Falling Fast, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 4) (17 page)

Glacier Pizza was a basic restaurant, the kind of place that looked lived in. It was low on frills and had amazing pizza. A massive brick oven stove sat in the center of the restaurant with an open kitchen surrounding it. A counter with stools circled the cooking area and booths lined the walls. The walls were decorated with photos from locals and tourists with one wall covered with license plates from all over the country. As she attempted to casually glance around the restaurant, she jumped when someone said her name. She looked over her shoulder to see Janie Stevens approaching their booth.

She breathed a silent sigh of relief. Janie might be curious, but she wouldn’t gossip at work. Janie’s brown hair swung in a ponytail as she strode to the booth. She stopped beside it and leaned her hip against the edge.

“Hey Janie, what brings you here?” Ginger asked.

Janie’s hazel eyes glinted with her smile. “Pizza, what else? I’m guessing that’s why you’re here,” she said.

Ginger felt heat spreading up her neck. Of course Janie was here for pizza. There wasn’t any other reason to be here. She was relieved for the somewhat dim lighting. “Right. Pizza,” she replied with a self-deprecating grin. “How’s Stella been?” she asked, referring to Janie’s adopted daughter. Janie was a long-time foster parent and had adopted Stella recently. Janie had been a few years ahead of Ginger in school, so she’d known her all of her life, but hadn’t started to get closer to her until they ended up working together at school.

Janie grinned. “Stella’s great. She’s busy at music practice tonight, which is why I’m here. She comes out of practice starving, and I’m too tired to cook much tonight, so pizza it is.” Janie’s eyes widened slightly. “You wouldn’t happen to be here for dinner with Cam Nash, would you?”

Ginger bit back her sigh. She
so
didn’t want her feelings to be obvious, but it seemed she couldn’t prevent it—within herself, or to others. Her back was to the restroom doors, but Janie was directly in line with them. “I would. Do me a favor and please don’t mention it to the whole free world at work.”

Janie’s gaze softened, a touch of concern filling her eyes. “Of course I won’t. I hate being gossiped about, so I’m not about to do it to anyone else. But if you think word won’t travel, it already has. I heard you two were seeing each other. He’s almost here, so I’ll only say one more thing. There’s nothing wrong with dating anyone. Enjoy it,” she said with a quick wink.

Cam reached the booth and paused beside it with a polite smile on his face. He glanced between Ginger and Janie. Ginger gestured to Janie. “Cam, this is Janie Stevens. She’s everyone’s favorite first grade teacher.” Ginger caught Janie’s eyes and nodded to Cam. “And this is Cam Nash. He’s helping Gage up at the lodge with getting the ski instruction program going and pretty much everything else.”

Cam reached over to shake Janie’s hand. She complied with a grin. “A handshake’s a bit too formal for me, but we’re probably not ready to hug yet.”

Cam chuckled. “Nice to meet you. So you must work with Ginger?”

“I do, and she’s everyone’s favorite speech therapist. How do you like our ski lodge?”

“One of the best. I’ve been all over the world, and Gage has done a great job with Last Frontier Lodge. Aside from the hotel part, the slopes are great and you can’t beat the view. I keep telling him he should be charging people just to ride the lifts.”

Janie laughed. “True. Not many ski lodges are this close to the ocean. You get the mountains, oceans, glaciers and occasional wildlife.”

Janie’s name was called up at the counter. “Be right there,” she called over her shoulder. “Gotta go. I’m due to pick Stella up in just a few minutes. Nice to meet you,” she said, her eyes catching Cam’s before she turned to Ginger. “See you around at work.”

Janie dashed off, and Cam slipped into the booth across from Ginger. His amber eyes landed on her and her belly fluttered, heat suffusing her. It was beyond ridiculous that she could hardly be around him without her body vibrating with the force of her desire for him. Just as she was gathering herself, a waiter approached the table. She was relieved for the interruption. By the time they ordered, her pulse had slowed and she could manage to breathe normally. While they waited for their pizza, she sipped on wine and Cam nursed a beer. She managed to keep her heart rate under control while they chatted about her work and his latest escapades with the ski classes. His kids group had erupted into a snowball fight that couldn’t be stopped the day before and only ended after Gage joined in.

Their pizza arrived, and Ginger started to relax. Between the wine and casual conversation, the edginess she felt whenever Cam was near started to ease. Funny thing was she didn’t feel edgy when their hands were all over each other, but that was because the force of attraction was so strong, it was almost a relief to give in to it. So much of the time she’d spent with him was when they were surrounded by friends, which meant she didn’t have to tolerate the anxiety she felt. She didn’t like how vulnerable she felt with him. It made her restless.

His eyes became somber and he set his pizza down. “If someone asked you what we were doing, what would you say?”

She managed not to choke on the sip of wine she’d just taken. She’d just started to think it was a good thing they’d actually gone out for dinner like normal people and then he had to go and ask that. She set her glass down and tried to calm her pounding heart. She must have waited a tad too long because Cam spoke again.

“Did I freak you out?”

She shook her head quickly, and his mouth lifted at one corner. “I think I’d say…” She ran out of words and bit her lip. “I-I don’t know.”

His gaze stayed on her. Something flickered in their depths. His shoulders rose and fell with a breath. “It’s just we keep doing what we’re doing, but I don’t know what that means. I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect anything like this, but it’s, uh, more than I expected.”

Her breath was shallow, and her stomach felt queasy. She didn’t want to feel the way she did. She wanted to just enjoy what was happening and not think about the potential ramifications—not think about how much he was gradually knocking down the barriers she’d erected around her heart, not think about how every time she thought about him leaving after this winter, her heart felt almost bruised, not think about how she couldn’t help but hope maybe, just maybe she could have a chance at the one thing she’d thought she’d never have…love. As long as they were drifting along, thrown together by the convenient circumstance of his job at the lodge and acting on the wild drumbeat of desire that pounded between them, it seemed like she could handle it. It was this almost surreal experience.

To have him try to put words to it made it seem real, and she wasn’t so sure she could handle real. Yet, he wasn’t dodging and she sensed this wasn’t easy for him. She managed a somewhat full breath. “I didn’t expect this either. In case you were wondering, before I met you I pretty much decided I wasn’t going to do relationships. At all. Casual or not. But this…
this
…with us is hard to ignore.” Her heart sped when she realized her words were tumbling out, and she was being more open than she’d meant to. He didn’t need to know her past and why she decided against relationships. “If someone asked you what we were doing, what would you say?” she asked, blurting out the same question he’d asked her.

He shifted his shoulders and took a swallow of beer. “Well, Harry told me today it looked like we were in a relationship.”

A laugh bubbled out. Of course Harry had to go and say something. Harry was the quiet observer of all goings on at the lodge. He didn’t gossip much, but he noticed everything. “What brought that up with him?”

The slightest flush rose on Cam’s angled cheekbones. “Apparently, he noticed the way I look at you. Oh, and he thinks we’re going to set the place on fire,” he said with a rueful smile. “I think he was trying to be helpful.”

Ginger couldn’t help but laugh. A sense of relief stole over her to hear Harry had noticed how Cam looked at her. She hoped maybe he was in over his head as well. “Well, was he helpful?” she asked.

“He’s the one who said I should talk to you.” Cam paused and took a bite of his pizza. After a moment, he spoke again. “Look, I have no idea what I’m doing here. Every time I think about not being with you, I don’t like that idea at all. So, I figured maybe I should say something. If you’re wondering, I’ve never had much of a chance for any kind of relationship. All through high school and college, I skied every spare minute I had. I started racing early and never stopped until Eric died. I didn’t have any plans when I came up here other than to find somewhere to ski and maybe get my head back on straight. I met you and…well…”

Ginger was oddly relieved he ran out of words. She’d gotten over the whole speechless thing with him, but she didn’t want to feel alone, the only one who was stumbling around in the dark with her feelings. His honesty warmed her, and dammit, it made her like him even more. She took a steadying breath and met those amber eyes of his that made her want to dive in. “I have no idea what I’m doing either. I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but I got married straight out of college. It didn’t go so well. I imagine someone’s said something to you about it because Diamond Creek’s not exactly big, and I have friends who stick their nose in my business. I know this because I stick mine in theirs when I care. Anyway, my divorce was final just over two years ago. It’s so embarrassing to be divorced before you’re even thirty. So maybe I wasn’t flying all over the world skiing, but I don’t have much experience doing the relationship thing the right way. I’ve got the ‘messed up, wished I’d had more sense sooner thing’ down.”

Her laugh held only a faint tinge of bitterness and almost no feeling left behind it. It was more habit than anything. She had learned the hard way to be careful. After she finished speaking, she anticipated that familiar feeling of vulnerability, of discomfort, but it didn’t come. Instead, she was relieved. Maybe actually talking wasn’t such a bad idea. She might have to thank Harry.

Cam’s eyes stayed on her, somber and searching. “So we’re both stumbling along then? I suppose that’s a good thing,” he said with a soft chuckle before his gaze sobered. “I’m sorry things didn’t go well with your marriage. That must’ve…”

“Been a shit show,” she interjected helpfully.

He angled his head to the side with a smile curling slowly across his face. “If that’s your description, there you go.”

She shrugged. “Sarcasm takes the edge off sometimes. Seriously, it was for the best in the end, but it doesn’t change the reality that I’m not any more experienced at this than you. I guess neither of us expected this, and here we are.”

He nodded slowly and took another bite of pizza. She took a gulp of wine and leaned back, the tension slowly easing from her shoulders. She thought perhaps they’d talked enough for tonight. She was so relieved she wasn’t turning into a ball of stress over it, she wanted to quit while she was ahead. “I think we’ve talked enough for now.”

His eyes widened and a slow smile followed. “Alright then.”

Feeling playful and emboldened, she kicked his shin under the table. He kicked right back, and she burst out laughing. Over the next few minutes, she sipped her wine while conversation moved onto lighter territory. The waiter came to clear their plates and topped off her wine. While she was chatting with the waiter about Diamond Creek’s local baseball league, she felt Cam’s palm slide up her thigh and had to force herself to hold still. He dragged his fingers slowly along the inside of her thigh, his touch hot through her leggings. Her face heated, liquid need spinning inside of her and moisture drenching her panties.

The friendly waiter—she thought his name was Bradley—continued talking excitedly about how he hoped to make it onto Diamond Creek Batters, her old team. He appeared completely oblivious to the fact Cam was driving her nearly wild under the table. Bradley was still talking when his name was called from the bar in the center. He stopped midsentence. “Oops. I’ve got some pizzas to serve. You two need anything else?”

“Just the check. Take your time,” Cam said with a smile. Bradley may not have noticed the wicked gleam in his eyes, but Ginger did.

When Bradley turned away, she caught Cam’s eyes and shook her head. ‘Stop it!” she hissed.

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

His fingers, which had been teasing along her thighs, dipped between them. He stroked a finger firmly across her, the sensation sharp and sweet. Her channel throbbed, and she couldn’t help but arch her hips into his touch as he dragged his fingers back and forth. When she had to bite back a moan and realized her knees had fallen apart and she was all but straining to get closer to him, she straightened in her seat and shot him a warning glance. “Behave.”

Though he’d been the one driving her mad, that subtle flush had returned to his cheeks and he took a gulp of air as his hand slowly moved away. She felt the loss of his touch all the way through her. Here they were, in the middle of a restaurant, a most decidedly public place, and all she wanted was to crawl across the table and straddle him.

Her pulse carried on in its usual uncontrolled state with Cam while she tried to get her breathing under control. Cam ran a hand through his hair and leaned back. Not a word passed between them and she felt more connected to him in that moment than she ever had to anyone. Somehow their conversation earlier had made the connection between them real. The living breathing force she couldn’t ignore and couldn’t turn away from now had words and feelings attached to it. They weren’t her words and feelings alone, so it wasn’t as terrifying as she’d imagined it could be.

Bradley swept by with a pizza in one hand and their check in another. He set it on the table with a grin. “Thank you! Sure you don’t need anything else?”

Cam arched a brow in question to her. She glanced up at Bradley. “We’re good to go. The pizza was delicious.”

“Definitely! Thank you,” Cam said as he slipped the check to his side of the table and quickly looked down. In a flash, he passed over the bill with cash. “Keep the change.”