He nodded. “You’re a fantastic woman, you know that?”
“Thank you.”
He grinned, and her heart stuttered. The warmth of his stare through the remainder of the meal did nothing to convince her to stay uninvolved. In fact, his charm had the complete opposite effect. Once again, the memory of their brief encounter during the storm surfaced, and she could feel her face heat.
“You okay?” he asked.
She straightened in her seat. “I just don’t like talking about myself.” Which was only a partial lie.
Maggie returned to clear their empty plates, and they both refused her offer of dessert. Kelsey allowed him to pay the bill because that’s the way he wanted it. As they exited, she thought of how right it felt to be walking beside him.
When they returned to her SUV, he paused with his hand on the driver’s-side door, ready to open it for her. “I think we should go pick up my Escalade to drive to the sheriff’s. No sense advertising the visit with the Chalet Romance logo.”
She hesitated, wondering if it was actually necessary to report the notes, even if they scared her. There were a couple of reasons to let this go. One being she didn’t want to make a huge deal out of nothing. The second, more important reason was the sheriff had been the only person she’d dated since being home, and the relationship hadn’t ended well for him.
“Okay,” she finally replied. “I’ll need to stop by the office for the other notes, first.” It didn’t hurt that it would also kill some time before she had to see Dale.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Once they’d parked in the sheriff building’s recently snow-plowed asphalt lot, Jared reached across the console, placed his hand over Kelsey’s, and squeezed. “This’ll be a piece of cake. You’ll see.”
She curved her lips into an unconvinced grin. “Hope so.” On a sigh, she hauled her purse from the floorboard into her lap. Then she dug inside and took out three pieces of paper, two of which were crumpled into balls that she straightened and smoothed over the leg of her jeans.
He wanted to help her flatten them just so he could feel her toned, sexy legs. He wanted to stoke those long limbs all the way down to her toes. With the pressure building against his zipper, he knew he’d better change the direction of his musings.
And hadn’t it had been a good while since he’d thought of his sister and the original purpose for coming to the resort?
He’d review that problem later.
“May I?” he asked as he reached for the crumpled notes. When she handed them over, he held each piece by its edges with his fingertips. All but the last note sported a multitude of crisscrossing lines that defaced what appeared to be large computer-generated type. So much for preserving evidence.
He read each note in silence, trying to ignore Kelsey’s watchful stare. Chills shot down his spine when he was done. What had she gotten herself into? Part of him wanted to wrap her in his arms, and part of him wanted to chide her for taking this so lightly.
“What do you think?” she asked tentatively.
“You need a bodyguard,” he said. But at her stricken expression he amended his statement with a chuckle. “Not really.” Yes, really.
“Don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry. Let’s take this inside.”
He was directly behind her as they entered the office—close enough for her to reach out for him if she needed support. But she didn’t need support, he discovered. No, to his consternation it was immediately apparent that she knew the young, handsome sheriff.
“Kelsey,” the man said with a flash of white teeth. “What a nice surprise.” The guy edged around the counter and encircled her in a robust hug, his palms flattening against and massaging her back.
Jared didn’t like it. Even though she didn’t seem to reciprocate the sheriff’s enthusiasm, he didn’t like it. He wanted to break the dude’s hands, as a matter of fact.
The feeling intensified as Mr. Sheriff set her back but kept a hold of her shoulders.
Stop fucking touching her, Jared thought.
Kelsey broke the contact, angling away and extending her palm toward Jared. “Dale, this is Dr. Jared Michaels. Jared, Sheriff Dale Cameron.”
Jared extended his hand, intending to squeeze the shit out of Dale’s paw, which he did. “Hi.”
“Dale and I have known each other since we were kids and we used to date.”
“Got it,” Jared said.
Sheriff Cameron stood there looking like a lost puppy. “And we’d be married and having babies if it’d been up to me.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Dale, please.”
How far had the relationship gone? That was the question foremost in Jared’s mind. His hands curled into fists. Again, he wanted to pound the guy. That, and claim her as his, right down to learning every inch of her glorious body. He felt a sizzle of lust head straight to his crotch.
His eyes were on Kelsey, so he heard rather than saw Dale move behind the counter. “I’ve been having a bit of a problem lately,” she said. “And I’m not sure what to do about it. Jared suggested I bring it to the authorities.”
It was then that Jared shook off his primal, crazy urges.
She smoothed the messages over the counter, turning them so the sheriff could read them.
As if to confirm he had it correct, Sheriff Cameron read the notes aloud. “Time for you to leave, bitch… You’re gonna pay… Final warning…” The sheriff gave a soft whistle. “I’d say you have an enemy. Any idea who it might be?”
Kelsey jerked her head up. “No, not a clue. I—I don’t know what to say. It sounds worse when you read them like that.”
Jared felt the nervous energy emanating from Kelsey.
“Anything else strange going on?” the sheriff asked.
Kelsey grew silent for a moment, her brows digging together. “We’ve had a series of mishaps at the Chalet.” She paused to breathe, then launched into a list. “In early January, we had a grease fire in the restaurant, shortly after that a ski-lift car derailed, a few weeks later Jared’s sister was involved in a ski accident, and yesterday my snowmobile lost a ski.”
The sheriff folded his arms. He appeared pleased to assume the role of authority for Kelsey’s benefit. “By themselves the incidents may not amount to much. But taken in conjunction with these threats? Well, I don’t think we can rule out that they could be related.”
Eyeing the notes, Jared’s concern intensified. “I don’t know about the other events, but the sled was definitely tampered with. A bolt cut almost through until it finally broke. And I’m at the resort to learn more about my sister’s ski accident.”
“I suggest you file a report,” Sheriff Cameron said. He strolled to the desk and returned with a manila folder. “I’ll need to keep these,” he said, indicating the threatening notes.
“Sure.” She mumbled and ran one hand through her hair down to the ends. “I don’t know who would do this.”
It upset him to see her so deflated. He wanted to draw her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay.
“If you think of anything or anyone who might have something against you, give me a call. I’d say these are in too bad a shape to get anything off them, but I’ll send them to Denver, just in case.” Dale placed each note in an evidence bag and labeled it. “If you get another, don’t crumple it, or handle it much at all, for that matter. Also, let me know ASAP. Okay?”
She took a deep breath. “I’ll do that.”
Sheriff Dale Cameron’s lover-boy eyes darted from Kelsey to Jared and back to her. “Maybe I should make a few rounds at the resort. Keep an eye out. Would you like that?”
The guy obviously wanted to test the waters of their relationship again.
Kelsey smiled. “That would be super.”
That dimple peeked through, and Jared groaned inwardly. Poor guy. No, poor me. Which was ridiculous, because he wasn’t after a relationship.
Despite that, he wanted to stop Dale from getting any b
right ideas. “Ready to go?” he asked her.
“Yes.” She glanced over her shoulder as they headed for the door. “Thank you, Dale.”
Jared placed his hand at the small of her back as he guided her over the threshold and out into the parking lot. He needed to touch her, to let her know he was there for her, and to exercise some sort of territorial ownership for the sheriff’s benefit. She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she leaned her soft shoulder into him further.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kelsey stopped him as they traversed the walkway to her dad’s place. He’d already figured out that she checked on the old man every afternoon. “You don’t have to go with me,” she muttered in an exasperated tone. “You even said I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“I lied.”
“Hmph.” She scuffed her feet around then looked up. “Well, then I guess I should tell you that my dad doesn’t know anything about what’s going on at the resort. Not the changes I’ve made, or the recent problems. Nothing. Because I don’t talk with him about it. I don’t want him to worry. I want him to focus on getting well. That’s it.”
“And you’re afraid I’ll say something?”
With a lift of one shoulder, she tilted her head and sunk her teeth into her lower lip. The urge to kiss her was so great he nearly stumbled backward.
“Don’t worry, your secrets are safe.”
She beamed. Unable to resist, he put a finger beneath her chin and tipped it up as he zeroed in on the very spot she’d been biting. He kissed her, a long sampling of her sweet mouth. Dipping his tongue inside, he grazed her teeth, and she turned boneless as she melted against his chest, allowing him to support her. He moaned as she eventually pulled away.
Breathlessly, she said, “I think we need to go take care of business.”
“And then pleasure,” he responded with a wink.
“We’ll see.”
But he was already visualizing her naked beneath him. So he hoped they were on the same page with that. He drew his jacket closed, fixing the buttons down low to hide what was happening inside his jeans. Man, she was killing him.
In the chalet, her dad was playing cards with an older man. Kelsey paused, her spine stiffening as she approached the two. Jared had the distinct impression she wasn’t thrilled with the company.
“Is he whipping you, Daddy?” Kelsey asked.
“N-never,” Mr. Moore replied readily and chuckled.
Seemed the old man was in better spirits today.
“Jared, this sly old coot is our neighbor, Lyle Smith.”
“And here you go paying me compliments in front of your gentleman fellow,” Lyle said, smiling through his obvious set of dentures. “He might be the jealous type.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Jared said.
“Likewise.”
“G-gin,” her dad exclaimed.
Lyle tossed his cards on the table and pushed back in his chair. “Y’all distracted me.”
“Want some…pie? Diane dropped it…by.” Her dad said it in a singsong manner that reduced his stuttering. He also seemed pleased with the effect.
“You didn’t offer me pie?” Lyle complained.
“You…don’t deserve…it.”
“I don’t know why not. You’ve been talking my ear off.” He appealed to Kelsey. “Seems his speech doctor has a pretty pair of legs as well as—”
“Oh…h-hush,” her dad said.
Mr. Moore’s speech and mannerisms were markedly improved. Jared surmised his good spirits were the cause, not certain if it was the man’s fondness for the speech therapist or the company of his friend that elicited the progress. Whatever it was, Kelsey practically swelled with delight as she eyed her dad.
“I’ll get the pie,” she offered.
“And I’ll help,” Jared added, following. As she grabbed plates from the cabinet, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “I’m hoping for something more for dessert,” he murmured next to her ear.
“Like?”
“Let’s go next door, and I’ll show you.”
She gave him a peck on the lips—to shut me up, he thought—then wiggled from his grip. “Eat quickly then,” she murmured.
With that comment, he got on board, helping her gather what was needed to serve the elderly men.
Back at the dining room table, they doled out the apple pie. “Would you like a slice?” she asked Jared.
“Sure.”
He stood near the kitchen next to Kelsey as everyone dug in.
“No…ice cr-cream,” her dad said.
“Sorry,” she responded, but its absence didn’t slow the men down. “Daddy, you have a doctor’s appointment in Denver tomorrow. We’ll leave at nine.”
“M-maybe that Vet will…t-tell me how much longer…b-before I’m back…to my old s-self.”
Mr. Moore was a real character, using vet instead of doctor. Jared wondered what the man would have been like before his affliction.
Kelsey met Jared’s gaze, then looked over at her father. “Just be patient, Daddy. You’re getting better every day.”
“Easy f-for you…to s-say.”
Lyle scraped the last morsels from his plate with his fork, licked the utensil, then pushed the plate to the center of the table. “Like I’ve told you before, you should sell this place. Take the money and retire. Live the easy life for a while.”
Mr. Moore scowled. “Not th-that…again.”
“We’re not selling,” Kelsey said as tension filled the room.
Lyle’s mouth compressed into a thin line.
Just like that, the mood of the group shifted. She collected the plates and carted them off to the kitchen as Lyle tapped the cards on the table and wrapped a band about the stack.
The front door opened, and Mr. Moore’s aid, Tinny, entered. “Hi, honey, I’m home.”
The air lightened again immediately.
Jared stood, suddenly feeling like he should get out of the way of the family. He walked to the window and reflected on the stunning snow-covered landscape, wondering how much longer this visit would last. Foremost in his mind, of course, was taking Kelsey next door and getting her naked.
Perhaps not the wisest of thoughts with her dad in the room.
Behind him, farther in the kitchen, Kelsey spoke to Tinny in a soft voice. She mentioned something about exercise, but he didn’t want to eavesdrop, so he pulled his phone from his pocket to check his messages.
He hadn’t spoken with his sister since he visited her at the hospital right before he’d left Denver, but there was nothing from her.
Over the course of the weekend, though, he’d recognized that Kelsey and the resort might not have anything directly to do with Tiffani’s accident. He still wanted to lay eyes on those damn skis, though. But the bottom line was, what if Tiffani never walked again? He wasn’t really interested in suing, but she had the right to closure, to know the truth. And he needed that also. The fact is that since it happened on Chalet Romance’s property, well, they were responsible.
He clamped down on his molars and glanced over his shoulder, steeling himself against the desire coursing through him. He had no business pursuing Kelsey Moore. No business at all.
Her eyes met his with a spark of interest. “Ready to go?” she asked.
He nodded. They said their farewells, collected their coats, and headed out into the cold.
They walked slowly toward her chalet, which was also toward his. He’d parked the Escalade there before they’d gone to visit her dad. Her SUV was still back at her restaurant.
When they paused in front of her place, she looked up at his face and licked her lips. The sweep of her pink tongue nearly drove him mad. Her eyes darkened and her cheeks warmed with a glow. She took a step closer and rose on her toes.
He withdrew his hand from his coat pocket, lifted it to her face and smoothed a blond strand of hair from her cheek, slipping it behind her ear—the way he’d seen her do many times.
“I’m
sorry. I’ll have to take a rain check. I have a few phone calls to make that won’t wait. Business.” It wasn’t a total lie—he did have work-related messages on his phone—but he should also check in with Tiffani.
Kelsey’s eyes flared, and he could read the disappointment there. The same frustrated longing gnawed at his gut, as well as other parts of his anatomy. They’d both expected things to go differently.
But he’d come to his senses when they were in her father’s home, and he respected her too much to take advantage just because he knew they’d have hot, incredible sex.
His body tightened again at the prospect of what he was giving up.
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “Okay, another time.”
He listened to the crunch of snow beneath his shoes as he walked away. It was such a very sad sound.
He stopped in his chalet briefly and called the hospital to speak to Tiffani, but there was no answer. She must have been sleeping.
In the end, he headed for the bar. He needed a drink to dull his mind and disengage his body from all remnants of Kelsy.
* * *
Never being one to give into a pity-fest, she pressed her back to the closed door and shut her eyes, fighting the sting of tears. He was just a man like any other, she told herself.
And right now that man was walking away from her. Not because of who she was or because he loved someone else, but because of a conflict with the resort. He’d pulled back from her because of his sister. She was certain of it. She tapped her head against the door several times.
Trying to shake the gloom starting to settle over her, she decided she needed to paint. Now.
After a few minutes of setup, she was ready to go. With a remote control for the stereo, she flipped on a random mix of her favorites. She worked with the furious movements of a woman fueled by anger, and the canvas filled with the dark blue-black hues of deep water illuminated by the full moon in the night sky.
It was almost an hour later before she stepped back, pausing on a slow exhale, and she realized the subject she was working on. “Woman In Water,” a replica of Jared’s favorite piece.
Winter Heat, Part 2 Page 6