A Winter Wonderland

by Rebecca Hunter

“Your hair is brown,” he said.

  She smiled a little. “Y-y-you’re just noticing that now?”

  Jace bit back a smirk. He remembered every single inch of this woman. Intimately.

  “I mean you don’t have those red streaks anymore,” he said. He fingered the ends of one of the strands, then let it go.

  “Oh, that.” She wrinkled her forehead. “I got rid of those in business school.”

  He studied her more closely. Those red streaks had said a lot about the girl he loved back in high school, not the woman sitting next to him. One more reminder that he didn’t know her anymore, not really.

  Selena shifted closer to the little vents, where streams of warm air poured out. “D-d-d-d-damn, it’s cold.”

  Oh, right. “You should ask Santa for a new raincoat.”

  “Not sure how nice I’ve been this year,” she said dryly.

  He could list a dozen things about her that were nice, things he really shouldn’t be thinking about right now.

  “You’re too wet to get warm,” he said, frowning. “You need to take off some of your clothes. Jacket and shirt if they’re soaked.”

  She gave a little snort of laughter. “Just like old times, right?”

  “Not what I meant,” he said, but a smile was tugging at his lips.

  He really hadn’t meant it that way, but now that she'd mentioned it, his mind went straight back to that well-worn scenario he liked best. Shut it down, buddy. Not happening.

  Jace rummaged around in the bin behind his seat until he found an emergency blanket. When he turned around, she had shed her fancy shell of a jacket. Her white shirt was soaked, and he could see straight through it to her bra. Which was also bordering on transparent. Shit. He turned away as a rush of desire pulsed through him. Just like old times.

  “I won’t look,” he said, pushing the blanket in her direction.

  Selena shuffled around for a bit, her soft breaths echoing in the little cab, while Jace tried hard not to think about the naked woman next to him. Or the sound of her.

  Don’t look. She wanted something more than a high school quarterback who restores vintage cars. Don’t look.

  “Don’t look at what?”

  Jace froze. Damn. Had he said that aloud? “Uhh...nothing.”

  “I’m decent now, so you can look.”

  When he turned back, the blanket was wrapped tightly around her, but Selena was still shivering.

  “So,” she said. “Here we are again.”

  She let out a laugh, but the chatter of her teeth made it sound closer to a hiccup.

  “Yeah. Here we are,” he echoed softly. “You gonna be okay?”

  She nodded.

  Hell, she looked so cold. He wanted to reach across the seats to rub her arms a little, warm her up, but he resisted. There were boundaries between them. So many years between them. But how good it would feel to forget that for a while…

  It was getting hot on his side of the truck. Jace unzipped the top of his coat and loosened the too-tight collar of his shirt.

  “Your car broke down?” he asked. It was a stupid question, but it got his mind back to the present.

  “Great way to start off the holiday season, right?” She smiled and let her eyes settle lower, on his tie. “Nice outfit. You usually rescue cars in that?”

  “Only when it’s a Mercedes.”

  Selena gave him a swat on his arm as the corners of her mouth turned up. She tucked a wisp of her hair behind her ear and brushed a drip of water off her face. Goddamn, she was beautiful. All these years of memories hadn’t done her justice. Selena’s full lips were red and wet from the rain, her eyes, dewy and deep brown. But she looked tired, maybe even weary.

  Jace hadn’t realized he was staring at her until she looked up at him again. Her eyes widened, and she looked away.

  “Where’s your husband?”

  Selena frowned, and her brow furrowed, as if she didn’t understand what he was getting at.

  “I mean who will pick you up from the garage?” he added quickly. “Is your husband on his way?”

  He was trying like hell to make his voice sound casual, as if her husband—the man she had lived with, kissed, lay with every night—as if he wasn’t the last thing in the world Jace wanted to know about.

  Selena shook her head, and her cheeks flushed a little, despite the cold. “He’s my ex-husband. And I think he’s in Hawaii by now with his new girlfriend and her kids.”

  Jace’s heart gave a hard thump. So it was true. She wasn’t married anymore. Jace cringed at the selfish pleasure he got from this news. Selena probably was hurting from this.

  “I’m sorry,” he said after a pause.

  “I’m not,” she said flatly. “Not really. I’m the one who left him.”

  But her mouth turned down anyway. If Jace’s oldest brother Drake was right, divorces were always complicated. Not that Jace knew anything about marriage, but Selena wouldn’t have made the decision lightly, especially considering her parents’ more traditional views. Did she regret leaving her ex? He studied her for clues, but it was a lost cause. On the up side, her teeth had stopped chattering.

  “I can drop you off anywhere,” he said. “I’ll take your car into the shop, but the lead technician is off until Monday.”

  “I was heading for…for my house.” She said the words slowly, like she was still getting used to the idea. “In that new development north of Sacred Harbor. If that’s not too far.”

  He knew exactly where the house was. He had even driven by it once, years ago. But it was the words she had used that had given him pause. My house. Was she really living here full-time, just a few miles from him?

  Still, the details didn’t matter. Selena had married someone else, and he’d had his share of girlfriends and variations. He had made a good life for himself, taking over the family business and growing to become the most well-known Mercedes restoration shop in the Northeast. Nine years was a lifetime ago, and he hadn’t thought about her in a long time…aside from the occasional sex fantasy.

  Jace swiped a hand over his face. Years ago, they had been so close, so it was natural to be curious about her, wasn’t it? As for the attraction, well, he could think about that later. When she wasn’t sitting right next to him, with those red lips… Damn, he was thinking about kissing again.

  Jace flipped up his hood and grabbed the door handle. “I’ll go take care of your car.”

  Chapter Three

  Sleet pounded against the windshield as they drove up the highway, a welcome distraction. Jace could focus all his energy on the road instead of staring at Selena. The cab of the truck was damp and warm, and he glanced at her a couple times, just to make sure she wasn’t shivering too badly. Between the blanket and the air blasting from the heaters, she wasn't shaking anymore, but, stripped of her fancy coat, she looked more…vulnerable. His breath caught in his throat, and he searched for something to say, something to distract himself from this closeness.

  “I tried to start your car, and it didn’t sound good,” he said. “Just so you know, it might need some work.”

  “I’m hoping for a miracle fix,” said Selena. “I can’t afford a lot of work right now.”

  Jace gave her a skeptical glance, then returned his gaze to the road. “You’re driving a Mercedes. Maybe our definitions of affordable are a little different.”

  Selena frowned at him. “That was harsh.”

  It was.

  He sighed. “You’re right. But between your car and your address, it’s hard to imagine that a few thousand dollars would be too much of a stretch.”

  He looked over at her in time to catch an eye roll.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, Jace,” she said, slowing at his name, “but I got the car and the house in the divorce. Since they’re both paid off, they’re actually my cheapest options. As long as both of them hold up.”

  “I see,” he said softly. “Sor
ry.”

  But now he had more questions reeling through his mind. What was her plan, if she didn’t have enough for car repairs? Where did she work? Certainly not in town. No one would have let him miss that detail. But these were more intimate questions, and most of them were way out of line. Instead, he searched for a less personal conversation topic.

  “You’re living up here again?”

  “For now,” she said. “It was just supposed to be a month or two, but…”

  He waited for the end of that sentence, but it never came. Jace frowned. It didn’t matter because the message behind it was clear: Selena wasn’t here to stay. And there was no good reason that should bother him. He swallowed. “I see.”

  The rain pounded on the windshield as they slowed through Sacred Harbor in silence. Past their high school. Past his garage. Past the well-worn turn-off to the beach. He stole glances at her a few times and found her watching as the settings of their history together played out through the window.

  “How’s your family?” she finally asked. Her voice was a little wary, as if she, too, was navigating these rocky waters of their past with care.

  “Crazy as ever.” Reluctantly, the corners of his mouth tugged up. “I’m heading to Andrew’s after this for a family dinner—that’s the reason for the tie. Andrew got engaged at Thanksgiving.”

  “Give him my best.” She smiled a little. “How’s the garage? You and your dad had lots of plans.”

  He nodded slowly as he decided how much to say. “We started on some of them, mostly the car restoration business, but…” It was hard to say the last part aloud. Still, fresh off her divorce, she probably understood that life didn’t always go as planned, so he took a deep breath and pushed on. “A year ago, my dad had a stroke. So that put a lot of our ideas on hold.”

  “Oh, Jace.”

  It was her voice that caught him off guard, so full of warmth and tenderness. He had forgotten this part, the way it felt when he told her something serious, like she took some of his sadness and let it sit inside her instead.

  So he didn’t try to shut down the sadness, not yet. All those plans he and his father had made came to a grinding halt the moment his father was rushed to the hospital. Most jobs in a garage required able-bodied workers, and even after his father had recovered some of the movement on his left side, keeping him on the payroll was taking accounting magic. Jace had Lizzie to thank for that magic, but still, things were tight.

  The quiet settled again, a little less tense now that they were driving out of town.

  “Turn here,” she said after they had gone a few more miles. She pointed at the sign for the high-end development, but he already knew where to go. He slowed as they headed toward the ocean and turned down the last street that stretched out parallel to the beach. “The fourth house on the right.”

  The sleet had mostly let up, but dark clouds hovered ominously. Her house was completely dark. In fact, most of the neighborhood was dark. He pulled onto the sandy driveway and parked.

  “You have lights here, don’t you?”

  “Naah, I’m living off the grid.”

  He jerked his head around, but she was smiling at him.

  “Of course, I do.” She smirked. “The security lights will come on when I walk up the driveway.”

  He frowned.

  “I’ll walk you up,” he said and climbed out before she could protest. He opened her door and took the wet clothes and the handbag out of her hands as she slid off the seat, clutching the blanket around her. Her red shoes were covered with mud and sand, and her back was hunched against the cold as she headed up the front porch steps.

  The house was a modern-looking structure, the kind that probably had high ceilings and all-white walls—pretty much the opposite of his house. She came to a stop in front of the door, and he held out her handbag. She unzipped it and pulled out the keys.

  “Sorry if I made you late for the engagement party,” she said, unlocking the door.

  He shrugged. “They’ll wait for me.”

  The door swung open into a dark hallway.

  “Thanks again,” she said. “I mean, I know it’s your garage, but you could have hung up on me. Left me alone to walk.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I considered it.”

  “I bet you did.” She laughed a little.

  Then she glanced into the house, and her smile slipped. Jace followed her gaze. The place was dark, and she was walking into it alone. The whole time he had been thinking about the past, but she was going home to a dark, empty house. Of course, she’d frowned back in the cab of his truck when she’d mentioned her ex-husband’s plans. He was in Hawaii with his new girlfriend, and she was on her own.

  “You gonna be okay here without a car?” he asked softly. “You have food?”

  She shrugged. “Cocktail sausages, a bottle of wine. And the Harbor Café is just down the street if I get desperate. I should last for a few days.”

  The corners of his mouth tugged up.

  “And I have plenty of work to do,” she added, a smile curving on those beautiful lips.

  Her eyes were somehow bright and sad at the same time, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. They stood in silence in her little hallway, the muted staccato of water dripping on the porch in the background.

  Just seeing her again was doing funny things to Jace’s insides. He was hanging onto her every word, and he couldn’t decide whether he loved it or hated it. Some of both. It was a strange feeling to have her so close again but out of reach. Still, he didn’t want this moment to end. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, not yet. Just a few more minutes, and then he’d leave.

  “What kind of work do you do?”

  “Pretty much anything art-related that I can find,” she said “I have a couple contracts for greeting cards.”

  He blinked in surprise. Making greeting cards was a real job? Stupid question. Of course, it was. But this was her job? Then the connection clicked. The birthday cards she used to make. He had saved a couple of his, together with the ring, in a box in his attic…which he sure as hell wasn’t going to bring up right now. He searched for a less loaded response. “My mother still has a birthday card you made for her framed in her room.”

  Selena’s eyes lit up. “The one of her cat?”

  Jace nodded.

  “Wow. I’m flattered, especially since she sort-of hated me at the end.” Her smile fell a little.

  His mother wasn’t the easiest person under any circumstances, but it had gotten worse when she had seen the end of Selena and his relationship coming—long before he had come to terms with it. She had tried to warn him, but Jace had stubbornly believed that Selena might love him enough to stay. Lesson learned.

  “It was a long time ago,” he said quietly.

  Selena blinked a couple times.

  “Say hello to her for me.” Her brow furrowed a little. “Actually, that’s probably not a good idea.”

  He had never told his mother the story of how he’d so stupidly proposed to Selena on graduation night, but she had gotten the gist of what had happened anyway. And she still hadn’t forgiven Selena for disappearing afterwards.

  “You sure you’re okay here?” he asked. “I can take you somewhere else if you want. Somewhere closer to town.”

  As soon as his words came out, he regretted them. There were places he wouldn’t take her. She might have a boyfriend, and the last thing he wanted to do today was shuttle her to some other man’s bed. Happy fucking holidays, Jace.

  But she shook her head.

  “I know it looks like a setting for a B horror film.” She gestured at the dark house with a flick of her wrist, and the corners of her mouth kicked up into a little smile. “But I like being on my own. I’m building my career, and it’s around work that I love. I’m going to appreciate the shit out of my empty house today.” Her smile grew. “And then there’s the cocktail sausages. Really, I’m fine.”

 
She put her hand on his arm, the way she used to. And in that moment, Jace slipped back in time. Alone together. They were always looking for ways to be alone. How many times had she touched him this way? Her hand slipped up his bicep. Even through his raincoat, the gesture sent bolts of heat to places they really shouldn’t go right now. Her big brown eyes softened, like she was remembering, too. Was she grasping at this moment just as tightly as he was, trying not to let it go?

  Lord, he missed the way she looked at him. Her eyelashes fluttered, like they used to when he was about to kiss her. So he put every hesitation aside and gave in to the overwhelming temptation.

  He bent down and brushed his lips over hers. Soft. Familiar. The weight of nine years loomed, ready to push them apart, but long-buried memories were taking hold. Her breath stuttered as she stilled, just touching. The dam of memories crumbled, flooding every inch of his body, the moment she pressed her warm mouth against his. He lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked her soft skin, closing his eyes, letting himself just feel. His other hand found its way into her hair, thick and damp, and he moved his thumb gently up and down. Selena.

  She leaned closer and caught his bottom lip between hers. Yes, she silently told him, yes. She tilted her head and opened her lips, and they were there again, back where they were years ago, kissing. It was a slow kiss, filled with new questions instead of answers.

  What is this connection between us?

  Have too many storms battered that bridge?

  But they were kissing again, and he’d take whatever this was. It could be the last time he saw her for another ten years…or more.

  That was enough to make him pull away. Jace gave himself a little shake and stepped back. How the hell did they get here so fast? Her eyes, heavy with desire, were focused on his lips. Once upon a time, this look would have led to more touching, more of her soft, sweet body against his. Under his.

  Hell, if he didn’t get out of here soon, he was going to want to do that again tonight. Which definitely wasn’t a good idea. He was not going to let Selena back into his head. Not even if she was stuck in the storm alone in an empty house.

  Jace took a step back. “I think I should go right now. For both of our sake.”