The fact that Frankie snuck out of bed first thing in the morning told me all I needed to know about where she stood. At least one of us was being smart about it.
I got up to make myself a coffee and caught Frankie peeping at me over the top of her book. She snapped her eyes back to the page when she saw me catch her. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was a little distracted today.
“You want a coffee?” I asked.
“Uh, sure.”
I started up the machine and pulled two mugs from the cabinet. “Cream or sugar?” I asked.
“Just a little cream please.”
I returned to the living room a couple of minutes later with our coffees and held Frankie’s mug out to her. She was bundled up right to the neck, and only her hands poked out to hold her book. It was adorable.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, taking the mug from me.
“No problem.”
I walked back over to the couch and resumed my previous activity of pretending to watch TV while trying not to think about Frankie. At least now I had coffee.
Most problematic of all, my reasons for disliking her were crumbling around me like dry leaves. Who would have thought that spending some time with the girl would give me a better understanding of her character? Crazy.
She was genuine and thoughtful, and behavior that I found annoying before suddenly didn’t bother me so much. It was harder than ever to distance myself. All I wanted to do was hoist her off that window seat, toss her over my shoulder, and carry her into the bedroom to have my wicked way with her. At least then we would have something to do.
I did everything I could to distract myself. I channel surfed, I messed around on my phone, I even tried to have a nap, but I could still feel Frankie like I’d grown an antenna that solely picked up her frequency.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. My own company was not enough to distract myself. I flicked off the TV and got up, pacing over to the kitchen and opening the cupboard I’d shoved Garrick’s “care package” in the day before.
“What are you doing?” Frankie asked.
I grabbed the Monopoly box. I couldn’t believe I was resorting to such a thing.
“I’m bored. Let’s play Monopoly.”
“Did you just say what I think you said?” Frankie asked.
I walked back into the living room and stood in front of her, holding up the box. “Garrick sent this up for us yesterday.”
“And you want to play it?” Frankie’s book was still open in her hands and she seemed to keep one eye on the page while she spoke.
“Yes,” I replied. “Come on.”
She didn’t move. “I don’t want to play Monopoly.”
“Why not?”
“I’m reading.”
“You’ve been reading all day. Humor me a little here.” I locked eyes with her. “Please?”
Frankie let out a gust of breath. “Did you just say please? Jeez, I knew I should have started taping our conversations. Nobody is ever going to believe me.”
I rolled my eyes and extended a hand to her. Frankie eyed it suspiciously, but eventually something gave and she allowed me to help her up.
“I’m telling you right now,” she said, “if you’re one of those ugly competitive types that toss the board when they’re not winning, I do not put up with that kind of bullshit.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I said, even though I could think of several times when Garrick and I were younger when I did just that.
We set up the board in front of the fireplace. I took the top hat as my piece, which Frankie frowned on for being predictable. She took the dog.
Frankie may have agreed to play to shut me up, but I could see the cogs in her head turning with strategy. She wanted to beat me.
She wouldn’t, but I’d let her figure that out for herself.
“Ugh! You’re joking me!” Frankie complained. “How much do I owe you this time?”
I grinned. “Five hundred. Hardly worth getting your panties in a twist over.”
“Yeah, five hundred isn’t a big deal if you’ve got it,” she grumbled. “Capitalist pig.”
“Stop complaining and pay your damn rent,” I replied. “I should charge you extra for wasting my time.”
Frankie rooted through her stack of cash and tossed a collection of multicolored bills at me. I tutted and collected the bills, sorting them into neat piles.
“What was that you said about sore losers?” I asked.
Frankie glared, but her expression soon cracked, and a smile like a sunbeam burst through.
“I should have mentioned that Monopoly brings out the worst in me.”
“Monopoly brings out the worst in all of us,” I replied. “Many a relationship have splintered on its cragged shores.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said, pointing to my organized stacks of money. “You seem to be doing quite well for yourself. Must be because you’re a businessman.”
I laughed. “Maybe I’m a businessman because I’m good at Monopoly.”
Frankie handed me the dice, and I rolled, landing on the Just Visiting square of jail. A boring turn for me.
“Do you think Black Mountain and Feisty Fox are going to merge now that Val and Garrick are getting married?” Frankie wondered, smiling. “You know, like bridging an alliance between two great kingdoms?”
My jaw tensed, but I forced a stiff shrug and handed her the dice. Frankie caught my eye. Her smile had vanished, and her brow wrinkled with thought. “That’s your problem with her, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“You’re anxious about Val’s intentions for your business.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said. “And anxious is putting it on a bit thick.”
Frankie shook her head. “I can’t believe you.”
“That family has been pressing into our business for years,” I replied. “Her parents are ruthless. I think it’s understandable for me to go into this union with a little caution and I’m not going to apologize for that.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that Val is nothing like her parents? If she had to choose between Garrick and her family’s legacy, I know she wouldn’t hesitate for a second to marry your brother.” Frankie chewed her bottom lip and stared at me, and when she spoke next, it was in a gentler tone. “I don’t know anything about business or corporate espionage or even beer, but I know people pretty damn well. Val’s a good egg. If you get to know her a little better, you’ll see that too.”
Normally I would ignore that kind of advice, but I could see how much Frankie believed what she said. More than that, my approval of Val meant something to her. That shouldn’t have mattered to me, but for some reason it did. I filed away a mental note to look a little closer at Val the next time I saw her.
The dice clattered across the board. Frankie groaned.
“Looks like you’ve landed on Park Place,” I drawled.
“I haven’t landed on anything yet. I haven’t moved.”
“But you’re going to.” I gestured to the dice. “Hop to it.”
Park Place and Boardwalk were my crown jewels. I had outfitted each with a hotel that burned a hole through the wallet of unlucky visitors. Frankie was my first guest.
Rather than moving her dog to its doom, however, Frankie stood. “I’m hungry.”
I looked up at her and frowned. “You’re hungry now?”
“Yeah. Starving.”
If I were playing with anyone other than Frankie, I would demand that we finish the game first. I even once wrestled Garrick down to the floor when he tried to cut a game of Scrabble short. But with Frankie? I was beginning to suspect I would have trouble denying her anything. At least for tonight.
“Okay, fine.” I sighed dramatically and rose to my feet.
“I don’t know what you’re grumbling about,” she said. “It’s not like you were going to win.”
Cheeky. I had the sudden image of her bent over my knee with red ha
ndprints on her ass. A tendril of heat wrapped around my cock and I forced myself to think of ice baths and cold fish so I wouldn’t go to the restaurant with a raging hard-on.
We put on our shoes and left the room, heading toward the resort’s main restaurant.
“What are you going to get?” Frankie asked as she skipped ahead of me down the hallway. “I can’t stop thinking about a big, juicy burger.”
“That’s the kind of decision I’ll reserve until I’ve seen the menu.”
Frankie looked behind her and stuck out her tongue at me. In a move that surprised both of us, I stuck mine out back. She halted around the next corner and drew close to the large window overlooking the back garden, her cheeks creasing up with a smile.
I pulled up beside her and shoved my hands in my pockets. The scene looked no different to me than the view from our room, but Frankie took it in with fresh eyes.
“It’s a beautiful place to be,” she said.
“Yup.”
“I mean it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You’ve never seen snow before?”
She chuckled. “Not like this. It sucks that we’re stuck here, but I still feel lucky for getting to see it all.”
“We’ll see how lucky you feel when I finish destroying you at Monopoly.” I guided her away with a hand on her waist. “Come on. I’m starving.”
Chapter 18
Frankie
I plastered myself to the hall window and frowned. “Since when did it get dark outside?”
Levi sidled up next to me. “Since we killed nearly two bottles of wine with our late lunch.”
My cackling laugh flooded the hallway. He had a point. I was no stranger to time flying when I was having fun, I just never expected to have so much fun with Levi. Not only had our late lunch stretched into dinner territory, but even the Monopoly game beforehand had gone by in a flash. Especially compared to the gruelingly long morning of “reading” before it.
I knew we were in a bubble on the mountain and that it couldn’t last. After all, it was the nature of bubbles to burst. That was what made them so beautiful. Our bubble was due to burst the moment we got back to Portland, when we both remembered how much we disliked each other, and I was already mourning it. If somebody offered me a helicopter ride back to civilization right now I would probably turn it down, which was surprising considering I would have done just about anything to escape a couple days ago and had considered grand theft skidoo to accomplish it.
A few flakes of snow pattered against the window, but the main event was the wind. The glass bowed and shook with the force of some of the gusts. I could hear it howling through some of the vents, like it was searching for a way in from the cold. I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and smiled, glad that I was warm and cozy in the safety of the hotel.
“Come on.” Levi placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me from the window.
We got back to the room and flicked on all the lights.
I sighed happily. “I’m still not used to how luxurious this suite is. Not the worst place to be marooned, if you ask me.”
“You’ve obviously never been to the Ritz.”
I rolled my eyes at Levi’s remark and stepped into the living room, grabbing the fireplace remote and flicking it on.
“Should we finish this game of Monopoly then?” Levi asked, following me.
I wrinkled my nose. “I’d rather not.”
“Is that just because you were about to get ground into the dirt?”
“No,” I answered haughtily. “I just don’t feel like Monopoly anymore.”
Levi stepped close to me, a glimmer in his black eyes. “What do you feel like?”
“We could go sledding.”
Levi’s lips curved at the suggestion, a subtle twist that made my heart flutter.
“You would get blown away,” he said.
I snorted. “You would be so lucky.”
“You’re right. Let’s get you out there.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the French doors.
I struggled, laughing and cursing at him in the same breath. His grip was strong. He easily tugged me behind him, and soon we were in front of the patio doors. Levi reached out for the door handle with his free hand, grinning. I grabbed his hand and pulled on it with all my might.
“I will kill you if you send me out there,” I said.
“Aw, come on, Frankie.” He held my flailing arms in place, biceps bulging. “There’s nothing else to do. I’ve got to entertain myself somehow. You’ll like flying.”
“You’re a bastard.”
He smirked. “And you’ve got a dirty mouth.”
I opened my mouth to retort with some even choicer language, but didn’t get a chance. The lights clicked off and left the room in complete darkness.
Levi let go of me the moment the power went out, but I reached for his shirt and held on tight. I thought for sure he would make fun of me for my juvenile reaction, but Levi wrapped his arms around me soothingly.
“Hey, hey,” he murmured. “It’s okay. Just a power outage.”
The gale outside howled victoriously and a cold shiver worked through me.
“You okay?” Levi’s breath tickled my nose and I realized he was bent close, trying to see my face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I loosened my grip on his shirt, but he still held me. “Sorry. Power outages freak me out.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” He patted my back. “Now...candles? A flashlight?”
“I have no idea.”
“There’s probably something in the kitchen. Shall we go look?”
I realized he wasn’t asking if we should go look so much as he was checking if it was okay to let go of me. It was a strange thought, but I had a sudden image of Levi as a dad. He’d make a caring father, speaking in low, soothing tones when his kids woke him in the middle of the night because they thought there was a monster in their room. It made me smile.
“Yeah, let’s have a look,” I said, stepping back. “I’m okay. Really.”
Levi released me but a second later his fingers threaded through mine and he gently pulled me behind him on his way to the kitchen. His grip was warm and firm, hand covering mine entirely and imbuing some of his calm into the touch.
I had no reason not to like the dark—except that every horrible thing ever seemed to happen in it. I was the kid who got picked up early at sleepovers if we watched a scary movie or tried to summon Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror. It wasn’t the movie or the ritual that would freak me out, but the darkness later, when any of the ghosts and ghouls we’d staved off earlier with the light might crawl out and bite off my toes.
Nowadays I didn’t worry about toe-biting monsters. For the most part, anyway. I still didn’t like the dark though, and even though I was a grown woman and could manage fine on my own if I wanted to, I liked letting Levi lead me around the kitchen while he looked for something to light. I liked that he was so happy to lead me.
Just as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, someone banged on the door. Levi’s arm wrapped around my shoulders before I even had time to panic, and I leaned into him and groaned.
“I’m such a loser.”
His chuckle rumbled through my back. “You’re fine. Let’s go see who it is.”
We picked our way through the living room, and I tucked myself behind Levi as he answered the door. In case of murderers, of course.
It was no murderer, though. A bellhop wielding a flashlight stood in the doorway, smiling apologetically.
“Hello,” he said. “Is everyone okay in there?”
“We’re good,” Levi replied. “Do you know when the power will be back on?”
“They’re investigating but can’t say for certain. In the meantime, we’re inviting the guests down to the cafe. We’ve got a wood burning fireplace and lots of board games. There’s a flashlight in your closet, should be right next to the first aid kit.”
“Thanks.”
&n
bsp; The bellhop waved and moved on to the next door. Levi let our door close and turned to me, holding my shoulders.
“I guess we have something to do now,” I said, chuckling.
“I guess so.” Levi’s voice was gravelly and rich. He ran his thumbs along my shoulders, and the small movement stoked a tendril of hot desire in my core. “But I think I’ve got a better idea.”
My breath hitched. Levi’s mouth found mine in the darkness with practiced ease. He held me in place and kissed me passionately, tongue and lips laying claim over my mouth and making my head spin. I told myself this shouldn’t happen again, but the truth was I’d been aching for his kiss all day. Now that we were here, there was no way I was going to stop him.
Levi’s hands skimmed down my arms, finding my waist and pulling me tight against his chest. I twined my arms around his neck and arched up against him, pressing my breasts against the muscled plane of his chest. The wind slammed against the windows insistently, but we were in another world. A world of darkness.
Levi’s stubbled jaw scraped my cheek as he kissed down my neck. My hairs stood on end. My body quivered with the memory of his expert touch, the way he played my body and made it sing. He sucked on my throat, and I let my head fall back, opening myself to him.
Everything felt more intense in the darkness. His hands on my ass, his lips on my pulse, his teeth scraping across my skin. Liquid heat filled my core, and I found myself grinding against Levi’s hard thigh, trying to relieve some of the ache.
Levi anchored both hands on my butt and hoisted me into the air. I wrapped my legs around him and tried not to yelp with surprise, but I let out a ragged gasp.
He chuckled, tickling the spot just below my ear. “I’ve got you.”
He began to walk. I had no idea how he made it to the bedroom without tripping over anything, but he did.
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