God, what a charmer. I shook my head, smiling despite myself. “You’re good with a line.”
Suddenly I felt the rough calluses on his palm as he circled my wrist with his hand and gave me a gentle squeeze. “Not feeding you a line here, angel.” He let go but trailed his fingers across the top of my arm before doing so. Goosebumps rose up all over my skin as I imagined him touching me elsewhere. My breath stuttered and, as if he knew the lustful territory my thoughts had wandered into, his eyes darkened.
“Fuck,” he huffed, seeming just as stunned by the attraction between us as I was.
“There you are!”
At the sound of Catie’s voice, I sagged with relief.
Relief because holding this attraction back was not easy. And we’d just freaking met!
Suddenly Catie and Kyle were there. Kyle stared at Gray with an assessing expression. Catie stared at him like he was a movie star.
And I rudely got up without introducing them. “Our table is ready?”
“Uh...” Catie tore her gaze from Gray. “Yes.”
“Then let’s eat. I’m hungry.” I gently pushed her away from the bar, and Kyle, who seemed to read my expression, helped me out by physically turning her around. I looked back at Gray as Kyle guided Catie to our table. “It was nice to meet you. Apologies again for today on the slopes.”
He shook his head at me. “Going to need a different kind of apology.”
I gave him a regretful smile because he was charming and for some bizarre reason I didn’t want him to think I was an aloof cow immune to that charm. “I’m afraid it’s the only kind I have in me to give.”
Before he could say anything else that might make me wish things were different I hurried across the restaurant to my friends.
Part of me was really pissed off I’d met Grayson King. But a bigger part of me was pissed off that I’d met him now. Pre-Darren I might have let Gray buy me a drink. I might have even let him come back to my room for a fling in the snowy mountains of Montana. Although I wasn’t anti-men, I was just anti-men for now until I got my shit together. After what I’d been through in my previous relationship no one would blame me for giving up on men entirely, but I wasn’t the type to give up hope so easily. I was an optimist. I still believed the love of my life was out there somewhere. Someone who would treat me the way Killian treated Skylar.
However, now was definitely not the time in my life to be looking for that. Especially not with some guy who lived an ocean away. Plus it was crazy to even consider that the feeling between me and Grayson King was more than just animal attraction.
“Okay, so who is that?” Catie asked as soon as I took my seat.
I snuck a peek at Gray sitting at the bar, staring down at the beer in his hand as if deep in thought. God, he was so freaking handsome.
“A ski instructor. I accidentally collided with him on the slopes today.”
“He is bloody gorgeous,” Catie said all wide-eyed and dreamy. She smiled apologetically at her husband. “Sorry, babe, just stating a fact.”
Kyle made a face and then turned to me. “He bothering you?”
“Of course he wasn’t bothering her,” Catie replied before I could. “That man is never bothering a woman.”
I chuckled. “Oh you know him, do you?”
“I know there’s not a woman alive who wouldn’t want him bothering her.”
“Well, you found her,” I retorted. “I’m not here for that. You know I’m not.”
She suddenly winced and I knew I’d reminded her of Darren. “Of course. Sorry, babe.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. If things were different he is definitely a man I’d…” I trailed off as I looked beyond my friend’s shoulder and saw Gray move away from the bar to join a very attractive woman. Disappointment settled in my gut as I realized he really had been feeding me a line.
“Player,” Kyle muttered, sounding pissed off and I dragged my gaze from Gray to find Kyle glaring in his direction.
“What?” Catie asked, about to turn around.
I hissed, “Don’t look.”
Kyle explained, “He was chatting up our girl, all the while waiting on his date.”
For some stupid reason it hurt.
I didn’t even know him but I felt this burning pang in my chest.
“Woman, you’re the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I’d believed him. I’d stupidly, deep down, believed him.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Catie said. “He was probably sitting waiting on his date and took one look at you and forgot about her.” She gestured to me. “It’s the Autumn Factor.”
Despite my disappointment, I smiled. “The Autumn Factor?”
“Aye, the Autumn Factor. You walk into a room and everybody forgets whatever the hell they’re doing. It happened to me when we met at college.”
“Oh, do go on.” Kyle crossed his arms and leaned them on the table with a teasing smirk.
Catie rolled her eyes. “Not in a sexy way, you perv. I had just never seen a girl as beautiful as Autumn in real life before.”
I felt my cheeks heat because I was terribly British and never knew how to deal with compliments. At five foot nine, I was tall, slender but with hips, an arse, and I wore a C-cup bra. My hair was a rich red-gold auburn and my favorite thing about myself. I got my hair from my dad. Killian had a different father so he had dark hair but we both got our dark brown eyes from our mum. We also were both gifted with her long, thick lashes. But while Killian had his dad’s slightly olive skin tone that made him look tan all year round, I got my dad’s pale skin. Alabaster and not prone to blemish. It was good skin. Plus nature had seen fit to give me my mother’s full heart-shaped lips.
I didn’t have any hang-ups about my physical appearance. In a way that I hoped wasn’t arrogant or conceited, I was content with what I saw in the mirror. But sometimes it made me uncomfortable when people fixated on my looks because it was either what drew them toward me or pushed them away from me. I’d been bullied pretty badly in high school and when Killian eventually found out, I couldn’t do a thing to stop him from tracking the ringleader down. Whatever he said put the fear of God into her because she never bothered me again. But Killian had said after a mere conversation with her, he had known she’d come after me because I was beautiful, and, for whatever reason, that made her insecure and jealous.
Thankfully, I had not made Catie insecure. I remembered how she walked right up to me when I entered the library that day and told me I had “bloody awesome hair.”
I’d loved her immediately.
“Well, Catie, babe, you might be right,” Kyle suddenly muttered and threw me a look. “He’s staring over here and making no qualms about it in front of the girl he’s with.”
I stiffened at this news and couldn’t stop my gaze from flying over Catie’s shoulder to search Gray out.
I found him just four tables away, his companion’s back to us, so he was directly in my line of sight. And he was looking at me. In an intense way that made me shiver.
I looked down at my menu. “That’s a little rude.”
“Oh, girl he’s with just followed his gaze. She’s spotted you and she doesn’t look happy.”
“Would you if you were on a date with someone who was staring at someone else?” I felt a blush hit my cheeks. There was no denying I liked that a man as charismatic as Grayson King liked what he saw when he looked at me, but if he could treat his date with unforgiveable rudeness then he could treat me the same way. “Just ignore him.”
However, as we ordered and then started to make our way through our meal I felt Gray’s attention still burning on me. Like I had no control over my gaze, it unwillingly searched for his, our eyes colliding again and again across the restaurant. I squirmed uncomfortably until halfway through the meal I heard the squeal of a chair sliding across wood. My eyes flew in the direction of the sound and widened as I saw the brunette with Gray march away from the tabl
e. When I looked back at him he turned from watching her walk away and gave me a casual shrug.
I glared at him.
He smirked.
“Guess she got sick of not having his attention,” Kyle snorted.
“It’s not funny. He’s rude.”
“Do you know what’s really not funny?” Catie huffed. “Having my back to the fecking entertainment!”
Kyle burst out laughing but I couldn’t. I was upset that Gray could treat someone so callously and even more upset that I could be this upset over someone I’d just met.
Thankfully I felt the heat of his stare disappear and watched as he walked out of the restaurant. I ignored how the sight of his tall, powerful body gave me flutters low in my belly.
“Let’s just enjoy dinner,” I said.
And for the most part we did, even though we all knew I was stupidly distracted.
“Drinks?” Catie asked as we left the table after finishing up.
“You two stay.” My friends should have some alone time. “I’m tired.”
Kyle studied me. “You sure?”
I smiled to reassure them. “Yes. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Much shorter than me at five foot three (five foot seven in heels) Catie went up on her tip toes to kiss my cheek. “Night, babe.”
“Night, sweetie.”
Next Kyle kissed my cheek and I squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks for a lovely night.”
He grinned at me, completely aware that it had been a discombobulating evening for me. “Night, Autumn.”
I left them at the bar, strolling out of the restaurant, thinking I might just go straight to bed and try to sleep away the strange events of the day. Looking at my feet, or my fabulous shoes really, as I walked out into the hallway that would lead me back to my room, I would have missed him if he hadn’t said my name.
I stumbled to a stop and glanced to my right to see Gray leaning against the wall outside of the restaurant. Waiting on me?
He pushed off the wall and strolled toward me. A teasing smirk played around his mouth as he stepped right into my personal space. I wanted to step back but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing his nearness affected me.
In my sandals I was almost the same height as him but he was so broad-shouldered he still managed to make me feel delicate and feminine. I hated how much I loved that. “What are you doing here?”
“Let me give you a lesson tomorrow,” he replied.
I blinked, having not expected that. “I don’t want to learn to ski.”
“Then let me buy you dinner tomorrow night so I can change your mind.”
I thought of the brunette and scowled. “I’ve seen how you treat your dinner companions, so no, thank you.”
Gray’s eyebrows drew together in a much more effective scowl than mine. “She’s here on a bachelorette trip. She’s the bride.”
My lips parted in surprise at this information.
“Yeah.” His mouth twisted in disdain. “She’s the woman who was on the slopes with me today and she told me straight up she wanted one last fling before she got married. I didn’t say shit to that and obviously she was expecting me to jump on it. So when I didn’t give her what she wanted in private, she asked me to dinner in front of all her girls and I didn’t want to humiliate her. I saw no harm in dinner but had no intention of going beyond that. I didn’t know you’d walk in there tonight, so I had no way of knowing I’d spend the whole fucking thing distracted by a redhead who I’m not afraid to admit has knocked me on my ass. Let me take you to dinner.”
I wanted to believe him. I really, really wanted to believe him. And everything he said was good. More than good. I think I did believe him about the snow bunny but I wasn’t sure about the rest. And the timing… oh God, the timing was bad.
And why did he have to be standing so close? So close I could smell him, I could feel the heat of him, and I really, really wanted to slide my hand over his chest and see if his pecs were as hard as they looked.
Damn, damn, damn.
I yanked my gaze from his because I was drowning in it. “I’m not here to meet anyone. I’m sorry.”
“I’d maybe believe that if you’d look at me when you say it.”
Hearing the amusement in his voice I did look at him. I glowered. “When I look at you, you make me want to say yes!”
Gray grinned. Huge. “That’s not a bad thing, angel.”
“It is to me.” I stepped back. “Now good night.”
He moved to block my escape. “Breakfast?”
I stifled a smile at his persistence and shook my head.
“Lunch?”
My traitorous lips twitched. “No, I’m sorry.”
He cocked his head to the side to study me. “You know even you telling me ‘no’ sounds like heaven to my ears. I could listen to you talk in that sexy as fuck accent for the rest of my life.”
I gave a huff of disbelieving laughter. “What a line.”
“It’s not a line.” He stepped back into my personal space. “Have dinner with me.”
My gaze dropped to his mouth and I whispered, “No.”
“You can’t stare at my mouth like that and expect me to believe that no.”
I wrenched my eyes back to his. “Gray, we can’t do this. It’s a firm no.”
“Well, I’m just going to ask you again tomorrow.”
Exasperated, I stepped around him before he could stop me. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say harassing guests is against hotel policy.”
Gray turned with me. “Oh, this isn’t harassment. This is seeing something I want more than I’ve ever wanted anything and doing what I can to get it.”
Shocked, I replied breathily, “That’s insane. You don’t even know me.”
He shrugged and said seriously (very seriously), “I took one look in those gorgeous brown eyes of yours and knew I’d do anything to get to know you. I need to take you out to do that so… are you going to help me out here and say yes?”
My heart was pounding like crazy and I had absolutely no idea why. What was it about this guy that affected me so much? And why did it feel dangerous and thrilling at the same bloody time?
“Autumn?”
I shook my head. “If you’re looking to get laid there’s a snow bunny who made it clear she’d give you that.”
“I don’t screw other men’s women and even if I did, I don’t want her. She doesn’t make my blood hot.”
My eyes widened. Was he alluding that I did make his blood hot? “I’m not anyone’s casual fuck, Gray.”
His eyes darkened. “I got that, angel, the second you strutted that fine ass through the restaurant. That’s not what this is about. Although for the record, you saying the word ‘fuck’ when you’re actually talking about ‘fucking’ in that sweet voice of yours… not going to lie.” He grinned. “You definitely make my blood hot.”
I blushed. I freaking blushed!
Gray laughed. “Oh that’s just making it worse.”
“Stop it!” I huffed, covering my cheeks with my hands.
“Jesus, you’re adorable. Didn’t know that was possible.”
“What?”
“Sexy, beautiful, and adorable. The trifecta of perfect.”
I smiled but said, “No one’s perfect, Gray.”
“No, they’re not so give me a break here. Let me get to know you so I can find out for myself that you’re not perfect. Otherwise I’m going to pine my life away.”
He somehow managed to strike a perfect balance between smooth and coarse charm that seriously worked for me. Damn it. I sighed. “Fine. Ask me again tomorrow.”
“Or you could just say yes now,” he pushed. I gave him a look and he grinned. “Fine. I’ll ask you tomorrow.”
Finally, I made myself walk away. But I’d only taken a few steps when he said, “Nice skirt by the way.”
Meaning he was watching my ass.
I turned to look over my shoulder and rolled
my eyes before strutting off.
His answering laughter made me smile all the way back to my suite.
Chapter Three
The next morning I was a little tired because thoughts of Gray kept whirling around my mind. A lot of them sexy thoughts. I missed breakfast with Catie and Kyle so they were already heading out to the slopes by the time I dragged my arse out of the shower.
Grabbing my ereader, I headed downstairs to the reception to double check the times for my manicure and pedicure appointments. Jeanette, the woman manning the desk, was so helpful and didn’t even blink when I asked her if there was a slot available for more treatments toward the end of my stay. I intended to use the hell out of that spa.
The reception area of the Snow Ghost Lodge was wonderful. As soon as I entered the building, it felt like I’d walked into a mountain retreat. To the left of the entrance was a large river-rock fireplace where a healthy fire snapped and crackled in a way that invited me toward it. There were comfortable couches and chairs near the fire for guests to warm up and opposite that was a table with cookies and warm cider I could help myself to. I considered curling up on one of the couches to read but I really needed my morning coffee.
So I found myself eating breakfast pastries in the coffeehouse across from the lodge while I sipped at an Americano and read. I was deep into my book so it took me a second to realize someone had taken the other seat at my bistro table.
I looked up from my ebook and my heart thumped hard in my chest at the sight of Gray. This was followed by a flutter of butterflies that shocked the heck out of me since the last time I could remember having butterflies over a guy was when I was thirteen and still dancing ballet. I’d gone to a ballet “summer camp” of sorts in London to prepare for my audition at RSC (The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). There I’d met Mikhail, a fourteen-year-old Russian dancer, who was superb, brooding and beautiful. He’d been my first kiss.
Butterflies. Wow. I didn’t think a grown woman could still get those.
Oh boy, was I in trouble.
Gray wore a small smile as he studied me. I noted he was in a warm jacket and jeans, like me, and not in full snow gear. He still hadn’t shaved.
Yum.
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