Christmas on the Last Frontier (Last Frontier Lodge #1) (4 page)

He leaned back slightly. His hand remained on her arm, his touch sending waves of heat through her. He cleared his throat.

Certain he must have lost his mind by kissing her, Marley decided she’d best get out ahead of this. “I…” She had to stop and clear her throat, her voice raspy. “I’m, um, not sure what happened. I’m sure you didn’t mean…”

Gage put his finger on her lips, the touch burning into her, pinwheels of desire spinning inside. His smoky gaze was so intently focused on her, she had to fight the urge to squirm.

“I meant to do exactly what I did,” he said bluntly. His finger fell from her lips.

Stunned at his words and scrambling to gather her thoughts, she watched his hand come to rest on his muscled thigh. Even his hands turned her on—strong with evidence of hard work. A faded scar arced across the back of his hand as it flexed around his thigh. She brought her eyes back to his. “Oh, well then…I don’t know…”

His lips quirked in a small smile and her heart soared.

“You don’t know what?”

“I don’t know what that was about.”

“Maybe I don’t either, but I know this—I’ve wanted to kiss you every time I saw you, so I finally decided to stop fighting it,” he said simply.

“Oh.”

Marley tried to wrap her brain around the fact that this man, who was practically calendar material and all kinds of sexy, had wanted to kiss her since the moment he saw her. She supposed it was good they had that in common. She looked into his eyes again and saw a warm glint. A giggle bubbled up and next thing she knew she was laughing so hard she couldn’t stop.

Chapter 4

Gage watched Marley’s green eyes go wide and then she started to laugh. Her laugh was throaty. He hadn’t meant to kiss her in the sense that he planned it. But when he met her eyes—those gorgeous green eyes that made him think of a forest dappled with sun—he wanted to kiss her so badly it was all he wanted. In that split second, he abandoned his reservations and decided it was worth it to see if she felt as good as she looked. He’d spent the hour or so she’d been here dancing on the edge of a raging hard on. He was relieved as hell he was sitting down, so the blatant evidence of his arousal wasn’t immediately obvious.

Now he knew. It was more than worth it and kissing her was like walking into a fire that curled and swirled around him and held him in its seductive flame. Watching her laugh made him want to kiss her again. There were only two problems: she seemed remarkably startled to hear how much he wanted her, and he had no intention of getting serious with anyone. Marley wasn’t the kind of girl a man just had fun with. He didn’t even do that lately either. Then, there was the double-edged sword of her being his neighbor in this small town in Alaska. He couldn’t avoid her, but at the moment, he didn’t think he had a chance in hell of keeping his hands off of her.

Her throaty laugh slowed and her eyes met his, dancing with warmth.

“Care to share what’s so funny?” he asked.

Her lush, sensual lips quirked with a smile again. Then she sobered, her eyes flickering with uncertainty. “It surprised me so much that you said you’ve wanted to kiss miss since you first saw me. It seemed ridiculous. I don’t mean that you meant it that way, more that I couldn’t believe it.”

“You couldn’t believe it? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

Her eyes widened. “Um, yeah.” He cheeks flushed as she met his gaze. He sensed she wanted to look away, but she didn’t. He wanted to know who planted the seeds of doubt he saw there.

“Well, I don’t know what you see, but you’re damn beautiful. You must not pay attention to the men I’m sure are thinking the same thing I’ve been thinking.”

Her eyes widened further. She brushed a loose lock of hair out of her eyes. “I think I’m supposed to say thank you.”

Gage had tons of questions, but decided to leave them for now.

“I also thought it was funny that we had something in common,” Marley added.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I met you.” Her cheeks flushed bright red. She twirled her hair around her finger.

Her words made his heart feel strange, not to mention that his cock, barely under control, hardened at her frank statement. He closed his eyes, fighting to get his body in check. Because what he wanted was much more than a kiss, but he wasn’t about to go there right now. With a kiss, he could find a way to regroup and pull back if needed. Much more and he could ruin any chance at a friendship with her.

You want a hell of a lot more than friendship. What’s stopping you? Oh maybe the fact that Marley’s all kinds of amazing and way too good for you. Coward.

Gage ignored the taunt inside his mind and focused on Marley and her last words. “Good to know,” he replied, so damn pleased she’d wanted to kiss him too that he ignored all of his own rules—no complications, no commitments. It was easier that way. He’d already broken them with the kiss. He itched to touch her again. Her t-shirt was faded navy and pulled taut across her generous breasts. He’d give just about anything to see them. Her blush faded, but lingered in her bright cheeks. Up close, he could see tiny freckles scattered on her skin.

He forced himself to push his chair back a little and glanced at the computer screen. His eyes landed on the icon she’d added for people to click to make reservations. “So does that really work?”

Marley followed his eyes. “It will. We need to set up the back end, so when people click on this, it takes them to your payment system.” Her voice started breathy and steadied as she spoke.

“I can’t just have them pay when they get here?”

Marley grinned. “You could, but you might lose money that way. People are more likely to keep their reservations if they have to put down a deposit. We don’t have to make it complicated. I can help you set something up for that.”

Gage sighed and looked back at her. What he wanted to do was lose himself in another kiss and then some, but he knew that wasn’t the wisest plan. Not now. His chest tightened at the depth of his want for Marley. He shook his head sharply. He needed to focus on something other than kissing her. The brief time he’d spent with her had made him realize why his sisters insisted he’d better get the online situation set up sooner rather than later. He had the wherewithal to do all the repair work and construction for the lodge, but the stuff Marley did with a few clicks was foreign to him.
 
If he wanted to make the lodge come back to life, he had to be ready to do whatever it took.

She tilted her head and smiled softly. “It’s not so bad. I offered to help, and I will. It’s pretty easy stuff for me. You don’t need to get all worried about it.”

He nodded, his chest easing. “Right. We didn’t talk about it, but I can pay you…”

She shook her head and started to say something, but he interjected again. “I can’t do this part. At all. If it’s not you, I’ll have to pay someone else. I trust you, and you’re already halfway there, so tell me whatever you’d normally charge someone for something like this.”

She smiled slowly and started to giggle again.

“What’s funny now?”

She swallowed her laugh. “I’m a programmer and I can do stuff like this, but it’s not something I’ve ever thought about charging for. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I’ll call someone and find out what they’d charge me and pay you that.”

Marley started to say no, and Gage couldn’t help it, he kissed her again. Her lips were soft, luscious and warm. And though she seemed surprised to realize he was attracted to her, she didn’t let it interfere once their lips met. Her mouth opened, her tongue tangled with his. He dove straight into the cauldron. By the time he came up for air, his breath was ragged, and lust streaked through him so hard, he could barely think. When her green eyes met his, dazed with passion, it was all he could do to stop.

***

Marley walked up the steps to her parents’ house. She knocked quickly on the kitchen door and walked inside. Her mother, Holly, was sitting at the kitchen table by the window, a laptop open in front of her. Holly looked up and smiled as soon as she saw Marley.

“Hey hon! How are you?” Holly stood and walked to the kitchen counter. “Coffee?” she asked, gesturing to the coffee pot.

“Sure,” Marley replied, tugging her jacket off and tossing it over the back of a chair before she sat down. The casual occurrence of sitting down for coffee with her mother was so comforting, it elicited a wave of emotion. She wondered when her emotions would stop being so raw. It chafed at her to feel out of control and struck at the core of anger she’d felt ever since the robbery.

Holly filled a mug with coffee and joined Marley at the table. Holly had passed on her auburn hair, green eyes, and lightly freckled complexion to Marley. Her hair was piled in a loose knot atop her head. She smiled warmly as she slid the mug across the table to Marley.

Marley cupped the warm mug in her palms, chilled from the cool walk down from her cabin.

“So?” her mother asked.

“So, what?”

Holly rolled her eyes. “How are you settling in? Any word on what you’re going to do for work?”

Marley sighed inside. Her mother meant well, but she wanted Marley settled and working full-time as soon as possible. Marley knew her parents were ecstatic she was back in Diamond Creek. They’d been so worried about her after what happened. But she was weary from trying to explain that the usual nine-to-five type job they were hoping she’d find wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. She was determined not to let the robbery steal everything from her. She wasn’t giving up her dreams, only relocating them.

She looked up and met her mother’s warm green gaze. A sense of safety stole over her, something she’d never thought she’d miss until it had been ripped away from her in a flash. Sitting here in her parents’ kitchen with her well-meaning and loving mother represented a simple degree of safety and warmth. She took a deep breath.

“I’m settling in okay. I don’t have a ton of stuff, so the cabin’s all set now. I promise, I’ll just be there over the winter. By next summer, I’m sure I’ll find another place.”

Holly shook her head. “Honey, we told you not to worry about that. We haven’t rented that cabin out in years. Consider it yours.”

Marley didn’t have the heart to explain that treating the cabin as hers made her feel like a failure, like she couldn’t make it on her own. She needed the safety and respite of not worrying about finding a new place to live at the moment, but she had no intention of making her stay at the cabin anything other than temporary.

“I know, Mom. I’ll play it by ear. How’s that?”

Holly nodded as she sipped her coffee. “What’s happening on the work front?”

“Well, I’m helping design the website for the Last Frontier Lodge.”

Holly’s eyes widened. “What? The Lodge is opening again? I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Marley couldn’t help but feel a thrill at being in possession of gossip her mother didn’t know. “Yeah. I was up there the other day walking on one of the old ski trails when I met the new owner. Well, he’s not totally new. His grandparents owned the lodge, and he inherited it. It’s Gage Hamilton.”

Holly looked thoughtful. “Wow, he was just a boy when I last saw him. His parents used to live here, and then they moved away. That’s wonderful news! When does he plan to open and how did you end up doing the website?”

Marley offered a quick summary minus the details of how deliciously sexy Gage was and definitely omitting the fact that he’d kissed her senseless. She could hardly believe it herself and had spent half the night reliving his kisses in her mind. The news got her mother off the topic of problem-solving Marley’s work situation and onto reminiscing about the ski lodge.

“Have you been inside?” Holly asked a few minutes later.

Marley nodded. “Yeah. When I got started on the website, I met him there. Gage said it was like walking into a time warp, and it is. The furniture’s covered up, but it looks just the same. He says he wants to open by Christmas, but he wants to redo the inside, so he’s got his work cut out for him. He seems up for it though.”

Holly nodded, a slow smile spreading over her face. “I can’t wait to tell your dad. He used to love skiing there every weekend. If Gage gets it open in time, I know where we’ll be on Christmas.”

Her mother’s phone buzzed. Holly glanced at the screen on her phone. “Oh hon, I have to get going. I’m covering an extra shift at the hospital.”

Holly stood up and walked to the kitchen sink, gulping the rest of her coffee.

“Speaking of work, when are you planning to slow down a little?” Marley asked.

Her mother was a nurse at the hospital and had yet to even pause in the pace of her work. Holly glanced her way and shrugged. “As long as I enjoy it, I’ll keep working.”

Marley started to get up, but Holly waved for her to stay put. “Finish your coffee. You don’t have to leave just because I am. Our house is yours.”

Though part of her resisted the comfort offered, another part of her basked in relief. Holly pecked her on the cheek and raced out the door. Marley sat at the kitchen table and looked out toward the bay and mountains. Her childhood home felt as it always did—quiet when no one was present, but humming with subtle energy. Her mother was a whirlwind, and her father constantly had projects around the house. He was a fisherman and carpenter. Marley savored the quiet and the peaceful view. Though Seattle had Mount Rainier and the Cascades nearby, she never felt the sense of wildness like she did here in Alaska. Perhaps because even where there were towns in Alaska, the wilderness dwarfed them, rather than the other way around. Snow continued to fall every night on the mountains across the bay, the peaks stark white against the blue sky now.

After she finished her coffee, she walked home through the spruce forest. When she saw the bright red roof of her cabin through the trees, she smiled. She’d always loved the cabin when she was a little girl. She and Lacey often had sleepovers there when they were old enough with her mother checking on them late at night and first thing in the morning. Though she’d come home under circumstances she wouldn’t have chosen, the sense of relief she’d felt when her parents offered for her to stay at the cabin was immense. She needed to regroup and needed a place where she felt safe. Diamond Creek and the charming little cabin offered her those things.