Chapter 16 Greer
Chapter sixteen
Greer
I rest on a plush cream-colored couch, staring into the roaring fire in the inn. I’m confused about what happened on the ice, how I slipped. One second, I’m having fun. Honest-to-god fun.
Then it all changed.
Before this afternoon, if you’d asked me the last time I’d had fun, I’d have said it was working.
I like earning money, like striving to be better every day.
But today’s brand of fun reminded me of the past, of the memory I saw while I slept: throwing snowballs for Cooper and having him catch them in the air. A day I truly experienced joy.
Even after I got into a weird staring contest with that guy, Sam, and nearly fell on my ass, twinging my ankle, I still felt happy.
Honestly, I don’t understand how the slip occurred.
I saw Sam, my stomach flipped, my skin got hot, then there was this intense wave I couldn’t describe, and I swear I felt something touch my ankle.
Next thing I knew, I was falling, and he was nowhere to be found.
“I have ice for you, love.”
I look from the fire as Remi comes into the room.
The space doubles as both a dining room and a library.
There’s a beautiful large oak table that looks hand carved near the back of the room with an antique six-light chandelier hanging above it that has white Christmas lights strung through its arms. Full bookshelves line the walls, and I’m on the couch in front of a fire that heats my face.
Remi seated me on the chaise lounge part of it so I could put my ankle up.
We’re the only ones here, and I haven’t seen another soul even walk in.
“Don’t you think we’ve had enough ice?” I tease.
Remi looks as surprised as I do by my teasing, but I find it’s easy to do so with him after spending nearly two hours together skating with his hands on me, our laughter mingling as I attempted to say upright. The time went by quickly, and I let myself be free.
I think not having the internet helped. Not being able to work unleashed a side of me that I had locked away long ago. And it wasn’t just being spontaneous—I was having fun, feeling joy from doing something with another person that wasn’t work.
Come to think of it, it’s an odd feeling. My insides are kind of warm and fuzzy. I’m not sure if I like it, but it’s there, like a flame flickering in the wind.
“I don’t know. You looked like you would have stayed out on the rink had I not broken my promise.” Remi kneels on the floor at the end of the chaise lounge. He sets the ice pack down and takes my sock-covered foot in his large hand, turning it gently as he watches my face.
He already checked it over, and it hardly hurts. It was a small tweak, nothing ice and a bit of elevation can’t fix. I’ll be good as new before dinner. But I won’t lie, I like when he touches me. It makes my heart trip over itself and my cheeks heat.
“You’re sure it doesn’t hurt?”
“Just a dull throb. You caught me before I could really hurt it.” When I slipped, he grabbed my upper arms, so my butt never hit the ice. My ankle just twisted to the side in the skate when I floundered.
His square jaw flexes, his green eyes dimming with what looks like fury. “I’m sorry you got hurt at all. You were doing so well; I should have been faster to catch you.”
There’s an itch inside me to tell him to sit next to me. I want to comfort him and bring a smile back to his face again, the one he so freely gave me as we skated on the ice.
What the fuck? What an odd thought. I don’t ever want to comfort people.
“Did I hit my head when I fell?” I ask.
Remi places the ice over my ankle, shooting a shiver up my spine at the cold. He stands and cocks his head. “No, you didn’t. Why do you ask?”
I purse my lips together and shake my head. “No reason.”
He studies me for a beat longer before he moves toward the open seat next to me on the couch. “Mind if I sit?”
“It’s your inn,” I say, trying to act like I didn’t just think about asking him to do exactly that.
His lip twitches. “I wasn’t sure. I thought you might be sick of me by now.”
“Surprisingly, you don’t annoy me as much as I expected you to.”
His deep chuckle in response makes my toes curl. “That’s good to hear. I feel the same about you.”
Our gazes remain locked, the flicker of the fire behind his tall and muscular frame making him look almost otherworldly.
As he sits beside me, the cushion sinks from his weight, and the warmth of his body flows into my arm.
We aren’t touching, but we’re close enough that I could drop my head onto his shoulder if I wanted. But that would be stupid.
We’re not exactly friends, more acquaintances. And while we’ve been innocently flirting and I believe us both to be attracted to each other, I doubt the inn owner whose decor and business practices I insulted would want me to cuddle with him.
Not to mention, I don’t cuddle. I have meaningless sex—that’s it.
The fire crackles and pops, and I turn my chin up so I’m looking at his stupidly handsome features.
The thought of sex makes the images I’ve attempted to forget all day worm their way back into my mind.
He knows from our earlier conversation that I saw him last night, not only naked but doing sexual things with Sam and Kai as well.
Kai. I could have sworn I saw him standing beside Sam at the ice rink. But by the time the sting in my ankle faded and the shock of slipping wore off, the spot where Sam was standing while I’d been locked in a staring match with him was empty. No brooding Sam and no Kai.
“Are you sure I didn’t hit my head?” I ask again.
Remi looks down at me, his brow creased in concern. “Does your head hurt?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just…” I search for the right words. Remi never asked me why I fell. He never even gave an indication that his lovers were there at the rink.
He lifts his hand until his palm rests against my forehead. The sensation makes my stomach flip. I want to purr like a cat and curl into him or climb into his lap and rub myself all over him. God, I need to get it together.
I wrap my fingers around his wrist and pull his hand away. “I’m fine,” I assure him, placing his hand on his tree-trunk thigh before leaning away. I put my own hand on my own thigh and fight the urge to return it back to his heated skin.
“What’s making you ask, then?”
“When I fell, was I looking at Sam? I could have sworn I was, but then he was gone. I think I saw Kai, too.”
Kai, the man I’ve yet to stop thinking about. The skating was a good distraction, but it’s been hard to forget about that weird-ass nightmare.
When I thought I saw him again, everything came rushing back.
Had he been there when I looked up, I probably would have attempted to crawl over to him even if my damn ankle had been broken.
I would have demanded he tell me if he actually is half human and half angel, if we really did kiss last night and experience my horrible memories in the past.
But that would be completely and utterly stupid of me. It was a nightmare. That’s all.
Remi swallows, the veins in his throat becoming more prominent as he does. “They were; I saw them briefly.”
I release a small, relieved laugh. “I guess that’s good, then. I thought I’d gone a bit crazy. Could be sleep deprivation, too.”
“You didn’t sleep well last night?” The flicker in his eye tells me he already knows.
“You could say that.”
“Was it the dated holiday decor that made you uneasy?” he asks with a sly half smile.
I smirk back at him. “Part of it.”
“Mattress not to your liking?”
“Honestly, maybe it was too nice. I was in such a deep sleep I was having really intense nightmares that felt very real. Ones I couldn’t wake up from.”
Remi doesn’t respond right away, not that I expect him to say anything at all. What do you say to someone who just told you they had a nightmare? We may have spent time together, but it’s not as if we learned that much about each other.
And it’s not as if I want to. I don’t get close to people in that way. Shallow relationships are always better so feelings can’t get involved, and nobody can get hurt. There’s also the weird fact that my nightmare included Kai, a man he is obviously in a relationship with.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Remi’s question vibrates through me, his voice so low and deep it makes my toes curl.
“Not really.”
He nudges my arm with his, and my stupid heart leaps at the contact. I look up into his eyes, and now I can’t remember anything I was thinking about a second ago.
“What about a nap? I could help you to your room.”
My gaze finds his bowed lips before I meet his stare again. He’s studying me carefully, waiting for my answer. The last thing I want to do is nap. It may be midday now, but the nightmares still feel too fresh. I’m not risking another trip down memory lane so soon.
“No, I’m not in the mood for sleep,” I say.
“Then what are you in the mood for, love?”
The way he says love should be illegal. And the way he asked that question? I have to be making up the innuendo behind it, right?
My eyelids hood as I continue to look at him, studying his beautiful features.
They’re ethereal, nearly too stunning to look at.
Like the men he was with last night, his cheekbones are high and his jaw sharp.
But unlike Kai’s full beard and Sam’s clean-shaven jaw, Remi has facial hair that isn’t quite a beard but not light enough to be a five o’clock shadow.
My fingers itch to reach up and run my fingers over it, to feel the prickle of it on my skin.
The ravenous sensation I haven’t been able to rid myself of since I arrived grows louder in my low belly.
I’m hungry, yet I don’t want food. The rational side of my brain says I should go to my room.
A nap would be good for me. Or I could touch myself again like I did last night, hoping that would help ease my body in some way.
Wait, why am I thinking about getting off? Oh, right—he asked me what I was in the mood for with that sexy accent of his, and now my brain has taken a sharp turn into the gutter.
Remi shifts on the couch so his torso is turned toward me and his knee presses into my outer thigh. “Greer,” he says, my name so low in his register, it vibrates my clit.
“Yes?” My response is so quiet and husky, even I hardly hear it.
“Do you feel it?”
I’m nodding before I even think about what “it” he’s talking about. He takes a lock of my hair in his fingers and twirls it. Then his features soften, and his eyes glow as if there’s a reverence in the way he looks at me.
My heart pounds faster, and my brain goes blank. This is the second time I’ve felt drawn to kiss him today, and I know he feels it, too.
“You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” he says smoothly.
“I think I can say the same about you.”
His eyebrow lifts as he tucks the hair he was holding behind my ear. “Oh?”
“Most people dislike me, think I’m cold. Yet after our discussion earlier, even after I told you I don’t like how you decorate or operate your inn, you ask me to spend time skating with you. Now you’re here, and…”
“And…?” he prods, his face closer to mine, close enough that I can see flecks of lighter green and sparkling gold in his evergreen eyes and smell his scent—like pine trees and a hint of sandalwood.
“It seems like you care.”
He hums. “I do care.”
My breathing becomes short. “Is it because you want to get in my pants?”
There’s a pause where I think I’ve made him mad, but then he laughs. The sound sends a delightful shiver up my spine, the kind that makes my nipples tighten.
“No, but if you want me to say yes, I will.”
“I do.” I bite my lower lip, not sure why exactly I admitted that. “But I also want to know the truth.” I don’t know why I said that, either. I shouldn’t care because I don’t care if others care about me. Why is he different?
Remi’s eyes turn darker, and the air between us pulls tight.
“The truth is, I do care. You and I may not see eye to eye on my business or the definition of wealth, but I don’t find you cold.
” His fingers find my hair again, and he tugs one of the strands between two fingers.
Fingers that belong to a pair of sexy, strong hands I’m already imagining all over my body.
“You know that from our short time together?”
“I get feelings about people,” he says. “‘Vibes,’ as the young kids say these days.”
I laugh, warmth blooming in my chest like it has whenever I’m with Remi, as if my frozen heart is starting to thaw.
I shouldn’t like that. I like being what everyone expects me to be: an Ice Queen.
It keeps me safe and protected from the disappointment of people deciding they don’t like me or can’t understand why I am the way I am. It also makes my job easier.
While it’s sweet he says he cares, and I can’t help but believe him, I don’t want to think any more or speculate why I feel warmer and happier than I have since I was young.
Instead, I focus back on the voracious feeling in my stomach.
It has grown, tugging me toward the only thing I think will fill me up—in more ways than one.
I wet my lips. “Now, back to the part about getting in my pants.”Remi doesn’t laugh as I expect him to.
The air that was already tight between us grows more tense, like a string pulled too tight.
Every nerve in my body is on the brink of exploding.
His eyes are a dark green now, the kind of green that looks almost black.
I open my mouth to speak again before the silence between us gets awkward, but I stop when his fingers release my hair and gently grip my chin. His touch is strong, his presence larger than it was before.
Images of his demanding nature when he was with the other two men last night flashes in my brain. Normally, I’m the one in charge during sex, but I want what I saw. I want him. I don’t care that we just met or about anything else. I want to feel him, and I really want it now.
“Greer.” His fingers gently pulse against my chin.
“Remi,” I reply, mimicking his intonation.
“Is that what you really want?”
I fight off the flush that tries to creep up my cheeks. I refuse to turn into a babbling mess. I’ve had plenty of “no strings attached” nights before—this will be no different.
“Kiss me” is my answer.