Snowbound with the Boss (3 page)

The snow was coming down so thick and fast, swirling in a wind that rattled the glass panes, she couldn't see past the yard to where the lake stretched out along the foot of the mountains, and the forest was no more than a smudge of darkness in the world of white.

“This happen often?” Sean asked, as he moved up beside her.

His arm brushed against hers, and Kate sucked in a gulp of air to steady herself. “Often enough,” she said, determined to get a grip on the rush of something hot and delicious pulsing inside her. Another sip of coffee sent a different kind of heat sweeping through her. “Ask anyone and they'll tell you. If you don't like the weather in Wyoming, wait five minutes. It'll change.”

He leaned forward and tipped his head back to see what he could of the sky. “So five minutes from now, the sun should be shining and the snow melted?”

She had to laugh because he sounded so hopeful. “Not likely. This looks like a big one. I figure we're stuck here for a couple of days. Maybe more.”

He sighed, nodded and looked at her. “At least we have each other.”

And
that
, Kate told herself, was the problem.

* * *

They decided to ration what food they had, so an hour later, the two of them split a sandwich and shared a few crackers. Sitting in front of the fire, with the wind and snow pelting the windows, Sean glanced at Kate beside him. They'd pulled the old leather couch closer to the hearth, and now each of them had claimed a corner of the sofa for themselves.

Kate stared into the blaze, and firelight danced across her features and shone in her hair. Her eyes were fixed on the flames, as if looking away from the fire would mean her life. Her behavior told him she was nervous around him. He liked knowing it. Made his own unease a little easier to take.

He frowned to himself as that word reverberated a few times in his mind.
Unease
. Hell, Sean hadn't been uneasy around women since freshman year of high school. Dana Foster—her red hair, green eyes and wide, smiling mouth had turned Sean into a babbling moron. Until he'd kissed her for the first time. That kiss had opened up a world of wonder, beauty and hunger that Sean had enjoyed ever since.

The women in his life—most of them—had come and gone, barely causing a ripple. Of course, there'd been one woman, years ago, who had affected him, changed him. But he didn't allow himself to think about her or what had happened between them. Ancient history that had nothing to do with who and what he was today.

Now there was Kate. And what she did to him was so much more than that long-ago woman. Admitting that really bothered him and acted as a warning bell. Kate had him tied into knots, and he didn't appreciate it. She made him feel nearly desperate to have her. And while his body clamored for him to go for it, those warning signals continued to ring out in his brain, telling him to keep his distance and to get the hell away from her as fast as he could. But that wasn't going to happen, thanks to this blizzard.

He'd avoided any kind of entanglements for years and wasn't looking for one now. But logic didn't have a lot to do with anything he was feeling at the moment.

He wanted her. Wanted her badly enough that his mind was filled with images of her all the damn time. When he was with her, his body was tight and hard, and the longer he was with Kate, the worse it got. That need clawed at his insides, demanding release. Still, sex with her would only complicate matters, and Sean was a man who didn't like complications.

His life would have been a lot easier if only he'd been able to escape Wyoming and put several hundred miles between himself and Kate. That wasn't going to happen, though, so he had to find a way to survive this enforced closeness.

“Why are you staring at me?”

He came out of his thoughts and focused on the woman now looking at him. “Just thinking.”

“Now I'm worried,” she said, a half smile curving her mouth. “Thinking about what?”

Well, he wasn't going to tell her the truth—that he was thinking about how soon he could get her out of her clothes—so he blurted out something that had been on his mind lately. “Wondering how you became a contractor.”

Her brow furrowed, her eyes narrowed and he had the distinct feeling she didn't believe him. But then she shrugged and answered.

“My dad is the easy answer,” she said, shifting her gaze back to the fire snapping and crackling just a few feet away from them. “He's a master carpenter. Started his own business when I was a kid.” She smiled in memory, and Sean noticed how her features softened. “I used to work for him every summer and he and the guys on his crew taught me everything I know about construction.”

“Funny, I worked summers for my dad, too,” Sean said, remembering how he had tried desperately to get out of work so he could go surfing instead.

“What's your dad do?”

“Lawyer,” Sean said, bracing his hands on the floor behind him. “He wanted my brother and I to go to law school, join his firm.”

“No interest in being a lawyer?” she asked.

He shuddered. “No. When you worked for your dad, you were outside, right?”

“Usually, yeah.”

“Not me. Dad had us shredding old documents, sweeping, mopping and in general doing everything the building custodians needed us to do.” He shook his head. “Hated being locked up inside, so I promised myself that I'd find a job where I could take off and go surfing when I wanted to.”

She laughed. “Not many employers allow surfing breaks, I imagine.”

“Nope.” He grinned and added, “Just another reason I like being my own boss. You'd know what I mean by that.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

A moment or two of silence, broken only by the snap and hiss of the fire, stretched out between them. It was almost companionable, Sean thought. It was the first time since he'd met Kate Wells that they'd gone so long without an argument. It surprised him how much he was enjoying it.

“So,” he asked, “who'll run things for you while you're stuck here?”

“With a blizzard this heavy, the guys will just hole up at their homes and take a few days off. They won't be expecting to work through it,” she said, then looked around the room.

It was filled with shadows that moved and shifted in the flickering light. “As soon as the snow stops and the roads are clear, we'll get started on the renovations. The structure's sound, but for needing some new shingles on the roof and some of the porch railings replaced. We'll be working on the inside for now, of course, and move to the outside when spring finally gets here—”

“And we're talking about work again,” Sean interrupted her. He'd noticed that whenever their conversations threatened to get personal, she “ran home to mama” so to speak and turned to talk of the job.

“Your fault this time. Besides, work is why we're here,” she pointed out.

“No,” he argued with a wave of his hand toward the closest window that displayed a view of swirling white, “snow is why we're here. We've talked about the job enough for today.”

“Well then,” she said abruptly, “what do you want to talk about?”

“Who says I want to talk at all?” he asked and gave her a slow smile.

She stiffened and her features went cool and dispassionate. What did it say about him, Sean wondered, that her reaction only fed the hunger gnawing at him? This woman's obvious reluctance to admit to what was simmering between them only intrigued him further.

So maybe, he told himself, the secret to surviving close quarters with Kate was to go ahead and give in to the sexual tug happening. If they tried to ignore it, the next few days were going to be misery.

“Yeah,” she said, “that's not going to happen.”

“Never say never,” he told her with a careless shrug. “We're stuck together and I'm pretty damn charming.”

A hesitant smile twitched at her lips briefly. “I think I can control myself.”

“We'll see, won't we?” He was a man who loved a challenge. And Kate Wells was surely that.

“Right. I think I'll bring in more wood.” She pushed herself to her feet and looked down at him.

“Thought we had enough.” He glanced at the high stack of split logs he'd already carried in and set beside the hearth.

“Can't have too much,” she said, pulling her jacket on.

He knew a displacement activity when he saw one. She was trying to get some space, some distance from him, and damn if he was going to let her. “I'll get it.”

“I can do it,” she said and left without another look at him.

Muttering under his breath about hardheaded women, Sean grabbed his jacket and followed. He walked through the mudroom and stepped out onto the wide, covered back porch in time to see Kate grabbing several big logs. “Let me get it.”

“I said I don't need help,” she countered.

Sean came up beside her just as she whirled around to face him. Her elbow caught him in the chest, and he took a step back and hit the edge of the top step. Off balance, his arms windmilled as he felt himself falling and knew he couldn't stop it. The fresh snow cushioned his fall and puffed up around him in a cloud. He was flat on his back, staring up at still more snow falling out of a steel-gray sky.

“Oh, God, are you okay?” Kate dropped the wood she held and reached out one hand to him. “I didn't know you were there, really.”

Sean only stared at her. Snowflakes gathered in her hair, on her lashes, on the collar of her coat. Her hand was out toward him, and he grabbed it. But rather than take her help to get out of the snow, he gave a hard yank and pulled her down to join him.

She gave a half shriek when she landed on top of him, then immediately struggled to push herself up again. But having her body pressed along his felt so good, Sean was in no hurry to release her.

“What's the rush?” he asked, mouth just a breath away from hers.

“It's freezing.”

“Cuddle up, we'll keep each other warm.”

Three

“Y
ou're crazy,” she said with a shake of her head. Thick, heavy snowflakes kept falling all around them, landing on his lashes, his cheeks.

“And charming. Don't forget charming.”

“Right,” she said, laughing. Damn it, he really was charming. Most men getting pushed into a snowdrift wouldn't have been so nice about it—though he'd made sure to yank her into the wet cold just to keep things even. “Pulling me into the snow? Charming.”

He grinned. “You started it.”

She had. And now that she was lying on top of him, she couldn't really regret it. “You're enjoying this, aren't you?”

He slid one hand down her spine toward her behind, and her eyes flashed in warning. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

“Like I said. Crazy.”

“Kiss me once and we'll get out of this snow.”

Kissing Sean Ryan was absolutely not a good idea. But oh, she was tempted. Tempted enough that she knew she'd give in if she didn't move.

“I'm going in now,” she told him and pushed against him again, trying to lever herself up.

Sean held on to her. “One kiss. See if we can melt all this snow.”

Her gaze dropped to his mouth then lifted to meet his eyes. Temptation had never looked so good, she thought, knowing that she was in far deeper water than she'd ever been in before. No, she wasn't some shy virgin. She was a widow. And the man she had loved and married had been
nothing
like Sean.

Sam Wells had been sweet, kind, soft-spoken. An easygoing man with a ready smile and a gentle nature. Kate wasn't used to dealing with a man who wore arrogance and confidence like a second skin. And blast it, she couldn't understand why she found him so...attractive.

Then, while her thoughts were muddled and her defenses down, Sean tugged her closer and closed his mouth over hers.

So much heat. It was a wonder the snow they were lying in didn't melt into slush.

While her body lit up like a glowing neon sign, Kate's mind flashed a warning.
Melt snow?
If he kept this up, Sean would melt her
bones
.

Pull away, she told herself. Stop this now. But she wasn't going to stop and she knew it. It had been so long—
too
long—since she'd been held, kissed. That was why she was reacting so wildly to Sean's touch, she assured herself. It wasn't personal. It was simply a biological need that hadn't been so much as acknowledged for two years.

But when his tongue tangled with hers, she had to admit, at least silently, that it was this man causing her reaction. Not just a kiss, but Sean's kiss.

For a week, she'd worked with him, argued with him and, yes, dreamed about him. Now his hands were on her, his mouth was devouring hers and all she could think was
more
. This was so unlike her. So out of the realm of her ordinary world she had no idea what to do or how to handle it.

He broke the kiss, stared at her as if she'd just dropped out of the sky from Mars, then shook his head. “Well, damn. If I'd known what kissing you would be like, I'd have done it a week ago.”

Gazing into his beautiful blue eyes, she blurted out before she could stop herself, “I might have let you.”

One corner of his truly fabulous mouth tipped up. “Might?”

He already thought far too much of himself, so no way was she going to feed an ego that was already strong enough for three healthy men.

“I think we're way past ‘might,' Kate,” he said, his fingers rubbing at the base of her neck until she wanted to purr in reaction.

That realization made Kate pull back, shake her head. “No, we are not going to do this.”

“Not here, anyway,” Sean agreed. “We'll freeze to death.”

Not the way she was feeling at the moment, Kate thought. Despite the cold, the snow, the icy chill of the wind, she felt only the heat. That was the problem. Determined to put some space between them, Kate shoved herself to her feet. Sean did the same, then caught her elbow in a firm grip.

“You're going to pretend nothing happened?”

“It was a kiss, Sean. That's all.” She slipped out of his grasp, pulled off her cap, tore the band from her hair and shook it free until it lay thick around her shoulders.

“A hell of a kiss, Kate.”

She felt the imprint of his fingers right through her jacket and sweater as if he was touching her bare skin. What would it be like if he
actually
touched her? Oh, don't think about that...

“Kate—”

“We need to get more wood.”

“Oh, I've got plenty of wood.”

He gave her a slow smile as his eyebrows arched. Kate blew out a breath. Well, she'd walked right into
that
double entendre. “Funny.”

He grinned. “Told you I'm charming.”

“You shouldn't waste it on me,” Kate told him.

“Who says it's a waste?”

Kate sighed, tipped her head to one side and stared at him. “Why are you doing this?”

“We're
both
doing this, Kate,” he said flatly. Moving in, he closed what little distance lay between them. His hands came down on her shoulders and though she knew she should shrug him off, she didn't. That stirring of bone-deep heat was too irresistible. Too compelling.

In this world of swirling white and icy cold, it was as if they were the only two people alive. As if nothing beyond this old hotel existed. Mattered. She stared up at him, into those blue eyes, and felt herself weakening further.

He was so damn sure of himself, Kate thought. And as her willpower dissolved like sugar in hot water, she told herself he had every right to be. She'd had no intention of giving in to this attraction between them, and now she couldn't think of anything else.

“So, what's it going to be?” He looked down into her eyes as he slid his hands up from her shoulders to cup her face. The chill of his hands on her skin skittered through her and was swallowed by the building fire inside. “Are we gonna spend the next few days pretending nothing's happening between us?”

“It's the safest thing to do.”

“You always take the safe route?” His mouth curved.

Yes. She'd lived most of her life trying to be safe. Her mother had died in a car accident when Kate was a girl, and that incident had marked her. She always buckled her seat belt. Drove the speed limit. Safety—caution in all things, was paramount. In everything from driving to balancing her checkbook to salting her steps during winter. She didn't take chances. Risks. She was always careful. Always vigilant. And the smart thing to do right now would be to continue being safe. To walk away from what she felt when she was with Sean.

Even while she was giving herself some excellent advice, he bent his head and kissed her. Once. Twice. His mouth was soft, his manner tender and she was lost. When he finished, leaving her breathless and just a little unsteady, he looked at her again.

Kate swallowed hard and said, “Safe is smart.”

“Be stupid,” he urged.

She couldn't look away from that warm, determined gaze. “I think I'm going to.”

He kissed her again. This time gentle tenderness washed away in a roaring tide of clawing, greedy hunger that had been building between them for days. Even through the thick layer of sweaters and jackets they wore, Kate felt his hard, muscled chest pressed against her, and everything inside her caught fire.

It was as if embers that had lain smoldering within suddenly caught a draft of air that flashed them into flames. Her hands at his shoulders, she clung to him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight, close. Though they stood locked together in knee-deep snow, she didn't feel the cold. His mouth fused to hers, his breath filled her, his tongue twisted with hers and Kate felt the already-blazing fire inside her erupt and flash white-hot.

He tore his mouth from hers and said, “Inside. We'll freeze to death out here.”

“So not cold,” she told him, licking her lips to savor the taste of him.

He grinned, and her heart stumbled. “Gonna make sure you stay that way, too.”

Keeping one arm locked around her, he guided her into the hotel, through the kitchen door, then slammed it closed behind them. They left the wind, the snow, the cold, and now it was just the two of them.

Nerves rose up unexpectedly and Kate started thinking. Her body was churning, every hormone she possessed was doing a cha-cha of anticipation, but her brain had clicked back on the moment he stopped kissing her and now...

“No way,” he said, caging her against the counter, with his hands braced on either side of her.

“What?” She blinked up at him.

“You're thinking too much. You're starting to worry that maybe we're making a mistake.”

“Are you a mind reader now?” she asked, trying to ignore the hard thump of her heartbeat.

He laughed shortly. “Reading your mind isn't that tough at the moment.” His gaze moved over her face like a caress before meeting her eyes again. “You're interested. You just don't want to be.”

“I could say the same about you,” she pointed out in her own defense.

“Yeah, you could.” He nodded thoughtfully. “The difference between us is I'm not big on denying myself and you seem to be a champ at it.”

“I'll agree with the first half of that sentence. You do seem to be the type who indulges himself whenever he feels like it.”

“Why not?” he asked with a shrug. “You don't get trophies from the universe for being stoic and cheating yourself out of something that could be amazing.”

In spite of everything, Kate felt a rush of anticipation that fed a small smile. The man was arrogance personified. “You're so sure it would be amazing?”

His mouth curved, his eyes gleamed and he leaned in closer until their mouths were just a breath apart. “Aren't you?”

Stray snowflakes slipped from the collar of her jacket, went beneath the neckline of her sweater and snaked along her spine. Kate shivered and told herself it was the ice on her skin, not the heat in his eyes that had caused it.

“This is crazy,” she murmured, shifting her gaze from his eyes to his mouth and back again.

“I'm a big fan of crazy,” he whispered.

“Yeah, you would be,” Kate said with a choked-off laugh.

Her insides jumped, trembled and settled into a thrum of expectancy that wouldn't be denied. Crazy is just what they were talking about here. Sex with Sean would be a mistake. A huge one. But if she let this moment pass, let him go back to California without taking the opportunity Fate had handed her, wouldn't that be a mistake, too? Wouldn't she have to live with regret for the rest of her life?

And she couldn't handle more regrets.

Kate had been so closed off for the last two years, she'd never once felt even the slightest attraction for a man. And what she felt for Sean went light-years beyond a “slight attraction.” That could be a problem, too, she knew. Feeling too much was an open invitation to pain.

Kate had already had enough pain to last a lifetime.

So she'd have to keep her heart tucked neatly away. Of course, sex without love wasn't like her at all. But then again, she'd already had and lost love and didn't expect to ever have it again. So unless she wanted to live her entire life as if she was locked up in a monastery, she'd have to accept that things, for her, had changed. Affection would have to be enough. And as she met his eyes, Kate could admit to herself that as much as Sean irritated and annoyed her, she also sort of liked him. Hard not to, really. Looking up into Sean's eyes, Kate thought he really was as charming as he claimed to be. Plus he didn't cheap out on building plans, he was fair to her crew and even when he argued with her, he managed to make her laugh.

That kind of man was hard to resist. Though she'd been doing her best to do just that for the last week, she was done with it now. She took a breath and sighed heavily. She was finished trying to ignore the buzz of electricity between them.

If she was going to make a mistake, Kate preferred it be an active decision, not a mistake of omission.

“So, Kate,” he murmured, pushing the edge of her jacket aside to drag the tips of his fingers along the undersides of her breasts. “Are we going to be crazy together, or are we going to be sad and lonely separately?”

She shivered again as tiny twists of heat licked at her. Her eyes closed briefly and when she opened them again, Sean was there, staring into her gaze, searching for her answer.

She lifted one hand, cupped his face and drew him to her. “Crazy,” she whispered. “I vote for crazy.”

“Thank God.” He kissed her.

Kate's entire body lit up in an explosion of light and color and heat. She hooked her arms around his neck and hung on, drawing him even closer. Now that she'd opened the floodgates of long-banked desires and needs, she was helpless to do anything but ride the tide cresting inside her. Kate groaned as he parted her lips with his tongue. That fast, greedy dance stole her breath, blurred her mind and set fire to her body.

His hands were busy, too, pushing her jacket off her shoulders and down her arms. Free, Kate did the same for him, then threaded her arms back around his neck as he lifted her and plopped her down onto the old, worn counter. He moved to stand between her thighs, and she hooked her legs around his waist.

They were eye to eye now and when he scraped his hands up beneath the hem of her sweater to cup her breasts, even through the fragile material of her bra, Kate felt heat blossom. Tingles flickered into life deep in her belly, and the core of her ached and throbbed in time with the beat of her heart.

Want
. Desperate, frantic need clawed at her, and Kate threw herself into the conflagration. Outside, snow flew in an icy wind that rattled the windowpanes and slammed a stray shutter against the side of the hotel. Neither of them noticed or cared.