It wasn’t the first time in Jace’s life that a warm, wet tongue woke him up from a deep sleep, but it was just too bad for him that it was Katie and not a naked woman. He opened his eyes to find the dog hovering over him, tongue lolling out, clearly ready for the day to start.

“Why can’t you wake up your actual owner? And not me?” He asked groggily, his voice rough from sleep.

Katie’s answer was to give him another full on face lick.

“Come here,” he said as he pulled her down next to him, giving her a good belly scratch. She wiggled around, legs flailing in joy.

As he gave her a good dose of morning pets, he let his eyes adjust. It didn’t take long as there was only a little bit of light coming in through the windows. What with the storm currently moving over them, there was no telling what time it was. Rolling over, he looked at the alarm clock to see that it was close to seven thirty.

There was no use in trying to go back to bed, not only because it would be almost impossible for him to fall back asleep, but he also knew Katie wasn’t going to leave him alone until he let her out. He was well used to this routine, so much so that he’d left his door cracked the night before so she could push it open. Since Katie was a puppy, whenever he was on vacation with the James family, she’d track him down every morning for a cuddle session and to let her out. It hadn’t changed in the last four years.

“You want to go outside, pretty girl?” Jace asked as he scratched under her neck. Her tail started to thump a steady beat against the mattress in a clear yes. “Okay, okay. Let me put some clothes on and get the coffee going.”

The second he stopped his ministrations, Katie rolled over and excitedly jumped down, running around in circles as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He took a second to stretch, loosening the tension in his shoulders and back that had settled in while he’d been sleeping.

Slowly standing up, he grabbed the pair of sweats he’d tossed on the chair by his bed, and pulled them over the pair of boxers he’d slept in. He didn’t usually sleep clothed, but had opted against being nude as he was no longer by himself. No need to take the risk of accidentally flashing Adele.

He didn’t even want to know how that would go over.

First stop was a quick run to the bathroom. After that, he rummaged around in the dresser he’d unpacked his clothes into, finding a clean shirt and a pair of thick socks. Grabbing his knit cap, he pulled it over his head as he headed down the hallway.

The door at the end was opened just wide enough for Katie’s body to slip through. Adele was also fully aware of the routine, which was why she hadn’t fully shut her door. Jace peeked his head in to see her sound asleep. She lay on her stomach, one arm stretched high above her head, while the other was wrapped around a pillow. Her hair of many colors was spread out and across the sheets. She looked so peaceful…and maybe just a little bit vulnerable.

That protective feeling he’d long ago associated with her kicked up in his chest. He was glad she was here, away from all of that shit that had gone down with Troy. Stupid fucker. He didn’t deserve her, a fact that Jace had known from the start, not that he was planning to mention that to Adele again. The topic was embargoed after all.

He was glad she was still asleep though; she needed a good night’s rest. He had the feeling she probably hadn’t gotten one the last couple of days. Just another thing that made him despise Troy. Because really, what kind of a half-brained ass clown would cheat on Adele James?

It just didn’t make any sense. She was the kind of girl that a man would be an idiot to let go of once he had her.

Grabbing the handle, he gently pulled the door to the threshold trying to keep it from making any noises as it shut. Then he headed to the kitchen to get a pot of coffee going. Katie was at his side the whole time, resuming her role as his shadow. He did suspect this was partly because whenever he was in the kitchen she was usually given treats, but she wasn’t going to get anything out of him until after they went outside.

It took a couple of minutes to get the coffee maker set, but when the coffee started percolating, Jace headed for the front door. His outer gear was all where he’d left it the night before, his jacket hung up on the rack and his boots sitting on the floor. Once everything was all laced and buttoned up, he dug the gloves out of the pockets of his jacket and pulled them on.

“Ready?” He asked Katie who was not too patiently dancing around him. The second he had the alarm off, the deadbolt flipped, and the door open, she was off like a shotgun, sprinting from the deck and bounding into the snow. Jace followed, closing the door behind him as he walked to the edge of the deck.

The weatherman had predicted correctly, the ground was covered with well over a foot of snow and flurries were still lightly coming down. He pulled at the rim of his knit cap, covering his ears. The frigid air was biting at his skin and his breath fogged with every exhale. There most likely wouldn’t be any sun that day, just gray clouds, strong winds, and the promise of more snow.

Katie continued running around, bouncing in and out of the snow. Whenever her head would pop up, her face was covered in white. She played for a good fifteen minutes, chasing after the purple rubber football that he found on the porch. She’d bring it back to Jace, dropping it at his feet before jumping off the stairs again. Somewhere in between her sprints around the yard, she took her morning bathroom break.

It wasn’t until she was good and over the cold when she finally came back up the steps, bypassing Jace with the purple football in her mouth and heading for the front door.

“I see you’re done,” he said as he followed behind her and reached for the handle.

Warm air wrapped around them as they stepped inside. Ever the good girl, Katie stayed by his side, waiting for him to dry her off from all of the snow that had melted on her fur. He grabbed the towel from the coatrack and gave her a good rub down, something that got her all riled up again.

Katie dropped the football and tried to grab onto the edge of the towel, now wanting to start a game of tug-o-war.

“Coffee first. Then we can play,” he told her as he kicked off his boots and pulled the cap from his head.

But apparently Katie didn’t like that answer, because as he bent down to move his shoes out of the way, she grabbed one and sprinted out of the entryway.

“Hey! Drop that!” Jace tore off after her, his sock glad feet sliding slightly on the hardwood floors as he rounded the corner. “Katie! Come back!” He shout-whispered, aware that Adele was still sleeping.

But come back she did not. Instead she headed for the hallway and he was right behind her when she burst through the door of the bedroom Adele was staying. Apparently he hadn’t shut it all the way earlier.

Jace stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide as his brain short circuited and all of the air escaped his lungs. He forgot how to breathe.

Adele was no longer asleep. Nope. She was very much awake, standing in the middle of the room and wearing nothing except a pair of bright red lace panties. He might have lost the ability to breathe, but his eyes were sure as hell still working.

Shapely thighs, curvy hips, a flat belly, and breasts that promised to be much more than a generous handful, topped with rosy nipples.

Adele had tattoos, Jace knew about two of them, the threaded needle with a stitched heart over her right wrist and the bow at the back of her neck. But he’d never seen the intricate dress form that was inked along her left side. It started about mid-way on her ribs and went down to the top of her hip.

Five seconds. It couldn’t have been more than that from the moment Katie had burst through the door to when Adele grabbed the robe from the bed and covered herself as she started screaming.

“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”

Reaching for the handle, he wrenched the door towards him, and it slammed shut. This time it was most definitely closed.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity. Fuck.

What the hell had just happened? He’d seen Adele naked that was what had just happened. Well, almost naked. She had been wearing that bright red scrap of lace, a scrap of lace that kept absolutely nothing to the imagination. No, instead his mind was now imagining a whole host of things that it shouldn’t be.

Like what her thighs would feel like underneath his hands. What it would be like to trace over that tattoo with his fingertips. How soft the undersides of her breasts would be. What her nipples would taste like.

Basically, all things he shouldn’t be imagining.

This was Adele, for chrissakes. She was off-limits. Always had been. Not unless he wanted to die a slow painful death at the hands of his best friend.

This. Was. Not. Happening.

Jace had just seen her naked.

Naked.

N-A-K-E-D.

Was the universe in on some cosmic joke and Adele was the punch line? Because this was getting ridiculous. She was never going to be able to look him in the eyes again. Ever. Again. She was just going to be in a constant state of mortification whenever she was around him.

Oh, who the hell was she kidding? Once she was able to escape this cabin, she was never going to see him again. After this, they were going to part ways forever. That was just how it was going to have to be.

After pulling on a pair of floral yoga pants and a long-sleeved, black and white stripped T-shirt, she dug a pair of purple fuzzy socks out of her suitcase. Then she pulled her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head and took a deep, steadying breath, fortifying herself for the conversation that was about to happen.

She’d hide out in her room if she could, but she needed coffee—most importantly—and breakfast. Plus, she needed to feed Katie, the four-legged accomplice for what would from now on be referred to as the incident. The dog in question was currently lying down in front of the door waiting to go outside…where he was.

Opening the door, Adele and Katie headed out into the hallway. There were a couple of seconds where she wanted to turn right back around and retreat into her room. But the smell of freshly brewed coffee was too strong of a lure. It was actually what had woken her up in the first place.

Besides, she knew it would be better to just rip off the Band-Aid and not let things fester. She needed to keep reminding herself of that fact as Jace Kilpatrick had just freaking seen her naked.

Once she cleared the hallway, her eyes landed on him in the kitchen. He was standing by the coffee pot, adding half-and-half to a steaming mug on the counter. Her focus quickly moved away from him, but looking at him or not, she felt his eyes on her as she walked into the kitchen.

Needing caffeine to get through whatever was about to happen next—and attempting some sort of bravery—she headed for the coffee pot and the empty mug already sitting on the counter. A mug he’d apparently pulled down for her. A nice gesture, but it wasn’t going to change the fact that he’d seen her naked.

Nothing was ever going to change that. Heat rose in her cheeks, a heat she was pretty sure was going to become a permanent addition to her complexion.

Clearing her throat as she reached for the pot, she was the one who spoke first. “Another topic added to the not to be discussed list is what happened this morning.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Jace turned around, leaning back against the counter as he sipped his coffee. He said nothing as she added a spoonful of sugar to her mug, just continued to watch her as she stirred it in and added some half-and-half.

“When did you get the tattoo on your side?”

Adele’s head snapped up, the heat in her cheeks spreading to her whole face. She was about to repeat her sentiment from moments before, but the words got lost in her throat. The look in Jace’s eyes was not what she’d expected. It wasn’t mocking or meant to be funny. It was curiosity, tinged with something else. Something that looked a lot like heated interest. Something she wasn’t familiar with when it came to him.

Scratch that, something she wasn’t familiar with when it came from him, directed at her.

She’d thought she’d seen that look last night when she’d caught him staring at her ass, thought she’d seen appreciation in his eyes. But she’d done her level best to write it off as a figment of her imagination. That wasn’t possible now, not with him standing so close.

He’d liked what he’d seen. It was undeniable. Right there. Plain as day. And he wasn’t doing a damn thing to hide it.

Okay. She was hallucinating. She had to be. This was a pre-caffeine figment of her imagination.

“I’m guessing the tattoo was a recent acquisition since I don’t remember seeing it this summer when we were all at the beach.” He pushed off the counter, his mouth twisting into that grin that made her stomach flip. “Well, for what it’s worth, the glimpse I got was of a pretty impressive piece of art.”

Was he still talking about the tattoo? Or her?

He turned, his cup of coffee in hand as he walked out of the kitchen. “And Del? Red is definitely your color.”

Well, that was good, as her face was going to be a permanent shade of it for the rest of her life.

Adele might’ve put a conversation ban on the topic of what happened that morning, but it didn’t stop Jace from thinking about it. Nothing could stop him from thinking about it. Hell, a lobotomy wasn’t going to get those images out of his head.

The woman had so many soft curves it was unfair. And sure, he’d seen her in bikinis over the years (which was the reason he knew that tattoo was new), but this was different. Very different…but still very much not allowed.

Which was why he was going to need to figure out something to distract himself, otherwise he was going to go crazy.

As his cooking skills were pretty much limited to a frying pan, he made both of them veggie and ham omelets for breakfast. After they ate, they watched another two episodes of The Great British Baking Show. It didn’t really do anything in the distracting him department as he was still thinking about her tasting better than baked goods…and he was thinking about tasting her while she only wore those red panties.

Unable to sit in that living room with her for another second without going crazy, he decided to go upstairs to try and keep himself occupied. Maybe not being in the same room would help. Luckily for him, there was a small gym in the cabin. The loft had been converted into a pretty decent workout space with a water rower, free weights, an exercise bike, and TRX suspension straps.

On his way up, he passed by Adele who was now stationed at the dining room table. Her sketchbook was directly in front of her while a dozen or so other drawings were scattered around the space. There was a movie playing on the TV in the living room, white noise for her while she drew. Adele had never worked well in silence. She usually put on a movie or a TV show she’d seen more times than she could count, something where she could look up periodically and know exactly what was going on.

Jace looked over to the TV to see that Chris Evans was on the screen, wearing his Captain America costume. It took him a couple of seconds to figure out that it was the first Avengers. He was surprised this was what Adele had chosen to watch. Not that she didn’t like a variety of different things, he was just used to her putting romantic comedies on in the background. And at this time of year, it should’ve been a Christmas movie.

She really was taking a hiatus on all things holiday-related, which was something that was still beyond weird to him. It was jarring, like he’d skipped a step on the stairs or someone missed playing a few chords in a song.

It was just wrong. And there was something in him that really wanted to change it. To fix it.

Not sure of what that something was at the moment, Jace headed upstairs for his workout. He’d start with the TRX straps first, do some reps with the weights, and finish up with a grueling round on the rower.

Snowstorm outside or not, he worked up a good sweat and lost his T-shirt about halfway through the two-hour workout. Now more than ever, he needed to push himself to the max. If he was too tired to think, then he was too tired to imagine things he shouldn’t be imagining…like what it would’ve been like to peel Adele out of that bit of red lace with his teeth.

Fuck.

Apparently, nothing was going to help him not think of her naked. But this wasn’t some case of cabin fever horniness to succumb to. Adele wasn’t a hard and fast fuck to get out of his system. That was even assuming Adele was feeling the same way. Which she probably, most definitely was not…or was she?

It didn’t matter, it wasn’t happening. It couldn’t happen. She was more than that to him, and he wouldn’t risk destroying some of the most important relationships in his life. Not just her, but her entire family.

Sex was always a game changer. It made things messy if there were emotions involved. Fun and light, that was how he liked to keep things. Sleeping with Adele would be neither of those.

If there was anything he knew about that woman, it was that she put her heart into almost everything. Her heart was something way too precious to put into his careless hands.

Finishing his last five hundred meter sprint on the rower, he put the handle back on the latch and leaned forward, trying to catch his breath. He grabbed the water bottle, finishing off the last of the cool liquid.

Time for a refill…and another Adele encounter. He wondered if the flush that had taken over her face and neck was still there.

Well, only one way to find out.

He hit the pause button on his phone, the Imagine Dragons song no longer playing through the speakers in the room. Grabbing his shirt from where he’d tossed it on the floor, he threw it over his shoulder and opened the door.

The warm, delicious scent that hit him was a wall of sweet, nutty, sugary goodness. Almond cookies. Seriously?

She had to be fucking joking. Did she understand what she was doing to him? She was waving the red flag in front of a bull. And that damned flag might as well be that lacy scrap of nothing he’d seen her in that morning.

Out of sight was most definitely not out of mind when it came to Jace Kilpatrick. Not for Adele. That wasn’t even a thing. Hadn’t been for six years. He might have gone upstairs, giving her a tiny—teeny tiny—reprieve, but she was constantly aware of his presence in the house.

It was like weights on her shoulders, going from twenty pounds to fifteen. Not in any way gone, and still very much felt. So much so, that she’d given up trying to work on her sketches about an hour ago. She couldn’t focus on anything.

How could she when she kept hearing Jace in her head, telling her red was her color? Kept feeling his hand on her wrist, the heat of his fingers moving back and forth across her skin. Kept seeing his aquamarine eyes focused on her…saw the heat in them.

Three of the five senses were already overwhelmed with him, so she might as well go for broke and make it all of them.

Ever since he’d mentioned almond sugar cookies, she had this ridiculous craving for them. One that she knew wouldn’t be satisfied until she had that flavor on her tongue. So she decided to make a batch, and therefore filled the cabin with the scent of them.

Because, why not? Why the hell not?

But it didn’t take very long at all for her to second-guess her decision, just long enough for the second batch to come out of the oven, and for Jace to come downstairs. She was in the middle of sliding the cookies onto a cooling rack with a spatula, when she heard the creak on the wooden floors. It was unmistakable even over the explosions from the movie playing out on the screen (she’d moved from the first Avengers to Captain America: The Winter Soldier).

The moment she looked up, she was pretty sure her heart stopped. Sure, she’d seen Jace shirtless before, but she was usually prepared for it. Knew it was about to happen. She wasn’t used to him popping up on her like this out of nowhere.

The man was sculpted to perfection, thick biceps, broad shoulders, and a wide chest. There was a light dusting of dark blond hair that progressively got darker as it arrowed down and over his eight-pack, disappearing beyond his gym shorts. All of it was highlighted by golden brown skin that held its warm glow year round. It might be a bit lessened in the winter months, but it never went away. He was also currently covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and damn if that didn’t just complete the whole freaking package.

Speaking of packages, she quickly—and forcibly—pulled her eyes away from the bulge that was by no means hidden behind the gray material of his shorts. If anything, the fabric seemed to mold to him.

It was all so unbelievably unfair. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life, and one glance had her libido going into overdrive.

No, no, no, no, no, no. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t a thing…wasn’t going to be a thing. Her battered, broken heart couldn’t deal with this right now. It was too much. Too damn much.

Adele kept her head down, continuing on with her cookie transferring. But eyes on Jace or not, she felt him getting closer and closer to her, coming into the kitchen and stopping a couple of feet to her left.

“What’s up with the cookies? I thought you were boycotting Christmas this year.”

“I am. Sugar cookies aren’t necessarily a Christmas thing. Besides, they aren’t in the shape of a tree…or Santa Claus…or ornaments. And I’m not decorating them.”

“So no icing or sprinkles?” he asked sounding disappointed.

“Nope.”

He leaned in close, almost as if he were taking in a deep breath of the cookies. Except he was much closer to her than he was to the rack on the counter. “Shame.”

The word came out on a whisper, vibrating in the air and trailing down her spine, like he’d just run his fingers down her back.

Adele couldn’t repress the shiver, and turned to look at him just as he moved off. It was then that she got a good look at the other side of him. Tight ass (with the fabric molding to him in the same tantalizing way as the front), muscular back, tattooed left shoulder. The black ink was of all four aces, starting with the club, then the diamond, then the heart, and ending with the spade card on top. His nickname on the ice had long been Jace “the Ace” Kilpatrick.

His muscles all bunched and rippled as he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the water pitcher inside. How could something so simple look so good? Because he was doing it. That was why.

Again, she forced herself to look away from him. One, she didn’t want him to catch her staring. Two, if she kept looking she’d probably start drooling. She’d already embarrassed herself enough that day. She didn’t need to add on anymore.

The problem was, keeping all of her focus forward and off Jace, meant she wasn’t prepared for when he came up behind her, reaching around for the cookies. She reacted on instinct, slapping his hand away with the spatula.

“Hey!” He let out a manly bark.

“Hey yourself,” she spun around before she could think better of it. And just that quickly she was looking up into his face, his mouth just inches from hers. Good God, his lips were doing that wicked half-smile thing that made her brain short-circuit. He was so close to her that the scent of him filled her nose.

How in the world did he still smell good even when he was all sweaty? It was salty, like the ocean, but mixed with a freshly-scented deodorant and…him.

How was that possible?

“I thought we were done with the whole not sharing thing, Del. These should be a fair trade for me making you breakfast this morning…and coffee.”

“I…it is.” She somehow managed to speak even with a suddenly dry mouth. “Those cookies just came out of the oven. Take one of the cooled ones.” She gestured to the other wire rack with the cookies from the first batch.

His grin got bigger. “Oh, so you’re looking out for me?”

“Yes. I’d hate for you to burn your tongue.”

“Thanks, Del.” He reached up, gently tugging on a loose strand of her hair. And there was that heat again, flickering in his eyes. And that heat didn’t disappear as he let go of her hair, pulling back and moving to the side.

She was just able to take a proper breath when he stopped by the cooled cookies and took a bite of one. All of the air left her lungs again as he chewed around a long, satisfied moan, a sound that traveled through her entire body.

It took everything in her to repress the full body shiver that was begging to get out.

“Just like I remembered. Perfection, Adele. Absolute perfection.” He gave her a knee-weakening grin before he grabbed two more cookies and walked out of the kitchen.

Adele stared at the back of him, wondering for the umpteenth time what the hell was going on. And while she wondered, her eyes trailed down his muscled back again and to his ass. She couldn’t help it. He moved like a prowling cat or something. Panther-like ease, but ready to spring at any moment. God, she wanted to lick him all over.

Instead, she grabbed one of the cooled cookies and took a bite. The second the taste hit her tongue she knew what she’d said earlier was a complete and total lie. They did remind her of Christmas, and they’d also now forever be associated with Jace.