This Winter Night. Janice Sims

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      Chapter 3

      “I’ve done it now,” Lauren said jokingly as they lay in bed wrapped in each other’s arms. They’d gotten up and showered together and climbed back in bed.

      Colton smiled. “What have you done?”

      “I’ve become the Gaines girl who’s not only divorced but who, after the divorce, jumped right in bed with the first available man. I left Raleigh to get away from it all and a hunk shows up on my doorstep.”

      “Life isn’t fair,” Colton said sympathetically.

      Lauren laughed softly. “Darn right, it’s not. I was determined to give up men.”

      He reached out and brushed a tendril of hair behind her left ear. “How long would that have lasted? You’re a vital, passionate woman, Lauren. I can tell that much from the little time we’ve spent together. Don’t let Eckhart turn you off men.”

      “Please don’t say that name,” said Lauren.

      “All right, I’ll just say ‘the asshole’ from now on,” Colton said.

      “Don’t even refer to him at all. I came here to forget he exists.”

      “Then why’d you come to a place you shared?”

      “He was rarely here,” Lauren explained. “He bought the place and came a couple of times, met your parents who, as you can imagine, gave him a cool reception. Then after a while, he stopped coming at all. I didn’t care. What he didn’t know was that I had an ulterior motive when he announced he was buying the property.”

      “Which was?”

      “My granddaddy Beck, my mother’s dad, lives up here near the Cherokee reservation. He owns a lodge. I go to see him whenever I come up here. Grandma died about five years ago and he doesn’t have any family in the area. My sisters and I make sure one of us goes to see him at least once a month. I was delighted when my ex bought this place. And, thanks to you, I got it in the divorce settlement.”

      “Thanks to me, how?” Colton wondered.

      “Because he got no reaction out of you when we moved across the pond from your place, he lost interest and gave it to me without a fight.”

      Colton understood. “So when you come up here, it’s like going home.”

      “Exactly,” she answered with a contented sigh.

      “The only place I’m able to feel that way is my parents’ home,” Colton told her. “I own a home but it’s just a house. A very nice house, mind you, but it has no sentimental value.”

      “Maybe you haven’t been in it long enough,” she suggested.

      “I bought it six years ago,” he replied. He smiled at her. “You’re an architect. Maybe you can come take a look at it and tell me what’s missing about its design that’s preventing me from caring about it.”

      “That implies that we’re going to take this further than this nonreality bubble we’re presently in,” Lauren warned him.

      “Is that what you think is happening here?” Colton asked, the humor gone out of his tone and his eyes. Up until now they had been talking good-naturedly. True, her insistence about keeping this a secret had indicated that she believed this was to be a one-night stand, but after making love he no longer wanted it to be just that. He envisioned seeing her again, slowly getting to know her. He had assumed she felt the same way.

      “Wasn’t that what we agreed on earlier? That this remains our little secret?”

      “Yes, Lauren, but I thought you were thinking of your reputation. I didn’t believe that you were really going to kick me to the curb afterward. Not if we both enjoyed ourselves. And I know you enjoyed yourself.”

      “I did enjoy myself,” she confirmed as she freed her arms from his and sat up in bed. “I simply didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment. I wanted you to know that there were no strings.”

      “Just pleasure,” he said as he sat up while maintaining eye contact with her. “I understand not wanting to be hurt, Lauren. Believe it or not, I’ve been hurt before, too. On the other hand, I don’t want you to sell yourself short. Of course I want more than a tryst in the mountains.”

      “You say that now after sex, but you may feel differently when we get back to Raleigh and to our everyday lives. Plus there’s the trauma you are under due to your father’s death. People do strange things when they’re grieving.”

      “And you’re worried that you might have slept with me just to get your ex out of your system, is that it?” he wanted to know.

      Lauren shook her head, but her eyes told a different story. She was undecided. “I’m an emotional wreck right now,” she admitted. “I don’t know up from down. I only know that I enjoyed being with you tonight.”

      “That’s an honest answer,” СКАЧАТЬ