What The Heart Knows (14 page)

“Don't
blame her. Who could resist my charm?” he asked, laughing when
she glared at him. He threw an arm around her shoulders. “Aside
from you, that is.”

“Alright,”
Aria said, breezing in silently behind them, making them both jump,
Emily pulling out from under his arm and reaching for their bags.
“All checked in. I'll show you guys to your room.”

She
led them up to the second floor, down the hall away from the railing
that overlooked down into the great room. “You have a view of
the lake from here. Which is frozen, but still pretty,” she
told them, coming up to a door with a sixteen burned into the wood.
She pulled a credit card key out of her pocket and slipped it into
the scanner before handing it to James. At Emily's raised brow, she
produced another key and handed it to Emily. “Well, I'll let
you two settle in. Em you know the meal schedules and whatnot. I
doubt they will have the big slopes open this early, but you guys can
do some cross country or maybe the bunny hills. For skiing and
snowboarding. Have a nice stay,” she said starting to walk
away.

Emily
watched as Maude slowly made her way up the stairs, smiling at the
two of them in the hallway. “Hey Aria,” she called.

“Yeah?”

“What
room is Maude in?”

Aria's
smile spread across her face, huge and amused. “Seventeen.”

“Son
of a bitch,” Emily said, charging into her room and throwing
the bags on the too-small bed.

James
stood in the doorway for a moment, winking at Maude as she put her
key in her door. “Maude,” he said, sounding like he was
going to laugh. “always a pleasure.”

“Aint
my pleasure you should be worried about,” Maude cackled,
slamming the door.

James
closed the door with a quiet click, looking around their room which
wasn't much bigger than the dorm room he had shared in college. There
was the bed with plain, plush white linens. A desk was pressed up
under the huge window, a small pile of stationary and a mug full of
pens there. Across from the bed was a small wooden dresser with a
large flat screen television on top of it.

The
walls were plain, letting the natural wood's beauty be the focal
point. The drapes on the window were white and sheer which would
allow a generous amount of light when the snow cleared.

He
opened the door right behind him, leading to the first room he had
seen in the entire lodge that didn't have wooden walls. The bathroom.
It was new. Updated. Luxurious considering it wasn't a suite. The
floor and walls were a pristine white tile which matched the vanity
for the sink. A deep rectangular bathtub was situated in the center
of the room, a stall shower with floor to ceiling glass panels in a
corner.

“Wow,”
James said, going back into the bedroom.

“Devon's
idea,” Emily said, standing in front of the window, watching
the snow fall, seeming heavier by the moment. “His family went
away to Napa for the summer and he... showed up and had all the rooms
renovated. They were awful before. They had plaid comforters on the
beds, old box TVs, and stall showers... with curtains.”

“The
horror,” James smiled, slipping out of his shoes. “How
did he get the money?” he asked, knowing it would take well
over a million to overhaul that many rooms.

Emily
shrugged. “When I say his family is rich... I mean rich like
your brother is rich. Devon's parents give him an annual lump sum of
money. Which he uses to invest.”

“Risky,”
James said, thinking about the laid back slacking employee at the
inn's front desk. Was he really that good with money?

“Yeah,
but he has like a sixth sense or something. Besides, he lives off his
paycheck from the inn. He rents a room above one of the stores. His
living expenses are minimal. So even if one of his ventures failed...
he doesn't hurt because of it. Anyway. Last year he made a good
investment that really paid out. He used all the money to redo the
rooms.”

“Was
his family pissed?”

“You
have no idea,” Emily laughed. “But Devon insisted that
with the upgrades, they could charge more per room. Besides, they got
it all free of charge. They're making out like bandits thanks to
him.”

James
made a mental note to have a talk with Devon before he was done in
Stars Landing. Help him realize his potential. “Alright,”
James said, reaching in the bag and throwing Emily's snow pants and
jacket at her. “get bundled up. I am going to show you up on
that bunny hill.”

“Ohh,
big talk,” Emily said, grabbing her sweatpants and the pink
sweatshirt and heading toward the bathroom. “I've spent
countless hours on that bunny hill,” she said, closing the
door. She stripped out of her cold, wet clothes, getting quickly
redressed. When she walked back out, James was lacing up his boots, a
pair of goggles sitting on top of the hat on his head. He looked
entirely too sexy all covered up in waterproof layers. “You're
going down,” she told him, grabbing for her gloves and hat.

“Oh,
I hope so,” James said, winking suggestively at her, laughing
when her mouth fell open.

Twelve

She
was losing. Despite knowing the landscape. Despite having practiced
on that particular slope dozens of time. He was whooping her ass on
his skis. Which made sense. He probably spent his winters in Aspen
and Vermont. Hell, probably more like Innsbruck and Vale with his
kind of money.

Emily
stooped down, grabbing a handful of snow and mashing it together. He
was still facing away from her, showing off. The second he started to
turn to see what happened to her, she cocked her arm back and let
loose. She had the satisfaction of hitting his cheek and seeing him
topple forward in surprise.

He
pushed himself back up on his feet, smiling devilishly. “Oh,
you're gonna pay for that.”

Emily
squealed, quickly turning away and pushing hard against the snow,
trying to put as much distance between them as possible. She skidded
to a stop by the ski rental, pushing down on the ski levers and
pulling her boots out. He was still a few yards behind her and if she
booked it, she could make it back to the lodge before he caught up
with her.

She
hadn't, however, anticipated just how determined he was to get his
payback. Just as the door was in view, she saw a blur to her side and
the next thing she knew, she was flying backward, hitting the fluffy
snow softly. James landed on top of her, wrestling with the zipper to
her jacket as she struggled. What the hell was he trying to do?

The
next thing she knew, the jacket was open and he was stuffing a
handful of snow down the neck of her sweatshirt, springing off of her
as she screeched, clawing at her clothes to try to grab the sliding
snow. She saw him sneak into the lodge and got up in a huff. The
freezing water was sliding down into her underwear. It was hopeless.

She
walked up to the door, stomping the excess snow off her boots before
going in. James was standing at the hot chocolate cart, scooping
something into two mugs.

“That
was quite the little foreplay out there,” Maude said, walking
past, her eyes bright.

“Oh
my god... it was not...”

“Tell
that to those wet panties.” Emily's mouth fell open, feeling
her cheeks start to redden. “Wet from the snow, I meant,”
Maude said when James walked up, holding out a mug of hot chocolate
with melting whipped cream on top.

“What
is wet from the snow?”

“Nothing,”
Emily said.

“Her
panties,” Maude said, whacking James on the back as she moved
past them.

Alone,
James lifted a brow as he brought his steaming drink to his lips.
“Wet panties, huh?”

“Shut
up,” she growled, walking off toward the staircase. She let
herself into the room, grabbing the extra change of clothes and
locking herself into the bathroom. She needed some time to prepare
herself for being alone in a room with him. Hell, maybe she could lay
down and get a nap while he explored the rest of what the lodge had
to offer. Then she could just... skip sleeping in the same bed
altogether. She could survive on three or so hours of sleep if she
needed to.

She
filled up the tub with scolding water and sank down into it until it
got cold. She could do it. Get dressed. Go into the room. Pass out.
Pretend he wasn't even there. She dried, slathered on the crazy
expensive lotion on the sink counter, and slipped into her warm gray
sweatpants and white sweatshirt. She hadn't even heard the door open.
Maybe he got waylaid by Maude or the promise of food in the dining
room.

But
the hope quickly vanished when she walked into the room and James was
already on the bed, changed, on his side with his eyes closed. Well,
that worked out too. She could just climb in really carefully and he
would never even know she was there.

The
memory foam mattress gave way under her weight, absorbing the
movement as she laid down at the very edge of the bed, turning on her
side away from him. She had barely gotten settled when his arm was
suddenly across her belly, pulling her backward to rest against his
body.

“Three
weeks and two days,” he said, his warm breath on her ear making
her shiver.

“What?”
she asked, trying to focus on breathing. On counting the number of
wooden planks in the wall. Anything but how his hips were cradling
her ass. Or how her head was tucked underneath his chin.

“Three
weeks and two days,” he repeated. “is a long time to lay
awake at night thinking about someone who is hundreds of miles away.”

Laying
awake thinking about her? No way. She couldn't picture James Michaels
thinking about someone other than himself. Besides, there had to be
eligible women wherever the hell he was. He certainly wouldn't waste
his nights thinking about sex when he could actually be having it.

At
her silence, his hand slipped under the hem of her sweatshirt to toy
with the skin of her stomach. “Don't even try to tell me you
didn't think about me.”

Only
every other minute. “Nope, not at all,” she lied, trying
to will the goosebumps back into her skin. Then his hands were out of
her shirt and on her legs, her hips, her butt... patting rapidly.
“What the hell are you doing?”

He
leaned over her, smiling a little. “Nothing... your pants were
on fire.”

“Christ
you're a child,” she said, looking up at him, shaking her head.

“Maybe.
Let's try that again with you looking at me. You cant lie. Not with
those eyes of yours,” he said, winking. “Tell me you
didn't think about me.”

“I
didn't think about you.”

“No?”
he asked and she felt completely on-guard with the strange,
anticipatory look he was giving her. “You didn't think about me
doing this?” he asked, ducking his head and sinking his lips
into her neck, right on the sensitive spot underneath her ear.

Her
breath caught in her throat as she turned her face to the side.
“Nope,” she said, knowing she sounded weak already.

His
head lifted, his eyes a little heavy. “Hmm,” he said,
looking at her lips. “What about this?” he asked, leaning
toward her again and pressing his lips to hers, quickly slipping his
tongue between her lips to tease hers. He pressed the kiss deeper
until her hand reached for the back of his head to hold him there,
then pulled away, eyebrow raised in expectation.

“Definitely
not,” she said, only opening her eyes halfway.

This
was not a game she was going to win and she knew it. He had barely
even touched her and she was a puddle of need beneath him. But that
didn't mean she wasn't enjoying the teasing, playful power struggle.

James
shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Really? Wow. So you
didn't think about me doing this either?” he asked, his hand
moving quickly downward, slipping between her thighs, and pressing
against her heat.

“Oh
my god,” she groaned, arching slightly off the mattress. She
hadn't been expecting that. She thought there would be more kissing,
or biting, some flirtatious caressing. But nope, the man went right
for the goods. She had to respect that. His hand was still against
her, applying pressure but not relieving any of the aching desire she
was feeling.

There
was a look of victory on his face as he smiled down at her. She was
too far gone to want to play the game anymore. “Tell me you
want me,” he demanded. Beneath him, she nodded her head, her
mouth slightly parted, so close to begging she had to bite the inside
of her cheek to stop herself. “No,” he said, lowering
until his lips were barely a whisper from hers. “you need to
say it.”