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He knew Lori well enough to know that she wasn’t the type to jump into bed with just any man. That wasn’t the type he needed right now. “The last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable,” he said, and leaned toward her. “It’s just us, Lori.”
She glanced away shyly. “I haven’t had a relationship since college.”
He found that made him happy. “That’s hard to believe.” He touched her face. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Lorelei Hutchinson.”
“Thank you.” She glanced away. “I didn’t have time for a personal life. Gina and Zack needed me.”
“I take it Gina’s ex has caused her and you a lot of trouble.”
She nodded. “Sober Eric had a mean streak, but when drunk he was really scary. Even with his obvious abuse, it took a lot to convince Gina that the man would never change. Then one day he went after Zack and she finally realized how dangerous he was. That’s what it took for her to go to court and testify against him. After that Eric threatened to come after her.” Lori’s large eyes met his. “That’s why it was so hard for me to come to Destiny. When my father made the stipulation in the will about staying a year, I wasn’t sure if I could.”
“I’m glad you did,” he told her, unable to stop touching her. His hand moved over her bare arm, her skin so soft.
She looked surprised. “Is that because I rescued your project?”
“No, it’s because you’re beautiful and generous.” He decided not to fight whatever was going on between them any longer. He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers, enjoying that she eagerly opened for him. He drew back and added, “You’ve also taken time with Cassie. Before we moved here she didn’t have much female attention.”
Lori wasn’t sure what she’d expected this morning, but not this. “It’s easy to be nice to her. Cassie’s a sweet girl.”
“Hey, what about me?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t call you sweet. Not your disposition anyway.”
“Maybe I can change your mind.” He caressed her mouth again. “Is that any better?”
“Fishing for a compliment?”
He shifted against her. “How about we continue this without conversation?”
Though Lori wanted the same thing, they needed to get home. “Shouldn’t we think about heading back?”
“It’s barely dawn.” He started working his magic as his mouth moved upward along her jawline. “What’s your hurry?” His tongue circled her ear. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
She gasped, unable to fight the sensation. “No, it’s just that it’s …” She forgot what she wanted to say as his lips continued along her neck. “Don’t we need to leave?”
He raised his head and she could see the desire in his eyes. “I want to do one thing right and it only involves the two of us.” He arched an eyebrow. “But if you’d rather go out in that cold weather and start digging out, I’ll do it. Your choice.”
Lori knew what she wanted, all right. This man. But the fear was that she could never really have him. Last night and these few early hours might be all she would ever have. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. “I choose you.”
Two hours later, Jace stood at the railing on the cabin porch, drinking coffee. The sun was bright, reflecting off the ten inches of snow covering the ground. The highways would be plowed by now, but not the private road that led to the cabin. He had four-wheel drive on his truck, so they could probably get out and make it to the main road. It better be sooner than later before he got in any deeper.
He had no regrets being with Lori. Making love with her had been incredible. He’d never felt anything like it in his life. Even the best times during his marriage hadn’t come close to what he’d shared with Lori.
In just the past three weeks, he’d come to care about this woman more than he had any business doing. But he had strong feelings for Lori and that scared the hell out of him.
Worse, there was no guarantee and he couldn’t even offer her a future. He had no extra money. Hell, he needed to rebuild his business. He had to get things settled with the custody issue before he could have a personal life. The question was, would he be able to walk away from Lori? Did he want to?
The front door opened and she stepped out. “I wondered where you went.”
“Sorry.” He pulled up the collar on her coat and kissed her. “I was just figuring out if we can make it back to town.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting stuck here a few more days,” she admitted. “It’s beautiful.”
He wouldn’t mind pushing reality away for a little time with this woman. “That would be nice, but we both have jobs to do. Family to take care of.”
“Oh, gosh. Gina. I bet she’s going crazy with worry.”
“Tim called her last night.”
“She’ll still worry, and be afraid.”
Jace wondered who worried about Lori. Seemed she took care of everyone else. “Gina and Zack have Wyatt McCray, Lori. He’ll protect them.”
“I know,” she said with a smile.
His heart began pounding in his chest. The effect she had on him could be a big distraction.
“Thank you for giving us that peace of mind. You’ve been so kind.”
He wondered if she’d always think that. “I didn’t do that much.”
Those dark eyes locked with his. “You seem to be there whenever I need you.”
He found he might not mind being that man. He leaned down to kiss her when he heard something and looked toward the road. “Looks like we’re getting rescued.”
Jace pointed to a large truck with a plow attached to the front. It stopped a few yards from the door and Toby and Joe climbed out.
Smiling brightly, his foreman called, “I hear someone here might need a ride back to town.”
“Toby,” Lori cried and hurried down the steps Jace had cleared earlier.
He watched as she ran through the snow to get to Toby. She hugged the big foreman. Jace felt a stab of jealousy stir inside him, but he didn’t have any right to claim her. Not yet, maybe never.
After stopping to get Jace’s truck, the ride back to town took about thirty minutes. He followed behind the plow truck until they reached the highway. After Lori gave Toby her car keys, she got into Jace’s truck and drove to the Keenan Inn.
She knew she should probably go straight to the house but asked Toby to tow her car to the inn. Besides, she wasn’t ready to leave Jace yet.
When they got to the porch, the door opened and they were immediately greeted by Claire and Tim.
“Well, you had yourself quite an adventure,” Tim said.
Lori felt a blush rising up her neck as they crossed the threshold. “I guess I should pay better attention to the weather forecast before heading out into the countryside. I did discover my father has a lovely cabin. Thank goodness there was heat.”
“Where’s Cassie?” Jace asked, looking around.
Claire looked worried. “She’s in the kitchen. She’s with one of our new guests.”
Lori caught Jace’s frown. Then he took off and Lori followed him through the dining area and into the large kitchen.
She found Cassie at the counter with a tall, statuesque woman. Her hair was a glossy black in a blunt shoulder-length cut. Her face was flawless, her eyes an azure-blue. She was a beautiful woman until she flashed a hard look at Jace.
The child ran to him. “Daddy. Daddy, you’re back.”
“Yes, baby.” He hugged his daughter. “I told you we got stuck in the snow.”
Cassie looked at Lori. “Miss Lori, did you get stuck, too?”
“Yes, your daddy found me.”
The child turned back to her father and whispered, “Daddy, don’t let Mommy take me away.”
Shelly Yeager stood and walked toward them. “Hello, Jace.” She gave Lori a once-over. “It’s nice to see that you could make it back to take care of our daughter.”
“Shelly. What are you doing here?”
“I came to take my little girl home, of course.”
An hour later, Lori’s car had arrived and she got in and drove home to find a relieved Gina. She’d taken a long shower and gotten dressed in clean clothes, but couldn’t push aside the memories from last night. The incredible night she’d shared with Jace, then reality hit them in the face with Shelly Yeager.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Cassie and what her mother had said. Was she going to take the child back to Denver? No, Jace couldn’t lose his daughter. She wished she could help him, like he’d helped her.
Lori came downstairs to find her sister in the dining room working with Wyatt. The security guard was a retired army man in his forties with buzz-cut hair. She smiled. He didn’t look out of place pulling down twenty-year-old brocade drapes. No doubt this wasn’t in the man’s job description.
Standing back, Maggie was smiling at what was going on. “It’s about time someone got rid of those awful things, don’t you think?”
“The room does look brighter.” Lori had put her sister in charge of making changes to the house. Gina had told her a few days ago about the plans for the dining room. This was good since it had taken her sister’s mind off her ex-husband and any trouble he could cause.
Gina finally turned around. “Oh, yes, you look better now. Still a little tired, but better.” She walked over as Maggie left the room. “You okay?”
Lori wasn’t sure what she was. “I’m fine. We’ll talk later.” She sighed, not ready to share what had happened with Jace. “So what are you doing in here?”
Her sister smiled. “I hope you don’t mind. I decided to take you up on your suggestion and redo the room. I’m going to order some sheer curtains and light-colored linen drapes. Then I’ll plan to strip the wallpaper and paint.” She went to the sideboard to find the paint chips. “I’ve narrowed it down to either shaker beige, or winter sunshine.”
Lori tried to focus on her sister’s selection and push Jace out of her head. It wasn’t working. “You’re the decorator, you decide.”
“Well, since I’m going to keep the woodwork dark, I’m thinking shaker beige.” She glanced at Wyatt. “What do you like?”
Lori found herself smiling. At least something was going well today.
“I can do anything I damn well please,” Shelly told Jace as she paced her suite upstairs at the inn. Cassie stayed downstairs with the Keenans while her parents talked.
Jace knew better than to get into a fight with this woman. “I thought you wanted me to have Cassie until the first of next year. You were going to be on an extended honeymoon.”
Shelly glanced away. “Plans change.”
She was hiding something. “So you’re going to just rip Cassie out of school and drag her back to Denver? Well, that’s as far as you’re going, Shelly. You can’t take her out of state, and forget about out of the country.” He glanced around the large room and into the connecting bedroom. “Where is your so-called duke?”
Shelly glared at him. “His name is Edmund. And he’s not a duke.” She raised her head as if she was better than everyone. That was always what Shelly wanted to be, but she had come from the same background he had. “He might not be a duke, but he’s got money and a bloodline linked to the royal family. And he can take care of me.”
That always got to him. He could never make enough money to satisfy her. “I’m happy for you, Shelly. So why are you here and not with … Edmund?”
“There’s been a delay in our wedding plans. I might be having second thoughts. So I decided I’d come to see Cassie. And you. You were always good at calming me down.”
Something was up with her, and Jace was going to find out what it was. First stop was to visit his lawyer, Paige Keenan Larkin. No one was taking Cassie away from him.
That afternoon, Lori went into her office at the bank. She had to do something to keep her mind off what had happened at the cabin. She also had to think realistically. She couldn’t hold out hope about having a future with Jace. His ex-wife showing up in Destiny proved that.
The most important thing she had to remember was that a child was in the middle of this mess. That meant Cassie’s welfare had to come first. She had to stay away from Jace Yeager.
A sudden knock brought her back to the present. “Come in.”
Jace walked into her office and her breath caught in her throat. Would she ever stop reacting to this man? Her gaze roamed over Jace’s six-foot-two frame, recalling how she’d clung to those broad shoulders.
“Lori.”
“Jace. What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you.”
Once again she got caught up in his clean-shaven face. Suddenly the memory of his beard stubble moving against her skin caused her to shiver. The sensation had nearly driven her out of her mind.
He closed the door and went to her desk. “I thought we should talk.”
She managed a smile, hoping she was covering her insecurities. “There’s no need to. Cassie’s mother is in town and you need to take care of them. I understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand except I don’t want you caught up in this mess. I have no idea what Shelly is even doing in Destiny. She was supposed to be in England, married and heading off on her honeymoon.”
Lori stood. “Did she give you any explanation?”
“Only that plans change,” he told her as he crossed the room toward her.
Lori wanted to back away, to tell Jace to leave, that being together now could be dangerous. Instead, she rounded the desk and met him in the middle of the room.
It wasn’t planned, but she didn’t turn away when his head descended and his mouth captured hers. She surrendered to his eager assault and returned the kiss, hungry for this man. Finally she came to her senses and broke away. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Are we breaking any laws?”
“But I don’t think Shelly was happy when I walked into the inn with you today.”
“It’s none of her business.”
“Jace, you need to get along with her. At least for Cassie’s sake.”
He pressed his head against hers. “It’s funny. Shelly thinks I’m not worthy of her, but she has this need to interfere in my life.”
Lori sighed. “I’m so sorry, Jace.”
He drew back. “That’s the reason I don’t want you involved in this fight, Lori. Maybe it would be best if we cool it for a while. I have to think about Cassie.”
Lori knew in her head this was the way it had to be, but her heart still ached. She was losing someone she truly cared about. She managed to nod. “Of course. Besides, we both have too much going on to think that far in the future, or at least to make any promises.”
This time he looked surprised.
She moved away from him, or he might see how she truly felt. “Come on, Jace. We work together. Last night we gave in to an attraction. It might not have been the wisest thing to do, but it happened.”
He studied her a moment. “Are you saying you regret it?”
“That’s not the point.”
Jace glared at her. The hell it wasn’t. He wanted to reach for her, wanted her to admit more than she was. To tell him how incredible their night was. The worst of it was she couldn’t do it any more than he could. “You’re right.”
She nodded. “Goodbye, Jace.”
That was the last thing he wanted to hear, but he would only hurt her more if he stayed. He nodded and walked toward the door. It was a lot harder than he ever dreamed it would be, but he couldn’t drag Lori into his fight.
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