by C. J. Lake
“No,” he said simply. “I’m going to take you to the Billiard Grill for Bar Trivia Night.”
“W—huh?”
“My friends will be there. We can play as a team,” he said.
“I’m no good at Bar Trivia.”
“You don’t have to be good. Like I said, we can be a team. I’ll be good enough for both of us.” Taking a step closer, he added, “I came down here to ask you to go with me. But now…I’m going to have to insist.”
Despite her bleak mood, Sky gave a laugh at that. Then shook her head. “No, really—I mean, thanks, but…I wouldn’t be any fun tonight.”
Wait, what am I doing? she thought suddenly. Why on earth was she pushing Jamie to go when she really didn’t want him to leave?
“All right,” Jamie acquiesced and for a second Sky panicked that he was about to go— but then he surprised her by taking a seat on the sofa. Next to her. Taken off-guard, Sky looked questioningly at him as he picked up the remote. “Want to watch TV?” he asked.
“Um…”
“Or would you rather sob gently while I watch something?”
Her mouth curved open, but no words came out at first. She just looked at him for a second. Then, perplexed, she asked, “But, Jamie, what about Bar Trivia night? You said your friends are there.”
“They are, but I can’t just leave you when you’re hysterically upset like this.”
Sky slanted him a wry look. “Okay, I’m not hysterically upset. I’m just upset.”
Resting the remote on his lap, Jamie turned his face and looked into her eyes. “Is this just about the ski competition and Betty?” he asked, still assessing her. His gaze appeared affectionate. It did something to her—sort of reached over and pressed on her heart. There was a comfort level when she was with Jamie; a positive energy that hadn’t been in this room until he got here. And yet…she was a little nervous. That was the irony of their friendship. He was her friend, but she got a nervous knot in her stomach sometimes. Like now—because she was acutely aware of how closely he was sitting to her. Only three inches of space kept their thighs from touching. She could vaguely smell his aftershave or maybe it was soap from his shower, and she was aware of his body heat—which, even from three inches away, somehow warmed her up from the inside…
“I sense there’s something else,” he said now, his voice just a touch softer and gentler.
Why bother denying it? He obviously cared about her feelings, which touched her. So, with a sigh, Sky told him the rest. “I also just got off the phone with my Mom. I found out that my parents turned my sanctuary back into a guest bedroom.”
“What was your sanctuary?” Jamie asked, turning on the couch to face her better and Sky did the same, bringing her knees up and almost curling up next to him.
“It was the room that I’d converted into my own exercise-slash-inspiration room. Years ago,” she said. “It had my elliptical machine, my giant exercise ball, my ski simulator—”
“Damn,” Jamie murmured, “no wonder you weren’t impressed by my weight bench.”
Sky half-grinned at him and continued, “Also my posters. Clichéd stuff, you know—aerial view of the Alps, winter in Aspen—plus a signed photo of Trent Waymouth. He’s an Extreme Skiing superstar,” she explained when the name failed to evoke any awe on Jamie’s face. “I guess the reason I’m so upset,” Sky went on, her eyes stinging with fresh tears, though she willed them not to fall, “it’s just what it represents. I mean it’s over, it’s really over. I guess I’ve known it, but been in denial, at the same time. But my plans, my dreams, my whole ski life—done.”
Now one stubborn tear did spill over, though she swiped it quickly away. Then she sniffled and averted her eyes for a second.
After a thoughtful moment, Jamie said, “Okay, you already know what you love about the ski life. You already know all the things you’ll miss. I’m sure you’ve thought about it a ton over the past year.”
“I think about that stuff all the time,” Sky admitted with a crack in her voice.
Instead of babying her right now, Jamie spoke casually and calmly. “Right, so let’s put that aside. You’ve memorized that list already. Now do you have paper and a pen?”
Sky scrunched her brow confused, before pointing toward the kitchen. “Of course. On the desk.”
Jamie crossed to the desk, picked up the legal pad and clicked the pen, poised to write. “All right…” he said, walking back to the sofa. “I want you to name all the things you don’t miss about the ski life.”
“Oh, there’s no point,” she began, when he cut her off:
“Just do it. It will go much easier for you if you just cooperate,” he warned. At that, she lifted her eyebrows at him and tried not to smile—because she was still determined to be upset, no matter how much Jamie seemed to make everything better. “Now I want to hear at least three things that you don’t miss,” he told her. Ordered her, really.
“You’re just going to boss me like that?” Sky challenged, her tone sardonic and Jamie grinned smugly.
“Yes. I am.”
That was hot. It was an instinctual reaction; she liked the thought of him taking charge… “Fine,” she said, exhaling a breath. “I’ll try to think of something. But only to humor you.”
“Good,” he said with an easy smile, “I love when women humor me.”
Thoughtfully, she tapped her fingers together. “I suppose I don’t miss getting up at five in the morning everyday to exercise.”
Jamie wrote it down. “What else?”
“And I don’t miss wind burn. And all the face-chapping, in general,” she said.
“Good call,” Jamie agreed, wincing as he jotted it down. “What else?”
Sky reflected for a moment. “I won’t miss skipping carbs at Thanksgiving,” she blurted with a soft laugh, surprising herself with that one.
Now Jamie looked up from the pad and said, “Please tell me you’re kidding. Please tell me you haven’t been skipping carbs at Thanksgiving all these years.”
“Only for four or five years, nothing crazy,” Sky said with a shrug, while Jamie’s mouth dropped open. “I was good this past Thanksgiving, too,” she continued, “because I was still in denial. But now…”
“Wait—define ‘good,’” Jamie said. “Sky, there’s nothing good about skipping pie on a national holiday. Let’s make that clear. You know when the Founding Fathers said ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident’? Yeah, that was one of them.”
“It wasn’t just pie,” she added with a trace of a grin, because his appalled reaction was amusing her now. “Also no potatoes, or gravy—
“Dry turkey?”
“—and no stuffing.”
“No stuffing?!” he exclaimed. “Holy shit! What would the pilgrims say?”
“Um, they’d probably say ‘what’s stuffing?’” Sky quipped.
“That’s it; I’ve heard enough.” He tossed the pad and pen aside and came to his feet. “We’re going out. No arguments.” When he held out his hand, she smiled and took it. Tugging her up, he added, “You’ll love my friends.” She grabbed her jacket on the way to the door. Jamie said, “Whatever you want, I’m buying. Get a frilly princess drink if you want, and please, no thoughts of carbs, no talk of ellipticals.”
“Oh, this from someone who thinks a weight bench is acceptable seating in the living room,” Sky joked.
“Yeah, but it’s different in my case,” Jamie argued. “I use my weight bench for good. Feel these arms.”
Abruptly, Sky froze. Hesitated. “No…that’s okay,” she managed. Even though she really, really wanted to.
“C’mon, go ahead,” he encouraged.
“Um…” She felt heat rise to her face as her pulse quickened. “I’ll take your word for it.”
He shrugged casually. “Okay, you don’t have to if you don’t want—” he began, and then she touched him. She hadn’t meant to do it, but her hand landed on his bicep anyway. She ran her fingers over his mus
cle, lightly at first, then with more pressure, really trying to feel him. His bicep was thick and strong…and unbelievably sexy.
“Nice,” she murmured softly, hearing another crack in her voice—this one not because she was sad, but because she was flustered all of a sudden and extremely attracted to him. Too bad she didn’t know what to do about it, or how to handle it. She only knew that she felt flushed and uncertain, keyed up and very curious. Most of all she felt afraid of what would happen if she tried to cross that line with Jamie.
If their mouths melded together, would he be a gentle kisser? Or passionate? Hungry? And would she really stop at kissing? Not with him. Sky just knew this on a deep, gut level; call it animal instinct, but she felt certain that if she allowed him the chance, Jamie could make her lose control.
Just the thought terrified her. Intellectually, she knew she had to get over the past…but making it happen was a different thing entirely.
Reluctantly, her fingers slid off his muscular arm. “Let’s go,” Sky said a bit abruptly, and led him out the door. Before I change my mind.
Chapter 15
“I can’t believe we won first place!” Sky exclaimed two hours later, after Andy and Tragan had left and the Billiard Grill crowd was just starting to thin out. Fortunately, Lily wasn’t working tonight, so Jamie didn’t have to come up with a lame excuse as to why he had never texted her back. Now he was standing beside Sky, who was still sitting at the bar.
“I told you Bar Trivia was my game.”
“I know, but still.”
“I’m sort of an all-star,” he admitted proudly, setting his beer bottle down.
Sky swiveled in her chair to face him better, which sent her ponytail swinging in an adorable, bubbly kind of way. Her dark eyes were big and animated as she complimented him, “I can’t believe you knew that random question about the Arizona Cardinals.”
“I love baseball. Now if only they’d asked about mountains in Antarctica,” Jamie added glibly, “we could have really humiliated the competition. Miss Snow Siren.”
“Oh,” Sky said with an effacing laugh, “right. Remember what a brat I was to you that first day?”
“Nah,” Jamie lied.
Idly, Sky looked around. “I like this place! We should come here again. Have you ever been to The Blue Clover on Tremont Street? That’s a great bar, too.”
“Yeah, I think I have been there a couple times,” Jamie said, then pointed to her drink. “Want another?”
“No, thanks.”
“Hey, by the way, have you heard from that guy, Keith, yet?” Jamie asked casually. Remembering how Keith had fawned all over Sky last night, he figured the guy wouldn’t give up after just one date.
“Um,” Sky said, trying to recall, “yes, he texted me this afternoon just to say he had fun. You know what? We always talk about my dating life, but we’ve never talked about yours,” Sky said.
“What do you want to know?” Jamie asked, edging a little closer.
“Have you ever had a serious relationship?”
He nodded. “Yes. I was with someone for almost five years.”
Her eye widening, Sky asked, “When? Recently?”
“No, it wasn’t recent. We broke up a couple of years ago. She was home on Christmas break from college and she dropped the bomb on me one night that she couldn’t do the long-distance thing anymore,” he explained matter-of-factly.
Sky’s tone became sympathetic. “Oh, Jamie. Did you have any idea it was coming?”
“Not really,” he admitted.
“That sucks. Here you think you’re going to have a nice visit with your girlfriend, and then instead of hooking up, she breaks up with you,” Sky remarked.
“True,” Jamie admitted, qualifying, “Except, not exactly.”
“What do you mean?” Sky asked.
Running a hand over his jaw, he said, “If I recall, we still hooked up. But, otherwise, everything you said is true.”
“You still hooked up?” Sky echoed, sounding appalled. “Didn’t that piss you off?”
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked, confused.
“I mean that here she didn’t want to be your girlfriend anymore—but she still wanted to have sex with you! Didn’t that bother you?”
“Hmm, did it bother me that she wanted to have sex with me?” Jamie said, mulling it over for about two seconds. “I can honestly say no.”
Haplessly, Sky shook her head and threw up her hands. “Of course not. Guys are such dogs.”
Jamie grinned as he said, “That’s not much of an insult considering that you love dogs.” Then he held up his hands in mock surrender. “Just saying.”
With a giggle, Sky said, “Fine, you win.”
“Hey, speaking of dogs, you know what I was wondering? Why don’t you just get one yourself? Then you won’t have to miss Betty so much,” Jamie suggested.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Sky mentioned. “Of course it would have to be a dog that doesn’t need long walks all the time. Just in case my leg is bothering me.”
“Sure,” Jamie said encouragingly, “you could find a little dog like that. You know, one that’s more of a slacker, who doesn’t need a lot of exercise.”
At first Sky smiled. Then she pinched her brow and remarked, “My mom would probably say I’m filling a void.”
“Why would she say that?”
“Because she’s a psychologist.”
“Oh. Well, if you think about it: what does anyone do that isn’t filling some kind of void? Right?”
“That’s true…hmm. Hey, you should tell my mom that!” Sky said brightly.
He smiled. “When you introduce me to her, I will.” As soon as he said it, he realized how presumptuous it sounded, and threw in lightly, “Though I’ll warn you now, I’ll probably open with something a little less confrontational.”
“Okay,” Sky agreed with a laugh. “By the way, thanks for dragging me out tonight.”
“I’m just a caveman like that,” Jamie said with a grin. He reached out to give her hair a gentle tug. “When I saw a ponytail, I couldn’t resist.”
Damn, he thought, stop stalling. He’d been waiting all night for his perfect moment. Obviously it wasn’t going to be during Bar Trivia, but as soon as the game had ended, his nerves had kicked up, making him edgy, because he knew what he had to do. And there would be no going back once he told her how he felt about her.
Just then Sky’s phone chimed and she pulled it out of her bag. “Oh, my God, guess who this is…” she muttered as she read the screen. “Remember that guy I went out with a few weeks ago—Thomas? We sat next to you at Grendel’s?”
“Sure, of course. The self-important one who kept jamming the word ‘clients’ into every sentence.”
“Right,” Sky said, grinning. “So he’s just texting me now. After three weeks!” she exclaimed, sounding a bit put out. “What the hell?
“Obviously another girl blew him off so he’s trying to come back around to you now,” Jamie asserted.
“You think?”
“Sure. No guy who’s even remotely interested in a girl would let weeks go by with no communication.”
“Yes, thank you,” Sky said tartly.
“Oh, well,” Jamie fumbled, “I mean…ordinarily that would signify zero interest on a guy’s part, but maybe in this case—”
“Just stop talking.”
“Good idea.”
“Listen to this,” Sky continued, reading Thomas’s text aloud. “‘Hey Sky! How have you been? Was thinking of you and would love to catch up.’ Ha! Whatever, buddy,” she mumbled.
“What’s the big deal, anyway?” Jamie asked. “You weren’t interested in him, were you?”
“No. But still…”
“Ohh, I get it,” he said, then tsked. “So, you wanted to be the one to blow him off.”
“What, no,” Sky scrambled defensively, “that’s not it.”
“Yes, sure it is,” he insisted. “You wanted to be t
he one to crush his nuts,” Jamie added, making a hand motion like he was wringing out a sponge. Sky winced at that, but laughed. “I see it all so clearly now.”
Rolling her eyes, Sky said, “Okay, sure. And thanks for that pulverizing gesticulation, too.”
“Gesticulation?” Jamie repeated, impressed.
“Yes,” she said proudly and tilted her chin up. “So add that to your words-of-the-day.”
“I will,” he agreed, smiling at her.
Her phone chimed again. “Thomas again,” Sky said, reading the screen. “Now he’s letting me know his work number in case I want to call him there.”
“Jesus,” Jamie muttered under his breath.
“Whatever, I’m just going to ignore it,” Sky said, then changed her mind. “No, wait! You know what? I have my pride, too.”
“Not sure that your pride was ever in question here,” Jamie pointed out, but she was preoccupied with typing a message back to Thomas.
“Here…” she said, finishing her text and passing the phone to Jamie to read. “How about this?”
Sky had written:Hi Thomas, nice to hear from you. Actually…I’ve met someone special, and I hope you do too. Best wishes!
As soon as he read that, Jamie’s heart started pounding harder. He swallowed down a lump of excitement as blood began to rush to his extremities (well, mostly to his cock). Did she mean…was she really trying to tell him that she liked him? That there was obviously something here—something real and undeniable and she knew it, too.
All night he’d been trying to find the perfect moment to tell Sky how he felt about her and now—
“What do you think?” Sky said, grinning. “Do you think he’ll buy it?”
Jamie blinked at her. “Wait, what?”
“Thomas. Do you think he’ll buy that I met someone? Or will he know I’m making it up?”
And just like that…Jamie’s enthusiasm plummeted. Though he tried to cover his disappointment. Making it up? Really? He felt pissed and hurt by that. Mostly hurt. Did she really not feel something for him?