Midsummer Sweetheart (25 page)

“You’re a romantic. Admit it.”

He laughed softly, picturing her face in victory. “I admit it. With a caveat.”

“Which is?”

“I’ve
become
a romantic. It was the effect.”

“Of?”

“The cause.
You
.” She was silent for a long moment. “Kat? You still there?”

“I miss you. I wish you were here right now.” Her voice was thick, and it made his blood rush south.

“Yeah?”

“Mmm.”

He swallowed, trying to think straight, but he was good and distracted. “What, um…what would we—”

He thought that the sound she made was a laugh, but he wasn’t sure. It was a low and breathy and made his insides turn hot and tense.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,
Minste
.”

“Kat!”

“Mmm?”

He shook his head, frustrated not to be with her. “Nothing. Yeah, tomorrow.”

After hanging up, he’d actually thought about making the three-hour round-trip ride just for the chance to kiss her, even grabbing his keys and heading out to his car before talking himself out of it. He had to be at work ridiculously early in order to finish a full shift before leaving for the weekend. He’d barely get to see her before he’d have to turn back around.

Not to mention, if she was within touching distance, he wouldn’t get a second of sleep. He had stalked around his apartment for an hour before changing into sneakers and taking a midnight run. Even then, his body wasn’t giving up on the fantasies circling around in his head and he tossed and turned before finally falling asleep.

And now here he was, about to see her after three days that felt like three years. He pulled up in front of 73 Hoyt and smiled at the pink rolling suitcase sitting on the top step. The door opened.

Little white sneakers sprinted down the steps toward him, and he met her on the walkway in front of the stairs. She threw her arms around his neck and he lifted her off the ground, frantically finding her lips with his. His mouth slanted over hers again and again, and small sounds of pleasure rose from her throat, driving him crazy. She wound her fingers in his hair, grasping, then slid down and laced them around his neck, brushing the short hairs with her fingertips, making darts of pleasure rush up and down his spine.

He kissed her, branding her, until his thirst and hunger were quenched, until he believed that—for now, at least—she belonged to him.

Finally she stepped back. Unwilling to let her go, he kept his arms around her. She rested her cheek on his chest as it swelled up and down with the force of his breathing. Staring down at her blonde head, the word “love” hovered uncertainly in the recesses of his mind. He hushed it, pushed it away. For now, he was certain of just one thing, and it was enough to fill his heart to the brim.

Now that he wasn’t afraid anymore, he didn’t know how he’d ever live without her.

***

She brought the bouquet to her nose and inhaled again.

Not one hundred percent sure what to expect of Erik—to be frank, she half expected him to tell her he’d been caught up in the drama of her illness, but that he’d made a mistake and didn’t want a relationship with her, after all—her shoulders had bunched up in surprise and delight when she saw the happy, Swedish-colored flowers sitting on her seat.

“For me?”

“No, for José. Yes, for you. Isn’t that what boyfriends do?”

She had touched his cheek with her palm, holding his eyes, willing herself not to cry. “Thank you,” she whispered.

If she was waiting to see indecision in Erik’s manner, it was becoming more and more apparent that something had changed inside of him. The man she had met five weeks ago, with his derisive comments about commitment, who claimed an inability to give his heart to someone, was nowhere to be found.

Just as Erik had been able to change the course of his life by leaving his deeply entrenched life in Gardiner to start over with a new career in a new place, he was somehow able to leave his old fears about relationships and commitment behind as well, or so it seemed. Just as he had embraced his life as a college student in Great Falls or an officer in Kalispell, he was similarly able to successfully change course emotionally and open his heart to Katrin.

For her part, Katrin had felt—had
known
, really—for some time that her heart was expanding to make room for Erik Lindstrom in her life. The first time they touched, she’d felt the muscles of her heart contract and release. The first time he called her
Ӓlskling
she felt it, and again when he panicked in the park. She felt it again after his ridiculous proposition when he knelt before her and told her he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and later on top of Wild Horse when he woke up and murmured that she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, and again when he had murmured the words
I like you too much
before their disastrous dinner two weeks ago. In each of those moments her heart had expanded a little, and she felt it making room for something really big, really important.

But, it was last weekend, when she was so sick, that she felt her heart beating for him, only for him. Seeing him beside her when she woke up on Monday morning was the most loving, intimate moment she had ever shared with anyone in her entire life. Hearing him tell her that he was there for “us” and that he wanted “to be with her” were unfancy words made all the more precious by her firm comprehension of their cost to him. She knew with certainty that Erik had never offered himself to any other woman the way he offered himself to her, and she felt humbled and almost dazzled by the trust he placed in her, by how much his heart must have expanded to make a place for her too.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” He interrupted her happy thoughts.

“Sure. Anything.”

“I just want to be ready. When I came to see you last Sunday, I asked José why he didn’t call me when you were sick. I know you were mad at me, so I get it. But, I was really wondering about something he said. He said that I was fool if I didn’t think Ingrid knew what was going on between us. So, I was just wondering…”

“What I said to her.”

He nodded, and she noticed his fingers gripping then re-gripping the steering wheel.

“Okay,” she swallowed. “Well, you know you hurt me that night, Erik. I was sad when I got home. Ingrid’s one of my best friends. And family…”

“It’s okay. Just tell me what to expect.”

Kat sighed, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “I said you were a commitment-phobe and that we were essentially dating but you wouldn’t admit it. I said I knew you had feelings for me but that you were acting like a jackass. I believe I called you pig-headed and I may have called you a coward.” Her voice got smaller as she continued. “I may have told her it was over between us.”

Erik glanced at her, eyes wide, then turned back to the road, rubbing his jaw uneasily with his thumb and forefinger. Hearing the word
over
must have hurt, because she’d noticed him wince. “Didn’t leave much to her imagination, huh?”

She swallowed again, hating this, hating herself for running to Ing with her pain and not giving Erik a chance to come around first. “I-I was hurt. I was embarrassed. And sad. How could I know you’d be able to change for me?”

He put his right hand down on the bolster between them. She covered it with her own, curling her fingers until they touched his palm and he curled his over hers. She ran her thumb gently back and forth over the top of his wrist.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Kat.”

“I know you are.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry too, Erik. I ratted you out to Ing.”

He pulled her hand to his lips, and kissed it softly, then put both hands back on the wheel.

“Is she pretty mad?” he asked.

“She wasn’t thrilled.”

“Have you talked to her this week?”

“I have.”

“And?”

“I told her how sweet you were when I was sick and how we got things back on track.”

“And?”

“She advised extreme caution where you are concerned.”

“Uh-huh.” Erik nodded slowly, eyes on the road. “And your brother?”

She didn’t answer.

“Kat?” He glanced over at her, and she was cringing, shoulders dropped forward as she worried her hands on her lap. “Katrin, what about Kristian?”

“He’s very protective,” she mumbled.

Erik had been holding his breath, and blew it out in a loud, exasperated sigh.

“Well,” he glanced over at her, his face aggressively sardonic. “This should be just
great
.”

CHAPTER 15

They had passed Kalispell, driven through Columbia Falls and were skirting the northern border of Flathead National Forest when Erik spoke again.

“We’re coming up on Lake McDonald. Want to get out and walk around a little? Stretch our legs?”
Put off the inevitable moment when Ing gives me the stink-eye and Jenny has a lecture waiting?

“Sure. It’s only 5:30. We’re making good time.”

“What’s on the agenda for tonight? I mean, other than Kristian’s fist attempting a connection with my jaw.”

“He wouldn’t!” She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

He might.
“Nah, I’m just kidding. Sort of.”

“He wouldn’t, Erik. He knows we’re together now.”

She was so trusting, so lovely and sweet and fine it made his heart ache. “Don’t worry about it,
Ӓlskling
.”

“I won’t forgive him if he hurts you.”

He glanced at her and grinned, turning into a parking area. “It’ll be okay.”

It was suddenly so quiet in the car, and they were the only car in the parking lot. Without the pressure to drive safely, there was only one thing he wanted to do.

He took her hand, turning it until her wrist faced him and he pressed his lips to the beating pulse there, closing his eyes against the delicate flutter beneath his lips, and then pulled her toward him, brushing his lips lightly across hers. His hands moved to cup her face lovingly, taking her upper lip between his, nipping and sucking on it gently before running his tongue lightly against the seam of her lips. She opened them and he found the tip of her tongue waiting to meet his, making the hairs on his arm stand up and the blood rush to his groin. He heard a growling sound rumble up from his throat as he moved his hands from her face down her arms to her waist, gripping to pull her closer, frustrated by the bolster between them. He finally released her lips, resting his forehead against hers as he tried to catch his breath.

“Where are you sleeping tonight?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She leaned back to look at him, her face flushed, voice breathy. “Where are
you
sleeping?”

Wherever you are. And preferably not much actual sleeping.
He swallowed, wishing she would lean her forehead back against his. “I don’t know. My Pappa and brothers have two rooms. So there’s space for me with them.”

She nodded, looking down. “My mom and the Kelleys are staying in the cottage. I could stay with them, I guess. On the couch or something. I didn’t make a reservation for my own room.”

“Me neither.”

“I’ll probably just go home. My apartment’s only 20 minutes away.”

“Oh!”

Her eyes snapped up to slam into his, and her tongue darted out to lick her lips. He watched it, fascinated, feeling his hot breath slow and deliberate on his own lips.

“So…”

“So, you’ll need a ride to your apartment later.”

“Mm-hm.” Her lips curved up.

“Kinda getting into this girlfriend thing.”

She chuckled lightly, moving to open her door. “C’mon Picket Fences, let’s go take a look at a lake.”

***

The sun was still high in the sky as they neared the Triple Peak Lodge, pulling into the parking lot a little after 7:30.

Erik looked at the lodge and whistled in appreciation. Never having visited, he was surprised by the sheer grandness of it. The Lodge itself was a formidable building, made of thick logs and large boulders, but bearing a gentrified, elegant, imposing air. Settled in a valley, with acres of landscaped land surrounding the main building and three mountain peaks in the distance. He noticed small pointed-arrow signs indicating the direction of the pool, fitness center, trout pond and helipad to the right of the lodge, and another sign reading simply “Cabins” to the left, indicating a brick pathway flanked with blooming flowers. Another arrow pointed straight ahead reading “Lodge,” and then below, the words Corral, Barn and—oddly—Paradise.

Erik wasn’t sure what he expected, but one thing was abundantly clear: the Triple Peak was a full-fledged, exclusive, five-star, triple diamond resort.
This had been Katrin’s family’s bed & breakfast?
Whew.

He turned to her and found her smiling at him expectantly. “You like it?”

“It’s…grand. Not what I expected.”

“They did a lot to it. The developers. I mean, my grandparents owned the Lodge and ran it as a B&B, but it was
much
smaller. Just a big porch with plenty of sunshine, shared bathrooms, great room with a fireplace for guests. And there was always the barn where they kept the horses for visitors back up on the hill, and a few other outbuildings. But, the rest? The pool and tennis courts and helipad, for heaven’s sake, well, that was all added later after it’d been purchased.”

“So you remember coming here as a kid?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. My Mom and Sam’s Mom didn’t want to run it as a B&B after my grandparents passed on, so it became a private family lodge while I was growing up. I have great memories of Christmas and New Year’s here with the Kelleys. But, the upkeep was real expensive. They sold it later.”

“What’s Paradise?”

“Ahhhh.” She nodded, her voice warming. “Paradise is the only part of the ranch still partially owned by my family. It’s a three-bedroom cottage way up back near the barn, half a mile from the lodge. It was actually the site of the original house on the property where my Mom grew up until they added a family wing onto the main Lodge. My
mormor
used to say ‘Triple Peak’s as close to paradise as we’ll ever get in this life.’ So, when my mom and her sister sold the land, they stipulated two things: one, that the little cottage be renovated, renamed ‘Paradise’ and be available for use by the Kelleys or the Svensons as long as we give a week’s notice and the cottage is unoccupied, and two, that the Triple Peak offer a full-blown Scandinavian Midsummer celebration every June. It was a no-brainer for the hospitality group. They basically got the land and location for a song, plus they sell out for Midsummer every year. But, they did right by it. It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”