Chapter 32
Riley stood at the windows, watching the sunlight fall across the lake as she sipped her coffee. Gray was still asleep in the bed behind her, and she enjoyed the serene, peaceful break of day. A slight chill radiated off the cool glass of the windows, and the crackle and rasp of the fire she had started in the massive fireplace stirred a deep happiness within her.
Gray moved about in the bed a bit, and she turned to see him blinking and stretching. The sheet was pulled taut around his body like a toga. He looked like a Greek god again, with the linen wrapped so tightly around the lean, flat surfaces of his sun-dyed skin.
“Morning,” Riley said sweetly, smiling at him. “Coffee?”
Gray stretched again, and his sleepy eyes fluttered a few times. That adorable, vulnerable expression and the revealed smooth muscles of his ripped abdomen made her heart beat a little faster. They’d had precious little time for anything but work lately, and she hoped they would now have a new beginning, that they could somehow get back to the happy place they once were.
“I’d love some coffee,” he finally answered after a yawn.
Riley went to the silver tray to fetch the coffee carafe, then poured him a cup. She added the creamer and sugar to his liking, then topped off her own cup. She went to the bed and handed his to him as she took a seat on the edge of the mattress.
Gray sipped the strong brew gratefully. He ran a hand, warmed by the cup, down one side of her face, a touch that made her heart sing. “Well, since I’m new in town, what do you suggest for fun around here?”
A hundred naughty things came to mind. She studied him over the rim of her cup, a genuine smile lighting her lovely face. “There’s always the water.”
Gray looked toward the windows. “Really? As in…the lake?”
“Yes, but that water’s cold in summer, like you-need-a-suit-to-stand-it cold.”
Gray choked on his caffeinated concoction, then stared at her. “Say what?”
Riley laughed. “It’s freezing, but we do have a small boat we could take out on a sail. There’s one major plus.”
“And what’s that?” he asked, looking at her suspiciously.
“There aren’t any sharks in Lake Tahoe,” she said with a grin.
He chuckled. “Maybe there’s some prehistoric monster, like Loch Ness.”
She laughed. Positive this had been the best decision for them. “Seriously, Gray,” she said, then playfully tapped his arm with one hand. “Are you hungry?”
He gave her a wicked grin. “Maybe a little.”
Her heart raced when she realized he was hungry for something far more exciting than food, but before she could ask him to elaborate, there was a light tap at the door.
Gray lifted one eyebrow.
Riley grimaced. “We’ll definitely finish that conversation in a bit, mister,” she said over her shoulder as she walked over to answer the door.
“Good morning, miss. Would you like anything for breakfast?” Mrs. Gates asked.
Riley hid a grin, then looked back at Gray.
He grinned back, with impish little lights dancing in his eyes.
“I think we can manage ourselves, Mrs. Gates,” Riley said.
Mrs. Gates nodded. “Well, I’ll head to the market now, if you don’t think you’ll need me for a few hours.”
“We don’t…and thank you,” Riley said politely, then shut the door.
Gray was lying against the pillows, shaking with silent laughter.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“You,” he said, “trying to be all discreet and proper.” He managed to stop laughing for a moment, then asked, “Hey, where’d you get those clothes?”
She gave him a smug look. “From my closet. I kept them here because I don’t need them anywhere else. Do you like?”
He took a moment to look at her creamy, thick sweater in a shade of pale blue, dark blue jeans, and calf-high boots. She’d pulled her blonde hair into a braid that rested on one shoulder, a perfect accompaniment for her face and its amazing bone structure. “I do,” he said, “especially those boots.”
“Well, you’re in luck. We have a vast coat and outdoor boots closet. Let’s find you something to wear, and I’ll take you for a hike around the lake, so you can really see it.”
He slid out of bed, his lean body flexing and literally shining. Her heart gave another painful, powerful throb that was parroted by her sex. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to push him right back into the bed and demand that he take her, right then and there.
“A walk actually sounds really good,” he said. “I’m still pretty stiff from all those flights and the drive here.”
“You have some jeans, right?”
“I do.”
He strolled to their bags and found his comfortable blues and a shirt that was hardly warm enough. He shrugged them on easily, covering his incredible body inch by inch. Riley wanted to get outside, to get back in touch with something other than the ocean and sunny skies, but even so, she really regretted him concealing all his finery beneath that fabric prison. The second he put the clothes on, she wanted to rip them off him.
In the hall closet, she found a suitable pair of hiking boots and a thick coat, gloves, and a hat for Gray.
He laughed as he put them on. “I’m wearing more clothes right now than I’ve worn in the last year combined I think. I feel like the freaking abominable snowman.”
She gave him a level look. “I know. I’m like, clothes? You mean shorts and the thinnest bikini top I can get away with?”
“Yet another thing I like about you, Riley,” he said with a wink.
They walked toward the front door, and her mittened hand found his. They smiled at each other as they stepped out into a dazzle of sunlight that made them both squint. The light was white and intense, bouncing off the high faces of snow-covered peaks.
Gray let out an appreciative whistle. “Wow! It’s really beautiful out here, like some kind of postcard.”
Riley took a lung breath of air, pulling it in through her nose. Birch, pine, and lake water all mingled in her nostrils, wiping away the memory of saltwater and sun-blasted sand. “It is. Oh look! Eagles!”
Gray followed her pointed finger and smiled as he watched the bird. Then, suddenly, a worried expression crossed his face. “Do they attack humans?”
“Only if you’re naked in the woods,” she joked.
Gray’s face twisted up in disagreement. “It’s too cold for that, I think. I’m not sure I love you enough to risk pneumonia,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. C’mon.” She led him down the long sweep of the back lawn, toward the shore, which was strewn with enormous gray stones and flat rocks. The water was pale blue, practically periwinkle nearest the shore, but it darkened to navy as it arced toward the vast stretches of the lake center. The stones on the floor of the lake near to them were visible in the clear depths.
“Cool lake,” he said casually. Almost sounding like he was trying to be polite.
“It’s an alpine lake.”
“Oh?” He kicked a rock, and it spun away into the water.
“Come on. We’ll get you on the water, and you’ll feel better,” she said hopefully. The whole thing seemed to be going south somehow. They’d been happy in bed, but now, she wasn’t so sure. Riley wanted him to like the place, but she could tell he was not at all happy with it, even though it was clear that he was trying to for her sake. “So, uh… I was thinking about what comes next.”
“And…”
“And… Do you still wanna try to open our own place?”
Gray helped her skirt a large series of dangerous boulders. “I’d love that, Riley, but you know we can’t afford it yet.”
“I can.”
His voice silenced, and his face went blank.
Damn it! She hated it when he did that, when he just checked out and became unreadable and unreachable. Desperate, she rushed out, “Look, I know we agreed not to use my money, but why not? We could… Gray, with it, we can easily buy a place we can both live. We could get a little boat to take the guests out in, like you said. We can really do something with our lives. I mean, we have to eventually, right? We can’t stay here forever. People need a place to be, Gray, a place to…settle down and be something, and we’re not exceptions.”
He scratched his head, knocking his cap sideways a bit. “Do you have any idea where you wanna be?” he asked as he straightened his hat.
She paused for a moment, considering her options. “I miss New York,” she finally said, “but I know it’s not the place for you. I mean, no matter where we are, I could visit, right? Maybe we could go for a few weeks out of the year or something.”
“Yeah.”
She wasn’t sure if he was agreeing or placating or just being nonchalant. Either way, Riley decided not to press it. “Well, I was hoping you’d have a better idea than I had before. That whole random place-picking pretty much sucked.”
“Was it really that bad?”
It was an honest question, so she gave him an honest answer: “Yeah, it was horrible. I mean, that apartment and the beach filled with garbage and the hookers on the street in front of it… Oh, and let’s not forget the drunken guy who beat his head into the walls every weekend…or the goat.”
“I liked the goat.”
“That goat head-butted me in the ass, you know.”
Finally, Gray laughed a genuine laugh as the memory struck him. “I know, and you were mad as hell about it, but you gotta admit it was pretty funny.”
“For you maybe. That goat nearly broke my ass,” she said, wondering if he was changing the subject on purpose. “Anyway, I’m serious, Gray. I really miss work and friends.”
“Work? You mean you miss waiting tables?”
“No, not that kind of work. I just want something that challenges me to think and aspire.”
“Me too,” he said, letting out a sigh that had Riley’s heart aching for him. “Maybe we need to talk about this, but I—”
“There’s no maybe to it,” she snapped. She was beginning to get irritated, because Gray seemed to be acting like some kind of Peter Pan, a kid who didn’t want to grow up and face reality. They had things to sort out, lives to plan, and they had to talk about it, whether he wanted to or not. She didn’t really want to discuss it either, because she knew it was a Pandora’s Box that would likely lead to yet another argument. She had hoped to leave their fighting behind, but it now seemed that wasn’t going to be possible.
“Look, I know you’re right,” Gray said. “We do need to talk, but just not now, okay? I’m still trying to process all this, and I don’t really know how, if that makes any sense at all.”
She took a step back and stared at him, realizing he was right.
They’d been through a whirlwind of changes, both of them. It was easier for her, because the cabin and its surroundings were familiar, but Gray had never been there before, and he was still trying to adjust to all the changes. She offered him a half-smile and said, “Okay. Just as long as you know we have to talk about it sooner or later.”
“I know, and we will.”
“Okay.” She took his hand, and he squeezed her fingers, a small gesture that filled her with big hope. She didn’t want to push him, but they had to make some decisions. Together. She loved being with Gray, and she was willing to wait it out for a while, but she really did miss the few friends she had. She also missed being part of things that really mattered, like her charity boards and her pet projects. Gray had carefully avoided answering the question about a place of their own and using her money for it, but she hoped he’d change his mind in time. She hadn’t thought she’d miss her family, but she did. Gray probably missed home too.
Hopefully time wouldn’t ruin things before they sorted it all out. She loved Gray and wanted him to be part of her life. Forever.
She just wasn’t sure if their love was a tropical fever that would run its course and then be gone.