Unexpected Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Series Book 1) (7 page)

“Hey,” Andi said as she skated towards him. Colin looked up just in time to catch her as she crashed into him, toppling Colin and the bench. Andi landed on top of him, knocking the air out of him. He expected her to be apologetic and tripping over herself with embarrassment. Instead she broke into laughter.

“Good catch,” she managed to get out. “I have a little problem with stopping.”

It took Colin a moment to get his breath back with her weight on top of him. When he was able to, he said, “Having fun?” He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her to the side and off him.

“I am. This is great. We’ll have to do this again.”

Colin stood and pulled Andi to her unsteady feet. “Absolutely. We can come back and skate again.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he swallowed hard. He shouldn’t have assumed she’d want to spend more time with him. After all, she was here on her own holiday too. “If you want to, that is,” he added quickly.

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to.” She sat down on the bench that Colin had righted, and started unlacing her skates. “I’ll kick your butt next time.” She laughed.

“You have an amazing laugh,” he said, and before she could respond, he added, “Here, let me help you.” Colin dropped to his knees and expertly unlaced Andi’s skates.

“So, what’s next?” Andi said.

“Oh, so now you’re into this mission I have to make you enjoy Christmas?”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t say that,” she said. “In fact, I still don’t think that ice skating qualifies as a festive activity. But it was fun. So if you have anything else equally fun planned, then I’m game.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Andi looked up at Colin as they walked into the clearing. “Okay, this is over the top Christmasy.”

The fire was roaring and situated among the pine trees. Picnic tables had been cleared of snow and were clustered at one end of the fire. They held thermos of hot chocolate, apple cider, and an array of snacks and toppings for the drinks. Log benches encircled the fire, occupied by adults and children alike. A man playing the guitar sat on a log, strumming carols that the group was singing along to as they sipped their drinks.

“You’ll enjoy it, I promise,” Colin said and squeezed her hand again.

Every time he did that, it sent a thrill through her. She loved the feel of his hand in hers. It felt like it belonged there. She would happily hold his hand all day. And if that meant going along with his crazy plan to convert her into a fan of the holidays, she’d go with it. The time she’d spent with Colin had been the most enjoyable she’d had in a while and she wasn’t in a hurry to stop it.

“We’ll see,” she said.

“Hey, Colin,” a man said, noticing them as they made their way to the tables.

“Kirk.” Colin let go of her hand and reached out to shake the man’s hand. He was wearing a baby strapped to his chest in a Snuggly. A baby in a pink snowsuit. Andi’s stomach flipped.

“You two know each other?” she asked.

“Well, not really,” Colin said. “We met back at the pond.” He turned to Kirk again and said, “Kirk, this is Andi.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Come meet my wife,” Kirk said, as he shook her hand. “There’s tons of room at the fire.”

Andi glanced over at Colin, who shrugged. She didn’t want to spend time with strangers, especially if they included a baby, but she didn’t want to be rude either, so she followed Colin’s lead and went with him to the fire.

“Sarah, this is Colin and his wife, Andi.”

Wife? Andi looked up at Colin, who had the decency to blush and offer a sheepish smile. When he didn’t correct the man, Andi turned to the woman who’d just stood from the bench.

“Hi,” she said.

“It’s you,” Sarah said. “What a nice surprise. Kirk told me about meeting your husband, but I had no idea it was you.”

Again, Andi shot Colin a look before turning and smiling warmly at Sarah.

“You’ve met?” Kirk asked.

“We met last night,” Andi said.

“She was the woman who helped Noah when he got lost.”

“I thought you looked familiar,” Kirk said. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you. It was pretty dark. Thank you for helping our son.”

Andi nodded. She remembered the happy family scene vividly. Sarah seemed like a nice woman, but the proximity of the baby was unsettling and she kept her body turned slightly away.

“Where is Noah?” Colin asked. “I’d like to congratulate him on his first time skating.”

He liked kids? Andi felt something inside her stir. She couldn’t remember Blaine ever asking about a child before. Sure, he’d been excited about their pregnancy, but he’d never gone out of his way to befriend anyone else’s child. Not that it mattered, she told herself. She wasn’t in a relationship with Colin. And she didn’t have children. It didn’t matter.

“That’s so sweet,” Sarah said. “He’s playing reindeer games in the field with some of the other kids.”

“Reindeer games?” Andi asked. Things were looking more Christmasy by the second.

Sarah nodded. “Isn’t it great? They’ve thought of everything up here. It’s the perfect place for families.”

Andi tried to smile. She hadn’t considered that fact when she’d fled to the mountains.

“Why don’t you two sit?” Kirk said. “Colin and I can grab some drinks.”

“Hot chocolate okay?” Colin asked.

Andi nodded numbly and squeezed onto the bench where Sarah pointed.

The fire was hot even from her position a few feet away and it only took a few seconds before she was warmed through and had to take her gloves and hat off.

“Isn’t it funny that our husbands found each other?” Sarah asked. She was excited, and from only the few minutes Andi had chatted with her, she could tell that Sarah was one of those people who was genuinely happy and sweet. Andi wouldn’t be responsible for ruining her mood.

“I think it’s great,” Andi said, with as much sincerity as she could muster.

“Almost like we were meant to be friends,” Sarah said. “You know, I just love coming up here for the holidays, but it’s always nice to meet new people.”

Andi stared into the flames. “How long have you been here?”

“Oh, only a few days. We’re leaving on Boxing Day to spend some time with Kirk’s family. All of mine are out East. We could fly out to see them, but it’s become a bit of a tradition for us to come here. And I think traditions are so important for young families, don’t you?”

“We don’t have children.” Andi swallowed hard.

“Well, there’s plenty of time for that yet,” Sarah said. “The two of you look so in love and cute together. I understand wanting to wait. You can never get those years back. Not that I’d trade it now, of course.”

“Of course,” Andi agreed. Sarah continued to talk about her kids and how wonderful they were, but Andi only half listened. Her mind was still on the comment Sarah had made about how she and Colin looked to be so in love. What would she think if she knew that they barely knew each other?

Before Andi could dwell on it any further, the guys returned with mugs of hot chocolate. “I was just telling Andi how you two have plenty of time to think about having kids,” Sarah said.

“Oh were you?” Colin said.

“Well, of course, I mentioned how wonderful they are and all that,” Sarah said, looking to her husband.

“Of course,” he agreed.

“But seeing another couple so in love and carefree like these two, well, I can’t help but think of what it was like for us once,” Sarah said.

Kirk leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. “We’re still madly in love.”

Colin slid onto the bench next to Andi and put his arm around her shoulders. Pulling her close, he said, “Well, I’m sure when the time is right, children will be a blessing to our love just like it has been for you two.”

Andi would have shot him a glare if he’d been looking at her. Instead, she jabbed her elbow into his rib cage the best she could. In response, Colin pulled her closer into an embrace.

“But for now we’re still having fun learning just as much as we can about each other,” Colin said. “Isn’t that right, darling?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, pumpkin,” she said.

“So, how long have you two been married?” Kirk asked. He unstrapped the baby, who had started to fuss, and handed her to Sarah.

“We’re newlyweds.”

“Two years.”

They answered at the same time.

Kirk and Sarah exchanged confused glances, and Kirk asked, “You don’t remember?”

Andi waited for Colin to explain. After all, it was his lie.

Saving him from answering, Carmen, from the front desk, spotted them from across the fire. She waved and started making her way through the crowd towards them. “Excuse us for a moment,” he said. Colin took the hot chocolate from her hands, put it on the bench and pulled Andi to her feet.

Andi shrugged an apology and was still stifling her giggle as they walked towards Carmen.

“Mr. Hartford, Ms. Williams,” Carmen said when they approached. “I just wanted to thank you again for being so understanding about the mix-up in the rooms.”

“Oh, it’s been fine,” Andi said.

“More than fine,” Colin added. “In fact, we’ve been enjoying a lot of the Lodge’s activities together. I’m determined to show Ms. Williams how much fun Christmas can be.”

Carmen smiled cautiously and glanced down at their clasped hands. “Well, it was most definitely a happy coincidence that the two of you had met before and I’m so glad it’s all working out,” she said. “I do wish we had more activities planned, but our event coordinator quit and left me in quite the situation.”

“That’s awful,” Andi said. “But it looks like you’re managing okay. This is a fabulous setup.” She waved her arm to encompass the campfire.

“I’ve been fortunate with my staff,” Carmen said. “They’ve really stepped up. But I’m just so upset that the Holly Berry Ball won’t happen this year. It’s just too much for me to take on, as well as running the desk, and it’s such a shame because this year would have been our tenth anniversary.”

“The Holly Berry Ball?” Andi asked.

“It’s our annual Christmas Eve celebration. We’ve always prided ourselves on providing a family friendly dance to celebrate the holiday season. It’s wonderful, but this year, I just don’t think I can pull it off on my own. I know the children will be so disappointed.”

For a moment, Andi was afraid the woman was going to cry. She was doing a good job keeping it together, but Andi couldn’t help noticing the stray hairs escaping her barrettes, and the dark circles under her eyes. Isn’t that what the holiday’s did to people? Turned them into big tightly wound balls of anxiety.

Her stomach turned, but Andi knew she didn’t have a choice. Even though it was a holiday event, and the thought of organizing something as cutesy sounding as a Holly Berry Ball made her slightly queasy, she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if the event was canceled. Not when she knew she could help.

“Carmen,” she said, before she stopped herself. “I think I can help.”

“Really?” Carmen said. She looked like she might leap forward and kiss Andi.

“That’s right,” Colin added. “Andi runs a party planning business.”

“And you really think you could help?” Carmen asked. “I mean, it’s last minute and all. The ball is tomorrow.”

Andi laughed and put her hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “Let me see what you have so far and I’ll make a few phone calls to my business partner. Last minute is her specialty. Don’t worry, Carmen. I’ll make it happen.”

“Oh, Ms. Williams, thank you so much. You may have just saved my job.”

“Please, just call me Andi.”

“I’ll have all the files sent to your villa right away,” Carmen said and turned to leave, but turned around again and grabbed Andi’s hand. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to dump this on you on your holiday. In fact, I was trying to find you both to tell you that because of our mix-up, we’d like to offer you a complimentary dinner tonight at Oliver’s. It’s ourpremier restaurant.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you,” Andi said. “But I may have too much work to do, and I don’t want to assume that Colin will be free.” She looked over at him.

“Nonsense,” he said. “We’d love to take you up on your offer, Carmen. And I’ll help Andi with anything she needs to get this ball organized. It’ll be fun.”

Andi smiled and looked at him. “You’ll help?”

“Of course.” Their eyes locked and something passed between them. Something that made Andi wish they were alone. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. An action that seemed so comfortable, and might even be normal in another circumstance. But normal or not, Andi liked the feel of her hand in his and the electricity that was passing between them.

“It’s going to be great,” Andi said. Her eyes didn’t leave his and from somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard Carmen excuse herself, but still, she didn’t look away. She dared him with her eyes to kiss her. He’d had his opportunity more than once today, but each time he pulled away. And despite all of her common sense telling her to look away, she couldn’t. She hadn’t used common sense since she’d arrived at the Lodge, and so far it was working out pretty good. But maybe she’d read the situation wrong. Maybe Colin wasn’t interested in her that way at all.

There was only one way to find out, Andi thought. She might as well be the one to make the first move. She’d never been the wallflower type. And like Eva said, it could be good for her to have a fling. She raised herself to her toes and leaned in. “This is going to be a lot of work,” she whispered, and inched closer. “Maybe a very late night.”

“I like late nights,” Colin said. His voice was husky, his breathing hard. Andi closed her eyes and bridged the last few inches between them, meeting his lips with her own.

The kiss was soft and tentative at first while they explored each other. When Colin wrapped his arm around her and pulled her even closer, any doubts she’d had were erased. She let herself sink into him. It had been so long since she’d been kissed and her body responded readily with a heat building in her core. Colin parted her lips gently with his tongue. He tasted sweet, like hot chocolate and peppermint.