Chapter 1
Chapter One
BLAKE
“ I t’s wild to me that Bitterroot Valley is so socked in with fog and snow that we can’t land there, but it’s not bad at all here in Missoula.”
With her hand still clutched in mine, the gorgeous woman next to me stares out the airport windows to watch the snow drift down softly as we wait for our luggage.
She’s not my girlfriend.
She’s definitely not my wife.
This intriguing woman is a complete stranger to me, but I absolutely do not want to let go of her hand.
The minute she stepped foot on that plane, I felt it. An immediate attraction. A connection. And not simply because she’s gorgeous.
I met her less than two hours ago on a flight from Denver to Montana, thanks to a medical emergency mid-flight with another passenger.
I was asked to help because I’m a doctor, and she was sitting next to the patient. She couldn’t have been better with him. She knew exactly how to calm him down, how to keep him engaged and his mind off being scared.
I loved that she told us about how sad she gets after losing a patient of her own. And when it was time to leave the plane, I knew I couldn’t leave her behind.
All I know about her is that her name is Harper, she’s a NICU nurse by trade, and with all that dark hair and gray eyes, she’s so fucking beautiful. I can’t take my eyes off her.
But when she tried to walk out of my life at the end of that tarmac, I told her she’d be with me and I offered her my hand.
It wasn’t a question or a request.
And she didn’t argue. If Harper were my sister, I’d punch myself in the face. But she’s not. She’s a beautiful woman, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.
We’re stuck in Missoula for the night, thanks to the early winter storm happening at home in Bitterroot Valley.
And I plan to make the most of it.
“Are you okay?” she asks, peering up at me with those gray eyes.
I’m fucking fantastic. Never better.
“I’m fine. And you? Will your family be upset if you don’t make it home in time for Thanksgiving?”
Yes, this is my way of asking about her family. Mine will not be thrilled that I won’t make it home in time for dinner.
“They’ll be okay.” She shrugs a shoulder, then points when she sees her black-and-red suitcase with a bright yellow ribbon on the handle come around on the carousel. “That’s me.”
I muscle it off the belt for her and set it on its wheels. Then I spot my own luggage, and before long, we’re walking away from baggage claim.
“I could just rent a car,” she says thoughtfully as we walk, each one of us rolling our bags, still holding hands. “It’s only a couple of hours from here.”
“In a storm,” I remind her, shaking my head. “Let’s find a hotel for the night.”
She lifts an eyebrow, and her lips tip up with humor. Gray eyes flash. “Wow. Does that line work on all the nurses you pick up on rerouted flights, or am I just the lucky one?”
I grin at her. Christ, she’s pretty. Even dressed so casually in leggings and a hoodie, with her hair up in a messy bun and in her glasses.
No makeup.
Absolutely fucking perfect.
And I can tell that she’s attracted to me, too. This isn’t one-sided. She’s still letting me hold her hand, for fuck’s sake.
“Two rooms,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’m not trying to be a creep or anything.”
“Good to know. I’ll order an Uber.”
“Already done,” I reply, chuckling when she narrows her eyes at me. “And you’re welcome to join me.”
Now, she bites her lip. “Okay, I’m going to be brutally honest. ”
“Please do.”
“You don’t seem like a serial killer.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“But, Dr. Blackwell, I don’t even know your first name.”
I smile at her, nodding. “Blake. Thirty-four. Family practice and ER doc from Bitterroot Valley. The middle child out of five, I will likely catch some shit for not making it to dinner tomorrow, especially from my niece, Birdie, who is six and the apple of my eye. I’m not married or otherwise attached. ”
She’s blinking at me, listening with wide eyes, and nods slowly.
“Your turn,” I tell her.
“Uh, let’s see. Harper I’m-Not-Telling-You-My-Last-Name. Thirty. NICU nurse, as you know. No siblings. Hell, no parents.”
I tighten my hand around hers, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
“My best friend and her family will miss me tomorrow, but like I said, they’ll be chill about it. I like your niece’s name.”
I grin at that.
“We’re all B names. My parents thought it was fun.”
“Totally fun,” she agrees with a nod. “You know, you could have made all of that up and could still be a serial killer.”
I sigh and purse my lips. “You’re right. I could have. Well, I guess you’ll have to trust me. ”
“Or I could say goodbye and go fend for myself like the grown adult I am.”
I lean into her, not touching her, and press my lips to the soft skin just below her ear.
Fuck me, she smells good.
“You don’t want to do that, do you, Harper?” I pull back and hook a loose piece of her hair behind her ear. She licks her lips. Yeah, she’s fucking attracted to me . “I promise I’m not a danger to you.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Why not live on the wild side, right?”
My Uber pulls up to the curb, and I load our suitcases into the trunk. The ride to the hotel is quiet as we take in the snow around us, getting heavier by the minute, and then we’re pulling up to the hotel.
Harper walks next to me as we approach the front desk.
“How can I help you?” the receptionist asks.
“We need two rooms, please,” I tell her, and she types away on her keyboard.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“No,” I reply.
She hums, wrinkling her nose. “Well, with it being the day before Thanksgiving and so many flights canceled, we only have one room left. However, it is a suite.”
I glance at Harper, who shrugs.
“We’ll take it.” I nod and pass her my credit card, just as Harper offers her credit card as well. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
“No way?—”
“You can buy dinner,” I tell her, and she frowns at me as I get the room squared away with the nice receptionist.
On the way up to the room in the elevator, I glance down at the woman beside me. She’s worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
“I’ll take the couch,” I inform her. “Just laying that all out there now so there’s no awkwardness later.”
“You’re super tall,” she reminds me, and then her eyes skim over my chest and shoulders. “And … broad. I should probably take the couch.”
“Let’s see the room before we make any decisions,” I suggest as the elevator comes to a stop, and we walk out onto our floor.
Our suite is at the end of the hallway. I open the door, and Harper slides past me, pulling her suitcase behind her.
“Well then.” She whistles and looks around the spacious space. “Big room.”
A couch and chair are arranged in front of a television, and the dining room table along one wall sits six.
Through a doorway is the bedroom with a king bed, and the bathroom is big enough for a soaking tub and a standing shower that would easily accommodate both of us.
I’m not going to lie. I’d love to fuck her in that shower.
“I’ll fit on that couch,” I inform her, although I sincerely hope that by the time it’s time for bed, I’ll be in the king with her.
Harper is gorgeous, smart, and completely fuckable.
And I’ve recently had a dry streak when it comes to sex.
I don’t do relationships. Ever. My schedule is too messy, and I’m married to the hospital. No woman should feel like she’s secondary to anything, especially a job, and that is unapologetically my priority in life.
But I have casual sex down to a science.
“Are you hungry?” she asks, and I lift an eyebrow.
Harper rolls her eyes, making me laugh.
“For dinner , Romeo. I didn’t grab anything before the flight. There’s a restaurant downstairs.”
“Then we’d best go get some dinner,” I reply with a nod.
“Hold that thought.” She raises a finger and pulls her phone out of her pocket. “I have to let Ava know that I won’t be in tonight.”
I nod and give her privacy. I use the bathroom and freshen up from the flight. When I return to the living room, she’s just finishing her call.
“I know, it sucks, but I can’t control the weather, you know. Yeah, I’m safe.” She turns and looks at me and bites that plump lip again. “I promise I’ll keep you posted. I don’t have a return ticket, remember? You’ll get plenty of time with me. Jesus, Ava, you’re fucking needy.”
That makes me chuckle, and Harper smiles back at me .
Fuck, that smile.
“Yeah, yeah, love and blah, blah.” I lift an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes. “Yes. Yes. No. Okay, Mom , eat some turkey for me. I’ll be there as soon as I can, clingy girl. Okay, bye.”
She lets out a gusty exhale, closes her eyes, and shakes her head.
“That girl needs a boyfriend. Hold on, I’m going to wash my hands.”
She strides into the bathroom, and I shove my hands in my pockets.
Jesus. I like her.
When she’s finished, we walk back down the hallway to the elevator.
“This place isn’t bad at all,” she says as we climb on the elevator, and I hit the button for the lobby.
“Do you stay in a lot of hotels?”
“Actually, yeah. I do.” She shrugs and leans back against the wall. “I’m a traveling nurse. I usually only stay in one place for about a month. Lots of hotels. Not all of them are awesome.”
“I bet they’re not.”
Traveling nurse. I’m intrigued. I can’t imagine being in a new place every month. That’s a lot of moving around.
“What made you decide to go the traveling route?” I ask after the hostess leads us to a table and leaves us with the menus.
Harper sighs and sips her water, eyeing me, and I can tell she’s trying to decide how much to tell me .
I’m a perfect stranger.
But I want to know everything I can find out about her in our short time together.
“I had a piece-of-shit ex who I needed to get away from.”
Fire.
Fire rolls through me at that admission, but she keeps talking, oblivious to the fact I’d like to hurt the idiot who made her feel that she had to run from him.
“That was two years ago.” She shrugs that shoulder again and looks down at the menu. “I like the job. And it’s not like I have anything permanent to get back to, so going where I’m needed is rewarding.”
She bites her lip as if she’s said too much.
“I think I’ll get the chicken Caesar.” She pushes the menu away and watches me for a minute through those glasses.
“Are you originally from Bitterroot Valley?” I ask. I don’t think she is. It’s a small community, and I know for a fact that I’ve never seen her before, even in passing.
“Silver Springs,” she says, and I nod.
That’s an even smaller community just thirty minutes from Bitterroot Valley.
“You?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m from Bitterroot Valley.”
“So you went away to medical school and came back home.”
“I did.” The server returns, and we put our orders in. Then we’re silent for a moment as we look at each other over the table. “But let’s not talk about work. ”
She lifts a perfect eyebrow. “Okay. What would you like to talk about?”
“You.”
She snorts, then raises her water glass to her lips and takes a sip. “I’m very boring. This will be a short conversation.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. Favorite movie?”
“Like of all time ?”
My lips tip up at the confused frown on her pretty little face. “Yes.”
“Easy. Captain America: The First Avenger .”
I blink at her. Holy shit. “Nice choice.”
“Yours?”
“Same. Favorite kind of music?”
“Psh. Seventies rock. Hello, have you heard ‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith?”
How did my favorite song of all time just come tumbling out of her perfect mouth?
“If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your?—”
“Loaded pizza with anchovies. But that’s only if the carbs no longer count in your fictional world.”
“You don’t eat carbs?”
“I’m not an animal. Of course I eat carbs.” She lays her napkin in her lap as our meals are served. “But I try to choose gluten-free as much as I can, just because it’s better for inflammation. But I’m not perfect at it. I’m not allergic or anything.”
I nod and dig into my own Caesar. It sounded good when she mentioned it. “My niece, Birdie?— ”
“The apple of your eye.”
“And the love of my life,” I reply with a nod, “has celiac disease. So when we get together as a family, we make sure we have plenty of safe options for her. That poor kid was so sick for such a long time, it broke my damn heart.”
“Poor baby.” She frowns over at me. “Can I see a picture of her?”
Not needing to be asked twice, I whip my phone out and happily share photos of my girl.
“Oh, she’s precious.” Harper takes my phone and smiles down at my girl. “She’s a dancer.”
“Yeah. My brother’s girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée, owns a dance studio in Bitterroot Valley, and Birdie couldn’t wait to join. She’s actually pretty good.”
“And that’s not just her unbiased uncle talking.”
Harper passes the phone back and digs back into her food.
“Never. I’m completely impartial.” I chuckle and shove my phone back in my pocket.
“What do you do when you aren’t at the hospital?” she asks.
“I spend a lot of time with my family,” I reply, thinking it over. “I like to hike in the summer.”
That has her pretty gray eyes sparking with interest. “Yeah? Do you have favorite trails?”
“I take it you hike?”
“I love anything outside.” She decides to whip her hoodie over her head, leaving her in a little T-shirt.
She hooks the hoodie on the back of her chair.
“I spend so much time in hospitals that I can’t wait to be outside.
So yeah, I hike and bike and ski. Swim. All that stuff.
It was pretty cool to travel so much because I’d be out finding local trails on my off days.
I’ve hiked the Appalachian Trail, all through the Redwoods, Olympic National Park, which is unbelievable. ”
“I’ve done Kilimanjaro,” I inform her, watching her jaw drop and her eyes widen.
“Holy shit, Blake. That’s incredible. Did you love it?”
“It was an interesting experience.”
Honestly, it was fucking lonely.
“Your cool factor just increased,” she admits, and I laugh as I take one last bite of salad, then push the plate away.
“Good to know. I should have led with that.”