Easy Kisses

by Kristen Proby

  Who knew that deep down I was a mountain girl?

  Amazing.

  Suddenly there’s a clearing and a small beach leading to the water, so I stop running and walk down on the coarse sand. It’s flat enough to stand here and move through a few yoga poses, so I do. The sky is the biggest and bluest I’ve ever seen, and the mountains are reflected in the water.

  This is as peaceful as I’ve ever felt in my life.

  It’s a damn shame I had to come all the way to Montana to find this.

  I stand and take a few deep breaths, but footsteps behind me have me turning, my hand poised over the bear spray clipped to my waistband.

  But it’s Simon.

  Not a bear or a mountain lion.

  So I turn back without a word and take another deep breath.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he murmurs as he stands next to me. He’s tall, probably as tall as my brothers, who stand at close to six and a half feet. And without my heels, I feel incredibly short next to him.

  I glance up at him quickly and nod. “I love it.”

  “Glacier Park is nearby,” he says, Britain falling off his tongue and making my stomach clench. His voice is like melted butter. Thank God he’s not smiling at me right now. The combination could be lethal. “I’ve hiked through there many times.”

  “How long have you been coming here?” I ask and tip my head back so I can look up at his face. His eyes, the same color as the sky, are trained on the mountains.

  “About three years,” he replies. He looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. He glances down at me and smiles, and my stomach drops.

  God, that smile could end wars.

  “If you have time, I recommend taking a day up in the Park. If you think this is beautiful, it will astonish you.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  He nods and shuffles his feet, crosses his arms over his chest, and we stand here, quietly, for a long moment, taking it all in. A bald eagle soars out of the trees, over the water, and suddenly dives down to pluck a fish from the water, then circles back to his tree.

  “Did that just happen?” I whisper in awe.

  “Indeed,” he replies softly. And then, without looking at me, he whispers, “Why are you here, Charly?”

  “Because my sister made me,” I reply immediately and grin. “Childish, I suppose.”

  “She made you?” He raises a brow and looks down at me. “What would the punishment be if you refused?”

  “Refusing was never an option,” I say without thinking. “And Van isn’t the type to hand out punishments.”

  No, she was on the receiving end of punishments for too long to dole them out.

  We stand in silence again. It’s true that I came because of Van, but I came for me, too. I’m woman enough to admit it.

  I needed a break. And maybe I needed to step back and take stock of things.

  “I don’t know what I need,” I say, surprising both of us. “But I do know that I’m here because my sister isn’t strong enough to be here herself yet.”

  I look up into the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen and into an ocean of questions. Before he can press for more, I smile and back away.

  “If I’m going to make it to a lecture in an hour, I’d better get back to shower and get ready.”

  “You look beautiful,” he replies and I think he means it. I wrinkle my nose.

  “I’ve been running,” I remind him. “See you later.”

  And with that, I run away, from the sexy man standing at the edge of the water and the troubling thoughts he’s stirred up in my head.

  Damn him.

  Chapter Two

  ~Simon~

  “Okay, now take a deep breath.” I’m sitting on the edge of the stage, watching the women in the room. Some are seated at their tables with their heads down. Some are lying on the floor.

  The room is silent, periodically broken by sniffles and soft sobs.

  Today’s exercise is always a difficult one, for them and for me.

  “You are magnificent women,” I say softly. “You are precious, just like the baby in the basket. You wouldn’t hurt that baby. You would comfort her. Hold her gently. Say sweet words to her.

  “So why then, do you abuse yourself as an adult? I want you to take another deep breath, and then sit up carefully. Today has been an emotional one. I never said this journey was going to be an easy one.”

  I smile as the room of women sit up and open their eyes, pinning them to me. Some are full of hurt and pain, and it twists my gut. This is the hardest day of the first week, and I save it for toward the end of the week. It’s a lot to take in, and it’s quite emotional. We will have a short lecture tomorrow, and then they’ll have the weekend to reflect and enjoy some time on their own.

  My eyes find Charly, as they’ve come to do often over the past five days. She’s good at hiding her feelings behind her happy hazel eyes and smug smirk, but now she looks a bit haunted, and that’s my fault.

  “I want you to take the rest of the evening to yourselves. I know I usually encourage you to have dinner together and to talk about the day, and if you want to do that, go for it. But, if you’d rather take time in your rooms to meditate, write in your journals, or just be calm, I encourage that as well.

  “You did beautifully today, and I promise you that the pain you feel today is just a stepping stone to where you’re going to be a week from now, or even a year from now. Thank you for being brave and for walking through this journey with me. Have a lovely evening.”

  The room typically erupts into chatter and laughter at the end of the day as the attendees gather their things and leave for dinner, but tonight the room is quiet. I stand and make myself available to anyone who wants to offer me a hug, or ask a question. Before long the room is empty. Todd approaches to take my mic from my ear.

  “Today was intense,” he says quietly.

  I nod. “It always is.” I don’t know how many times I tried using these same techniques with my ex-wife, trying to help her, to get through to her. But I never could, and it led to our eventual divorce.

  So if it helps even one person at these seminars, it’s worth every difficult moment.

  “I never get used to it,” he replies and stows the sound equipment away for tomorrow. “You’re changing their lives, you know.”

  “No, mate, they’re changing their own lives; I’m just giving them the tools.” I clap him on the shoulder. “I’m not going to dinner tonight. I’m going to spend some time alone.”

  “I figured,” he replies with a nod. Todd’s been my friend since childhood and part of my team since the beginning. He knows me well, maybe better than anyone else.

  “Have a good night.”

  “You as well,” he says as I walk away. I return to my room to file my notes and pull out tomorrow’s file. I toss it on the table and pull my shirt over my head on my way to the shower. I need to wash today off of me.

  Rather than dwell on Amy and our horrible past, my mind wanders to a beautiful brunette.

  Charly intrigues me. She’s stunning, yes, but there’s something else there that pulls at me. Her hazel eyes hide plenty, I think.

  Then again, I could be an idiot and there’s nothing there at all except a pretty woman and my wishful thinking. Although, what I’m wishing for, I have no idea because she’s a client and I don’t do relationships, so it would do me well to simply forget about her altogether.

  The part that surprises me the most is that a woman hasn’t turned my head in years. Not like this. I’ve had moments with pretty girls that ended mutually satisfyingly, but I didn’t want to get to know them. Yes, I know that I sound like a sod for saying that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

  Yet, despite my better judgement, I want to get to know Charly, not just in a professional way, and that’s startling. I’ve mentored thousands of women, and I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve wanted to kiss one so badly it makes me sweat.

  I
scrub my hands over my face, dress, then pace to the window to look out on the lake. There’s still enough daylight left to take the boat out for a short trip. I could use the fresh air.

  So, I grab a sweater and head down to the dock, waving at one of the dock workers as I climb into the boat I’ve rented during my time here and push away from shore.

  The air is a bit crisper on the lake. I take a deep breath and glance to my right, surprised to see Charly sitting on a dock with her feet dangling over the side and her face tipped up to the sunshine, as if I conjured her up myself.

  She’s petite. Much shorter than my six foot three, and she looks like I could pick her up with one hand. Her dark hair is long and straight, framing a gorgeous face with golden-hazel eyes.

  Without giving it much thought, I cut the engine and guide the boat to the dock. Charly opens her eyes and watches as I approach.

  “You have a boat?” she asks in greeting.

  “I rent it when I’m here,” I reply with a smile. “Do you like boats?”

  She smirks. “I grew up on boats.”

  Interesting. “Hop on. I’ll show you the other side of the lake.”

  She seems to hesitate for a moment, but then she climbs aboard and I push away from the dock, start the engine, and set off down the lake. She’s sitting in the bow, her face in the wind, eyes closed and hair whirling, and just enjoys the ride. We’re not going terribly fast, but fast enough that we couldn’t have a conversation without shouting, and I think we’re both too tired for that.

  When I slow down and cut the engine, she looks back at me and grins. “That was nice.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I reply and join her in the bow, sitting across from her. “How are you after today?”

  “I’m fine,” she replies immediately and crosses her arms, but she’s not fooling me. Her eyes are sad.

  I sit forward and brace my forearms on my knees. “Really?”

  She looks back out on the water and swallows hard. “It surprised me.”

  Here we go.

  “How so?”

  “I wasn’t expecting it to be so personal.” She shrugs and looks back at me. Her eyes travel over my face, and I want to scoop her up and cuddle her, but I stay where I am.

  “What were you expecting?”

  “You don’t want to know,” she replies with a laugh and shakes her head.

  “Try me,” I reply.

  “Okay,” she says and crosses her legs. “I thought it would be a lot of frou-frou you can do it nonsense. I don’t know, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so deep.”

  “I’m rarely frou-frou, darling,” I smirk.

  “Well, one thing is for sure, it reminded me that Savannah is not ready for this. I don’t think she would have survived today. She’s a strong woman and everyone thinks that she’s doing great, but she’s struggling.”

  “Is that the sister you mentioned before?” I ask, enjoying the way the South sounds on her voice.

  “Yes.”

  “What happened to her?”

  Charly sighs and shrugs. “Let’s just say that evil takes on many forms, and sometimes it worms its way into your family.”

  A man.

  “Is she your only sibling?”

  “God, no.” My skin tingles when she giggles. “There are six of us. Three brothers and three sisters.”

  “That’s a large family.”

  “You’re telling me,” she says with a grin. “But I love it. We’re close.”

  “Do they all live in New Orleans?”

  “They do,” she says with a nod. “My daddy built ships, just like his daddy before him and so on. My brothers Eli and Beau and Savannah run the business now.”

  “They build ships?” She’s more fascinating the longer I talk to her.

  “Not with their own two hands,” she says. “But they run things now.”

  “That’s incredible.”

  “They’re somethin’,” she says with a smile. “My daddy would have loved this.” She looks back out over the water and to the mountains. “He loved being on the water just about anywhere, but he would have sat here with me and said something profound that I would have rolled my eyes at but appreciated later.”

  “He’s gone then?”

  “Three years,” she says with a nod. “Too long.”

  She swallows hard and her eyes are washed in tears, but they don’t escape her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Charly.”

  “Me, too,” she says and offers me a small smile. “You’re easier to talk to than I expected. I’ve said more than I usually do.”

  “And I feel like you’ve only scratched the surface.”

  “The surface is scratched all the same, and that doesn’t happen often,” she says and runs her fingers through her hair, watching me. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Tell me about your family.”

  “Ah.” I sit back and scrub my fingers over my mouth. “I’m an only child.”

  “Where did you go to college?” she asks, her eyes holding mine. I like that she maintains eye contact during conversation.

  “Oxford.”

  “I called it,” she says and leans back with satisfaction.

  “You did?”

  “I pegged you for an Ivy-Leaguer.”

  “Where did you go to college?” I counter.

  “Duke,” she replies with a wide smile. “Takes one to know one.”

  “What did you major in?”

  “Philosophy,” she says with a laugh. “And I sell shoes for a living.”

  “I bet it’s a bit more than that,” I reply, enjoying her. “What are your favorite shoes in the world?”

  “My pink stilettos. They’re Louboutin. I’ve had them for five years and if the heel ever breaks on them I’ll cry for a week.”

  “That sounds serious.”

  “I’m always serious about shoes,” she says. “What’s your favorite thing?”

  This makes me pause and run my finger over my lips, thinking. “I don’t know if I have a favorite thing.”

  “Oh, come on,” she says and rolls her eyes. “There has to be something.”

  This. With you.

  “I have an affection for my car.”

  “What kind of car do you have?” she asks with a raised brow.

  “The fast kind,” I reply with a grin.

  “I have a new car,” she replies. “It ranks up there with favorite things.”

  Before I can reply, she shivers, and I realize that the sun has just dipped behind a mountain, making the air colder. I reach under the seat for a blanket and wrap it around her shoulders, my face inches from hers. All I’d have to do is turn my head and my lips would be on hers.

  Instead, I drag a knuckle down her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear.

  “This is the first time my professionalism has ever been tested,” I whisper, surprised that the words are spoken aloud.

  “What do you mean?” she asks. She licks her lips as she stares at mine, and I feel my blood flow directly to my cock.

  Bloody fantastic.

  “We should get back.” Before I can move, she grips my forearm with her hand, keeping me still.

  “What do you mean?” she asks again.

  I shake my head, but not answering her is simply disrespectful. So, I clear my throat and cup her cheek in my hand as I look into her eyes.

  “You’re special, Charly, and I’m quite attracted to you. But you’re a client. So I have to keep this strictly business between us.”

  She narrows her eyes. “Are you telling me that you take women on your boat, alone, often, and keep it business?”

  “No,” I reply and sigh. “I’m never alone with clients.”

  “Breaking rules,” she says in that slow Southern drawl of hers that makes me want to kiss the fuck out of her. “But I should remind you that I never said that I wanted you back.”

  I don’t bother to reply; I simply smile and walk awa
y, start the boat engine, and take us back to the resort.

  ***

  “We need to go over some things,” Todd says the next morning after I answer my door to him.

  “Then you’ll need to go for a run with me,” I reply shortly. I slept like shit. I couldn’t get Charly out of my head, and when I did sleep she was in my dreams.

  Naked.

  Fucking hell, maybe I just need to get laid.

  “We don’t have time for a run,” Todd says with a scowl.

  “You just hate to run,” I reply and tie my shoes. “I need it today.”

  I need to burn off this sexual tension.

  “Fine.” Todd sighs in resignation.

  “Let’s go.”

  We walk through the lobby and out the back door toward the trail that winds around the whole lake. I break out into a slow jog.

  Just as we turn a corner, I see Charly walking up ahead toward the clearing where I saw her the other day. I immediately turn the other way.

  “Let’s go this way.”

  Todd joins me, but looks over his shoulder toward Charly.

  “That brunette, Charly, is a pretty girl.”

  “Is she?” I ask. She’s not pretty, she’s fucking gorgeous.

  “You’ve noticed,” Todd replies. He’s already breathing hard and we’ve barely started.

  “You need to run more,” I inform him, hoping to change the subject, but without success.

  “Did I see you come in from the lake with Charly last night?” Todd asks.

  “So?”

  “So, I’m just saying, you’ve noticed that she’s pretty.”

  “Where are you going with this, Todd?”

  “Okay, I’m just going to be honest because I can’t breathe and don’t have the lung capacity to beat around the bush.”

  “Fantastic.”

  “I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her. Even Amy.”

  “We don’t say that name,” I remind him, and wonder just how I’m looking at her.

  “It’s true,” he continues. “And Charly is a beautiful woman, Simon. You should notice. I’d worry if you didn’t.”

  “I’m so relieved that you’re not worrying.”

  “You should take her to dinner or something.”