Chapter Four
He had kissed her.
Lance had really kissed her.
Her. The weirdo. The shifter. The awkward talker, the easy-blusher, the queen of discomfort in her own skin—her. Birdie.
And he didn’t seem to regret it, because currently they were sitting in the main lodge, on the leather couch in front of the stone hearth that boasted a roaring fire, while he showed her pictures of his apartment, and his friends, and his family.
“Wait, is that you?” she asked, pointing to a post he’d made of a soccer team.
“Yep. I play with Brock for an indoor soccer league in the winters. Recognize him?”
He pointed to the guy beside him with his arm slung over Lance’s shoulders. Lance was mid-laugh and looked so handsome in his uniform.
“That’s the guy from the front desk. Brock. He was shot gunning the beer with you in the website picture. Ava’s mate…errrr…husband.
“Yep. Speaking of, I was getting to the part where I ask you to come watch a game. We always go to this bar afterward and hang out with the team. I mean, no pressure, but if you want to come, you’re invited.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I’m only staying for one more day. I check out the morning after UnValentine’s Day and head back home.”
He chewed the corner of his lip and stared out the window thoughtfully. It had started snowing on their drive home from the horseback riding excursion, and now it was coming down in big flakes. It was quite beautiful outside in the piney woods.
“Where is home?” he asked.
“Overland Park, Kansas,” she answered. That life seemed really far away right now, and she didn’t want to think about it. She just wanted to enjoy every moment here this week.
“Unluckily for you my game is tonight.”
“Gasp! Really?”
He nodded and leaned closer. “Ava has been busy with work this week. She’s a graphic designer and she stacks her custom Valentine’s Day orders, so she’s been upstairs working away, but I happen to know she goes to one hundred percent of Brock’s games.”
Birdie’s mouth fell open. “This is my moment.”
“Yeah, ya stalker. It’ll be your moment. I’m sure you will act super-normal for it.”
She snorted and bumped his shoulder, then tucked her sock-clad feet under his thigh and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I will go to the game to watch you.”
“We both know you’re going to meet Ava.”
“That is secondary. I’m actually excited to see if you suck.”
It was Lance’s turn to snort. “And if I do?”
“I’m going to boo you.”
He ruffled her hair as she squirmed and then he pulled her in and hugged her against his side, relaxing back against the leather cushion. “If we had more time, I would take you to see my apartment.”
“Don’t ruin the fantasy. That’s real-life stuff. We are just playing here.”
“I’m not.” He’d said it so seriously, the smile faltered on her face. Shifters could tell when someone was being truthful, and Lance? He’d just uttered absolute truth. She wasn’t a game to him.
The butterflies in her stomach were awake again.
The leather creaked softly as she buried her toes deeper under his leg, stealing his warmth. She rested her forehead against his shoulder and looked into the fire with him. Truth be told, she didn’t want to go back to Kansas. She didn’t even want to think about it.
Here, she didn’t have any stress or worry.
She was smiling and laughing and had even settled into having some normal conversations with some of the campers here today.
She was getting practice at socialization and adored getting to know Lance.
The more she learned of him, the more she wanted to know.
Two more tiny days seemed terribly short.
“You’re not embarrassed to bring me to the bar with all your human friends?”
“Why would I be? I don’t care if you’re a shifter. I don’t think they will care either. Ava paved the way for you.”
“I think you’ll care more after you see the animal. It’s different when you see it with your own eyes and really understand I’m not the same as you.”
“I’m not looking for the same as me,” he rumbled low.
Roberto brought over a couple of drinks they had ordered and a charcuterie board with various fruits, crackers, cheeses, and sliced meats.
No one else was in the main lodge right now, other than Gran who was bustling around the kitchen, and Brock who was doing paperwork in an office.
She could see him through an open door across the cavernous dining room.
There were a few excursions happening right now and most of the lodge was attending those, and she had to admit, it was pretty nice having this place all to themselves.
“I’ve been staring at your tits all day long,” Lance said.
“Lance! We were having a nice moment.”
“I made it better. I was being honest.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve caught you like eight times.”
“I’m trying not to, but you are wearing the lowest cut sweater in all of creation and there are these little edges of lace from your bra that keep poking out, and you are driving me crazy.
” He glanced around and adjusted himself, then leaned forward and took a drink, and made a little plate of snacks for her.
She was grinning like a buffoon when he handed her the plate and began to make one for himself.
“Want to fuck around?” she asked.
“Stop,” he drawled out.
“I’m being serious.”
He cast her a frown over his shoulder, his bright green eyes steady on her. “Don’t tease me.”
“Lance! You would say yes? You barely know me.”
“Are you seriously asking if I would reject you and your perfect tits if you were like here, play with them? Woman, I try to be a gentleman, but that’s a mighty big temptation.”
“It would be kind of poetic if your ex is obsessing about whether you are coming to her wedding or not tomorrow, and meanwhile you’re shacking up with a shifter.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a revenge fuck for me.”
“I would make you forget her though.”
“Oh, you’re already bragging on your bedroom skills?”
“I can flop around like a tuna a little,” she joked.
“Oh my God,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. He popped a grape into his mouth and leaned back with his plate. “I just got a vision of you flopping around with your arms pinned at your sides.”
“It would be the best forty seconds of your life.”
His chuckle was so deep it filled the room, and now she was giggling at the vision.
He pulled her ankles so that her feet lodged securely under his legs again and relaxed back onto the creaking leather cushion. “I think you would be the most entertaining part of my life if you lived closer.”
“Oh, you would be obsessed with me.”
“Who says I’m not already obsessed?”
“You don’t even know my favorite color.”
“I know your ex’s least favorite color is purple.” He pulled a face. “Yeah, that sounded weird before I even said it.”
“My favorite is pink.”
“Girly girl.”
“What’s yours?”
“Grey.”
“Grey?” she scoffed around a bite of mango. “Is that even a color?”
“It’s a color to me.”
“Good Lord, maybe you need me in your life. You sound bland as heck.”
He laughed and rested his arm across her bent knees. The comfort they already had with each other was her favorite part of the day.
“I have an admission,” she told him.
“Admit away.”
“I was planning on going into town and doing a little outfit shopping.”
“What’s wrong with this outfit?” He glanced down at the deep V-neck in her plum-colored sweater.
“I am tired of the purple. I don’t care about my ex. He doesn’t belong in this week. I only packed purple shirts and jackets and mittens and beanies and I’m over it.”
“Mmm, okay. Do you need some alone time, or do you want company?”
“Depends. Will you be fun company or are you going to pick out a bunch of grey shirts for me?”
He laughed and ate another grape. “If you let me go, I’ll pick out zero grey shirts for you, and I’ll buy you pizza at my favorite place. They sell it by the slice. It’ll change your life.”
“You may come with me,” she said immediately.
“Is that all I have to do to get time with you? Bribe you with pizza?”
“Absolutely.”
She sipped down half of her drink and stood. “I have to go get ready really quick.”
“You can take the food to your cabins,” Roberto called from behind the bar as she pulled her purple puffer jacket onto her shoulders. “The tray is made to fit into your fridge in there.”
“Oh, heck yeah. Snacks for later. Thank you!” Birdie called as Lance gathered up the charcuterie board.
They tramped through the snow to Lodge 9, and he waited while she unlocked it, and then he handed her the food.
“Text me when you’re ready,” he told her. “I can drive you into town.” But he hesitated on the porch.
She set the food down on the bench beside the door and stood to her full, miniature height. “You want to kiss me again, don’t you?”
Lance lifted his chin higher into the air, and a smile confiscated his chiseled face. “Yes.”
“Well, what if I kiss you this time?”
His green eyes danced. “I would like that.”
Feeling shaky on her insides, Birdie stepped onto the porch and looked up at him, then pushed up onto her tiptoes and waited for him to lean down. When he did, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, closed her eyes, and kissed him.
He smelled like cologne and tasted so good. Her senses were overwhelmed with the scent of him, the taste, the feel of his warm touch, the sound of her hurried breath. His short facial scruff tickled her soft skin, and she moaned softly as he cupped the back of her head. God, this felt like flying.
She could go boneless right now, and she knew he would hold her upright.
He eased her back inside, and her body was on fire. The soft click of the door closing behind her sounded so loud in the quiet of her cabin.
The lights were off, but the muted light was filtering in through a couple of the windows. He eased her back toward the couch, but she was already fumbling with his zipper.
She didn’t want to go slow. She wanted everything, and his touch became more desperate to match hers.