- -
- 100%
- +
“Then maybe old friends from out of town is a good excuse to see the local highlights.”
“As tempting as that would be, my schedule is really tight. I’ve got parties every weekend and several during the week until Christmas.” It wouldn’t be politically correct to tell her he wasn’t interested. “You’re better off checking with the concierge at your hotel.”
“I’m very disappointed,” she said.
“Me, too. You know what they say. This is the most wonderful time of the year.”
“Ho, ho, ho.” Miranda pretended to pout.
“It was wonderful to see you. Happy holidays.” He kissed each woman on the cheek. “Duty calls.”
He turned away and scanned the room, something he did frequently. It was a chance to make sure service was impeccable, that people were relaxed and happy. How he’d love to get a helping of happy for himself. Speaking of relaxed … He spotted a romantic booth for two and recognized the romantic couple occupying it.
Angie Anderson and Forrest Traub radiated love like a convection oven. That spontaneous thought begged the question: Where in the world had this recent poetic streak come from and when would he shake it?
He headed in their direction and when the two of them stopped gazing into each other’s eyes for a moment, they spotted him. After weaving his way through the tables, he slid into the booth against the wall on the seat across from them. The other side had plenty of room for several more members of a platoon since Angie sat so close to Forrest, there was no space between them.
“Hi,” he said to them.
“Merry Christmas.” Angie was a college student and a volunteer at the town’s teen hangout called ROOTS. In her early twenties, her shiny brown hair and dark eyes made her look like a teenager herself. “How are you, Shane?”
“Okay. What’s up with you guys?”
“I’m counting the days until classes are over and it’s vacation.”
“Even with studying for finals she finds time to help the kids out with the holiday letters for soldiers.” Forrest put his hand on hers, resting on his forearm. His hair was still military short and he had the muscular fitness and bearing of a soldier, even with the limp from a wound he’d sustained while deployed overseas.
“It makes me feel good to volunteer. What goes around comes around and I want this Christmas to be perfect for everyone,” she said. “It’s our first together.”
“It’s already perfect for me. Santa came early this year. I’ve already got everything I want.” The depth of his feelings for this woman was right there in Forrest’s eyes.
“Me, too.” Angie leaned her head against his shoulder for a moment.
Shane felt like an intruder at the same time he envied them. People Magazine’s most eligible bachelor chef had never felt quite so alone before and he was sure that information would surprise the inquiring minds that wanted to know. It wasn’t so much about this young couple as it was wanting to touch Gianna and not being able to. Denying himself the pleasure of kissing her under the stars seemed more than stupid when he looked at these two.
“Actually, Shane, I’m really glad they let you out of the kitchen tonight.”
“It happens every once in a while.” He grinned at them.
“We were hoping to see you,” she said.
“Planning to hit me up to cater your wedding reception?” he teased.
“Maybe.” Forrest laughed. “Seriously, we wanted to thank you again for all your hard work cooking such a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner for military families. Every single person said the only thing better would have been to have their son or daughter, father or mother home.”
“He’s right, Shane.” Angie glanced at the man she loved, then back. “We can’t thank you enough for what you did. You’re the best.”
“Not really.”
He knew it was meant as a compliment but he wondered whether or not they’d feel the same if the truth came out that he was the son of Thunder Canyon’s very own crook. He’d hurt Gianna tonight by brushing her off. If she knew the truth about him, she’d probably feel as if she’d dodged a bullet. Except for a strategically placed R, crook and cook were the same.
The burden of his father’s identity still weighed heavily on him. For now it was his secret and keeping it to himself was the only way to control the flow of information. That meant not getting close to anyone.
Or kissing anyone. Immediately he thought of Gianna. Even her name sounded beautiful and exotic. The fire in her hair and freckles on her nose were a contradiction that tempted him every time he saw her.
And he saw her almost every day.
Chapter Three
At work on Friday Gianna was crabby and it was all Shane Roarke’s fault. She’d seen him the previous night smiling his charming smile at the brunette and blonde, chatting them up as if they were the only two women in the world. That wouldn’t bother her so much if he hadn’t given her wine and food in this very kitchen and smiled his charming smile at her. Then he invited her to his place for a test run of a new recipe where he charmed her some more.
She loved being charmed but wished he’d kept it to himself because all of that attention had fed into her crush, the one now starved into submission because without fuel there was nowhere to go. She was doing her best to not think about him but that resolve was challenged earlier tonight when she’d seen him brooding. It was the same expression she’d noticed the night of her double duty, although what the handsome, successful, famous Shane Roarke had to brood about was beyond her.
She pushed through the double doors and he looked up from whatever he was sautéing. And that was the thing. He never looked up when he was cooking. The building could be on fire and he’d still focus on the food. A girl noticed stuff like that when she had a crush on a guy. For the last three days he’d ignored her unless special requests from a customer made a conversation necessary to get the order just right. Tonight Shane had looked at her every time she was around, no matter what he was doing.
Gianna ignored him as she put in the order for two salads with romaine lettuce and the most delicious croutons on the planet. The prep cook would toss it with Shane’s special dressing, then add freshly grated Parmesan cheese. She picked up the wide, shallow bowls and set them on a tray. As she went to the double doors to go check on her tables a feeling prickled between her shoulder blades. Glancing over her shoulder she saw a hot and hungry expression in Shane’s gaze. There was something up with him and she was involved.
As soon as she came back for the salads, she’d find out what was going on with him. After leaving the kitchen she walked through the maze of tables and stopped.
She knew these two, had seen them in here individually. Both were somewhere in their mid-fifties, and widowed. She saw they still had salad on the plates in front of them on the white, cloth-covered table. “Still working on those salads, Mrs. Bausch, Mr. Walters.”
He was a big bear of a man with the calloused hands and leathery skin of someone who worked outdoors. “When are you going to call me Ben, little lady?”
“As soon as you stop calling me little lady. My name is Gianna.”
“You got it, Gianna.” There was a twinkle in his blue eyes.
“I haven’t seen you two in here together before.” She was curious.
“This is a blind date.” Kay Bausch was characteristically direct. “Austin Anderson set us up. You probably know he’s an engineer at Traub Oil Montana where I’m the secretary to the company president.”
“Ethan?”
“Points to you, Gianna. That’s the right Traub. And there are so many of them that sometimes it’s hard to keep the names straight.” She looked across the table at her blind date. “Ben has known him since he was a teenager. Austin, not Ethan.”
“He’s a good kid,” Ben answered, his mouth curving upward to form a smile in his rugged face. “He was kind of lost after his mom died in a car accident when he was only a teenager. Turned out he just needed a steady hand.”
“That’s nice at any age.” Kay’s voice was a little wistful. “And now he’s got his wife, Rose, Ethan’s sister. They’ll have their first anniversary on Christmas.”
Gianna felt a twist in her chest that signaled a severe case of envy. She’d seen the couple in here for dinner and the glow of their love still radiated. It’s what she had once hoped to find and now had all but given up on. Still, feeling sorry for herself was something she tried to do on her own time.
“Apparently Austin is quite the romantic.”
“How do you mean?” Ben asked her, but the expression on his face said he knew where she was going with this.
“He fixed you two up. How’s that working for you?” She looked at Kay, then Ben.
His grin was full of the devil. “So far I’m not sorry I put on this coat and tie.”
“You look very handsome. And uncomfortable,” Kay added. “The effort has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.”
“Good to know. Because it has to be said that there’s no way to beat a comfortable pair of jeans.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” his date said.
“Something in common already.” Gianna nodded approvingly. “Can I get you anything else right now?”
“Nope. Got everything so far.” Ben was looking at his companion, who smiled like a young girl.
“Okay, then. Bon appétit. You two enjoy.”
Again weaving through the dining-room tables filled with people, she made her way back to the kitchen. Shane looked up as he was arranging shrimp in wine sauce over rice on two plates. Bonnie grabbed them, threw a nod of support, then left with the plates on a tray. She was alone with the chef and it was a sign, Gianna thought.
She marched over to where he stood in front of the stove and not all the heat she felt was from the cooking. “What’s going on?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you going to have me fired?” She folded her arms over her chest as she met his gaze. She didn’t know where the question came from but her luck had been so bad it was best to get the worst case scenario out of the way first.
The surprise in his eyes was genuine. “What?”
“You keep staring at me and it’s not a happy look. You’re going to tell the manager to fire me, aren’t you?”
“No.”
She waited for an explanation, but it didn’t come. “Then it’s my imagination that you keep watching me?”
“No.”
Again nothing further. He was the most frustrating, exasperating man she’d ever met and she had a talent for meeting exasperating men who frustrated her. “Then I don’t get it. I don’t understand what you want from me.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw and his mouth pulled tight. He was fighting some internal battle and it was anyone’s guess which way things would go. Finally he all but growled, “Then I’ll show you what I want.”
He took her hand and tugged her down the short hallway and into the large, walk-in pantry where nonperishable, industrial-size supplies were kept. Canned goods, jars of olive oil, flour, sugar and spices were all stored in here on floor-to-ceiling metal shelves. Shane shut the door, closing them in.
“You know,” Gianna said, her tone a little breathless, “you didn’t need to bring me in here to yell at me. Public chastisement is okay. I can take it. Just tell me what—”
The words were cut off when he pulled her into his arms. “This is what I want to tell you.”
And then he kissed her. His lips were soft, gentle, but there was nothing gentle about the effect on her senses. It felt as if a wave of emotions crashed over her and she was floating because her legs went weak. The scent of his spicy cologne mixed with the pleasant smell of oil, spices and fire. Blood pounded in her ears and the feel of her breasts crushed against his hard chest was simply scrumptious.
He cupped the back of her head in his palm to make the meeting of their mouths more firm, and the harsh sounds of his breathing combined with hers and filled the storeroom. She would have been happy to stay like that forever, but Shane pulled away. It could have been an hour or a nanosecond because time in this alternate sensuous universe was hard to quantify.
She blinked up at him and said, “Does that mean I’m not in trouble?”
“That’s what it means.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’ve been wanting to do that all week.”
“Really?” Since her thoughts were smoking hot along with the rest of her, Gianna had trouble pulling herself together to call him on the fact that he’d ignored her most of the week. Somehow she managed. “You have a very odd way of showing it.”
“You’re right.” He blew out a long breath and backed up a step, as if he needed distance to think clearly, too. “My behavior is inexcusable. Mixed signals.”
“You think?”
“I don’t think. It’s a fact I’ve been running hot and cold.”
“I noticed.” After that kiss she definitely preferred hot, but given his recent mercurial moods it was best not to have expectations.
“Personal stuff in the workplace is a rocky road to go down. It’s tricky to navigate. I was trying to take the high road, do the right thing. I’d never want to make you uncomfortable.”
“You could have used your words,” she pointed out, “said something. I know a thing or two about being conflicted regarding … personal stuff.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin a little self-consciously. In for a penny, in for a pound. Might as well use her words. Never let it be said she was a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do person. “I understand how sometimes it’s easy starting down a path, but the right time to turn off it can be tricky.”
“Very Zen of you.”
“Okay. Here’s an example. I dated a divorce attorney for over two years before we had ‘the talk’ where I found out he never planned to commit. Should have turned off that path a lot sooner.”
“I see.”
“Then there was the accountant who saw too many joint checking accounts split, not necessarily down the middle, by messy breakups. There’s a year and a half I’ll never get back.”
“Okay.”
“The college professor who said up front that he was a loner. That one is my own fault.”
“You’ve definitely had a conflict or two.”
“Yes, I have. As with my job, I can handle it. You don’t need to protect me. I’m a big girl.”
“I noticed.” His eyes were like twin blue flames with the heat turned up high.
“Don’t hold back on my account.”
“It won’t happen again,” he agreed.
“That was a very nice kiss.”
One of his dark eyebrows lifted. “Nice?”
“Location, location, location.” She looked around the storeroom and wrinkled her nose. “For the record? The balcony of your apartment has much better mojo.”
“Everyone’s a critic.” He grinned. “Let me make it up to you.”
“How?” She should be ashamed at being so easy, but darned if she could manage that.
“Meet me here after work and I’ll show you.”
“Okay.” Way too easy. The end of her shift wouldn’t come fast enough.
All it took was Shane’s kiss to make her crabby mood disappear. Probably not smart, but definitely the truth.
After making sure everything in the kitchen was shut down and squared away to his satisfaction, Shane turned off the lights. Only the security ones were left on, making the interior dim. The frenzied chaos so much a part of the food-service business he loved was over for the night and eerie quiet took its place.
He waited for Gianna to get her coat and purse then meet him here. Keyed up from work, he paced while he waited. Part of him hoped she wouldn’t show because he didn’t need more complications in his life. Mostly he couldn’t wait to see her. Fighting the temptation to kiss her had given him a lot of time to imagine what it would be like, but the actual touching of lips had been everything he’d expected and more.
What he hadn’t expected was her straightforward sass and steadfast spunk. The way she’d challenged him about how peculiarly he’d been acting had surprised and charmed him in equal parts. He hadn’t been surprised in a good way since the first time he’d seen Thunder Canyon.
With his parents’ blessing, he’d hired a private investigator to find his biological parents and the guy had narrowed the search to this small town in nowhere, Montana. His restless need to connect the dots about himself had been stronger than his aversion to packing himself off to that small town. The surprise was his instant connection to the rugged beauty of the mountains and trees, being drawn in by the friendliness of the people.
He’d grown up in Los Angeles, for God’s sake, where freeways, traffic and smog ruled. He wasn’t a mountains-and-trees kind of guy. At least he’d never thought so. But the connection he’d felt had only gotten stronger in the five months he’d been here. That was already a lot to lose, and now there was Gianna.
That saying—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—was a saying for a reason. And the sins of the father … The rest of the words eluded him but when sins were involved it couldn’t be good. Something deep inside Shane rebelled at the thought of Gianna knowing who his father was.
The kitchen door opened and there she was, wearing a navy blue knit hat pulled over her red hair with curls peeking out by her collar. She had a matching scarf tied loosely around her neck and the ends dangled down the front of her coat. When she smiled, the beauty and warmth melted the place inside him that had started to freeze over.
“So,” she said, “just how are you going to make it up to me?”
He wasn’t quite sure, but when the moment was right, he’d know. “You’ll just have to wait and see. Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
There was a rear restaurant exit and she followed him past the pantry where he’d kissed her earlier and the big industrial-size refrigerator and freezer. He opened the outside door and let her precede him, then closed and locked it after them. The area was illuminated by floodlights at the corners of the building.
“That air feels so good,” she said, drawing in a deep breath. “So clean and clear and cold.”
“How do you feel about a midnight walk in the moonlight?”
Her blue eyes sparkled with merriment. “I feel like that’s a promising start to making things up to me.”
The restaurant employees parked here in the back and since they were the last two to leave, Shane figured the only car in the lot, an older model compact, belonged to Gianna.
He looked down at her. “You don’t come out here alone after your shift, do you?”
“No. It usually works out that several of us leave together.”
“Good.” But tonight he would make sure she was safe. “Are you okay with leaving your car here?”
“Because someone might break in? I should be so lucky it would get stolen.” She laughed and the cheerful sound magnified in the still night.
“Is it giving you trouble?”
“Trouble is too nice a word for what it gives me. Every day I cross my fingers and say a little prayer that it will start and get me to work.”
“If it ever doesn’t, let me know. I can’t afford to lose my best waitress.”
“You might regret that offer,” she warned.
They walked across the lot to the sidewalk that bordered an open grassy area. At least there used to be grass. He’d seen the green before winter rolled in and dumped a couple feet of snow. During the day the temperature was warm enough that the existing snow melted a little, wetting the walkway. The sun had gone down hours ago and it was freezing, making the sidewalk slippery. On top of that, a light snow had started to fall.
“So much for walking in the moonlight,” she teased.
“I’m trying to feel bad about that. But for a boy from Southern California, the excitement of snow still hasn’t worn off.”
“All that sunshine and good weather must really get old.”
“It’s a dirty job, but someone has to live there.”
She laughed. “Still, there’s something to be said for Montana.”
“Preaching to the choir, Gianna,” he said. “And it’s not just the landscape or weather. The people in this town are good, friendly, salt-of-the-earth types.”
“I know what you mean.” Her tone was serious and sincere. “I met people in New York. Still have a good friend there who used to be my roommate. But the city is so big and impersonal. There’s an intimacy here that’s unique.”
“Everyone has made me feel really welcome, embraced me as one of them.”
“Thunder Canyon spirit,” she agreed. “But they can turn on you in a heartbeat if you let them down.”
That’s what worried him. But it probably wouldn’t happen tonight. He made a deliberate decision to change the subject. “So, we had a pretty good crowd in the restaurant.”
“We did.” She glanced up at him. “Were you mad enough to spit when that man sent his steak back twice because it wasn’t mooing on the plate?”
He shrugged. “People pay a lot of money for service and food. It’s my job to make sure they’re satisfied.”
“For every persnickety person, there’s a Ben Walters and Kay Bausch.”
“I don’t think I know them.” When she slipped a little on the sidewalk, he took her hand and slid it through the bend of his elbow. It wasn’t an excuse to stay connected. Not really. He was responsible for keeping her safe.
“Ben is in his mid-fifties, a rancher born and raised here. He’s a widower. Kay is a transplant from Midland, Texas. She works for Ethan Traub and came with him when he opened Traub Oil Montana. She’s a widow.” She sighed. “I was their waitress tonight.”
“Nice people?”
“Very. And the best part is they were on a blind date. Austin Anderson fixed them up.”
“Angie’s brother?”
“Yeah. It’s really sweet. And I can’t help wondering if the two of them were meant to meet and find a second chance at happiness. Romantic drivel, I know.”
“Not here. To me it sounds like just another day in Thunder Canyon.”
“On the surface that’s sort of a cynical remark,” she observed. “But digging deeper, I can see the compliment buried in the words.”
They were walking by one of the resort’s Christmas displays with lighted reindeer and Santa Claus in his sleigh. Animal heads moved back and forth and Rudolph’s nose was bright red. The big guy with the white beard moved his hand in a wave. Old-fashioned, ornate streetlamps lined the walkways and the buildings were outlined with white lights.
“This is really a magical place, especially this time of year,” he said.
“I know.” There was a wistful tone to her voice as she stared at the decorations. “What is Santa bringing you this year? A Rolls Royce? 3-D TV with state-of-the-art sound system? Really expensive toys?”
Material things he had. And more money than he knew what to do with had paid for a private investigator to dig up information. But it was what money couldn’t buy that made him feel so empty.
“I actually haven’t written my letter to Santa yet.”
“I see.” She stared at the jolly fat man turning his head and waving. “Have you been naughty? Or nice?”
“Good question.”
The mischief in her eyes turned his thoughts to other things and he looked at her mouth. The memory of those full lips so soft and giving convinced him that this was the right moment to make it up to her for not taking advantage of the romantic mojo on his balcony.
Shane lowered his head for a kiss, just the barest touch. He tasted strawberry lip gloss and snowflakes, the sexiest combination he could imagine. And he could imagine quite a bit. His heart rate kicked up and his breathing went right along with it. Gianna’s did, too, judging by the white clouds billowing between them.
No part of their bodies were touching and she must have found that as dissatisfying as he did. She lifted her arms and put them around his neck, but when she moved, her foot slid on the sidewalk and she started to fall.
Shane shifted to catch her but couldn’t get traction on the icy surface and knew both of them were going down. He managed to shift his body and take the brunt of the fall on his back in the snow while Gianna landed on top of him with a startled squeal. Then she started laughing.