Unexpected Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Series Book 1) (9 page)

Despite the easy conversation between them, Colin couldn’t help the feeling that something was holding her back. Andi seemed distracted and distant. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was definitely something going on.

“Are you up for dessert?” he asked. “The chocolate lava cake looks pretty good.” He pointed to the table next to them, trying to distract her out of her thoughts.

“I don’t—“

“Come on,” he said. “We’ll share. How could you pass that up?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I can move,” Andi said. “I’m so full. That was the most amazing steak I’ve had in a long time.“ She leaned back in her chair and when she stretched, her chest pushed out and Colin had to look away. She had no idea the effect she had on him.

Once he had himself under control again, he stood and offered her his hand. “Why don’t we walk it off then?”

She accepted with a smile and said, “I think that’s a great idea. I could really use some fresh air.”

Just feeling her skin against his again made his heart race. They hadn’t kissed or even touched since their shared moment by the fire earlier, but now he was like an oversexed teenager. He battled with himself. Part of him—a large part—couldn’t wait to get her back to the villa and have the opportunity to show her exactly how she made him feel. But there was something about Andi. He liked her, really liked her. And the more time he spent with her, the more he had to admit to himself that maybe Rose was right. Maybe it was time for him to settle down.

They left the restaurant bundled up in their coats and wordlessly chose the longer path back to the villa. Walking through the woods on the lit path, Colin reached out his hand and took hers.

“I was wondering if I’d scared you away earlier,” she said shyly.

Colin stopped short. “Me? Scared me?” He took her other hand and pulled her close. “Oh no, you definitely didn’t scare me. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

“Is that right?” She grinned and Colin leaned down, touching his lips gently to hers.

He pulled back after only the slightest touch. “That’s right,” he whispered.

She smiled, but then her face turned serious. “I need to tell you something. But first I need you to answer a question.”

Colin’s gut reaction was to put his fingers in his ears like a child. He didn’t want to hear what she was going to say. Not if he wasn’t going to like it. And he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like her question or whatever it was she needed to tell him. He swallowed hard and prepared himself to hear the worst. “What’s that?”

“I need to know how close you are with Blaine.” Colin stopped short. He shouldn’t have been surprised; after all, he knew the question would be asked sooner or later. “I mean, I’m pretty sure you aren’t going on weekend fishing trips or anything like that,” Andi continued. “But, it’s important for me to know what’s up between you.”

Colin dropped one of her hands and ran it through his hair, taking a moment. “Well, since it’s important to you,” he said after a moment. “The truth is, we used to be close. Really close. In fact, we were like brothers. We lived at each other’s houses, and spent all our time together.”

“What happened?”

“I stole his girlfriend,” Colin said simply. He glanced at Andi to see her reaction but to her credit, she didn’t look completely horrified. “We were nineteen, Blaine had moved away for college, and he and Katie were doing the long-distance thing. Trust me, it wasn’t planned, and it definitely wasn’t my finest moment. But I was young, and our friendship grew into more. I thought she was the one, and Katie told me she loved me and…it was a crappy thing to do. I know.”

“It was a crappy thing to do.” Colin looked up into Andi’s eyes. Instead of the judgment he thought he’d see there, he only saw kindness. “But you were young. That was a long time ago.”

“It was,” he said. “But these things have a way of sorting themselves out. Remember when I told you that I had a serious girlfriend who cheated on me?”

“Katie?”

Colin nodded. “When Blaine found out, he actually started talking to me again. I’m pretty sure it was only so he could boast about how everything was going so well in his life while mine was falling apart. And ever since, that’s been our relationship. Every time we’d run into each other, it’s always about how great his life turned out while mine has fallen apart. He’s never gotten over it.”

“I’m sorry, Colin.” Andi squeezed his hand and put her free hand on his arm. “But he’s not better than you. His life isn’t so great. Not always,” she said softly.

Colin flinched. “Does this have something to do with what you need to tell me?”

She nodded and spoke slowly. “It was a very serious relationship. We had our rough spots, but mostly, it was good.” She looked down, and kicked at the snow. “But then he left me when I needed him the most.” Colin’s gut clenched at the sadness in her voice. “It crushed me,” she said. “I thought what we had was stronger than that. But I was wrong.”

Unexpected anger boiled up in Colin at the thought that Blaine could have hurt Andi so badly. He tried his best to hide his feelings from her so she would keep talking.

“And when it ended, well, I kind of shut down,” Andi said. “The only thing left for me was work. So when the holidays came up, I came up here to hide. I couldn’t face it.” She looked down, and added, “And I can’t believe I’m telling you all of this.”

“No,” Colin said. He squeezed her hands and she met his gaze again. “I’m glad you told me. I could tell there was something on your mind at dinner.”

“You could?”

He laughed at her surprise and felt his anger for Blaine diminish. “I know, I can hardly believe it myself,” he said. “I’m not generally known for being very perceptive.”

“Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve been on a date, and I just thought it was fair that you knew what you were getting in to.”

“A date?”

She blushed. At least, Colin thought she did. It might have been the cool air.

“Well, I guess, I thought…never mind.”

Was it a date? It’d been so long since he’d gone on an actual date, and not just out for drinks and sex. “No,” he said. He leaned forward, letting his lips caress hers again before pulling away. “You’re right. It is a date. Our first date.”

“Well then, since we agree that it is a date,” she said, “I suppose I should tell you that I used to have a rule about dating.”

Colin pulled back just enough so they could continue walking, slowly now, towards the villa. “Tell me,” he said.

“I know this sounds kind of awkward, but I think I should put it out there because you seem like the type of guy who has different ideas on things.”

What the hell did that mean? Instead of asking, he said, “Just say it, Andi.”

“I don’t sleep with men on the first date.”

“And you think I’m the type of man who sleeps with women right away?”

She stopped walking and tipped her head, challenging him with her eyes. “You more or less told me that you don’t do relationships, and you’re an attractive man, so—“

“You think I’m attractive?” He smiled and she swatted at him.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” she said.

Colin shrugged. “I can’t.” He started walking again.

A few moments later, they reached the front door and Colin slid the key into the lock. Before he opened the door, he turned to Andi, and said, “I might have been that guy before, but I think that might be changing.”

“Change is good.” She smiled and it was so sexy and seductive, that it took all the willpower he had not to kiss it away.

He opened the door and waved her in ahead of him. Colin took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air and couldn’t help but hope that she was right.

CHAPTER NINE

The cold air blasted through Andi’s housecoat and pricked at her skin. Colin was already waiting in the hot tub and steam floated up from the water, creating a mystical cloud around him. It had been her idea to try out the tub since neither of them was ready for bed. And when she saw his hard, naked chest in the water, she was secretly very pleased that he’d agreed to it.

“Jump in,” he said.

“It’s cold.” Andi bounced on her feet and tightened the robe around her.

“I swear,” Colin said. “It’s beautifully hot in here. Come on.”

“Sure, it’s good when you’re already in.”

Colin laughed and splashed some water in her direction. “I’ll prove it to you,” he said, and before Andi could say anything, he put his hands on the edge of the hot tub and launched himself out of the water.

“What are you doing?”

“I told you I’d prove it to you.” Colin flopped into the deep snow next to the deck and started making snow angels with nothing but his wet board shorts on.

“You’re crazy,” she said, and ran towards him. “Get up before you freeze to death.” Andi reached out her arm to him but pulled it back before he could grab it. “I don’t think so. You’re not going to pull that trick again.

Colin jumped up from the snow and Andi took off running. She untied her robe and let it fall behind her as she leapt into the hot water. Colin was close behind, falling into the hot tub with a loud, clumsy splash.

“Oh,” he moaned. “It burns.” Colin danced around in the water and Andi was laughing so hard she didn’t even bother covering her face from the splashing.

After a moment, Colin relaxed and sank down into the water next to Andi, who was still laughing. “See, I told you it was hot,” he said.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said, when she was finally able to take a breath. “Are you okay?”

Colin wrapped his arms around Andi’s waist and pulled her close. His wet chest pressed up against her body fired all her nerve endings and she pulled herself closer so every possible inch of their wet skin was touching.

“I’m just fine now,” Colin said. His lips met hers, and maybe it was because of the fact that only scraps of bathing suits were between them, but the sweetness of their earlier kiss was replaced with fire. Andi let her body relax and wrapped one hand around Colin’s back. She let her fingers slide over his muscles before squeezing tightly. A sigh escaped her when he moved from her mouth, trailing kisses down her neck. Her body responded to every touch, with bold sensation. But when he reached the swell of her breast, she reluctantly pushed Colin away.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He stepped back, putting distance between them. “You did say that you liked to take things slow, didn’t you?”

Andi nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Well then,” he said. “Why don’t we have a drink?” Without waiting for an answer, Colin leaned out of the water to a side table, where he produced a bottle of wine and two glasses. He handed her a plastic glass full of red wine. “It might be a little chilled,” he said.

Andi took a large swallow. It took everything she had not to throw her glass down and press her body up against him again. It felt good to be close with a man again and with Colin, it felt like she’d known him forever. So maybe it wasn’t really breaking her own stupid rule if she slept with him. The thought flew into her mind, but she quickly squashed it. What was she thinking?

“Cheers,” Colin said. He held his own glass of wine aloft and waited for her to connect.

She cleared her throat, and said, “To new friends.”

“Friends?” He cocked his head.

Andi ignored him, and continued, “And Christmas.”

They clinked glasses and took hearty swallows.

“I thought you didn’t like Christmas,” Colin said when he put his glass down on the edge of the tub. “In fact, wasn’t it only a few days ago that you were trying to convince me how much you hated it? Don’t tell me my ‘Christmas Conversion’ plan actually worked?”

Andi laughed. “It did,” she admitted. “It’s still not my favorite holiday, but I think the company I’ve had has a lot to do with me enjoying myself this year.”

Colin put his hand to his chest in mock surprise. “Who, me?”

She flicked him with water. “Yes, you.” Andi slid down, letting the bubbles flow over her and release some of the tension in her shoulders. She tried to keep her mind off the half-naked man sitting across from her and the kiss they’d shared, which left promises of much more to come.

“Can I ask you a question?” Colin asked.

“Why not?”

“Well,” he started, “I know you don’t think much of Christmas. Or at least you didn’t until I came along.” Andi looked at him and Colin was predictably smiling. She laughed and took a sip of her wine. “What you didn’t tell me,” he continued, “was why you didn’t like it. I know you mentioned that you wanted to hide, but I get the feeling that there’s more to it than just the breakup.”

She looked away, up to the stars that filled the night sky. The thought of ruining their perfectly good evening by telling him her story of loss was too much. He’d feel sorry for her if she told him about the baby—everyone did. And then, whatever it was that was happening with them would be gone. No, she couldn’t tell him.

“I just don’t have a lot of good memories,” she said. “And I can’t remember ever getting a present that really meant something to me.” At least that part was totally true.

“Really?” Colin said. “Even from Blaine? He never got you anything special?”

Andi thought back through the years. Blaine had always leaned towards practical gifts and while she’d always appreciated the cappuccino machine and the bookstore gift certificates, they were definitely not what she’d call memorable.

“No,” she said. She drained the last of her wine and Colin leaned forward and refilled her glass without batting an eye at how fast she’d consumed it. “I guess you could say he wasn’t too into gifts.” Andi took another sip of her drink and set it down on the ledge. “Now, it’s your turn to answer a question.”

“Anything.”

Andi let out a sigh of relief, and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Pardon me?” Colin sputtered after choking on his drink.

“Sorry,” Andi said and tried to suppress a giggle. “What I meant was, why are you still single?”

“Oh,” Colin said. He put his glass down and moved across from her. He put his hands on her thighs and despite the hot water, shivers thrilled through Andi’s body. “I guess because I hadn’t met you yet,” he said, inching closer to her mouth.