Baby It's Cold Outside (28 page)

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Authors: Addison Fox

BOOK: Baby It's Cold Outside
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“Since she became thick as thieves with Jonas’s daughter. Besides, she only said it to me. My guess is she wants me to talk some sense into you.”
Mick ran a frustrated hand through his short hair before making a fist. “What the fuck was I supposed to do?”
“Stay put and spend some quality time, man. Don’t tell me you don’t know better than that.”
On a shake of his head and a muttered curse about the “fucking Oprah treatment,” Mick took a deep breath. “It was the most mind-blowing sex of my life and at five this morning, she crawls out of bed and goes to cry in the bathroom. I can read the signs a mile away and this one screamed regret in giant letters.”
Jack winced, imagining the slight. Sex gone bad was an unfortunate experience. But when it was
good
sex that ended badly, well . . .
He caught sight of Jessica where she sat between Avery and Grier, her head back and laughing at whatever joke Skate was telling.
With the force of a battering ram, the erotic images assailed him. The heavy feel of her breasts in his palms, the play of her fingers up and down his body and the unbearably hot, wet heat of her as he sank himself to the hilt.
And the sullen face staring at him across the table was a vivid reminder of what he’d done to Jessica.
How he’d made her feel afterward.
And ever since.
And wasn’t that just a fucking bitch?
“Look. Thanks for the therapy session, but I’m getting out of here.”
“You in for more setup tomorrow morning?”
Mick let out a snort. “Like my grandmother would let me get away with anything less.”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Later.”
Jack sat there for a long time after Mick left, nursing his coffee and thinking. The holidays always put Molly in the forefront of his mind, so it was surprising to realize that Jessica McFarland was edging out his late wife for the honor.
Had he really done that same thing to her?
Let her see his regret?
With a resigned sigh, he had to admit that he had.
“More coffee, Jack?”
“Only if you still have some of that amaretto to add to it.”
“Sure thing.”
“Nancy. Wait.”
When the waitress turned back around, he nodded in Jessica’s direction. “Send one over to Jess as well.”
He saw the speculative light in Nancy’s eyes—and knew his actions would be spread around town before he even got to the square in the morning—but oddly enough, he couldn’t say he cared.
He sat and watched her, the crowd she’d been sitting with thinning out as people headed home for the evening. Even Skate had given up when he’d obviously realized his endless parade of jokes wasn’t going to get him laid this evening.
Nancy returned with a tray and set down his cup, then moved on toward Jess’s table. He saw the moment the gesture registered. The quick look of surprise that marred her features with confusion, followed by a subtle flush of pink high on her cheeks.
God, she was beautiful.
A long sweep of hair framed her face and her large, brown doe eyes shone in the florescent lights of the restaurant.
He stood and walked toward the table, his legs giving a subtle shake as he crossed the length of the room.
“Mind if I sit down?”
Those beautiful eyes widened before a small smile hinted along the edges of her mouth. “Of course not.”
He nodded to Avery and Grier, who were already standing to grab their coats. Avery nodded at him as she stood. “Jack. Good evening. I’m so sorry to rush off, but Susan just IMed me and she’s having fits at the hotel.”
“And I figured I’d pitch in and help,” Grier added on a rush.
He saw through the lies, but didn’t have any interest in the polite niceties of keeping the other women there.
He had to make up for lost time.
Chapter Seventeen
 
B
right swoops and swirls lit up the sky as the northern lights put on a show. Sloan sat watching from a lawn chair in Walker’s backyard. Vivid color flashed in bright sweeping arcs, one more vibrant than the next, and each time streaks of red exploded before her eyes Sloan grew more and more awed.
She’d read about the aurora borealis, of course. No proper tourist guide book on Alaska would be complete without mentioning it. But to actually be fortunate enough to see it was another thing entirely.
Even the videos she’d watched online couldn’t come remotely close to sitting outside in the crisp night air, taking in the real thing.
“Are you sure you’re not cold?”
“Hardly.” Sloan turned toward Walker, tearing her gaze away from the brightly lit sky. Despite his signals he’d rather be anywhere than staring at the lights, the concern in his voice was clear. It was that thoughtfulness—so freely given and, sadly, so rare—that had her stomach doing a quick squeeze. “This is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. And the likelihood I’ll see it again is slim to none. I don’t want to miss a moment.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could bite them back.
Stop the reality of what she hadn’t said out loud.
She was leaving Alaska.
When this trip was over, she was going back to New York. Back to her life.
If Walker had a reaction to the mention of her eventual departure, he kept it to himself. “At least tell me you don’t think they’re a sign that aliens really exist.”
She laughed at that and offered him an exaggerated eye roll. “What do you take me for, Walker Montgomery? I’ll have you know this city girl can spot a scam from a mile away. Anything that has the word ‘alien’ tied to it is a scam and a half, no doubt about it.”
He shrugged and offered her a small smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “It was worth a shot.”
Her gaze drifted back to the startling display of nature in the nighttime sky and she kept her voice casual as she asked, “You don’t like the northern lights much, do you?”
“I like them just fine.” She could see from the corner of her eye that he shrugged along with the simple statement, but she wasn’t buying the casual nature of his response.
It was
too
casual.
Too calculated.
“Could have fooled me.”
“Look, Sloan. You wanted to come out here and freeze your ass off. I’m obliging. What the hell else do you want me to say?”
“I guess I don’t want you to say anything.”
“Good. Because I don’t have anything to say.”
“Fine.”
She let it go. The NO TRESPASSING sign was up, clear as day, and she had no right pushing.
It was curious, though. He’d been full of lighthearted fun all day until she’d caught sight of the lights. And with their appearance, his attitude had taken a nosedive. Even the promise of sex—one she’d given freely—hadn’t taken the strain out of his voice.
“They’re like the Empire State Building.” His voice rang clearly in the crisp winter night.
“I’m sorry?”
“The lights. They’re no big deal when you live here. Sort of like the Empire State Building is for you.”
“Really? That’s interesting. I actually like looking at the Empire State Building. I’ve even been known to go up on it from time to time. It’s still one of the best places in the entire city to see the views.”
“Then you’re a rarity.”
And that’s when she heard it, loud and clear in the all the things he wasn’t saying. “Oh?”
“Most people don’t see what’s in front of their faces. They’re jaded. And they lack interest in the things that grow stale.”
“That’s a choice, Walker. Not everyone believes the things around them should be taken for granted.”
“Maybe so. It doesn’t make it any less true.”
“I believe it does.”
“Then you’re as rare as you seem.”
She stood and reached for the back of the lawn chair to fold it up.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s cold. And it’s time to get inside.”
“We don’t have to go in.”
A wave of sadness filled her as she looked at his face. The stubborn set of his chin and the rich, bold red of his lips as hot puffs of air escaped with his breath were limbed in defiant lines of hurt and pain.
A pain, if she wasn’t mistaken, that went as deep as they come.
He looked miserable.
“Come on.” She held out her hand. “Let’s go inside.”
 
Walker took her outstretched hand, surprised at the lack of pique in her. He knew she wanted to sit and stare at the lights—and he knew he was acting like a total asshole—but here she was, her hand out to his in open invitation.
Could she really be so worldly, yet unjaded? So free of any of the usual games men and women seemed to play with each other with excruciating regularity.
She truly
was
extraordinary.
Sloan McKinley was an incredible mystery, and every facet he managed to uncover only intrigued him more.
They moved back into his house, the bright lights and warmth of his kitchen welcoming them in. He wasn’t big on decorating—everyone from his grandmother to Avery to Jessica had teased him about the lack of décor in his very beige kitchen—but the image of Sloan standing in the middle of it made him finally understand.
She was light and color, brightness and warmth.
And he’d been living a life in beige and neutral tones that, while safe, wasn’t all that interesting.
He’d chalked it up to a satisfying bachelor lifestyle, but was it?
Was he satisfied?
“I’ve hated the northern lights since the night my father told me he was cheating on my mother while we looked up at them.”
She was midway through unwrapping her scarf when she froze, her bright blue eyes going round as she laid a hand on his forearm. “Oh, Walker. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. But if I’m going to do this, you can’t play the sympathy card on me.”
She nodded, understanding filling her gaze and he thought yet again what a revelation she was.
Most women of his acquaintance would have been hurt by his words—miffed at his harshness—but she understood.
She could see he needed space and she was secure enough to give it to him.
On a sigh, he shrugged out of his coat and gloves and took a seat at the table opposite her.
“When did it happen?”
“About fifteen years ago. I was in my early twenties, home from my senior year of college on winter break. I don’t know if he thought I was old enough to hear the truth or if he was just sick of keeping the lies to himself, but he told me.”
He could still picture that evening in his mind, the images so crisp and clear they could have happened the day before.
His father’s jovial voice and hard slap to the back, telling him how it was no big deal. How a man needed his space. Needed some time away from the things that had grown old and tired.
“My mother didn’t know. It took another three years for that to happen. When she did find out she was so embarrassed she didn’t tell a soul. She refused to admit there was anything going on. Or anything wrong with their marriage.”
He got up and crossed the room, the urge to move overwhelming. He hit the fringe and hunted around for a beer. “Do you want one?”
“Sure.”
With quick, efficient movements, he popped two caps and walked back to the table, handing her a bottle as he sat. On a long drag, he thought about those long, endless awkward moments when he had first come home from law school. Wondering if his mother knew. If his father’s secrets were finally apparent to the woman who shared his life.
“So he kept it from her. He played the good and devoted husband. And then one day it finally all came out. I still don’t know how. Maybe he was just sick of keeping secrets or she finally got wise to all his overnight trips and late-night phone calls.”
“People get divorced all the time. It’s sad, but it’s not uncommon. You mentioned earlier that no one here knows. What do they think your parents are doing, with two separate addresses?”
“As far as anyone knows, the Montgomerys live in Seattle and are enjoying their empty nest. No marital problems and no separate addresses. My mother sends out Christmas cards like clockwork, each and every year, signed with love from both of them. And they make their annual pilgrimage once a year together to visit family. It was the one and only thing she required of him when she found out about the cheating.”
“It seems like such a waste. For her especially.”
“There’s nothing I can say to change her mind. Nothing I can do to convince her she’d be better off divorced. I finally stopped trying.”

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