Last Chance Christmas (5 page)

She frowned. “Why aren’t you moved in? The concussion?”

“The divorce.” Something he did not want to talk about right now. So he kept his explanation to the bare facts. “I loved it here and wanted a presence in Vermont, not knowing how much my ex-wife opposed living anywhere outside of Chicago.”

He’d designed it on his own when she hadn’t shown much interest, figuring he’d surprise her. It had been a last straw moment for her—a sign that he didn’t listen to her needs. Maybe he hadn’t. But he was a spontaneous guy for one thing. And for another… Cloud Spin would always be home. His mother had relocated to Chicago as soon as he’d signed a long-term contract, never looking back. But for J.C., it was different.

“Ah.” She nodded slowly. Processing, maybe. Or weighing her words. “I was sorry to hear about that.”

“Thanks.” He still hadn’t learned what to say about it, other than he wouldn’t wish a divorce on his worst enemy. It was a painful ripping apart of two lives. “But it’s been official for almost a year now and I can finally say it was probably for the best. Tough admitting you were wrong about something you pledged your whole life to.”

She bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something.

“What?” he urged, thinking this line of discussion probably wasn’t going to convince her to come home with him but not sure how to get things back on track.

“I was just remembering this radio show I listened to in the hospital—some popular life coach who has a call-in advice show was doling out wisdom for those of us struggling to figure out our lives.” She gave a self-deprecating grin, although he couldn’t imagine what her struggles might have been these past ten years. “Anyway, he talked about the need to sort out the past before you could really embrace future relationships. You know, make peace with people you’ve cared about. Figure out what went wrong so you can do better next time.”

He laughed. “I’m nowhere near ready to reach out to my ex.”

She went quiet. Too quiet.

“Shea?” No doubt about it, he was messing up this conversation. He was going to wind up alone in that damn house again tonight and Shea would be driving out of town in the morning.

“I was thinking about you and me.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, an off-handed idea she’d thrown out there. “We ended things on a bit of a harsh note.”

Her words shocked the hell out of him and made so much damn sense, he kicked himself for not seeing it sooner.

“That’s putting it mildly.” It hadn’t been easy breaking things off with her, but two years difference was huge as teenagers, and she’d been going through a rough time with her father’s expectations of her. She’d wanted a break from everything involving hockey and for him—it was his life. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better this Christmas than making peace with you, Shea Walker.”

Her eyebrow arched as if she debated whether or not to believe him. She tipped her head sideways against the seat as she regarded him.

“Do you think it’s possible for two feisty people to ever really smooth things over?”

“Hell yes. I’m smarter than I was at eighteen. And besides, I don’t know if I agree that our problems were due to feistiness as much as chemistry.”

“What chemistry?” She honestly looked him in the eye as she said it.

He did a double take or he might not have noticed the way her heartbeat pulsed faster at the base of her throat. Even in the dim light from a street lamp and the moon, he could pick out the thrum that called her a liar.

“You know as well as I do, we had some serious chemistry even as teenagers. I’d hazard a guess that’s where some feistiness originated—right in the heart of raging hormones.”

She looked him up and down, thoroughly sizing him up.

“No one feeling an ounce of
chemistry
toward me could have run off to Minnesota to play hockey when we agreed we were going to New York. Together.”

And there it was. Their past laid bare. The old argument stripped down to its essence even though it had been far more complicated than she made it out to be.

He didn’t want to argue with her. He was buying into this whole “make peace with the past” idea so he wanted her to come home with him, not sitting in some anonymous hotel room and fuming at him. But no matter how much he didn’t want to contradict her, he knew enough about this woman to know she wouldn’t walk away from the one argument he planned to make.

Unzipping his parka, he shrugged out of his jacket.

“What are you doing?” Her eyes went wide.

“Challenging you,” he informed her mildly, liking the way she tracked his movements. Liking everything about her.

Damn, but it had been too long since he’d seen her.

“Explain yourself,” she demanded, asserting credible feistiness.

Shoulders freed, he angled closer to her in the narrow confines of her rental car. Sparks flew, just like they had when he’d touched her in her parents’ backyard earlier. He’d just been feeling too surprised to see her and too gentlemanly to do anything about it. Now? After the “no chemistry” comment?

Not so much.

“We had chemistry then. We have chemistry now. And I’m going to prove it.”

*

“Your concussion has
made you insane.” Shea refrained from licking her lips even though the urge was strong. Damn. Strong. But she would not encourage him. Could not afford to go down this path with him three hours after seeing him again.

Had she fantasized about this kind of scenario?

Of course. This was J.C. and he probably starred in many, many women’s fantasies. But she knew him better than just his smoking hot sex appeal. And talking to him again had reminded her how much their parting a decade ago had stung. Sure, she’d been a teenager and it had been a drama-filled time. But that didn’t diminish what had happened between them. She’d put a whole lot of faith in his strong, sexy, eighteen-year-old hands and he’d bailed on her.

He’d broken his word.

“I’m actually feeling extremely clearheaded at the moment, and your biting words were so lucid even a lug-headed hockey player could follow them.” With one hand, he held the seat rest behind her head. The other hand reached for her, drifting perilously close to her cheek. “You said we have no chemistry. I’m refuting that statement.”

Heartbeat fluttering ridiculously, she tried glaring harder. But she couldn’t quite formulate any more biting words at the moment. Words had vanished from her head.

“Unless…” He hovered so damn close to her she could almost taste him. “Maybe I could forego the need to win this battle in the spirit of making peace with the past.”

“Magnanimous of you.” Her words hitched on her dry throat because… damn him.

“If you stay at my place tonight, we can revisit this in the morning when we’re both ready to play fair.”

“Are you suggesting
I
don’t play fair?” She bristled, remembering
he’d
been the one to take his coat off and start flexing all that eye-catching muscle.

“Let’s call it a draw while we both still have our clothes on.” He shifted in his seat, turning the key in the ignition even though she hadn’t agreed to any particular destination just yet.

“I wasn’t even close to getting naked.” She reminded him, trying to elevate her surgery boot against the console while she stared pointedly at his discarded parka.

He drove north out of town and she could only guess he was taking her to his house. Which was fine at this point because it was after midnight, she was exhausted, and she didn’t have any better ideas. The snow had picked up volume, the flakes small and fine. She’d driven in bad weather for enough hours today. She was glad someone else was at the wheel now.

Even an arrogant, too-sexy-for-his-own-good old flame.

“You just keep talking,” he said softly, flipping on the directional to turn east. “And I’ll keep dreaming up ways to prove you wrong.”

There was a wicked gleam in his eye when he shot her a look.

“You realize I would never be setting foot in your house tonight if I wasn’t surgically impaired.” She retrieved his knit hat and used it to swipe away the condensation on her window so he could see out of it.

“It’s like fate placed you in my path.” His expression changed, the sexy arrogance fading to reveal something more serious.

Something she wasn’t sure she wanted to see.

“Hardly. It was just a matter of time before we crossed paths again.” She tossed the hat behind her, remembering that text from Rachel telling her she was in the ideal position to fix the past. Too bad she didn’t believe in fate. “We both have ties here, like it or not.”

“I never understood why you disliked it here so much. People travel from all over the country to vacation in Cloud Spin.” He slowed down as they reached a road that must not have been plowed in the last few hours.

There were no tire tracks to follow. No streetlights here. Just an old country lane heading straight up the mountain.

“Okay. Here’s a valid reason not to love Vermont.” She pointed to the road ahead. “Will this car even make it up that hill?”

She’d grown up driving in winters like this, but she’d been relying on public transportation for a long time since then. Her father had always kept a set of chains, a shovel, and some sand in the back of his truck at this time of year. Not that he usually had any trouble navigating the terrain, but she’d been with him more than once when he’d helped another driver out of an icy ditch.

“Hang on,” J.C. warned her a moment before he nailed the accelerator.

If she hadn’t just been in a car accident a few weeks ago, she might not have been as nervous. But conditions were terrible. The engine revved high since he’d purposely kept it in low gear. The rental car didn’t have much spirit in the first place, and they fishtailed all over the road, skidding close enough to the guardrail to scare her.

They reached the top, however, without meeting any other cars and without sliding off the pavement. Now, through the trees ahead, she could see the shadow of a big house perched on the mountainside.

“You okay?” he asked, easing off the gas as he pulled into the driveway. “I cleared out the walkways before I went to your parents’ place tonight, so it shouldn’t be too bad getting inside.”

“This is your house?” She shouldn’t be surprised.

He’d told her he had a big house and his elite status in the NHL ensured he would have a solid contract. Plus, he considered Cloud Spin home, so it made sense he’s invest in his home here. But… wow.

The contemporary Craftsman-style log home fit the landscape with its dark wood, deep porches, and large scale. It had to be at least five thousand square feet, with a two story detached garage that looked like it must contain extra living quarters. White holiday lights decorated the hedges out front and draped small pine trees flanking the wreathed front door.

“Don’t be too impressed. Those lights are the extent of my decorating expertise.” His expression was tight, reminding her that this house had been what he called “the last straw” for him and his ex-wife.

“It’s gorgeous, J.C.” She might have her own issues with him, but she hated to think another woman had made this showplace a source of contention.

That another woman hadn’t wanted any part of his life in Cloud Spin. He belonged here the same way her father did.

“Thanks.” His gaze went back to the multiple peaks and rooflines. “Come on in. You must be exhausted. I would have pulled in the garage, but I didn’t bring the remote opener with me since I used the cross country skis when I went to your parents’ house. There’s a key under the mat though. Hang on while I get things unlocked and switch the lights on.”

He hopped out of the car, not even bothering to put his jacket back on.

With an effort, she shifted her legs around to exit the car, favoring her ribs. The cold air swirled around her like a snow globe, stirring flakes at her feet and blowing strands of hair across her face. Her body ached everywhere from too much time in the car and not enough time with her foot elevated.

Just when she thought she’d been an idiot to stand up without help, J.C. reached her side. He tucked a shoulder under her arm and lifted her carefully, keeping her mid-section stable in deference to her ribs.

“I’ll come back for the crutches,” he assured her, his long strides covering the ground between the car and the house in no time.

At the door, when he juggled her even closer to open the handle, her cheek brushed his chest and she could feel the warmth of him radiating through his thermal shirt. For a moment, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to soak in the sensation.

“Sorry about that.” He loosened his hold a bit, enough to pry her free from his chest at least. “We’re almost there.”

Tired, sore, and turned on in spite of herself, she tried to focus on her first glimpse of his house.

She had a vague impression of twenty-foot ceilings in the front room where a stone fireplace dominated the space, surrounded by comfortable looking couches. Wrought iron chandeliers gave the place a rustic elegance, but she could see what he meant about the lack of decorating. With no rugs, pillows, or art work, the house echoed as he charged over the hardwood, past a huge open kitchen, toward a room in the back.