These days, he wanted to show her there was a hell of a lot more to him than that. And it didn’t hurt that having her here for the holiday might help him banish a few ghosts of Christmas past.
“You’re leaving?” She tore her gaze away from the lodge to look at him. “So soon?”
She sounded genuinely surprised and he hoped he wasn’t playing it too conservative. Just sitting next to her in his truck cab was seriously turning him on. And oh, man, there were some big-time memories associated with this woman. Her lips were slicked over with something shiny that drew attention to the perfect bow shape, the luscious indent in the center of the top lip calling him to take a taste.
He’d done that and so much more with her mouth before…
He cleared his throat and willed away thoughts that would make him start sweating if he didn’t get a handle on himself.
“I figured you would want to get settled—”
“Then you must not remember me very well.” Grinning, she wiped clean a fogged-over spot on her window that the defroster had missed. “I’m not the type to settle. I’ve only got a weekend here and there’s so much I’d like to do. I’d be surprised if I’ll even be able to sleep tonight.”
She sent him a look that sizzled over him like a fresh sunburn, reminding him they hadn’t slept for more than an hour at a time when they’d last been together. They’d both been keyed-up. Wild. Hungry.
But her glance disappeared faster than it had arrived and he wondered if he’d read into the whole thing. Damn but he sucked at playing the gentleman with this woman.
“In that case, I’ll put your bag inside and let them know you’re here while you think about what you’d like to do.” He parked the truck and pocketed the keys. “Just name your pleasure, and we’re there.”
“Really?” Her blue eyes seemed to light from within as she considered the prospect. “I’m going to hold you to the promise of giving me my pleasure, but first I’m going to find out if this is the kind of snow you can use for a snowball fight.”
She was out of the truck and in the parking lot a second later, her boots kicking up a snowy rooster’s tail in her wake as she ran. He scraped his chin off the steering wheel at her deliberate use of provocative words—damn it, that had been deliberate—and pulled her suitcase out of the back. He had almost recovered from swallowing his tongue when a snowball pelted him hard between the shoulder blades.
Chapter 2
Heather’s hands had warmed up enough to make only one snowball but thankfully, her aim was perfect.
It felt good to nail her former lover right in the middle of his sexy-as-hell shoulders, especially after the way he’d played it so cool with her from the moment she’d stepped off the plane. Just what exactly did he have in mind to invite her all this way after all this time? Heaven knows he hadn’t sent out any sex vibes the way he had once upon a time….
* * *
“Excuse me.” She sauntered up to the mega-hot Army-man in camo who’d been watching her all evening from a darkened corner table on a patio overlooking dark Georgia marshlands.
He’d been drinking with another camo-clad hottie up until about half an hour ago when his buddy left the outdoor bar with a squealing blonde draped around him like a wet towel. Heather had thought Mr. Eyes-All-Over-Her would finally make his move then, but he remained in his seat, his boots propped on a nearby stool as he tipped back his beer and stared unapologetically at her.
The season had been warm that year and the managers had brought in a rock band that cranked out butchered holiday tunes while waitresses wearing reindeer antlers served candy cane martinis.
“Yes?” He didn’t bother to stand, his manners definitely not of the old-school Southern variety. He rattled a low-hanging crepe myrtle branch between his fingers where the garland-laden foliage crept over the back of his seat.
“I can’t help but notice you’ve been staring at me all night.” She’d like to think the martini she’d had earlier made her bold, but she tended to act on instinct anyway, a habit engrained in her head years earlier.
“You’ve been putting on quite a show.” Camo-man grinned and there was something wildly feral about the display of white teeth in the dark. They were far from the dance floor here, and this part of the patio had grown deserted as more of the bar’s patrons came under the spell of the oddly hypnotic, guitar-charged Christmas music.
“Excuse me?”
His big boots slid off the stool where he’d propped them and he unfolded himself from his chair to stand. She’d misjudged his height from his slouch and now she felt the full impact of the man, the muscle and the uniform.