Snowed In with Her Ex (7 page)

Bree groaned and pressed the length of her body against him like a nuzzling cat. Ian hissed for a moment when her ice-cold skin touched his, but he was gentlemanly enough not to pull away.

“You’re freezing, Bree.”

She ran her palm over the hard muscles of his chest and leaned in to give him a kiss. “Then warm me up.”

“If you insist.” Smiling, Ian rolled over, pressing her back against the mattress and covering her body with his.

The heat and the weight of him were soothing. When he dipped his head to kiss her, she forgot all about being cold. His touch heated the very blood in her veins, the spreading warmth awakening her long-ignored body’s desires. She relished the slide of his tongue along hers. His every caress was expertly targeted to her most sensitive parts as though the almost decade apart had been just a blink of an eye.

When his thumb brushed over the hard peak of her nipple, Bree gasped. When he sucked it into the warm heat of his mouth, her back arched up off the bed. He was relentless in his assault, teasing her with his teeth and tongue as his hands glided down her hip and dipped between her thighs.

“Ian!” she cried as he made contact with her feminine center. He smothered any other sounds when he kissed her again. His tongue mimicked the movements of his hand, slowly sliding in and out of her mouth. She squirmed beneath him, panting as he drew her ever closer to the edge of her release, again and again, always backing away before she shattered.

Then he reached for the nightstand. Ian sat up to roll the latex sheath over himself, then slipped back between her thighs. He tugged the blankets up over his bare shoulders to keep them in the warm cocoon and then lowered onto his elbows. His mouth found hers again and with a subtle shift of his weight, he was pressing against her entrance. Teasing her. Toying with her despite the need he was responsible for building inside her.

But she’d already waited too long for this moment. Now, she would have it. Bree cradled Ian’s hips between her thighs. Impatiently, she drew up her knees, gripping his hips and drawing him forward. He moved with her and before she knew it, she got what she wanted. Every inch of Ian was buried deep inside of her. The moment was familiar, pleasurable, memorable...perfect. It shouldn’t have been. This wasn’t a reunion. They weren’t getting back together. They were just venting pent-up desires and emotions and frustrations on each other while the snow kept the rest of the world from existing.

But what would happen when the snow melted?

Bree closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. In this moment she didn’t want to let all those worries creep in. She just wanted to enjoy being in Ian’s arms again. Watching him play his guitar and sing last night had built a need in her that only he could soothe.

Ian eased forward and thrust into her a second time with a sharp hiss. Bree rolled her hips, taking in all that she could. Her body strained and flexed around him, her muscles clamping down until he groaned.

“Nice trick,” he said. “But we’re not finishing that quickly.”

Leaning down, he kissed her and started moving at a quicker pace. Eventually, Bree had to tear her lips from his so she could cry out with each pleasurable drive into her.

They fell into an easy rhythm, her hips rising off the bed to meet his every advance. The pleasure easily built up inside her again, this time with more intensity than before. He had toyed with her so much earlier that this release might be one for the record books. She clawed futilely with her short manicured nails at the taut skin stretching across his shoulders. She was trying to find something to hold on to, something to keep her anchored when her orgasm hit like a tsunami.

It was coming. Her whole body tensed, and her mouth fell open into a soft “O.”

“Yes,” Ian coaxed, recognizing the telltale signs of her impending release. “That’s what I want to see. Don’t hold back, Bree. Come apart for me, baby.”

He increased his pace and she hardly had a choice in the matter. In an instant, the dam broke and the waves of pleasure crashed in on her. She gasped, she cried, she thrashed and writhed beneath him. And when it all subsided, her eyes fluttered open to find he’d watched every moment of it.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, looking down at her.

She didn’t feel beautiful. At that moment she felt flushed and sweaty. Her hair was damp and plastered to her skin. Her lips were swollen from kisses and her core was throbbing from good use for the first time in a long time. She wrinkled her nose, smirking dismissively.

“No,” he argued, dipping down to kiss her. “It’s not up for debate. You’re beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen up close.”

At that, Bree laughed and pushed her hair out of her face. “You work in the record industry, Ian. There’s got to be a steady stream of
Tiger Beat
princesses and sultry songstresses in your social circles.”

“I know. And?”

Bree’s eyes widened and she swallowed hard. How could it be possible that she ranked up there with all the music stars at the Grammys? It was sweet but impossible. She reached up to his face and ran a fingertip down the bridge of his nose. “I think we need to get you some glasses, Ian.”

With a growl, he flipped, rolling onto his back with Bree sitting astride him. Bree squealed with the sudden reversal, their bodies never disconnecting. “I don’t need glasses and I’m going to prove it.”

His hands gripped her hips and he started thrusting into her from underneath. Bree braced her hands on the padded leather headboard and moved with him. His eyes never left her face and in mere seconds, his jaw was tight and his fingertips were pressing insistently into the flesh of her hips.

If he wanted to watch her, she’d give him something to watch. Bree arched her back, running her fingers through her hair and thrusting her breasts out.

“Just watching you move like that...” He half spoke, half groaned, his words interrupted by the powerful rush of his release. She rode out the storm, finally collapsing onto the mattress beside him in a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.

Ian scooped her into his arms and pulled her back against the hard wall of his chest. “Beautiful,” he whispered, planting a kiss on her bare shoulder as they both drifted off to sleep.

Seven

“A
ha!”

Ian poked his head out of the closet, the Monopoly game clutched under his arm. “Aha?”

Bree was in the kitchen, her back to him. She turned toward him and held up a handful of full-size candy bars. “You’ve been holding out on me, Ian Lawson. I found your secret stash!”

He laughed, shut the closet door and carried the game into the living room. “It’s not a
secret
stash. It’s an emergency stockpile. Are you telling me you don’t have a kitchen drawer filled with candy at your house?”

Bree planted a hand on her hip. “Uh, no. I use my drawers for utensils and towels. Normal stuff.”

“That’s because you don’t have Patty grocery shopping for you. She makes it her personal mission to keep me happy by buying me treats even when I don’t ask. She may have gone overboard this time considering I’d requested a bunch of healthy food this weekend for Missy. She probably thought I’d starve up here.”

“Well, we might with what I’ve found in the fridge.” Bree turned back to the drawer and opened another. “Oh. Here’s a bag of mini candy bars in this one.”

“Bring them. We can use candy bars instead of money for the game. It will make things more interesting.”

“What?” Bree’s nose was wrinkled in confusion, an expression that he’d always found undeniably cute and, at the same time, sexy.

Back in school, he would kiss the tip of her nose when she made that face. Now, he turned away and started unpacking the pieces of the game instead. They were far from that level of intimacy, despite having slept together.

“Each piece of candy can have a dollar value. Plain chocolate is worth five dollars. If it has peanuts, it’s a twenty-dollar bill. Crispy pieces are a fifty. Dark chocolate is a hundred. And the five-hundred is...one of the full-size bars. How’s that?”

“Gambling with chocolate. I like it. I get to be the banker.” Bree came into the room with her arms full of candy. “You’ll steal from the bank.”

Ian frowned. “What if I get hungry?”

“It will cost you some of your winnings.”

He loudly groaned in complaint but happily continued setting out the cards. “I’ll manage the properties, then.” He started laying them out on the coffee table by color. “Do we want to play the quick version?”

Bree looked up at him with an arched brow. “Why? What else do we have to do?”

A sly smile curled Ian’s lips. He could think of quite a few things they could do, none of which involved dice and paper money, but Bree had wanted to play a game.

She noted his devious expression and shook her head. “I hate to break it to you, but we are
not
going to lie around and do nothing but have sex until the snow melts.”

Ian knew that much. Despite how easily Bree had fallen into his arms today, she’d practically launched right out of them when it was over. He’d fallen asleep spooning her, the drama of the morning feeling as though it were a million miles away. Then he awoke a short time later to an empty space beside him in bed. By the time he stumbled back out into the living room, Bree was showered, dressed and suggesting they play a game. Like their encounter had never even happened.

He decided to go along with it. For now. He wasn’t entirely sure where they should go from here. He’d simply acted on instinct, claiming what he’d desired. There hadn’t been much thought or discussion put into the decision. All he knew was that he was aching to touch her again. He didn’t know if voicing that need would send Bree running into his arms or out into the snow.

“It’s either marathon sex or I’ll get back on my laptop,” he threatened. It was a hollow threat, however. Ian didn’t really want to get onto his computer. He would never admit to anyone, especially Bree, that he was enjoying his time away from technology. His calls were forwarded to his assistant. His out-of-office message directed people to contact Keith in his absence. General business operations at the studio were under control. That only left his personal accounts. Considering everything going on, he had zero interest in wading into those waters.

Before he’d shut everything off, he’d texted his mother and told her he would be out of touch for a few days and not to worry. No one else mattered.

That left nothing but a rowdy board game to distract him from his thoughts about Bree. And that worked for a while. An hour passed quickly as they collected real estate. It was something easy and fun to do. Ian couldn’t even remember the last time he did something as simple as play a game. It was nicer than he expected it to be, almost like stopping and taking a deep breath after running a marathon. And he had been running a marathon since he was nineteen.

Bree rolled the dice, then moved her piece to one of his green properties with a hotel. She groaned. “What’s the damage?”

Ian picked up his card. “That will be fourteen hundred dollars. Or, if you prefer, your Snickers, your Butterfinger and four of the mini special dark bars.”

“You’ve nearly bankrupted me.” Bree handed over the candy with a frown. “All I’ve got left is this crispy rice bar. And you know what?” She looked up at him and popped it into her mouth. “I’m hungry. Game over. You win.”

“Good. I’m hungry, too.” Ian unwrapped a piece of candy and ate it. The day had passed in a blur of drama, snow shoveling, lovemaking and board games, but now it was time for dinner. “Let’s see what we can come up with tonight.”

He climbed to his feet with his winnings and dumped them back into the kitchen drawer to eat later. He opened the pantry door and looked inside. He didn’t typically keep much there, but nonperishables would carry over from trip to trip, and as he’d mentioned, Patty sometimes went off script.

“Check the freezer,” he said.

Bree opened the door. “Hmm. Popsicles, a bag of frozen biscuit dough and...” She stopped to reach inside and pull out something. “Two rib eye steaks. They look pretty new. There’s no freezer burn.”

Ian took the package from her. It was definitely only a few days frozen with a packaged date stamp of the previous Tuesday. “God bless Patty.” A wire basket on the counter held a mix of potatoes and onions, and she’d bought some fresh vegetables. Together, they could manage an excellent meal. “Tonight, we eat like kings.”

Neither of them were experts in the kitchen, but things worked out pretty well. They thawed the steaks in the microwave while the potatoes baked in the oven. While they grilled the steaks, they steamed delicate haricot vert. An hour later, they had dinner on the table, complete with a bottle of merlot from his stash.

The logs in the fireplace were crackling beside them as a fire warmed the dining room. The food was good and so was the company. Ian had hoped for a romantic weekend, but this wasn’t what he’d had in mind. It was even better.

“I feel so guilty,” Bree said after a few moments eating quietly.

“Why?”

“It’s Friday night and I’m in the mountains eating a nice steak and drinking wine that didn’t come out of a box.”

At that, Ian had to laugh. “What’s so wrong with that?”

“I haven’t had a Friday night off in six years. Friday night is rehearsal dinner night. As we speak, the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Conner are just wrapping up their rehearsal at our facility. In a few minutes, they’ll be loading into a limo and heading downtown to have their rehearsal dinner at a fondue restaurant. I should be there for all of it.”

“Who’s taking pictures instead? Is the caterer pinch hitting?”

Bree laughed. “No. Amelia is doing prep work for tomorrow and finishing up the wedding cake. Natalie and Gretchen are decorating and coordinating with contractors like the florist and the DJ. We have a contract photographer we call for larger weddings or emergencies, like today. Willie is covering the rehearsal dinner and, thankfully, the ceremony tomorrow.”

“So when was the last time you had a whole weekend off?” he asked.

“Uh...” She hesitated, looking up at the ceiling as she tried to calculate it. “Not since college, I’d guess. I might’ve gotten a weekend over Christmas when people don’t want to get married, but that’s about it. The first few years after we opened, we worked nearly every day. Now, I get Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. That’s my weekend.”

Ian understood how it went. Starting from nothing took years of hard work, jumping in the ring to do anything and everything that needed to be done. “Considering all the grief you’ve given me about working too hard over the years, it sounds like the pot is calling the kettle black.”

Bree avoided immediately responding to his observation by taking a large sip of her wine. “Perhaps,” she said at last, “but I love what I do. When you love what you do, you don’t work a single day, right?”

He nodded. That was the difference, he supposed. Ian was working himself into an early grave because he had nothing else to do. He didn’t have a passion for record producing urging him on. “What about your personal life? Do you leave yourself time for relationships?”

“If you’re asking if I’m seeing anyone, no, I’m not.” She gave him a crooked smile. “A question that might’ve been better asked this afternoon before...” Her voice trailed off, her cheeks flushing red. “But no,” she said, clearing her throat. “I haven’t had a serious relationship in several years.”

Ian was relieved to hear that. He wanted Bree, but he didn’t want either of them to feel guilty about what they did. Especially because he wanted to do it again. “Me, neither. I mean, the Missy thing aside. Before everything happened with her, I hadn’t dated anyone for more than a few months at a time. And I wouldn’t have bothered dating her if she hadn’t dangled herself right in front of me where it was easy to grab.”

“Well, you know what they say about low-hanging fruit. It isn’t nearly as good or sweet as the fruit up high. You just have to be willing to work to reach it.”

Ian chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve certainly been going for the low-hanging fruit. I haven’t had time to work any harder at a relationship. It’s a shame, though. If I got one thing out of this whole mess with Missy, it was that the idea of starting a family really appealed to me. I just didn’t want to start it with her.”

“I don’t blame you.”

Ian sighed and sat back from his plate. Despite their discussion, he’d managed to demolish everything they’d cooked and still had a hankering for something sweet. He might have to go claim some of his Monopoly winnings before too long.

He looked up and watched Bree as she chewed her food and looked out the window. She was as beautiful as always, but their conversation seemed to have brought her energy down a little. He couldn’t tell if she was overworked, or if the lack of love life was bothering her.

“It sounds like we could both use a vacation,” he noted, trying to perk up the discussion.

The sadness slipped away from her expression, her thoughts returning to the present. Bree smiled and looked around at the cabin. “What would you call all this?”

This might be the closest thing he’d had to a vacation in a very long time, but that didn’t mean it qualified. It just proved to him that it took a blizzard to get him to relax. “I call it captivity. When I say the word
vacation
, I mean beaches, warm breezes and suntan lotion.” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Bikinis. Frothy drinks. Skinny dipping in a private splash pool at midnight.”

Bree’s eyes grew wider as he spoke until they were like giant blue marbles watching him. Her cheeks were tinged pink, her lips moist and open slightly. He could tell her mind had followed him to a tropical location with the two of them mostly nude. Then, in an instant, she stiffened up and regained her composure. “That sounds like a nice idea. You should go when you find a new lady friend.”

“What if I’ve already found a new lady friend?” he asked boldly.

Bree took a deep breath, her shoulders shrugging slightly. “I think we need to survive this trip before we start worrying about another one.”

* * *

“May I take your picture?”

Ian looked up at Bree with a frown. They’d loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up together, then he’d carried his glass of wine into the living room to relax. Bree had picked her camera up off the coffee table and started tinkering with it. Their dinnertime conversation had sent her brain spinning. A vacation? Together? Yes, they’d had sex, but she knew this wasn’t going to go anywhere. Did he? It didn’t sound like it.

When life got problematic, Bree preferred the buffer of her camera between her and the world. Because there was only so far she could go from the temptation and complication of Ian, the camera was her best bet.

Judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t expecting Bree to spring this on him. Especially after she’d awkwardly rebuffed his offer of a holiday in the Caribbean. “Why would you want to take my picture?”

She shrugged. She couldn’t exactly tell him her initial motivation. At the same time, as big a mess as this weekend was, she wanted the photos to commemorate it. “It’s what I do.” Bree reached for her nearby camera bag and pulled out a different lens filter. She held the camera up to look at him through the lens, snapping a quick photo to test the light in the room.

Looking at the shot, she was reminded how photogenic Ian was. He was a handsome man in person, with penetrating green eyes and a square jaw covered in evening stubble. His features were masculine but refined. His dark hair was thick and wavy, yet kept short enough to stay under control. Photographing him, however, brought out an aura of confidence and power. There was an edgy male energy in his photo. And if she looked closely...signs of long-term exhaustion and stress. She recognized that look from her father. It was the kind of bone-weariness that came from weeks and months of working at an insane pace. Success at all costs.

And that was why she couldn’t go to the beach with him. Once they got out of here, things would be just like they were before and she’d be pushed aside for his work again. If she was going to make time in her own schedule for a relationship, she wanted it to be with someone who was willing to do the same.

“Do you want me just sitting here like I am? Or would you prefer me nude?” he added with a wicked grin.