by Whitley Cox
“Oh, uh . . . sorry,” a groggy feminine voice mumbled. Juney opened her eyes and turned just in time to see Hunter knock her hip into an end table. She winced from the pain but recovered quickly, her hand shooting out to catch the lamp that teetered back and forth. She managed to catch it, thankfully, right before it crashed to the ground.
“Good morning.” Juney smiled, having pried her lips from Rowan’s, and righted herself. She needed to check on the sausages in the oven.
Rowan flashed a cocky, handsome grin Hunter’s way before taking up his post next to a frying pan full of vibrating bacon. “Morning.”
Hunter pulled up a seat at the kitchen bar and cupped the reindeer-painted mug of coffee Juney poured and placed in front of her. “Thanks.”
“Rough night?” Rowan asked with a smirk. “Were you up all night with the mega-genius?”
Hunter shot him an irritated glare that for some reason made her natural beauty seem even more fierce. “No.”
“Good morning,” came a yawn from down the hall.
The three of them turned to find Amber padding lightly on tiny bare feet down the hallway. She was wearing no more than a black tank top and red and green plaid pajama pants. Her red hair was in a messy, messy bun, and pillow creases looked like a botched facelift on her porcelain skin. She sidled up next to Hunter and thanked Juney for her coffee.
“What about you?” Rowan asked, blotting the bacon he removed to a plate with a paper towel. “You and the grumpy doctor play doctor?”
Juney snorted and gave him an eye roll. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m happy.”
She couldn’t help the rush of pleasure that jolted through her and into every limb from his words, from his smile. He was happy because of her.
Hunter cupped her mug to her chin and blew on her coffee, secretly hoping that she hadn’t been the only one to strike out last night. Apparently, Juney and Rowan managed to figure out Daisy’s algorithm in record time. Had Will and Amber gotten their groove on, too?
Amber rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Uh, no. We tried, but he fell asleep before anything started. I’m choosing not to take it personally. Yet.”
“Shit!” Rowan said, a dumbfounded look on his face. “Well, at least you know he’s interested.”
An icy wash of dread swamped Hunter, making her shiver, the sudden need for a cardigan or blanket all-consuming. She leapt up off the barstool and snatched a cashmere throw off the couch, wrapping it around herself like a baby-soft cocoon. Jealousy escaped her on a long sigh as she avoided everyone’s curious eyes and reached for her coffee again. Yes, at least Amber could take solace in the fact that Will was interested in her. Austin apparently wanted nothing to do with her; he’d made that abundantly clear last night. Friend-zoned before she’d even had a chance.
Guess there’s a first time for everything.
“What about you, Hunter?” Juney asked, her eyes full of motherly concern. This woman was a nurturer to her core. Hunter could practically hear the woman’s biological clock ticking from where she sat.
Hunter shook her head, her teeth gritted out the words. “Nope, nada. Not even a kiss. I don’t think he likes me like that way. Maybe not at all. Maybe I’ll try to find a ride back down the mountain to my car. Leave you lovebirds to your snowy love nest. Because obviously you two figured it out, and quickly, and Amber and Will need to get busy sooner in the evening.”
Amber made a noise in her throat that wasn’t quite a laugh.
“And if it’s all the same,” Hunter went on, “I’d rather not sit and watch you guys make use of the mistletoe while Austin and I avoid eye contact with each other for a week.”
Juney leaned across the counter and rested a hand on Hunter’s arm, her slow, understanding smile attempting to alleviate Hunter’s uncertainties. “We haven’t even been up here twenty-four hours. We have five days. Give him time. He seems shy. He might just be waiting to get to know you better. Or for you to make the first move.”
Not freaking likely. Hunter never made the first move.
Hunter’s lips trembled into the parody of a smile, but it was quick to vanish. The corners of her mouth were just too heavy. “Yeah . . . maybe. It’s not like I was expecting sex last night. That would have been great, or even a kiss would have been cool. But he didn’t even flirt. Nothing. I can’t get a read on him. What’s wrong with me? I’m a nice person, right? I’m successful. Sure, I don’t have a college degree, and I just got my GED a couple of years ago, but I’m still pretty smart. Do you think it’s the degree thing that’s holding him back? That I’m not educated enough? Or maybe we’re not matched. Maybe we’re all attracted to the wrong person.”
Rowan and Juney paused for a moment, their gazes locking in mild panic.
“Uh, no,” Rowan finally said. “I think we all figured it out pretty damn quickly. Some work faster than others, that’s all.”
Juney beamed at him from where she stood, peeling an orange.
Rowan moved the berry sauce he’d been stirring on the stove over to a hot pad. “You’re a fucking self-made millionaire, Hunter. At twenty-six, I might add. I’m pretty sure college degrees and whether you finished high school are irrelevant at this point. You’re beautiful, smart, funny. I honestly have no idea what the guy’s deal is. Maybe Juney’s right. Maybe he’s shy. Or gay.” His eyes took in the women he hardly knew, gauging their response. And then he rapidly added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. My older brother happens to be gay. I don’t care who you love or who you fuck. I’m simply making an observation, is all.”
Juney rolled her eyes, then gave Rowan a small grin to let him know she wasn’t taking offense to his response. Amber nodded and muttered something about not being offended either.
But Hunter was off in her own little world, her lips flattened into a thin line in thought. “The millionaire thing then, maybe? He’s intimidated by my wealth? My success? I’m not that different from everyone else. I still do my own laundry, put my pants on one leg at a time. And like everyone else, I’m incapable of folding a fitted sheet.”
“I can fold a fitted sheet,” Juney cut in.
“Well, then you’re obviously a witch.”
Amber burst out laughing next to her. “Nobody normal can fold a fitted sheet. You must be a witch.”
Juney’s face fell for a moment, but then she quickly plastered on a big grin. “Can you fold a fitted sheet?” she asked Rowan.
He gave her a dubious look. “What the hell is a fitted sheet?”
Soon they were all laughing, the debacle of the night with Austin soon forgotten. Hunter found herself smiling and joking with the others. It was nice to smile, especially after last night. It wasn’t until their banter about how hot the griddle should be for pancakes—Rowan and Juney couldn’t agree on a temperature setting, she said he was burning them—that they were interrupted by more slipper-scuffing from down the hall. All eyes turned to see who it was, and lo and behold, out trudged Austin looking as rough as Hunter felt. She quickly averted her eyes and stared down into her coffee mug, watching the steam rise up into her nostrils.
“Morning,” Austin yawned. There were two choices: either take the other empty seat next to Hunter or walk around to the other side and sit next to Amber. He chose to sit next to Amber. A move that was noticed by everyone. Juney shook her head and went back to whisking the whipping cream. Rowan gave Austin a quick once-over, then shook his head as well. Amber got up and poured him a cup of coffee, which he took willingly and thanked her.
Hunter turned her head to look at him. His dark brown, wavy hair stuck out in every direction on his head, and an even thicker layer of auburn scruff covered his chin and cheeks. He looked better than ever. Disheveled and raw. Different from the guys she normally dated, who were chiseled and fit in all the right places, but screamed bravado and “look at me” from the rooftops with the way they carried themselves. Hell, her last boyfriend spent twice as much time primping in the bath
room as she did.
And even though she was coming to the conclusion that Austin didn’t share her feelings, she couldn’t deny the pull she had toward him. He had an understated magnetism, and she was drawn to his quiet power, drawn to his intelligence and tenacity. The more she thought about it, the more she was attracted to the fact that he wasn’t attracted to her. How fucked up is that? But she couldn’t deny it. The fact that the brainiac wasn’t interested in her, was practically ignoring her, was turning her on. Never a nerd herself, because she just didn’t have the attention span or drive to try in school, she was in awe of those who could.
Once her company started to take off, Hunter tried a couple of online and night business classes, but even those she struggled to sit through, didn’t find them engaging or overly helpful. Her time could be much better spent forging relationships with suppliers or hunched over a sewing machine making the next great hemp skirt. So, even though she had zero education, not to mention no business knowledge, she managed to build a small empire, relying solely on her gut instinct and a few loyal and honest friends and co-workers. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t admire those who went to school. It said a lot about a person and how they valued themselves, how they valued intelligence. A never-ending quest for knowledge, always wanting more of it, always wanting to know more. Hunter found it hot. Abs, pecs, lips, eyes, they had nothing on a big, sexy brain.
“We’re all going to hike up to the chairlifts today and get some runs in, earn the extra calories we’ll consume tonight. You in?” Juney asked, snapping Austin out of his funk. The guy had been staring straight ahead at the little Santa and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers perched on the island. Hunter only knew this because she’d been staring at Austin.
Get a grip, girl. He doesn’t like you that way.
He pulled his eyes away from the salt and pepper shakers, the faintest of smiles tugging at his mouth. “Oh. Uh, sure, that sounds good. I’m game.”
Rowan gave him a look and snorted, shaking his head with an eye roll. “At least you’re game for something.”
Hunter coughed and shot Rowan a dirty look.
Shut up, man!
He gave her a smug smile back and flipped a flapjack. She wanted to flip it onto his face. Just because he was happy and having multiple Christmas orgasms didn’t mean he had to go rubbing it in and make the rest of them feel like lumps of freaking coal.
“Good morning.”
All eyes whipped around to the deep and sleepy voice that was coming down the hallway. Will had pulled his jeans back on, but he hadn’t bothered with his shirt, and the ridges of his chiseled abs flexed with each long stride.
“Morning.” Hunter yawned, moving over so Will could take up a perch next to her. He offered her a sleepy smile, then thanked Juney for his coffee.
Will was thankful that there was no seat left next to Amber. He was a total ass for falling asleep on her last night. And even though for the first time in forever he woke up feeling rather rested, he also felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t she woken him up? Sat on his face or straddled his waist to snap him back to reality? He had closed his eyes for a brief second, bagged from the day and the days before. It’d been nonstop busy at the hospital, and he’d only managed all of thirty minutes of sleep in the on-call room.
He was pissed off at himself for dozing off last night, but he wasn’t the least bit surprised it had happened. He hadn’t had a solid eight hours in what was beginning to feel like forever. But there she was, avoiding his face and staring down into her coffee mug like it was a fucking Picasso or something, and rightfully so. She was probably either (a) pissed off at him or (b) feeling insecure about where they stood. He hoped it wasn’t either of those but would take pissed off over insecure. He wanted Little Red to know how badly he wanted her; he just had to figure out a way to show her.
“You coming?”
Hunter’s voice and cocked head pulled Will from his thoughts, and he snapped to attention, nearly knocking his coffee mug over in the process. “Coming where?”
Rowan snorted in the kitchen and shook his head. “Not too many people coming in this place.”
What was that prick’s problem?
Will glared at the cocky chef as Rowan wiped his hands on the front of his apron and pecked Juney on the cheek at the same time.
Fuck, had Rowan sealed the deal last night? Jesus, where had that prowess come from?
Now Will was an even bigger dumbass because he’d fallen asleep on Amber, but Rowan had managed to get Juney to give it up on the first night.
The little blonde smiled at him. Hunter was cute, super cute. And normally he would have gone for her. She was totally his type. He liked blondes. Always had. Probably because as a teenager he’d been obsessed with Baywatch. I mean, come on, you can only watch Pamela Anderson run in slow motion down the beach so many times before a mild obsession and dreams of bodacious blondes with heaving bosoms start to infiltrate your dreams. Day and night. And he’d been with his fair share of flaxen-haired bombshells. His ex-wife had been black, but Will liked all types. But here, now, he wanted Amber. She was a ballbuster and spritely, and he liked that . . . a lot.
“Sorry, where?” he asked again, ignoring Rowan’s smug smile and turning back to Hunter.
“We’re all going to hike up to the chairlift and do some runs,” Hunter said, lightly drumming her fingernails on the side of her mug.
Will nodded as he ran his hand down his face and scratched his whiskers. He needed to shave. “Yeah, sure.”
“All right, you sexually frustrated weirdos,” Rowan said with a chuckle, his arms loaded down with plates as he made his way over to the long, live-edge dining room table. “Breakfast is ready!”
He plopped an enormous platter of pancakes down in the center, followed by a plate of bacon, a plate of sausages, and enough scrambled eggs to feed an army. Juney followed hot on his heels with whipped cream, berry sauce, what looked to be toast, cut-up fruit, and maple syrup. Once they set everything down, the two of them stood up straight and smiled at each other. Something passed between them, something intimate, an inside joke or a wordless conversation. Whatever it was, it did not go unnoticed by the other four, who pried their sorry asses off the barstools and went to take their seats, incredibly annoyed with how chipper and sappy the Christmas lovebirds were.
Chapter Six
Hunter giggled and took an awkward step out of the way to avoid the big dip in the packed snow. The sound of snowboarders and skiers filled the crisp mountain air. “When was the last time you boarded, dude? You’re like a runaway train out there.”
“Did you see that?” Will had come to an abrupt stop in front of her, his board carving nicely into the packed snow and sending up a confetti of flurries. “That was insane! I nearly bailed but righted myself just at the end, only to avoid hitting that tree. Fuck, I’m a fucking danger to myself and everyone else out here.”
She ungloved her hand for a moment and dug into her pocket for some lip gloss. “Been awhile, then?” She hurriedly slathered it on, stowed it back in her coat and put her shivering hand back into its downy shroud.
“Uh, yeah.” His smile was wide and carefree, unlike yesterday when every look, every blink had been with heavy eyelids and dark bags beneath.
“It looked like it.”
“Hey!” He shot her a pretend glare, but then reached out and shoved her in a brotherly way. She responded by shoving him back and giggling. He might come across as a bit of an ornery ass, but she liked Will—not the way she liked Austin, but in more of a sibling kind of way. Like how a little sister might like or admire a big brother. She was an only child and grew up in the system, so although from time to time she had “brothers and sisters” when she was in foster homes, she never really found anyone she truly connected with on a level she would call “familial.” Not until Daisy anyway.
Maybe it was because he was an only child, too. Who knew? But something in Will spoke to her. The man screamed alpha to his
very core, not to mention slightly arrogant and a tad conceited, but there was also a protective element about him, nurturing and fiercely loyal.
Hunter gave him another hard shove in the shoulder, and he fell back on his ass into a big drift of snow, a carefree chuckle rumbling up as his big gloved hands started collecting snow and forming it into a ball. Hunter was laughing so much with her head tossed back, blonde locks pulled into a French braid over her shoulder, that she didn’t notice the giant snowball headed for her face.
It caught her dead center and knocked her back until she fell on her own ass into some untouched powder.
“That’ll teach you, brat!” Will laughed, scooping up more snowballs and throwing them at Hunter as fast as he could.
She started doing the same, and soon the two were caught up in an all-out snowball fight.
Austin swallowed hard. “Damn it.”
“You’re an idiot!” Juney said.
He hadn’t blinked. His eyes were glued to the scene below. Had he just said that out loud?
Crap.
He and Juney were on a chairlift heading up to the top of the run, and he’d caught sight of Hunter down below. Her bright pink ski jacket was hard to miss against the pristine snow.
“She likes you. You obviously like her. I know it’s only been a day since we all arrived up here and decided to embark on this ridiculous setup of Daisy’s, but come on, man, what’s your deal?”
Austin slowly peeled his eyes away from the scene of Hunter and Will and their cozy little snowball fight and looked at Juney. Finally, he let out a big huff, his shoulders slumping. “How’d you and Rowan manage to figure it out so quickly?”
A smile so serene and placid crossed her face, Austin wondered if the woman was already in love, or if it was just the orgasms and endorphin boost.
“We both know what we want,” she said. “I was attracted to him right away. He went a little fanboy about my books at first, but I found it cute and endearing. And when he knocked on my door last night to talk and apologize for being weird about my books, he felt the pull, the attraction too. We just kind of . . . hit it off, and one thing led to another.”