by J. H. Croix
She fell asleep with a comedy show murmuring in the background. When she woke during the night and got up to turn off the lights, her phone blinked with a text. Tugging the covers over her again, she grabbed her phone to check.
Missed you tonight. Good night.
Her heart thumped with a beat of joy. Though the rational part of her mind argued against it, she texted him back anyway. Because even if it didn’t last, she was going to enjoy this.
Missed you too. Sleep tight.
As soon as she set her phone down, it chirped again.
I’d be sleeping much better if you were here.
She giggled, joy racing through her. Hope danced on its toes, twirling madly. She bit her lip as she considered whether to reply.
Would you really be sleeping?
She giggled when she hit send, her eyes on the screen waiting for his reply.
Probably not. In fact, I could think of all kinds of other things to do…
She flushed, straight through, and sighed.
Not much we can do about that now.
Nope. How did tonight go?
Delia’s heart flipped slowly. Leave it to Garrett to tighten his grip on her heart and body by being considerate and asking about tonight. He’d known how anxious she’d been to have Nick meet his grandmother finally.
***
Garrett spent the morning helping Gage install the last heater. He stood outside the small ski hut while Gage finished loading up the tools. Today was cold and clear, the sun glittering in the bright blue sky. He took a deep breath, savoring the bite of icy air. He slowly spun in a circle, taking in the breathtaking view. Atop the mountain, he had a panoramic view. The surface of the bay ruffled in the wind. Boats moved in and out of the harbor. Mount Augustine, one of the nearby volcanoes, stood tall and still in the distance. Its peak was arrayed with its own clouds. In another direction, the mountains stretched as far as he could see. An eagle screeched and lifted from the trees, its wings casting a wide shadow on the snow as it flew across the ski slope.
He circled back to look down the ski slope. Last Frontier Lodge sat at the bottom, a charming cluster of buildings. After spending more time here, he had a better understanding of what drove Gage to return to Diamond Creek. The sound of the door closing brought his attention full circle. Gage stepped out with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his bag of tools in hand.
“Ready?” Gage asked.
“Let’s go.”
Garrett savored the cold wind on his face as they zipped down the mountain. They headed inside for a late lunch. Delia was busy in the kitchen, but she threw him a smile from across the room. He kept a tight rein on his impulses—because what he wanted to do was drag her upstairs and spend hours tangled up with her.
Awhile later, he was deep in the middle of working on some legal briefs when his phone rang. He’d notified Elaine she could call if needed while he was online. Her number flashed on his phone.
“Hey Elaine,” he said, tucking his phone against his shoulder while he kept typing away.
“Nice to hear your voice again. I thought you’d want to know Carlton has finally accepted his fate and scheduled a meeting with Olivia.”
Garrett grinned. “Good. I hope Olivia enjoys a challenge.”
Elaine laughed softly. “That she does. She’ll give Carlton a run for his money.”
After a few questions about cases, Elaine got right to the point. “So when will you be back?”
“I’ll probably book my flight to Seattle in the next few days. I need to get back to wrap up a few cases in person. After that…”
He heard someone gasp and spun around in his chair to see Delia standing inside the door. He’d texted her earlier to come upstairs when she could, even teasingly specifying there was no need for her to knock.
“Elaine, I need to go. I’ll call you later.” He didn’t bother to wait for her reply.
He tossed his phone on the counter as he stood and walked toward Delia.
“Delia…”
Her eyes were bright and her face flushed. She shook her head sharply.
He reached for her arm, catching it as she swung away. “Delia, it’s not what you think. Please…”
She shook him off. “I know what I heard. I get it. I really do. I knew you weren’t going to be here forever.”
He watched her fold herself inside, right in front of his eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist, her lips thinned and her eyes shuttered. A polite smile graced her face. He knocked back the frustration mounting inside. He needed to explain, to make sure she knew how he felt. Um, nice idea. You don’t even know how you feel. Remember? Gage thinks you love her and you can’t even admit it to yourself. He shut his critic down and looked at Delia. He meant to talk to her and he would.
“Delia, please come in. Let me explain.”
She hesitated, her arms tight around her. At that moment, a family turned down the hall, two boys jostling each other along the way. Delia glanced between him and them before taking a step through the door and closing it behind her. She walked past him to stand by the windows. She didn’t look his way.
Garrett marshaled his courage. He was the master of words when it came to arguing his point in court. Yet, right now, he was floundering, struggling to find a way to explain. He kept thinking it should be simple. His highly perceptive brother was convinced he was in love. Usually, Garrett trusted Gage’s judgment implicitly, but he had zero experience with love. He liked things to be clear, to be straightforward. His feelings were a messy muddle. Every time he thought about being away from Delia, his chest felt hollow. Yet, whenever he considered actually speaking his feelings aloud, fear washed through him. He was no good at this. He’d never thought he was cut out for serious relationships. He liked to be in control, to manage things. He didn’t know how to manage this.
He walked to the windows. Delia stared ahead. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but she was distant. He took a breath, his eyes traveling over the now familiar view.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Seattle, but I have to go back. I’ve ignored my work longer than I should have. I was hoping maybe we could talk about…”
Delia cut him off, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. “Talk about what? You have your life in Seattle, and mine is here. I knew that from day one. It’s okay.” She whirled away from the window and started pacing back and forth in front of the bed.
He clenched his jaw. She wasn’t even giving him a chance to explain.
“Maybe it’s okay with you, but it’s not with me. I didn’t expect this to happen. I came up here after a winning a shitty case in court. I just needed to get away and think. And then, well…” He paused, a jolt of lust coursing through him at the mere thought of the first time he kissed her. He gulped in air. He needed to stay on track somehow.
“It took a little time, but I’ve figured out what to do about work. I need to focus on something other than corporate cases. I already have a plan. I’m going to route all the corporate referrals to the other attorneys in my practice and start taking cases for non-profits and consultation. I don’t have it completely hammered out, but I was hoping to find a way to go back and forth between Seattle and Diamond Creek until the dust settles. If I can get enough work up here, I can sell my partnership to some of the newer attorneys—the ones who have the energy and drive to keep it going.”
Delia’s arms were still crossed, but her expression softened slightly, the shutters lifting on her eyes if only a little. It occurred to him he was avoiding the hard part of this conversation. He was focusing on work and tiptoeing around their relationship. Because that’s what it was—a relationship.
He walked to her side. She kept pacing, so he paced alongside her and dredged up the last of his nerve. “Delia, this is all new to me. I know I’m blowing it. I don’t want us to end. I don’t know how it’s going to shake out, but I want to try to make this work. I’ve never done this…this relationship thin
g. If I could wave a magic wand and somehow sort out my life in Seattle without leaving your side, I would. I absolutely would. I’d love it if you could come with me. I’ll fly up here every weekend while I’m there if you’ll just give me a chance to show you how much you matter.”
She came to an abrupt stop and turned to face him. “Garrett…I don’t know if I can do this.”
“I know. I’m not asking you to make any promises. I’m just asking you to let us see where this goes.”
His heart battered against his rib cage. He waited. The room was so quiet, he could hear the soft rush of her breath before she closed the distance between them.
“Okay… I’m not so sure it’s a good idea, but I can’t say no. Not right now.”
Chapter 19
Delia’s pulse raced. She was caught in the tides of desire and emotion. She meant what she said—she couldn’t turn away from what they had. Yet, it didn’t change the muddled reality of their situation. She heard Garrett’s words—that he wanted a chance to make this work. But he still had an entire life in Seattle. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d change his mind once he got back home. She could only guess at how different his world there was from here. Diamond Creek’s only claim to worldly came from its breathtaking beauty and world-class wilderness.
Garrett’s hand threaded into her hair, shivers chasing in the wake of his touch. She looked up to find his eyes on her—dark and compelling. He spoke her name—a gruff whisper—before his lips crashed against hers. There were kisses and then there were Garrett’s kisses. He fit his mouth over hers—hot, hungry and demanding. She dove into the sensations crashing through her.
He broke away from her lips, fisting his hand in her hair and exposing her throat. His lips, teeth and tongue traced a path down her throat and sent hot shivers coursing through her. Time dissolved into the blur of desire. His body was hot against hers—against the door, spinning across the room. Clothes were torn off. She found herself grasping the edge of the counter, her hands clenching and unclenching as Garrett teased her slick folds with his fingers. She was dripping with desire, desperate for more. He drove her closer and closer. He cupped her bottom with his hand as she arched back into him.
“Garrett…please…”
Her voice was raspy, her throat raw.
Suddenly, he slid a finger into her channel and she gasped in relief. Pushing back into his touch, another finger joined, stretching and stroking. Pleasure streaked through her, dancing just out of reach. She pushed her hips into his touch—begging for more. She felt the brush of his cock against her skin. His fingers slipped away, and his cock nudged at her entrance. He went still. She arched back, calling his name. His palm slid up her back, strong and sure, and laced in her hair. The anticipation nearly drove her mad while he held still, just the head of his cock resting in her entrance. Her channel throbbed.
In a swift surge, he seated himself in her, driving deep and hard. Her breath broke on a raw gasp before he started a cycle of long, slow, relentless strokes. Without the counter under her hands and Garrett’s grip on her hips, she’d have fallen as she tumbled headlong into the fire licking its way through her. Deep strokes, his hand tugging on her hair, the feel of his cock full and hard inside of her, every breath and beat of her heart another pulse of pleasure. He reached around and with a quick stroke of his thumb across her clit, the pressure let loose, unwinding wave after wave of sharp pleasure. His guttural cry followed hers as she felt him go taut before he shuddered against her.
His hand loosened in her hair and slid down her back slowly. He dropped a kiss on her spine before he straightened and stepped back, immediately lifting her in his arms and carrying her into the shower with him. After a steaming shower, Garrett tugged her with him to lie down.
“It’s still light out.” She couldn’t say why, but it felt silly to lounge in bed. Or perhaps her vulnerable, ever-hopeful heart experienced a beat of hesitation. The intimacy of it gave her pause. But then she saw his eyes—that navy gaze was wide open. What she saw there took her breath away. His mouth hooked in an almost-boyish grin.
“Just for a little while. I’m still recovering,” he said, gesturing to his shoulder. Which, at this point, was quite colorful. As bruises were wont to do, they had darkened as he healed. She giggled and allowed herself to be tugged into bed with him. They lay propped on the pillows while the sun finished its bow, the curtain of dusk following its last glorious burst of orange, red and gold streaking the sky above the mountains and shimmering on the water in the bay.
***
Garrett watched Delia collect their scattered clothing. She wore one of the oversized robes from the room. It nearly swallowed her. She’d tied her hair up with loose curls escaping around her face. His heart clenched. Somehow, he had to pull himself together and get back to Seattle, so he could return here as soon as possible.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. He snagged it and saw a text from Gage. He suddenly remembered he was supposed to meet Gage downstairs for a few beers.
He glanced up at Delia. “How about dinner downstairs?”
She shook out her blouse and looked up.
“I told Gage I’d meet him for a few beers. Maybe you could call up and see if Marley wants to join us? I’m starving.”
Such a simple request and he couldn’t bear it if she said no. She nodded while she put her blouse on. Meanwhile, his mind whirred over how he could persuade her to go with him to Seattle. He didn’t have the details of anything hammered out, but he knew without a doubt, he wanted to wring every possible moment of time with Delia before he had to return to Seattle.
***
The sun fell in a slant across the bed, warming Delia. She came awake slowly. Garrett was spooned behind her with his hand curled under one of her breasts and his legs tangled with hers. She smiled to herself. Last night had been the kind of night she’d wished for whenever she let herself hope for love. But those faded dreams hadn’t been specific. She’d simply wanted a good man, a man who fit into her world and who loved her and Nick. Born and raised in a small town on the wild coast of Alaska didn’t lend itself to a life familiar to many. She valued the closeness of her family and friends, living in a community where trust mattered and where the occasional nosiness of neighbors was the flip side of the coin when you knew those neighbors would always drop anything to help.
They’d had a long, lazy dinner in the restaurant with Marley and Gage. Her father had joined them for a little while, bringing Nick along. Nick had crawled under the booth and climbed up between Gage and Garrett. After dinner turned to a casual game of cards, Garrett had taught him how to play rummy, his arm casually curled over Nick’s shoulder. A few glasses of wine sloughed off her tendency to worry, which so often prevented her from enjoying herself fully. After her father headed off with a sleepy Nick, she’d tumbled into bed with Garrett.
Now, her hopes and dreams were Garrett specific. At the moment, she batted away her worry. Because it would have its chance to run laps in her mind later when Garrett flew to Seattle and uncertainty engulfed them. For now, she savored the moment. She felt Garrett’s breathing alter slightly. He mumbled into her hair before his lips landed on her neck. He slid a hand down the curve of her hip. She felt his body tighten into a shivering stretch behind her before he relaxed against her again.
Sometime later after they were showered and she was about to head downstairs to work, she made a decision. Whatever happened, Garrett had to know how she felt before he left. He was seated at the kitchen table, scrolling through emails on his laptop. When she said his name, he glanced up.
She took a deep breath, gathering her courage. “I thought maybe you should know something.”
His eyes held hers. He arched a brow. “Okay?”
She twisted her hands together. “I know you’re leaving soon, so I thought you should know…I think I’m falling in love with you.” Her words flew out forcefully, unvarnished and raw. Her heart pounded wildly, and
she felt simultaneously terrified and relieved—terrified to speak her feelings aloud and relieved not to keep them tucked inside anymore.
Garrett’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “Delia…I…”
She could tell by the look on his face he had no idea what to say. Strangely, she wasn’t upset she’d shared her feelings. There was no sense to hiding them. She took a breath. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just thought I might as well tell you. You’re leaving, so it didn’t seem to make much sense to hide how I felt.”
Garrett’s eyes were wide. He barely moved, but he nodded his head slowly. “Delia, I don’t know what to say…”
Suddenly, she couldn’t stand to wait while he fumbled his way through not telling her he loved her. She walked swiftly to his side and kissed him quickly. “It’s okay. I just had to tell you.” She all but ran out of the room on the way out, her heart pounding so loudly, she could barely hear anything else.
Chapter 20
Garrett tossed his briefcase on his desk and put his hands on his hips, spinning in a slow circle in his office. He’d spent more time here than he had at his home—a rather sad reminder of his life. He’d spent a fortune on a high-rise apartment and all he ever did was sleep there. His office was pristine, which was not its usual state. He worked in long stretches and tended to leave papers and coffee cups all over the place. He took a deep breath and tried to focus.
There was a sharp knock on his door before it opened. He turned to see Elaine standing there. He strode to her and gave her a quick hug. She smiled broadly. Elaine was all efficiency, even in her appearance. Simple navy suits with a white blouse were practically a uniform for her. Her white hair was kept in a short, sleek cut. Her brown eyes were bright behind her round glasses. She got right to business.