Agatha laughed. “Sweetheart, they are never too old to train.”
Chapter Nine
Trig sat on the deck sharing a beer with Cannon. It had been a long time since he’d been this relaxed. He knew his decision to leave California was a wise one. Not in the two years that he’d lived there had he had a kiss like the one he shared with Charlie.
“What’s your long-term plan?” Cannon asked.
“I don’t have one.” He knew his short-term plan was to get his lips on Charlie again as soon as possible, but after that, he had no idea what the future had in store.
“What’s your skillset? You got anything to sell to the world?”
Trig chuckled. “Like your brother, I don’t have money problems. I’ve got a decent pension. What I have is a direction problem. All I know is I want something real.”
Cannon emptied his beer and tossed the bottle to the open trash can in the corner. “It doesn’t get much more real than Aspen Cove. Bowie has been thinking about expanding the bait and tackle shop to a full outdoor recreation store. If that’s your thing, I’m sure he’d love to partner with someone.”
Trig rubbed the sore spot on his leg where he’d scraped it in his fall. The small abrasion was hot and angry.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for being a cashier. I love the thrill of an adventure.”
“No man, that’s what he’s planning. He wants to hire someone to cashier while he and probably you take clients ice fishing or day treks snowshoeing. Who would be a better role model than a guy who refuses to give in?” Cannon looked at Trig’s left leg.
“Seriously? I’d love that.” He hadn’t given owning a part of something much thought. He’d spent the bulk of his recovery training for the marathon. He’d made his point to Lila, and now he had to make a point to himself.
He considered Charlie’s statement about whether he thought people came to their own conclusions about him, or if he was feeding their fears and making his predictions come true. One thing he knew was if he didn’t believe in himself, he couldn’t expect anyone else to.
“I’m sure he’ll broach the subject while you're here, so don’t tell him I prepped you.”
“No worries. I can keep things to myself.”
The door opened and out walked Charlie. “You boys want privacy?”
Trig nearly fell out of his chair to make room for her. “No, come and have a seat. I warmed it up for you.”
Cannon looked between the two of them and smiled. “I was going inside anyway. See you in the morning.” He walked inside, leaving them alone.
Charlie searched the snow-covered deck. “Where’s Clovis?”
Trig nodded toward the window where they could see Otis in his dog bed curled around the oversized hound. “He’s traded me in. He saw me kissing you and has given me the cold shoulder ever since.”
“How’s his eye?”
“Still swollen shut, but he managed to find both his and Otis’ bowl of kibble so I think he’ll survive.”
“I love a survivor.”
Trig looked at his half-full beer and offered it to Charlie. “You want a drink?”
“Thanks.” She took it and water-falled it into her mouth.
“Afraid of catching something? Need I remind you that we shared a kiss earlier?”
She pressed her lips to the top of the bottle and took a deep drink. “That wasn’t just a kiss. That was a landmark event.” She looked down at the bottle. “I was being considerate. For all you know, I’ll backwash.”
He chuckled. “For all you know, I already did.”
She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. “I forgot how cold it gets up in the mountains.” She leaned back and stared toward the sky. “But look at the stars. You won’t get this view in the city.”
Trig continued to stare at the woman in front of him. “Nope, I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful.”
She lowered her eyes to him and even in the dark of the star-lit night he could see her cheeks pink from his compliment.
“Are you angling for more kisses?”
He walked over and lifted her from the chair, only to change places and put her in his lap. “Are you offering?”
She turned sideways and flung her legs over the arm of the Adirondack chair. “I could be persuaded to kiss you.”
He placed one hand on her thigh and the other on her back. “Persuaded, huh? What do I have to do?”
She leaned forward and whispered against his lips. “All you need to do is ask.”
“Charlie Parker, will you give me your best kiss?”
She didn’t need any more prodding. Sitting on Trig’s lap with his hands on her body and her lips on his was the best way to spend a cold December evening. When their mouths met in the middle, she no longer felt cold. He managed to ignite a fire in her veins that blazed through her body.
It wasn’t until she squirmed and he winced that they pulled apart. “Are you hurt? Shit, I’m too heavy for you.” She tried to hop off his lap, but he held her in place.
“You are not too heavy for me. I’m fine.” He pointed to his left leg. “I cut myself when I fell last night. It’s a bit sore but it’s nothing.”
Her lips spread into a thin line. “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?”
“Charlie, you’re perfect. I love the way your ass feels in my lap.” He shifted so she could feel just how much he liked it. “If I liked the feel of you any better, I’d embarrass myself.” The fact that his hard-as-a-rock rod sat stiff between his legs was proof enough that Charlie Parker did something for him.
She rocked against him. “Nothing to be embarrassed about there,” she said.
“Glad you think so.”
She laid her head on his chest while they both watched the tiny fires of the diehard outdoorsmen on the lake go out. Pretty soon the only lights they saw came from the millions of stars above them. Off in the distance, a shooting star raced across the sky to disappear behind the peak.
“Make a wish,” she said.
He turned her head and pressed his forehead to hers. “I already did at the bakery and it came true. I got to kiss you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “That was your wish?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “I took it back since it was already granted.”
She snuggled into him. “That was my wish too.”
He looked to where the falling star had disappeared and made another wish. Only this one required a whole other level of commitment from Charlie Parker.
“We should get to bed if we plan to have breakfast before I leave tomorrow.”
She stiffened in his arms. “You’re leaving?”
Was that sadness he heard in her voice?
“Yes.” He tapped her nose and rose from the chair setting her on her feet. “But only for the night.” He pointed to the ice on the lake. “It’s boys’ night out, and we’re going ice fishing. I’ll be back on Christmas Eve.”
There was a sigh of relief that made Trig feel good. She’d feel something if he were gone.
“What about Clovis?”
“I was going to take him.” He looked back at the house to where the dogs continued to sleep.
“Leave him here. It’s bad enough you might freeze to death, but no need to make the dog suffer. You realize there’s a big storm coming in.”
“Really? How bad?”
“They say it’s going to lay down a lot of ice.”
“We can handle it.”
“Why you’d want to is beyond me, but I’m sure it’s testosterone driven.” She shrugged. “I’ll keep Clovis warm while you guys bond in the freezing cold.”
“You’d do that for me?” It warmed his heart that she’d offer.
She pressed her lips against his for a quick kiss. “That’s what friends do for friends.”
“So now we’re friends?”
She turned and walked toward the door. “We have to be. I don’t kiss strangers.”
He opened
the door and limped inside. His leg was really bothering him tonight. “What if I want to be more than friends?”
She looked at him like he was one of her cosmic brownies. The ones she devoured in seconds.
“We can negotiate over pancakes and coffee.”
He walked her to her room and gave her another kiss. This one promised the possibility of more.
He went back to the living room to get Clovis, but he didn’t have the heart to separate him from Otis. The two dogs had formed a bond.
Trig went to his room and removed his leg. What had been a small scrape earlier had grown into a painful red-hot knot. Trig pulled out the salve he used for sore spots and rubbed the ointment into his skin. He didn’t have time for something as silly as this to slow him down. He had ice fishing and kisses to look forward to.
Chapter Ten
It wasn’t often that Charlie rose from bed the first time her alarm went off. She had a three snooze limit built into her daily schedule, but delaying twenty-one minutes meant she’d have to wait that much longer to see Trig. And twenty-one minutes might as well have been a lifetime.
She tossed off the quilt and hung her legs over the edge of the bed. Had it only been two days since she’d met him? Why was it that some people felt like a comfortable sweater right away and others were like wet, itchy wool?
She pushed off the mattress and landed on the hardwood floor. She padded to the bathroom where she turned on the shower. On the other side of the wall she could hear Trig sing. It was a nice melodic sound that filled the air. He had no idea she could hear him, and she might never tell. Then again…
She lathered herself up as she listened to his rendition of “White Christmas.” He changed the words to ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas where I get my wishes of more Charlie kisses’. How could she not fall a little in love with him?
She’d rushed through her morning routine only to find herself stumped at what to wear. She hadn’t come to Aspen Cove looking for anything but redemption. Redemption didn’t require nice clothes. She rummaged through her suitcase and picked the most attractive of her unattractive choices. She was stuck with cable knit sweaters and worn jeans, but at least she’d be comfortable.
A look in the mirror showed dark circles under her eyes which she could only blame Trig for since she’d stayed up way too late thinking about his kisses and what he meant when he asked about being more than friends.
She raced from her room to the kitchen were she heard voices and found Cannon and Trig leaning over a list.
“I’ll stop by and get the gear from Bowie if you can rummage up some dogs and buns,” Trig said. He looked up at Charlie. While he didn’t say anything, the light in his eyes and his smile said it all. He was happy to see her. “You ready to get those pancakes?” He walked forward, but she didn’t miss the hitch in his step.
“You okay?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t baby me, Charlie. I’ll let you know if I’m not all right.”
She shrugged and left him standing there. “I’ll drive since you don’t have a car.” When she opened the door, she saw his Mustang sitting in the driveway.
He brushed past her. “I’ll drive because I do have a car, and the roads are clear for now.”
“You’re a stubborn man.” She walked to the passenger side and reached for the handle.
“Wait up. I open the door for my dates.” He rushed to her side.
“It’s a good thing,” she replied, “because I don’t kiss or date men with bad manners.”
He opened the door and helped her inside, then he bent over and covered her mouth with his. It was a deep sensual kiss that made her want to exit the car and drag him into her room.
“God, I love your lips.” He pulled back and licked the moisture from his.
She couldn’t help herself when she broke out into song and repeated his lyrics only this time she added his name. “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas where I get my wishes for more Trig kisses.”
He laughed. “I hate thin walls.” He turned the key, and the growl of eight cylinders roared to life. She had to admit there was something sexy about men and muscle cars. Less than five minutes later, they were walking into Maisey’s diner. It had been years since she’d seen the woman.
“Charlie Parker, is that you?” Maisey rushed to fold her into a hug. “I’d recognize you anywhere.” She pinched Charlie’s cheek and squealed. “Who’s your man?”
Charlie looked at Trig. How was she supposed to introduce him? “Hey, Maisey. Oh he’s—”
“Trig Whatley ma’am,” he said while he gave her a gentle handshake. “Charlie trades kisses for pancakes. I’m here to pay up.”
She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or punch him. So she did both. “A girl’s got to eat.”
Maisey pointed to a back booth and walked away to put in their pancake order.
“You owe me a lot of pancakes, mister.” She sat on one side of the booth expecting him to take the other but he slid in next to her. The heat of their touching thighs stirred a hunger that pancakes would never quench.
His hand came to rest on her thigh under the table. “You owe me more kisses. I want hundreds of them.”
She decided to mess with him. “I don’t like pancakes quite that much.”
He reached for the napkin holder, which forced him into her space. He turned to her with the whisper of his heated breath next to her ear. “But you like my kisses.”
She pressed her lips to his. “Better than pancakes.”
He sat back and placed a napkin in front of each of them. “How were you going to explain me to Maisey?”
He sat back and lifted a brow.
“I haven’t quite figured out what you and I are yet, so I had no idea.”
Maisey arrived with two cups swinging from one hand a pot of coffee from the other. “Pancakes are almost up.” The bell above the door rang and in walked a young brunette.
Charlie couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Oh my God, that’s—”
Maisey turned her head and smiled. “My future daughter-in-law.”
“Dalton is engaged to Indigo?”
Maisey waved the woman over. “Samantha”—she pointed to Charlie and Trig—“this is Doc Parker’s daughter, Charlie, and her pancake pimping partner.”
A look of knowing came over the pop star’s face. “Hey, Charlie, your father is the best. I’m so sorry he was injured fighting my cabin fire.” She turned to Trig. “Pancake pimp?”
Trig blushed a little. “What can I say? Charlie drives a hard bargain.”
Charlie ignored Trig’s jest. All the pieces finally came together. Agatha had only said that her father had been hurt in a fire that burned down Dalton’s girlfriend’s cabin. Leave it to a senior citizen to leave out the good stuff like Samantha was Indigo and Dalton was her man.
“You built the Guild Center and the new fire department, didn’t you?” The longer she stayed in Aspen Cove the more smoothly the pieces fit together.
“I just put up the money, which was the least I could do after the people here made me one of their own.”
“Aspen Cove is like that. They take care of each other. And…everyone belongs.”
Samantha nodded. “It’s great meeting you both.” And she was gone.
Charlie turned to Trig and whispered excitedly. “Oh my God, that was Indigo.”
He shrugged. “I got nothing.”
She elbowed him. “She’s like the biggest thing since…I don’t know since…”
“Sliced bread?” Trig asked.
Maisey poured them each a cup of coffee and pulled creamers from her pocket. “Here she’s just Samantha.” The bell above the door rang again, and a waft of chilly air followed a small crowd into the restaurant. They stomped the snow off their boots and greeted Maisey by name. She pointed them to a table on the other side of the restaurant and hurried off to get their menus.
Charlie sipped her coffee. “So much has changed, and so
much is the same.”
Trig’s hand gave her thigh a soft squeeze. “I think it’s great that the town is getting a rebirth. Everything changes.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Any plans for the rest of the day?”
She hadn’t considered anything past pancakes and kisses. “I think I’m going to drive by my old house and then go visit my mom at the cemetery before it gets too cold. You?”
“I need to pick up the fishing supplies after I drop you off. Then I’m going to trek across the ice, drill a hole in it, drop a hook, and try to catch a fish all the while trying to not freeze my nut sack off. I’ll have an awful undercooked hotdog while I listen to the guys boast about the last fish they didn’t catch. All the while, I’ll think about you. I’ll probably stare at the sky and wish we were back on the deck. I’ll regret saying yes to ice fishing when I’d rather be warm in bed with you.”
A quiver ran through her body and it had nothing to do with his talk about ice. “That’s bold talk. Who says I’d invite you to my bed?”
His hand moved way up her thigh until it sat nearly at her heat. “Your body says what your lips refuse to utter.”
She prayed the longing she felt in her body didn’t show on her face. “That I’d rather be in your bed so I wasn’t stuck lying in the wet spot?”
She loved the way his jaw fell slack and his eyes grew wide. “It’s a date. Christmas Eve. My bed.”
“Deal.” She was shocked at how easy everything was with Trig. She imagined a man who nearly lost his life didn’t have much time or need for pretenses. And maybe after wasting the last ten years of her life, she was determined to do things differently. “What should I bring for this sleepover?”
Trig’s lips lifted into a sly grin. “Oh, sweetheart, don’t show up intent on getting sleep. That’s not part of the plan.”
The warmth of his words washed over her and settled between her thighs. She was certain he could feel the molten heat burning between her legs.
“You’re making me—”
“Hot?”
“Here you go, kids. And yes, they’re hot.” Maisey winked at Charlie. “Although I imagine that’s not what you were talking about by the blush on your cheeks.” She walked away mumbling something about youth being wasted on the young.
One Hundred Christmas Kisses (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 6) Page 6
