by Marie Force
What did he have to offer someone who was accustomed to so much more when he didn’t even have electricity or running water? What modern woman would find his lifestyle attractive? And was he willing to change everything about who and what he was for a woman he’d known for only a couple of months?
Unfortunately, he had no good answers to any of these questions, and the more time he spent with her, the more muddled his thinking became on all of them.
And then there was the fact that she was happy in her life, settled in her work and home, living close to her own family and not at all interested in uprooting her existence. He knew this because she’d told him so. But knowing that hadn’t kept him from seeing her almost every weekend lately. It hadn’t kept him from wanting more of her every time he had to leave her. It hadn’t kept him from lying awake at night and wondering what she was doing and if she missed him between visits the way he missed her.
What if she didn’t? What if she never gave him a thought from one weekend to the next? He had no way to know if she did or not because he didn’t talk to her very often between visits. That had to change, and getting a cell phone would be the first thing he did after this weekend.
Maybe by then he’d have a better idea of how she really felt about him and what’d been happening between them. He had this niggling fear that for her it was just a fun interlude with someone different from the guys she normally dated, while for him it became something more involved every time he was with her.
He was determined to get some answers this weekend, to figure out what this thing between them was and where it was going. Then the doorbell rang and every thought that wasn’t about her finally arriving fled from his brain as he sprinted for the door.
Yeah, he had it bad, and he had a feeling it was about to get a whole lot worse.
CHAPTER 2
Sugar season is an exercise in giving up control, starting with the weather. Above all, sugaring is a privilege.
—Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, February 17
Colton threw open the door and had to hold himself back from grabbing her and dragging her inside so he could kiss her senseless. He forced himself to show some restraint and act like a gentleman when his inner caveman was trying hard to break free.
“You made it.”
“Somehow.” Lucy Mulvaney’s tone was filled with aggravation as she pushed past him into the house, dragging a suitcase behind her.
As she went by, he relieved her of the shoulder bag that was so heavy he assumed it contained her laptop. She’d warned him she would have to do some work while she was there.
“The GPS took me the craziest way. I think I was on forty-seven different roads on the way up here.”
“Well, you made it, and that’s what matters.”
“Yes, it is,” she said with a warm smile for him.
As always when they were first reunited, he sensed her shyness and was grateful for the diversion of the dogs dancing around at their feet, waiting to be noticed by the new arrival. “Lucy, I want you to meet my best friends in the whole world, Sarah and Elmer. Sarah has the pink collar.”
She bent to give the dogs her full attention, which earned her tons of points in his dog-loving heart. “Hi, guys. Aren’t you beautiful? I’ve heard so much about you! Your daddy talks about you all the time.” She let them smell her and kiss her and Elmer even dropped to his back and gave her his belly to rub. Lucy did as directed, laughing at his shameless appeal for attention. “They’re adorable.”
“They’re spoiled rotten, but I love them.”
“This place is incredible.” She rose to take a good look at the house while Colton leaned against the counter and indulged in a long look at her until she brought her gaze back to him.
“Took you too long to get here.” He smiled and held out a hand to her.
She took his hand and let him draw her into his embrace. “You live too far away.”
During the five weekends they’d spent together, he’d learned to go slow at first, to ease her back into their relationship rather than going right to where they’d left off, the way he’d prefer. Haste wasn’t what she needed, and since he wanted her to keep coming back, he aimed to give her what she needed.
Colton couldn’t deny that the two steps forward, one step back approach to dating Lucy was sort of frustrating. He’d found someone he enjoyed being with, and for the first time in his adult life he was interested in a genuine relationship. But he wasn’t sure she wanted the same thing, thus his approach to following her lead when he’d much prefer to take charge and make things happen for them.
“Something smells good,” Lucy said after a long moment of silence as he held her.
“I made dinner.”
“I was talking about you,” she said, looking up at him with big blue eyes.
Without giving much thought to what he was about to do, he bent his head and kissed her. He knew a moment of pure satisfaction—and relief—when her arms came up to curl around his neck and her mouth opened to welcome his tongue. They didn’t normally get right to it like this, preferring to ease into the physical stuff after some food and conversation, but Colton wasn’t about to complain.
Things had gotten pretty hot and heavy last weekend, and he was glad to know they might be able to pick up where they’d left off rather than taking the usual step backward. He loved how she felt in his arms, the way her soft curves pressed against him and the taste of her on his tongue. Framing her face with his hands, he focused entirely on the kiss, not touching her anywhere except for the tight press of his body against hers.
By the time they finally came up for air, Colton wanted to drag her to the nearest bedroom and see this through to the conclusion they’d been heading toward for weeks now. But again he chose restraint, afraid to scare her away by showing her how badly he wanted her. He kept his arms around her as he kissed her neck and made her shiver.
“What a long-ass week,” he whispered, breathing in the scent he’d become addicted to.
“Mmm. A very long week.”
“I couldn’t wait to see you.” He’d never come right out and said that before, even though he’d certainly felt it.
“Me, too.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
Serving dinner gave him something else to focus on besides how it felt to kiss and hold her, how amazing she smelled, the way her shorts hugged her sexy ass and how great her hair looked.
“What happened to your curls?” he asked as he dished up the pasta, vegetables and bread while she opened the chilled bottle of chardonnay he’d gotten for her.
“They met a straightening iron.”
“I like it, but I like the curls, too.”
“I hate the curls. They make me look like a five-year-old.”
“Not to me they don’t.”
Her cute smile exposed the dimples he’d come to adore. “You’re racking up all kinds of points, Mr. Abbott. This pasta is amazing.”
“Don’t be too impressed. It’s about the extent of my culinary expertise.”
“I’m very impressed, and it’s very good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Over dinner they talked about the week they’d had at work, and Lucy shared some more insight into what it had been like to run her web design company alone since her partner, Cameron, moved to Vermont to live with Colton’s brother Will.
“You know when you blow up a balloon and then let it go and it flies all over the place?”
Nodding, Colton refilled their wineglasses.
“That’s me since Cam left. I’m all over the freaking place trying to plug all the holes with only ten fingers.” She looked up at him, a faint blush occupying her cheeks. “And that’s kind of a gross sentence.”
Colton laughed. “Have you talked to Cam about it?”
She shook her head. “What would be the point? She’s thrilled with her new life with Will. I’d never do anything to take away from her happines
s. God knows, she deserves it.”
“What about your happiness? Don’t you deserve it, too?”
She propped her chin on her upturned fist and smiled at him. “I’m happy enough. Work is crazy, but we’re in transition. I suppose that’s to be expected.”
“And here I am taking up all your weekends when you’ve got so much going on.”
“The weekends are keeping me sane, so keep them coming.”
“How would you feel about a whole week?”
She raised a brow in question.
He told her about the trade show and watched her eyes go wide with surprise and then laughter. “Your dad is seriously considering offering that stuff in the store?”
“I’m not really sure what he’s up to, and once he said ‘a week in New York’ I didn’t ask a lot of questions. Although now I’m wondering if I should’ve asked you before I committed. I know how busy you are.”
She reached across the counter for his hand. “I’d love to have you in New York for a week. That’d be awesome.”
Colton bent his head to kiss the hand she’d wrapped around his. “I’m glad you agree. I thought it sounded pretty damned good, too.” He looked over at her and gave her hand a gentle tug, encouraging her to come closer. “You know what else sounds good right now?”
She stepped between his legs and flattened her hands on his chest. “What’s that?”
“More of this.” He kept his eyes open as he tipped his head and kissed her softly. “And some of this.” More kisses to her neck. “And then there’s this.” He raised his hands from her hips to cup her breasts, running his thumbs over nipples that tightened in response.
Lucy sighed and relaxed against him.
“How does that sound?”
“Really good. Exceptionally good.”
“I’m glad you agree.” He kissed her again and withdrew from her reluctantly to deal with the dishes as quickly as he could while she finished her wine.
“I can help, you know.”
“No need. I got it.”
“Good with his hands and good in the kitchen.”
Amused, he waggled his brows at her. “And you haven’t even seen the full extent of my bedroom work yet.”
Lucy’s face turned bright red, forcing her to turn away from him. She wandered to the windows that overlooked the lake.
Regretting that he’d embarrassed her, Colton wiped his hands on a dish towel and went over to her. When he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck, he noticed how tense she seemed. “What’s wrong, Luce?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on. I made a joke and you went all tense on me. Talk to me.” He encouraged her to turn and face him and was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “Lucy . . . What’s wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you. I was only joking.”
“I know you were, and you didn’t upset me.”
“Then what is it? And don’t say it’s nothing when I can see it’s something.”
He could also see that she was trying to summon the courage to tell him, and watching her struggle made Colton ache.
“After last weekend, when things got kind of . . . heated . . .” She cleared her throat and looked away.
Hearing her describe the previous weekend as “heated” made him hard as he remembered the feel of her hand stroking him. Shaking his head, he willed those memories from his mind to focus on what was happening right now. “What about it?”
“I’m not very experienced at all of this, Colton. I know I should be at twenty-nine, but I’m not. I’ve had a few boyfriends and done some stuff, but I don’t really know a lot about, you know . . . Any of it.”
His mind raced as he tried to process what she was saying. “By ‘some stuff,’ does that mean you haven’t—”
“I have. A few times with less-than-stellar results.” Her face got even redder, if that was possible. She quickly added, “I’ve been really busy with my work and my family and friends. And I’m shy. Painfully, awkwardly shy. With guys.” She looked up at him, slaying him with the open, innocent look she gave him. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“Jesus,” he muttered as he pulled her in tight against him, not caring that she would immediately feel what her sweetness did to him. “You could never disappoint me.”
“Still . . . You probably know more than I do.”
“No one’s keeping score here, Luce. Least of all me. I told you before—we don’t have to do anything. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not looking to pressure you.”
“You haven’t pressured me. You’ve been amazing and very patient.”
He kissed her forehead and looked out at the lake as he held her. “I hate that you’ve been stressed out about this. You should’ve told me.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s endearing.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Fine,” he said, laughing. “Have it your way, but don’t be embarrassed around me. I think you’re amazing, and I love being with you.”
“I love being with you, too, but . . .” She looked up at him. “Before this goes any further, I feel like I should say again that I’m not going to move, and I understand that you can’t either. Just because Cameron did—”
“I get it. What worked for them won’t necessarily work for us.”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt here, Colton.”
“Neither do I. Let’s just have fun, like we have been, and not let it get too serious. Okay?”
“All right . . .”
“Why do I hear more questions in there?”
“I just wondered . . . If not getting serious means not getting serious.” Her coy smile was positively adorable, and he couldn’t refrain from smiling back at her.
“Doesn’t that count as fun?”
“I suppose it could. It’s never been particularly fun for me.”
“Oh, honey, we need to fix that.”
“Right now?” she asked hesitantly.
“Whenever you want.”
“I’d love to take a shower.”
“Follow me.” He took her by the hand, picked up her bag and led her to the spacious master bedroom that was located down a short hallway from the kitchen.
“This house is so beautiful. I can see why you love it here.”
“We all do. We’ve had some really fun times here. You’d be surprised how this big house starts to feel awfully small when all the Abbotts are in residence.”
“That must be crazy.”
“You can’t even imagine.”
“Isn’t this your parents’ room?”
“When they’re here, yeah. But they don’t care if the rest of us use it.” He went ahead of her and flipped on the lights in the bathroom.
“Oh, wow. Is that a hot tub?”
“Sure is. The window above it opens. It’s pretty cool. You want to check it out?”
“Only if you do, too.”
“You’re on.” Colton turned on the water and opened the window to let in the soft evening breeze off the lake. “Go ahead and get changed. I’ll be right back.”
He left her with a kiss and closed the door behind him as he left the room.
CHAPTER 3
After two days of below-20 temps and a nice rest for the crew, tapping resumed today. They tap only when the temp is above 20, to prevent splitting the tree in the brittle cold, and because tubing repair goes along so nicely without stiff hands and tubing. Another day or two and the sugarbush will be tapped out.
—Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, February 19
After the door clicked shut, Lucy stood in the middle of the huge bathroom and took a moment to calm her frazzled nerves. Sometimes she still wanted to pinch herself because she’d captured the attention of a sweet, funny man who also happened to be so hot he made her blood boil.
When they were together, she tried not to think about the overwhelming issues that hung over their relationship.
When they were apart, the issues were all she thought about, especially after last weekend when things had taken a decidedly erotic turn.
All week, those memories had run through her mind when she was trying to concentrate at work, when she was with her friends and family, when she was trying to sleep at night while wishing he was sleeping with her.
From the beginning, she’d told him she had no interest in getting serious with someone who lived in another state. And yet here she was with him for yet another weekend—the sixth she’d spent alone with him. As she looked for the bikini he’d told her to bring for swimming in the lake, she realized her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating fast at the thought of what might transpire between them this weekend.
So much for not getting serious.
“Ugh,” she said as she quickly got changed, folded her clothes and stashed them in her bag.
More than anything, Lucy wished she could call her best friend and hash it all out with Cameron, but at the beginning, she and Colton had agreed to keep their “friendship” private for the time being. As the weeks went by, the big “secret” seemed to grow and take on a life of its own until telling Cameron would also mean confessing to having kept something rather huge from her friend for all this time.
She and Cam didn’t keep things from each other, especially not potentially life-changing things such as what was beginning to look an awful lot like a legitimate relationship with the brother of her best friend’s boyfriend. Lucy sighed, pained by how complicated something supposedly uncomplicated was getting.
“More sighs,” Colton said when he came into the bathroom wearing a pair of board shorts that left his incredibly muscular chest, shoulders, arms and belly bare to her hungry gaze. He’d told her before the muscles had resulted from the endless need for split wood to run the sugaring facility. Images of him wielding an axe had fueled many a fantasy since he’d mentioned that.