Chapter 4
FOUR
LUCY
Ciera and Teagan are both contrite and shocked when they come into my room the next morning.
Ciera promptly bursts into tears. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I never would’ve agreed to go out with those guys we met on the slopes if we’d known.”
“No, we wouldn’t have.” Teagan pats her back while gazing at me curiously. “Why didn’t you tell us you’d been hurt?”
“Because I didn’t want to ruin your fun.” Ciera gives me a bear hug and I wince. “Besides, I had someone taking care of me.”
“Oh.” Teagan arches an eyebrow. “Who?”
I fill them in about Jude and how he spent yesterday taking care of me. By the time I’m finished, both are staring at me with wonder.
“Wow.” Ciera shakes her head. “He sounds like Mister Wonderful.”
“Technically he’s Doctor Wonderful,” Teagan says. “But yeah. He sounds great. And you’re going out tonight?”
“That’s right.” I chew on my lip. I still can’t quite believe it myself. At first, I thought maybe I’d hallucinated everything about him after the fall. But he stopped by to check on me this morning. He’s even sexier than I remembered. My heart skips a beat. “I wish I would have brought along something nicer than a velvet tracksuit.”
“That’s what you get for not being optimistic about your prospects at Camp Mountain Man.” Teagan winks at me to soften the blow. “But have no fear. There’s a fully stocked store downstairs and a salon.”
“Ooh.” Ciera claps her hands. “Makeover time!”
We spend most of the day getting the full pampering treatment. We have massages, manicures, pedicures, waxing—despite my protests—full make-up, and hair stylings. By the time five o’clock rolls around, we’re all looking pretty fantastic for our respective dates.
And promptly at five, there’s a knock on my door.
Taking a deep breath, I pull back my shoulders—which are feeling much better post-massage—and open the door.
There, standing on the other side holding a single rose is Jude.
“Wow.” His gaze roves up my body leaving my skin tingling in delight everywhere his smoldering stare has been. When he meets my gaze, I know he means it when he says, “You look incredible.”
“I hope I’m not overdressed.” I take the rose and step back so he can enter the room. “My friends got a little excited with the notion of all of us having dates.”
“Everything good with them, then?”
“Yeah, they were out all night and didn’t know I’d fallen until this morning.” I reach for my peacoat. “Will this be warm enough for out there?”
“Do you have anything heavier?”
I pick up my massive parka. “This?”
“Perfect.”
Setting the rose aside, Jude helps me into the coat. The tips of his fingers graze the back of my neck as he pushes my hair aside. A shiver of delight runs up and down my spine.
I can’t believe this is really happening. That I’m getting ready to go out on a date with such a sexy man.
At the same time, I’m so glad this is happening. Nothing this good happens to me back home. I have to remember to thank Ciera and Teagan for twisting my arm to come here.
Taking my mittened hand in his gloved hand, Jude guides me down the stairs and outside. There, a snowmobile is waiting for us.
I squeeze his hand. “Is that thing safe?”
“Trust me.” He squeezes my hand back. “I’d never let anything bad happen to you.”
And, I believe him.
Strong, yet sensitive, kind, yet straight-forward, in the short time I’ve known Jude, he’s never given me any reason to question his sincerity. He’s never given me any reason to feel anything but protected.
Though, I question that when we pull up to our destination.
My jaw falls open and I squeeze his waist. “Is that a shack on a lake?”
“It’s my ice hut.” He pats my hands. “Don’t worry. It’s fully heated in there.”
“Won’t the heat melt the ice?”
He chuckles. “You can tell you’re a city girl. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know.”
Sighing, he digs into his pocket. A moment later, he hands back his phone. There, on the screen, is an article explaining the science behind heated ice huts and frozen water.
I chew on my lip. “Do you have another source?”
“Check the other tabs.”
Snorting on a laugh, I hand the phone back to him. Helping me off the snowmobile, he studies me closely.
“What?” I ask. Did I get something on my face on the drive over?
“Are you always this contrary?”
I scrunch my face to consider. “Most of the time.”
Chuckling, he wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Come on. I’m going to catch you some dinner.”
JUDE
“Okay.” Lucy leans back, resting her hands on her stomach. “That was quite possibly the best meal I’ve ever tasted.”
“I told you fish never tastes better than when it’s fresh out of the water and when you cook it yourself.”
“I will never doubt anything you say ever again.”
I snort. “Why do I find that so hard to believe?”
“Probably because I’ve questioned just about everything you’ve said to me since we met.”
“That’s it.” Grinning, I take her plate. My gut clenches as our fingers brush against each other. “I believe I still owe you dessert.”
“Oh, you don’t have to go to any trouble. I’m stuffed.”
“I brought hot cocoa fixings.”
Her lips twitch. “Well, maybe I have a little room.”
Shaking my head, I turn to start the dessert. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the fishing line tug.
“Well, would you look at that?”
Lucy perks up. “What’s wrong?”
“It looks like we may have caught ourselves something to take back to Hank.” I promised I’d bring him back something in exchange for his help getting tonight’s picnic together at the last minute.
I motion for Lucy to join me. “Come on?”
“Oh.” She holds up her hands. “I’ve never been fishing before.”
“Well, you won’t be able to say that after tonight.” Reaching for her hand, I pull her to stand in front of me.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll show you.” Positioning her in front of me, I grasp her hips. I order my body not to react even as her backside presses up against me. “That’s right. Stand just like that.”
She takes a deep breath. “Now what?”
I walk her through the steps as we do battle with our catch. As Lucy tugs and pulls, I keep my grip firmly on Lucy.
“There you go,” I murmur against her ear. “You’ve almost got it.”
Pulling with all her might, the fish emerges from the water. Lucy starts to fly back. I tighten my hold, steadying my feet on the ice.
“Whoa.” She releases a short breath. “That was intense.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
I bite back a groan as I find her supple ass is now flush with my dick. If she so much as moves an inch, I’m going to have to dive into the water to get rid of this erection.
She hops suddenly.
I tighten my hold on her and immediately regret it. “Careful there.”
“Sorry. I know we’re on ice and next to a gaping hole. But oh my gosh.” She spins in my arms and dangles her catch in my face. “I did it. I caught a fish.”
Her enjoyment is too contagious for me not to chuckle at her excitement. “Yeah, you did.”
“And I couldn’t have done it without you.”
She throws her hands around my neck, slapping the fish against my shoulder as she does. My arms instinctively come up to catch hold of her. Bringing her gently against my chest, I’m all too aware of every curve of her body. I can feel her heart pounding against mine.
I can’t help but notice its beating every bit as fast as mine.
She pulls back slightly, her chin upturned. My gaze flickers to her full lips. They’re barely a breath away. It would be all too easy to lean forward another inch and capture them.
It would be all too easy to lose myself in her and this moment.
Her eyelids flutter shut as I lower my head. I brush mine against hers. Fire stirs inside of me. Before I can act on it, the fish—still dangling on the line—flaps at my shoulder.
Lucy and I jump apart. I grab her arms to hold her steady.
She gives a shaky laugh. “I guess we’d better do something with this guy.”
“Yeah.” I release my hold on her and run a hand through my hair. “Yeah, we should.”
Mentally kicking my ass for thinking fishing would make a romantic date, we put the fish on ice. Lucy chuckles again as we do this.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“It’s just. Look at where we’re standing.” She gestures around us. “We’re literally on a sheet of ice, but you have a whole cooler of it here.”
“That is kind of funny.” My lips curve up. Again, my gaze turns to her lips. I barely had a taste of them before. I wouldn’t mind picking up where we left off. But I’m a man of my word. I promised her something last night. And I mean to keep every promise I make to her, no matter how big or small. “I still owe you that hot cocoa.”