Chapter Three
Since, they’d fallen into an easy pattern. They made love in the mornings, then they’d drink coffee until around noon, then have sandwiches and talk. Then she’d clean the dishes while he made the bed and swept the floors. He’d load up on firewood for the day to keep them warm. Then they would cook dinner together, wash up, and go to bed. He’d given up any pretense of sleeping on the couch after that first night.
He’d been honest with her. “I want to have you in as many ways, as often as I can, before we have to go back to real life. You’re bewitching,” he’d said as they lay in bed, after that first time.
“That’s exactly what I want, too.” So far, he’d had her on the butcher block table and on the stairs. They just hadn’t been able to wait until they got to the top. She was passionate, eager to learn, and easy to please.
He dropped the firewood beside the large stone fireplace then turned to find her in the kitchen. She bustled around the small galley kitchen, pulling out plates and clean coffee mugs.
“I made our sandwiches and a fresh pot of coffee. Do you want to grab it?”
He tended to put the percolator in the fire to brew. It just tasted better that way. Using a pair of tongs, he pulled it out, then used a mitt to pick it up and carry it into the small kitchen. He filled both their cups to the brim.
By another set of windows on the side of the house sat the large butch block table. Unmatched stools completed the dining area.
“Come and eat.” She pulled a stool out and sat down. She’d created a heaping roast beef and cheddar sandwich for him, with less meat for her.
“Thanks, Liv. You didn’t have to do all this by yourself.” He took a bite and the sandwich was delicious. It was the perfect ratio of ingredients. “But your sandwiches are much better than mine.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him and took a sip of her coffee. Settling into domestic bliss suddenly made him a bit uncomfortable. “We should have a conversation.”
“Oh, damn. What’d I do wrong?”
“Not a thing. You’re exactly right, all the time. Which sucks that I have to say this, but here goes. This is temporary, you know that, right? We get off this mountain, we part ways. We can enjoy each other in every delectable way we can come up with, but once it’s done, it’s done.”
She slid her eyes to the left, not quite meeting his gaze. “You’re sure I didn’t do something to trigger this discussion? I know we’re not a long-term thing, but I’m just wondering why you needed to say it. Right now.”
“I always say it, at the beginning. Usually before the sex, but I think you knew then I wasn’t planning on making love to you for the rest of my life.” Not that he’d mind a perk like that. He just didn’t trust himself not to grow weary of the same woman and want someone else. Even someone as beguiling as Olivia might not hold his interest forever. “I know what it feels like to be left behind, and I never want to make someone feel that way. When it’s over, it’s an amicable, friendly parting.”
“In general, you mean. You give this talk to all your lovers, I take it. Why do you know what it feels like to be left behind? Did someone break your heart?”
“No.” There was a lot they didn’t know about each other. This would continue to be one of those things. He never talked about his parents or life in a system designed to meet a child’s physical needs but ignored their emotional ones. “So, what’s your next step? The snow melts—what’s your plan?”
“Well.” She finished chewing and swallowed, staring out at the snow. “I’m not going back to Jared, I know that. I couldn’t stay with someone who did that to me. My dad did that to my mom and I couldn’t live like that.”
Flynn winced at the mention of her father. His best friend. “Your dad gets around, I’ll give him that.”
“To be fair, so do you, from what I hear.”
“Yeah, but I never cheat. I end one relationship before I begin another, and I never have a relationship based on feelings and all that bullshit. It’s purely sexual for both of us.” He put down his sandwich, wondering why she wasn’t meeting his gaze. “Don’t you agree?”
“I agree that my father is a philanderer.” She lifted her mug in a toast to him before taking a sip. “And I appreciate your honesty.”
“I know it’s an uncomfortable conversation to have, but if you never plan to be in a serious relationship again, you should get used to it.”
“I suppose so.” She pursed her lips and shrugged. “It’s a small town and I don’t think I’d be comfortable with the reputation you have. It’s entirely different for a man to be known as the town bad boy than for a woman to be the town slut. Besides all that, after disappearing for a week with you, I may have that reputation anyway.”
He ran his hand through his perpetually messy hair, his appetite suddenly gone. She was right. It left her with far fewer options. That sucked but he didn’t know of a thing he could do about it.
***
He was walking by the window, a huge pile of firewood in his arms when he suddenly went down on the porch. Firewood flew into the air, going everywhere. She jumped off the counter and ran forward in time to see one piece come down and conk him on the head.
He just laid there, dazed, not moving. She grabbed his hoodie and put it on over her purple tank top. There had been only summer clothes in the box, so she had on a pair of denim cutoffs. She dashed to the door and pulled on a pair of his boots there.
Opening the door, she almost turned right around and went back inside. It was maybe forty degrees out, but the wind blew hard up here, cutting into her bare skin. Instead, she clomped with the boots around the side of the house.
Flynn was just sitting up when she cleared the corner.
“My God! Are you okay?” She ran forward and took his hand to help him up.
“What the hell are you doing, Liv? Get back in the house before you freeze.” A big knot was popping up on the left side of his forehead where the wood had hit him.
“Oh, shut up. I’m trying to help.” When he didn’t take her hand, she gathered up the firewood. “Stop treating me like a little flower that might wilt. I’m fine.”
He stood, putting a hand out as he wavered in place. He had to feel a little woozy after a knock on the head like that. All the same, the two of them got all the firewood and took off around the corner of the house to the front door.
Once inside, Olivia still shuddered from the cold air. She’d left the front door open when she lit out to help and now the cabin was considerably cooler. They’d need the extra firewood. She tossed down her load on the hearth, then threw two more pieces on the fire.
“Sit,” he ordered her. She settled in front of the fireplace, wishing her legs and face would stop being so numb from the cold.
She figured he was going to scold her again for going outside in so few clothes, but instead, she looked up to find him shaking with laughter. “What’s so funny?” she asked.
“You, running around in shorts and those boots, easily four sizes too big for you, bending over and exposing your ass cheeks for the world to see so you could pick up the firewood.”
She quirked her lips to the side, trying not to grin. “It was hardly the world—there’s no one here.”
“And me.” He laughed out loud then. “That piece of wood knocked me silly. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. I’m surprised I didn’t see little birdies flying around my head.”
She did laugh at that, she couldn’t help herself.
Sitting down beside her, he rubbed her legs with his hands, trying to warm her up.
She appreciated the gesture, but his touch was starting to arouse her. “I wish it weren’t so cold out. I’d love to go make it outside where the world could see us come together.”
“You’ve got a bit of a wild side.” He nuzzled her throat with his cold lips. “I like it.”
Olivia twisted around, throwing a leg over him, and straddled him on the hearth. He wrapped his arms around, cupping her ass in his hands so she wouldn’t topple off.
“Let’s go get naked, get under all those blankets, and warm each other up.”
He tugged on her hair, pulling her head back to give him better access to her lips. He plundered her mouth, making love to it with his tongue. He darted in and out, suckling on her bottom lip in a sensuous game that had her buzzing from head to toe.
“You really are wicked, you know that?”
“I’m just me. Unleashed, unrestrained, unafraid me.”
He stood with her and she wrapped her legs around him. He headed for the stairs. “You’re exactly right. Don’t ever change, Liv.”
***
She hated to see the snow melting. Flynn had said they’d be able to make their way home tomorrow. She still had a week of vacation left, but she should really get home and start dealing with details—like returning all the wedding gifts. She was sure Jared hadn’t bothered to do anything. Even more sure he’d let her take the fall for disappearing, even if Tara told him what she’d said to Olivia. That Tara had the audacity to slap her.
That still stung, the betrayal and violence from her best friend since childhood.
“Where’s your head at, Liv?” Flynn tilted his head to look at her. Up on the counter, she was as tall as him. Maybe had an inch or two on him.
“Thinking about going back to real life. I just wish we could stay here longer.” She shook her head and rushed on to say, “I’m not trying to convince you to be in a relationship with me. I promise I don’t want that any more than you do.”
“You’re really done with them, then?” He picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the soup simmering on the stove. “Relationships?”
“Absolutely. I won’t ever trust someone to be faithful again.”
He came and pushed his way between her knees, dangling from the counter. When he grabbed her waist and pulled her close, she gasped. Their faces were close now, close enough to kiss, and she tilted her head and leaned in close.
“What if we continued this after we got home? No strings attached.” He nipped her lips with his teeth then pulled back, arching an eyebrow. “Well?”
She snaked her arms around his neck and moved close enough that her lips just grazed his. “Yes,” she said, her lips moving over his when she spoke.
“You’re the most tempting woman I’ve ever known. I want to taste you, right here.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“I can’t believe you kept all this passion restrained for so long, but I’m glad you did. It’s a treat, watching you discover yourself.”
She tucked her chin down on her chest, and his lips pressed into her forehead. “You’re doing more than watching. I feel like you’re awakening parts of me I never knew existed.”
Taking her chin in his hand, he lifted her face. “You’re sure you can do this? No commitments, just spending time together?”
“I’m sure.” She thought she was, anyway. She never wanted to count on a man again, but there was something about Flynn that called out to her heart. He was waking up more than her sexuality. He was sending ripples of feeling out from a heart she’d believed to be numb to love ever again.
“I won’t sleep with anyone else as long as we’re together.”
Olivia put a finger to his lips. “Don’t make me promises. I don’t want them. That’s when things start to fall apart, and we’ve got something good happening here.”
“It’s just not a thing I do, ever. No offense, but… I love your dad, he’s like a brother to me.”
“But?”
He let his arms fall to his sides and turned back to the soup, lifting the lid to watch the soup boil. “But he’s kind of a jerk because he can’t just end things with one woman before he moves on. And he’s kind of a dick for marrying women he knows he’s not going to really promise forever to.”
Olivia leaned back on the counter, putting her hands flat behind her to support her body. “On that, we’re in complete agreement.”
“Let’s eat.” He twisted away to grab earthenware bowls and plastic spoons from the pantry. Olivia hopped down and started ladling the soup from the pot into the bowls.
She couldn’t let his words make their way into her heart. He wasn’t making her any promises—and she hadn’t asked for any. The fact that he didn’t believe in lying or cheating didn’t mean he was “the one.”
Even if he were, she was about a million miles from searching for “the one” she was meant to be with, anyway.
***
He'd carried her out to the Jeep, as the snow was still plenty deep in drifts and wet and muddy in other places. He couldn't help but think that people in their small town would have noticed that they'd both disappeared. His secretary, Annie, loved gossip and she definitely would have taken note. However, she was discreet enough that she might have played off his absence as a business trip.
“You're being so quiet. Is everything okay?”
“I'm just thinking about work.” A small lie—no use buying trouble. “I'm wondering if I got that contract for the hotel from Jared’s father. Probably if he knew how I'd spent the last week that would be a hard no.”
“That's a scary thought. No one can prove we were together, though.” She clasped his hand between the seats.
“Hopefully, contract or not, Annie has been able to manage things in my absence.”
“I hope it hasn't caused you any problems. I'd feel awful if I did that, Flynn.”
He brought her hand up to place a kiss on the back of her hand. “I'm sorry. I'm being a jerk—worrying about my business to you when you're going home to such a personal mess. You'll have to explain things to your mom and dad.”
She gave a heavy sigh. “Yeah. Hopefully, Jared and Tara have been running around town, making a spectacle of themselves, so no one really needs to ask why I left.”
“Sean will have guessed that I'm the one who helped you escape. He's no fool.”
“But he won't suspect what we've been up to. The whole waiting-for-marriage-purity thing will help with that.”
“Are you comfortable lying to them? You sure about not letting anyone know so we can keep things going?” He was an ass for asking her this when she was gearing up to deal with the biggest mess of her life. Still, it would hurt his business and her reputation if people found out. That's just how life in a small town worked.
“I've got this. My personal life is my business. I've let everyone have a say in it for too long.”
“And seeing Jared?” He tapped his brakes around a particularly slick curve. This was not a relationship, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry she'd go back to the little shit who'd cheated on her. He definitely wasn't tired of Liv and he didn’t want her to get hurt. The cheating ex-fiancé wouldn’t stop cheating just because she forgave him and took him back.
“If I'm lucky I won't have to. If I do, I really have nothing to say to him. He cheated on me for two years—it's all over. For good. I'll make sure he knows that.”
Relief flooded him, leaving him warm in the enclosed car. He'd had plenty of affairs. This was in the beginning where everything felt good. But it had never felt this good.
At the base of the mountain, an awful idea occurred to him. The possessiveness, the concern for her well-being… was this what it felt like to fall for someone? To develop…feelings? More than, “You’re a fun person and I’d like to continue fucking you?”
He shook his head. There was way too much going on in his brain lately. He’d never been an introspective person. He liked things to remain the way they appeared on the surface. Except, on the surface, this just looked like a mess waiting to happen. All the same, he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
In town, she put on a pair of his sunglasses as they drove through the streets. She’d pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail. The tricky part was going to be dropping her off, with her huge wedding dress, without anyone seeing her get out of his car. She lived in a small apartment building on the edge of town.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said. He’d been pondering this issue since they left. “What if I drop you at your dad’s place? We can explain what happened. His house is more secluded and you won’t have to worry about gossipy neighbors. Maybe you even have some clothes at his house?”
“Well, I don’t have clothes there because I haven’t visited my father overnight in years. I barely did it when he had visitation. His wife at the time annoyed me. But, yeah, you can drop me off there if you’re really worried about it.”
It could buy them both a lot of trouble if tongues started wagging in their direction. Yeah, he would take her to Sean, tell him about Jared cheating, about Tara actually hitting Liv, and being snowed in. He’d leave out the part where he’d basically started an affair with Sean’s only daughter.