around a woman since his junior year of high school, when Natalie Adams said she’d show him hers if he showed her his. Turned out Natalie had seen a lot of them, and she told him his stacked up quite nicely.
He summoned the courage he’d had with Natalie Adams, the boldness he’d utilized with every woman since. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
Would leaving their warm cocoon next to the window break the spell? If he gave her a moment alone, would she rethink the scenario altogether? As he grabbed his toiletry kit and closed himself in the bathroom, he realized he didn’t care. The fragile moment required a pause. For both of them.
He gazed at his tortured reflection in the mirror. Whatever happened next, he’d focus on Mila. His best friend. The woman in his life who was sometimes frozen with insecurity but always the warmest presence in the room. The one who’d never gone back on a big decision. The one he could trust.
He brushed his teeth with the little plastic toothbrush and rinsed his face with water before peeling off his suit. When he’d stripped down to his black boxer briefs, he took one last look at himself in the mirror. He’d let her lead. The night was hers to dictate.
With one last deep breath, he emerged from the bathroom. As he took a few steps into the room, a slow smile curled onto her lips. She’d seen him shirtless before, but everything was different now.
He bit his lip, quelling the urge to scoop her into his arms and sink into the plush bedding. This was Mila. He had to take his time. “The shirt’s in the bathroom.”
Her gaze dropped to the carpet as she breezed past him and disappeared behind the closed bathroom door.
His eyes trailed across the expanse of king-size bed next to him. He knew what he wanted to happen, but he needed her to vocalize her feelings. No room for interpreta
tion. If they simply slept next to each other tonight, that was fine.
He laughed. Slept. No way would he get a single wink of sleep tonight if she lay a foot away from him, half-dressed in his shirt and smelling like springtime.
The bathroom door creaked open, and suddenly, any doubt he’d had upon entering the hotel room vanished. Without so much as a kiss, they’d crossed into the land of no return.
The crisp button-down shirt reached just below her butt, shockingly white against her smooth, olive skin. Thin white fabric hugged her hips, and she trailed one hand modestly across the buttons. But that’s where all rationale ceased.
The buttons. She’d left them open all the way to her chest, the lush line of her cleavage displayed beyond the split. The subtly protruding mounds of her nipples brushed against the front of the white shirt, and a strangled huff unconsciously slipped past his lips.
Jared squeezed his eyes shut and blinked as if suddenly blinded. His heart thumped inside his chest, threatening to break free of his ribs.
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” The words escaped his lips before he could stop them.
He ran a hand over his mouth, trying to gather his thoughts while her silhouette teased him, backlit by the bathroom light. She chewed on her thumbnail, as his old friend Mila made an appearance alongside underwear-catalog-model Mila squirming inside his shirt.
He couldn’t say it. Once it was out there, their friendship was toast.
But he had to. The way he felt right now had singed any level of platonic he could ever hope to regain.
He walked slowly toward her. By the time their toes brushed, he’d made his decision. He couldn’t keep doing this. His heart couldn’t take it.
“You’re so fucking sexy.”
Her lips parted, but her face remained neutral. If he’d affected her at all, she didn’t show it.
He only stood a few inches taller than her, but from this vantage point, hovering over her, her breasts were on full display. He’d give his right eye to be that glittering jewel dangling from the chain at her throat and nestled against her skin.
Sweet Love Page 15
