He wondered absently whether Emily was sleeping. She’d been naked and bundled up in her bedding when he’d said goodbye. She’d smiled, kissed him and turned over so she didn’t have to see him leave.
It had been harder than he’d ever imagined to walk out that door.
“Moving to Paris? Wow. The wife would love it, but me, I can’t see leaving the States,” the cabdriver continued relentlessly.
Colin listened halfheartedly to the cabdriver’s cheerful patter. He watched as the town’s landmarks moved slowly past them, enveloped in fluffy flakes that almost turned the air white with their abundant barrage. The gazebo in the town square looked like an igloo, piled high with a dome of snow. The statue of the town’s founder waded waist deep in a drift, while the Otter Lodge sign was almost completely covered up, revealing only the “Otter.”
The cab skidded abruptly, and Colin realized he’d been drifting off. “Whoa!”
“Sorry about that,” the cabdriver said. “I’ve got chains on, but this is nuts. I haven’t seen a storm this bad in years.”
Colin wondered if Emily was going to be okay. She was up in the attic, after all, and as luxurious as the small apartment suite was, it was awfully close to the roof, which was probably piled up with tons of snow.
He suddenly had a horrible vision of the roof caving in and fought the absolutely irrational desire to have the cab turn around and return him to the inn.
Even if the roof’s not strong enough, what were you planning on doing to stop it? Hold the thing up with your arms? He wasn’t sure what he would do. He just knew that he hated the idea of Emily in any kind of trouble. And, if he were being completely honest with himself, some part of him was searching desperately for an excuse to get back to the inn. To her.
He knew that it was stupid, but there it was.
Chalk it up to lack of sleep.
“So what kind of business are you in?” the cabdriver asked.
“I’m an architect,” Colin said.
“Houses and stuff?”
“Not exactly. My next project is a hotel on the Left Bank, about a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower.”
“Must be nice,” the cabdriver said with a low, appreciative whistle. “So, what, they aren’t building any hotels on this side of the ocean?”
“Now you sound like my mother,” Colin said, and the cabdriver snorted.
“Well, to each his own,” he said affably. “You like what you do?”
“Love it,” Colin told him, feeling better. “Love the challenges, the new places, the clients. All of it.”
“Now you’re sounding better,” the cabbie pointed out. “That hangover wearing off?”
Colin smiled tightly. “Seems like it.”
“I hate hangovers,” the cabdriver continued. “Still, every now and then you’ve got to indulge, you know?”
Colin thought about it. Indulgence. That seemed like an inadequate word to cover what had taken place last night. But still, wasn’t that basically how Emily was looking at it?
Ten bucks says she isn’t mooning about you this morning, pal. She’s probably sleeping it off, or getting back to work. The way she’d talked about it, it was the experience she wanted, and the fact that it was with him was incidental. As though he was a stamp in her passport or something.
He didn’t believe it at the time, but now, after seeing her in action—honestly, he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
“So your wife and family going with you or what?”
“What’s with the twenty questions?” Colin snapped.
The cabdriver paused. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to bug you. Some people like to talk, you know?”
Colin sighed. “I’m sorry, too,” he said. “I guess that hangover’s stronger than I thought. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.” He paused. “And no. No wife, no kids.”
“Huh. Not surprised, actually. You don’t really seem like a family man.”
Colin sat up straighter, as if someone had smacked him on the back of the head.
“Why do you say that?”
“Sharp dresser, goin’ off to Paris the day after Christmas, hungover.” The cabdriver barked out a laugh. “But, hey, I’ve seen weirder from married guys, so I wasn’t absolutely sure. I remember driving this guy to two of his mistresses’ apartments on Thanksgiving, if you can believe it….”
Colin settled back against the cold vinyl seat of the taxi, feeling disgruntled.
It all circled back to his family’s comments. He wasn’t the small-town type. He knew that, had known it since before high school. He’d be the first to say so in most cases. So why should the observation bother him now? Why was he getting so ticked off every time someone pointed out that he wasn’t small-town and family-oriented?
You’re getting a little tired of being alone.
The thought was so alien Colin actually blinked in disbelief for a second. He’d had lots of relationships, sure. Brief, exciting relationships. But it hadn’t occurred to him that he might be lonely.
While he did love his job, there was more to life than work.
Unbidden, the picture of Emily riding him with abandon in the early hours of the morning sprang to mind…causing other things to spring, as well. Embarrassed, he tried to force his unruly body to relax.
Even if you want a relationship, it can’t be Emily. For reasons they both understood.
Still, damned if he didn’t feel disappointed.
“What’s this now?” the cabdriver said, causing Colin to look through the windshield. There was a heavily dressed police officer waving them down with a flashlight. “Is there a problem, Officer?”
The cop nodded. “You can’t get to the interstate,” he said, his breath coming out in clouds of steam. “The blizzard’s gotten too bad.”
“But I have to get this guy to the airport,” the cabbie protested, “then I have to get home!”
“Not today, you don’t,” the police officer said grimly. “You’d better find someplace in town to stay, because nobody’s leaving Tall Pines. For a few days, if this storm front keeps up. Get off the roads as soon as you can.”
The cabdriver grumbled but carefully turned around. “Guess I’d better find a motel,” he said. “Where should I drop you?”
Colin paused for a second. He should probably go to his parents’ house. They’d be worried about him and they’d love to see him.
But when he opened his mouth, he heard himself saying, “If you could take me back to the hotel, that’d be great.”
“The hotel it is,” the cabdriver agreed.
Colin sat, silent. He wondered what Emily was up to at that moment. He wondered what he should do when he saw her.
He also wondered what she’d do when he unexpectedly showed up.
* * *
“We’re stranded here!” one of the guests was yelling to be heard over the general clamor. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“I only booked the reservation for four days,” another guest protested. “You can’t expect me to pay for a day that I’m forced to stay here.”
“And I have work to do,” yet another protested.
“Emily,” Sue whispered. “We’ve got some concerns about the roof, we’re running low on towels…”
Emily smiled easily. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Sue’s eyes narrowed. “How do you figure? It’s turning into a disaster!”
Emily didn’t stop smiling as she turned to the mob of angry guests. “I’m so sorry for the inconvenience,” she said, and although her voice was raised enough to carry over the chaos of multiple complaints, it stayed sweet and pleasant-sounding. That was enough to quiet most of the people milling around the foyer. “The blizzard has caught us all unawares. I can assure you that we are going to do everything we can to make this temporary setback easy and even pleasant for you. I can’t offer you the rooms for free,” she apologized, ignoring the one customer’s irate glare, “but I can offer you
a blizzard discount since, as you said, you’re being forced to stay here. I’d also like to offer you our breakfast—complimentary, of course—and I can send it to your rooms if you’d prefer.” Emily smiled broadly. “If you have to take another vacation day, you might as well take advantage of it, and it’s never too late to have breakfast in bed, I always say.”
That drew an appreciative chuckle from several of the guests.
“Light up a fire in your rooms’ fireplaces, have some cider or wine and enjoy yourself. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, please let us know. And if you must work, our business center is open twenty-four hours a day.”
The guests wandered away, mollified. Emily turned to Sue. “I’ve got a call in to Dale Albee to look at the roof, and we’ll get some loads of towels going in the basement since the linen service can’t get here. And I’ve already got the French toast in the oven for complimentary breakfasts, so we’re set.”
Sue stared at her, eyes wide. “Okay, what are you on and where can I get some?”
Emily laughed. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, but thanks. I think.”
“You must have had a great time at Mayor Tim’s last night,” Sue noted.
“Come on, Sue.” Emily sighed. “I thought you of all people would leave me alone about him.”
Sue grinned. “Hey, you’re single. He’s single. And lord knows it’s high time you stopped sleeping alone.”
Emily quickly turned back to the front reception desk, pretending to look over some bills. She prayed that her cheeks weren’t stained with the usual telltale blush.
“Tim’s not exactly the type to get a girl hot and bothered. I mean, he’s sweet and all, but…”
“I know. But still, those quiet types can surprise you,” Sue pointed out.
Colin was a quiet type—the deep, intense, loner type. That had always been a huge draw for her, back when she’d doodled his name on notepaper in high school.
He’d seemed like a cross between James Dean and Johnny Depp, with his dark good looks and quirky, iconoclastic behavior. And, yes, he had surprised her.
Heck, she thought with a private smile. She’d surprised herself last night.
“I agreed to go with Tim to the New Year’s ball,” Emily said. “So we’ll see how it goes.”
“Good,” Sue said, and Emily was grateful that her friend wasn’t paying that much attention, being so frazzled by the blizzard situation, since she felt as though she might as well be wearing a T-shirt that said I had fantastic sex with Colin Reese! Fortunately, keeping busy was helping her stay grounded. “Anyway, I’m really impressed with how you handled all those guests this morning. Honestly, you’re a rock. I don’t know what we would do if you weren’t so unflappable.”
Emily shrugged, embarrassed. “You’d manage, I’m sure.”
“If you say so,” Sue said dubiously. “All I know is you managed to get that raving mob to back down and go to their rooms, and they’ve been chewing me out since eight o’clock this morning. I know you were going to take today off, but…”
“Hey, there are no days off for a business owner,” Emily said. “Don’t worry about…”
Suddenly Sue’s statement sunk in.
“Wait a minute. Since eight?”
“Yeah. I know—it was only two hours ago. I shouldn’t sound so dramatic….” Sue saw that her friend was genuinely upset. “Why? Is that a problem?”
Emily did the math. “So the road to the interstate has been closed since…”
“Since about seven this morning,” Sue answered. “Some vehicles got in, but they’re not letting anybody back out. The roads are too dangerous, they’re saying.”
Emily felt the blood rush from her face. She sat down.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” Sue was at her side in a flash. “You look terrible all of a sudden. What’s wrong?”
“I drank a little champagne last night,” Emily said, “and I didn’t get much sleep. It must be catching up with me.”
All of which was true, as far as it went. But there was one thing she’d left out.
If they weren’t letting anyone leave, then Colin was headed back for town.
Emily felt as though her limbs were floating. She felt numb and yet tingly, as if her entire body had gone to sleep but she was still awake.
What were they going to do now? Her mind instantly supplied a few details of what they could be doing…things that sheer physical exhaustion had prevented them from doing the night before.
But she’d had her one-night stand. As much as she’d love to spend more time with—and energy on—Colin Reese, she knew that it was a bad idea. There would be talk. His family hadn’t realized he’d been staying in her apartment, but they’d probably figure it out if he came back. While the logical, mature side of her argued that she and Colin were adults and what they did was nobody’s business but their own, the idea of dealing with Ava Reese, not to mention the whole town just-dropping-in to pump her for information, was enough to make her cringe.
On the other hand, what makes you think he’ll come back here at all? That thought made her feel as though she’d been dropped headfirst in a frozen lake. She was so worried about how to handle seeing him that it hadn’t occurred to her—he might not come back. He might not want to see her again.
That was the point of one-night stands, after all.
Emily quickly went downstairs and loaded their industrial washer/dryer with towels, grateful for the physical activity. She probably should sneak in a nap at some point, just to clear her head. But she got the feeling sleep would elude her, especially knowing that Colin was maybe somewhere in town that very minute.
Somewhere, trying desperately to avoid her.
She set her jaw. Well, it had been her idea to have a one-night stand, after all. She didn’t need him to hang around. She knew how the game was played. If he couldn’t take more than one night, then maybe she’d wrung him out. Maybe he simply couldn’t handle another night with her, she thought with a smug internal grin. She’d gotten everything she wanted out of it—a completely memorable night.
Even if she never got anything else, she’d cherish the memory. That was enough.
It’d have to be.
Emily was so intent on running that mental pep talk through her brain in an endless loop that she ran right into Colin before she registered who he was.
“Hey, there,” he said, smiling sheepishly…although his eyes sparkled warmly.
“Long time no see.”
She couldn’t help it. Her heart leaped happily and she felt like an idiot. Her body, in the meantime, was so attuned to him that the mere scent of his cologne was already starting to kick her libido into overdrive—even with her sleep deprivation.
This was one hell of a man.
“I heard about the interstate closing,” she said apologetically, trying not to stare at him and failing miserably.
“Got room for one more?” he asked.
His question was completely innocuous, but the tone suggested a lot more. Was he asking for more than one night of what they’d done the night before? Or just for a place to sleep? Should she assume?
He leaned in. “I can sleep wherever you want me to sleep.”
Now his tone left no question as to his intent.
Her breasts tightened, and she felt the now-familiar dampness rush between her legs. She smiled at him with invitation.
“I’m sure we can…”
“Sorry to interrupt, Emily,” Mr. Albee, the roofer, said, clearing his throat.
“Oh. Yes,” she said, and damned if the blush didn’t settle into her cheeks. “How can I help you?”
“Your roof’s holding up okay. The reinforcements I did over the summer are doing their job, just like I told you they would.” He looked from her to Colin, his expression appraising.
“Hello, Mr. Albee.” Colin sounded like a schoolboy who had been caught smoking in the bathroom.
“Colin Reese, r
ight?” Mr. Albee smiled slowly. “Didn’t know you were staying in town.”
“I don’t think anybody was planning on staying quite this long,” Colin replied.
“What with the blizzard and all.”
“Well, you’ll have to give my regards to your mother and father,” Mr. Albee said. “If you get over that way. You’re staying here, are you?”
“Just because it’s so crowded…” Colin stammered. “What with my nieces and nephews and everything…”
“I was just doing him a favor,” Emily supplied.
“Of course you were,” Mr. Albee said. “Well, I won’t keep you. There’s an emergency town meeting tonight, and I’m sure I’ll see you there, Emily.” He shook Colin’s hand. “Nice seeing you again, son.”
He left and Emily groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Colin asked.
“He’s married to Evelyn Albee, remember?”
Colin frowned. “So?”
“So she runs the beauty salon. Which everyone knows is like the CIA and the blogosphere combined,” Emily pointed out. “By the time most of the women in this town get their usual manicure and cut-and-color, everyone’s going to know we’re an item.”
“We’re not an item, though,” Colin said.
She felt a little sting at that. Well, she’d asked for it. “I know. But they’re not going to care. And it’ll only get worse if you bunk here at the hotel. In my apartment.”
“I thought,” he said suggestively, “that you weren’t going to care about the consequences.”
“That was last night,” she muttered. “I would have walked over hot coals to have you last night.”
He grinned. “Oh?”
“Now I’m about to face the gauntlet at tonight’s town meeting,” she said. “So it’d be better if you weren’t staying here.”
“You’re not telling me to stay at my parents’ house, are you?”
She nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“So…” His voice was barely audible. “You don’t want anything else to do with me? It really was just a one-night stand?”
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