Chapter Ten
Megan hated the nervous butterflies in her stomach.
It wasn’t a date. It was just dinner...with a really hot guy. They’d talk about Summer, the state of the slopes, favorite runs to ski, and then she’d pick up her daughter from the sleigh ride. Nothing more than two people who had been thrown together enough times to accept that they should be friends.
She smoothed down the long-sleeved dark green wool dress she’d thrown into her bag at the last minute. It wasn’t high fashion by any means, but at least she felt pretty. And sometimes a girl needed a little armor to make it through the night in one piece, which was why she’d redone her makeup after her quick shower.
Gabe was waiting for her by the fireplace and her stupid heart actually skipped a beat when he smiled. Hoping her expression didn’t betray her, she smiled back.
“You look great, Megan.”
“Thanks.” She took in his jeans and dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. “So do you.”
The growing heat in his eyes was response enough for her to realize she’d already gone off course on the whole “nothing but friends” thing.
She put her hand over her stomach. “I’m starved. Let’s eat!” Okay, so maybe that was overly cheerful, and maybe she wasn’t actually hungry at all after she and Summer had pigged out on Cracker Jacks and beef jerky all afternoon in the car, but keeping everything completely nonsexual was the key to making it through dinner in one piece.
Yes, she could do that. Heck, by the end of the evening she vowed to win an award for being the least sensual woman on the planet.
Gabe followed her into the restaurant, where he told the host, “Two for Sullivan.”
His low, slightly husky voice made thrill bumps rise across her skin.
They were, unfortunately, shown to a table in a dimly lit corner. One quite obviously set up for romance with a flower and a candle. She wasn’t usually all that picky about where she sat, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking for another option. Wouldn’t you know it, all the other tables were full.
She realized, belatedly, that Gabe had pulled out the chair for her and was waiting with a small smile for her to take it. She got the sense he knew exactly what she was thinking, especially when he said, “Don’t worry, I’m going to keep my promise,” in a low voice as she finally sat.
Her face flamed as the young waitress waited for Gabe to take his seat. She handed them menus and told them the specials.
The girl was just turning away when Megan grabbed her arm. “Wait. I need a drink. Please.” Wracking her brain for something that had a ton of alcohol in it, she said, “A Long Island iced tea.”
“Um, okay,” the girl said, and Megan realized in horror that she was still holding her arm.
“Sorry!”
The girl shrugged. “I’ll tell your server you’re thirsty.”
Megan felt hot all over—not the good kind of hot, but at what an idiot she was making of herself around Gabe.
“So you’re a big drinker, huh?”
She looked up at him in surprise, before realizing he was teasing her.
“No.” She licked her lips, made herself hold his gorgeous gaze. She was only getting herself into trouble by trying to act like this dinner was no big deal.
By trying to feign not wanting him.
“I only drink when I’m nervous.”
“Do I make you nervous?”
She refused to look away. “You know you do.”
He didn’t look away, either. “If it makes you feel any better, you make me nervous, too.”
Bad. This was bad. They were both heading down the wrong path.
So even though she had trouble taking her next breath, she made herself say, “Tell me about the snow. How was it out there today?”
He continued to stare at her for several long moments. Please, she silently prayed, please follow me away from temptation. They both knew platonic was the only thing that made sense.
Finally, he said, “The snow is good. Perfect powder after the recent storm. Should be great conditions to learn to board tomorrow.”
“About that. It’s really sweet of you to agree to teach Summer—”
“—and you—”
“—and me to snowboard. But I know you came here to—”
“—have fun with friends on the mountain. That’s what we’re going to do tomorrow. Be friends, having fun.”
But, thought Megan a little wildly, what about when she had a little too much fun? What about when she lost all control and couldn’t bear to be just friends for another second?
The waitress came with her drink and took their order. As soon as the woman left, Megan knew it was time to say, “I’m beyond mortified about what Summer did. I haven’t actually figured out how she got wind of your trip here. If you’re upset with us, I completely understand.”
He shrugged, not looking too concerned about the machinations of a seven-year-old with a case of hero worship. “I’m sure she overheard me talking to someone at the party. And I’m not upset about seeing you.”
“But she shouldn’t have done this, shouldn’t have made us barge in on your vacation like this.”
“She’s a really sweet kid.”
“I know that, but…” She shook her head. “Summer’s too young to understand the reasons why two people might not want to be together.”
“Do you think she’s hoping you and I will start dating?”
Megan felt her face grow terribly hot again. “I’m afraid so. She already thinks you’re the greatest thing since that firehouse girl and Dalmatian you sent her for her birthday. Even more than her Rapunzel doll with the long—”
“—hair,” he finished for her. “I had two little sisters, so I know way more about fairy tales than any guy is supposed to.”
He was so charming that she had to clear her throat to get back on track with the difficult—but necessary—conversation they were having, “Anyway, I’ll find a way to explain to her that you and I are just going to be friends. I just wanted to apologize to you for screwing up your vacation. I swear I had no idea you were going to be here and I’ve already decided that Summer is going to be grounded for life when we get back home.”
“Megan.”
She’d dropped her eyes to lap by the end of her apology, but the way he said her name had her lifting her eyes to his face.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“That’s really nice of you to say, but—”
“Really glad.”
The really stopped her protests cold. He didn’t look like a man who was lying to preserve her feelings.
And, oh, she liked it too much, knowing he was glad they were in Lake Tahoe with him. It would have been so much easier if he had been upset with them, if he felt like they’d stalked him, or something. Then he’d steer clear of them, rather than give dinner invitations and offer to take them snowboarding in the morning.
“Still,” she had to say, “I wish Summer had been honest with me about what she was doing.”
“Would you have come in that case?”
Megan had to smile and admit, “No. We definitely wouldn’t have come.”
“You should have seen the stuff I pulled when I was seven.”
Glad for the shift away from the two of them, she took a sip of her drink and relaxed a bit. “I can’t even begin to imagine—a thrill-seeker like you surrounded by five older brothers that I’m guessing weren’t exactly angels.”
“You’d lock Summer in her room until she’s eighteen if I told you some of the things we would attempt.” He held up his bottle of beer. “How about a toast to a brilliant seven-year-old who knew just what she wanted and pulled it off without a hitch?”
Even though she was shaking her head, Megan couldn’t help but laugh, realizing just how right he was considering it was just the two of them having a “romantic” evening together.
She raised her glass. “She is pretty darn smart, isn’t she?”
They clinked their glasses together, still laughing as they both drank. The alcohol hit Megan’s bloodstream and sent warmth moving all through her limbs. Her skin felt extra sensitive as she shifted in her seat and the wool of her dress moved over her skin.
Gabe’s eyes on her only added to the heat. It had been a very long time since she hadn’t felt like a mother or a CPA.
Beneath his hungry blue eyes, with another couple of sips of her incredibly strong drink in her, she couldn’t help but feel like a woman. It didn’t help that she remembered only too clearly the feel of his strong arms around her, the press of his lips when his mouth came down over hers and he claimed the kisses she was desperate to give to him.
And yet, before she knew it, they were eating and laughing as he ended up telling her some of those stories about growing up as one of six brothers who acted first and thought last. Maybe she should have pretended she was okay with things, but she’d never been good at pretending. Had never understood the hows or whys of being someone she wasn’t.
“I shouldn’t be having this good a time with you.”
“I’ve heard I’m irresistible,” he teased.
Damn him for the way he always made her smile. Of course, if smiles had been all there was between them, everything would have been perfectly fine.
Knowing there was no point in arguing with his too-true statement, she said instead, “That must be why you don’t have a girlfriend or wife, right? So many women, so little time.”
She expected him to laugh at that, but instead his expression tightened down. “I’m no saint, Megan, but I’m not the devil, either.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” she quickly backtracked, “just that I can see why a guy like you would have fun playing the field.”
“A guy like me?” His eyebrows were raised in question and he’d put down his silverware to sit back in his seat and watch her as he waited for her to explain.
She tried to keep her voice light as she said, “Like you said, there’s a certain irresistibility about you and—”
“But you’re bound and determined to resist me, aren’t you?”
His statement stopped her in her tracks. “You’re bound and determined to resist me, too,” she reminded him. “And I certainly can’t remember anyone ever telling me I’m irresistible, so we both know who has the short end of the stick here.” She pointed her index finger at her chest. “Me.”
She was so caught up in her speech that it took a few seconds for her to realize she’d just made a complete idiot of herself. Thankfully, just then the alarm on her phone went off.
She shoved her chair back. “I’ve got to go get Summer.”
Gabe stood, too, and grabbed her hand before she could run away through the restaurant and catch her breath.
As he pulled her into him, she could almost taste his mouth, knew she was going to give in to his kiss. But when they were only a breath apart, instead of taking her mouth with his, he simply said, “I’m the one who’s trying like hell to resist you, Megan.”
Just another half an inch and he could be hers. She could blame the alcohol, could claim that it had all been out of her control. But just as she was teetering on the edge of letting her walls come down to take what she so desperately wanted, she heard Summer call out.
“Mommy! Gabe!”
She stepped away from Gabe so quickly, she bumped into another table.
“Sorry!” she said to the couple without even looking at them and then she was turning to Summer. “Hey, honey, how was the sleigh ride?”
“Awesome! Did you guys have dessert already? I’m starved.”
After thirty mind-blowingly awkward minutes where both of them let Summer chatter about the kids she’d met on the sleigh ride, a couple of whom were from her soccer team, and all the fun things they’d done during the past two hours, they all finally left the restaurant. Megan felt like a wet dishrag that had just been wrung out. Hard.
They were almost away from the biggest—and most dangerous—temptation she’d ever faced in her life when Summer said, “What time should we meet you tomorrow morning for snowboarding?”
“How about ten a.m.?”
“Awesome!”
As Summer went running off to look for their room number and the elevator door closed on Gabe’s gorgeous face, a half-dozen words on the opposite spectrum from awesome were running on repeat through Megan’s mind.
If dinner with Gabe had nearly done her in, how was she going to make it through a whole day with him, in beautiful Lake Tahoe, in one piece?
* * *
By the next afternoon, when Megan had fallen over for the hundredth time, she lay in the snow laughing at herself. “If I had a white flag, I’d raise it right now.”
Gabe had dropped to his knees to help her up and as he lifted his goggles, she found herself looking into his smiling eyes.
“You’ve almost got it.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” She was too exhausted and surely bruised all over to do more than nod in the general direction of Summer, who was working on tricks at the far end of a ramp the ski resort had set up for snowboarders to play around on. “I’m afraid Summer is going to be the only snowboarder in our family.” She shot a nasty look at the board attached to the big boots she’d rented for the day. “I hope my skis will forgive me for cheating on them.”
He helped her up into a sitting position. Together they watched Summer go from trick to trick, a tiny whirl of energy on a snowboard that looked way too big for her.
“That kid of yours is a natural.”
“I know. She’s a natural at everything.”
Gabe shot her a look. “You don’t sound entirely happy about it.”
She bit her lip, knowing she’d already given too much away. And yet, for all the falling and cursing she’d done into facefuls of snow today, she’d truly enjoyed being with Gabe. Fortunately, it had been easier to ignore all the things her body was aching to do with him when they were bundled up in snowboarding gear and hats and goggles. She’d simply been able to let herself enjoy being with him. He’d been patient with her and Summer, had known just when to push Summer to the next step...and when to let Megan quit while she could still hobble off the mountain in one banged-up piece.
“She can be such a daredevil, always reaching for the thrill without always thinking about the ramifications of her actions.” She couldn’t stop herself from adding, “She’s the picture of her father. She got way more than her blond hair from him.”
“That’s funny,” he said softly, “because when I look at her, all I can see is you.”
She met his clear blue gaze on a surprised breath. “When she was born, she looked so much like him that I can remember wondering if anyone would believe I had anything to do with the little miracle in my arms. And then as she grew older and was always trying to climb a little higher and jump a little farther and go a little faster...well, I worry about her sometimes. Worry that she’ll end up pushing too far or too fast one time. Like her father did when his plane—”
The rest of the sentence was swallowed by her gasp as she watched Summer make a particularly bold move with her snowboard.
Landing triumphantly, Summer looked over at where they were sitting and waved. On a choked laugh, Megan gave her daughter the required thumbs-up.
Gabe reached for her hand, then. And even though they were both wearing thick gloves, she swore she could feel his heat through the layers of fabric and insulation.
“There’s a difference between risking smart and risking dumb. You raised her smart, Megan.” She couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes as he said, “And not all risk is bad.”
His words ran from her brain to the parts of her body that were suddenly screaming out for his touch again. She knew he was talking about Summer, about her fears as a mother...but what if that wasn’t all he was saying?
What if he was saying he’d changed his mind? What if he was trying to tell her he wanted to take a risk? With her. And that he wanted her to take it, too?
With him.
“Mom, look who’s here! I told Karen we’d probably be out here today and to come find me.”
Megan yanked her hand out of Gabe’s so quickly her glove almost came off in his hand. One of the girls from Megan’s soccer team lifted her goggles.
“Hi, Ms. Harris.”
The girl’s mother was a few seconds behind on her skis and after Gabe helped her up, Megan quickly made the introductions. Fortunately, she knew Julie was happily married, so the appreciative gleam in her eyes when she looked at Gabe weren’t anything more than being a normal female.
Damn him. Megan had to admit he really was irresistible, looking just as good in snowboarding gear as he did in jeans or his fire gear.
She couldn’t bear to think how good he’d look without anything on at all.
“Karen hasn’t been able to stop talking about a sleepover with Summer all day.”
Megan’s brain stuttered away from the imagined picture of a naked Gabe to what Julie had just said. “A sleepover?”
“Sorry,” the other woman said, “I should have asked, is there any chance I could steal your daughter for a night of staying up too late and eating too much junk food at our cabin? I know the girls would just love it.”
Normally, Megan wouldn’t have blinked at the offer. Summer and Karen got along great and while she didn’t know Julie that well, she wasn’t at all worried about leaving Summer with her for the night.
What she was worried about, however, was the thought of being alone again tonight. And not just for a few hours. All night long, just her and her lonely bedroom, with Gabe one floor away, all alone in his bedroom.
It was a recipe for disaster.
“That’s really sweet, but—”
Summer and Karen had boarded over by then and the combined “Please!” and “Pretty please!” from the two girls wasn’t something Megan could selfishly ignore just because she didn’t trust herself not to do something reckless with the gorgeous man beside her.
“You know what, I’m not going to be able to do much more than soak in the bathtub tonight anyway,” she said, gesturing to the snowboard at her feet. “I’m sure the girls will have a lot of fun.”
After they arranged for Julie and Karen to pick up Summer at five, and Summer followed them down the mountain, Megan was working to prepare herself for one final run down the hill when Gabe said, “So you’ve got a big night in the bathtub planned, huh?”
She couldn’t miss the husky note in his voice, especially when he pulled off his glove and reached out to slide away a lock of hair that had blown in front of her mouth.
And when she trembled at his touch, Megan made a quick calculation and decided it was far safer to hurtle down the hill on the snowboard than it could ever be to risk letting him touch her like that again.
Or worse, beg him for more.