A Blazing Little Christmas(41)

Standing, Jared walked toward her, lighting sparks within her faster than he’d ignited the blaze in the fireplace.

Thankfully he dropped onto the arm of the couch a few feet away, sparing her wound-up emotions the agitation of his physical nearness.

“I read some about your business online. It sounds like you’re doing very well.”

The compliment pleased her, as did the interest she read in his gaze. Slipping out of her coat, she prepared to tell him about The Attic but the phone rang before she could speak. Frowning, she searched for the handset and found an old-fashioned black telephone with a round dial on a table behind the sofa.

“Excuse me.” She picked up the receiver, expecting to hear from the innkeeper or his wife.

“Heather, thank God you’re there. Why aren’t you picking up your cell?” Her sister’s voice blasted into her ear on the other end. With the vocal cords of an opera diva and the projection of a kindergarten teacher, Trish never had a problem making herself heard. “Never mind. What’s important is that mom is trying to set me up with Gary. Have you heard about this?”

Heather tried not to let her frustration show in front of Jared. Not that she was angry with Trish, because heaven knew if her mother tried to set up her up with Trish’s former fiancé, Heather would have wanted to vent, too. Especially since Trish’s exes tended to be heavily tattooed, pierced and emaciated by the rock-and-roll lifestyle.

Mostly Heather was frustrated because her problems had followed her a thousand miles north.

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you be sorry.” Trish sounded offended that Heather would dare apologize and she roundly cursed family politics.

“If it makes you feel any better, she’s mad at me for not sewing you a dress for the party so you could make a good first impression.”

Trish snorted. “I think my nose ring was all the first impression Gary wanted from me.”

“Yes, well, the fallout pressure from The Wedding That Wasn’t turned out to be more than I could take, so I’m hiding out for a few days if you could just burn this phone number, okay?” She shifted uncomfortably, unable to leave the room since the phone in the cabin was circa 1940.

Jared stood to peer out the window at an incredible lake view Heather hadn’t even gotten to enjoy yet. Damn it, she shouldn’t let her family intrude on this weekend. When she wasn’t seducing Jared into making him regret walking away from her, she could be outside playing in the snow.

“You? Being the bad girl for a change?” Trish squealed on the other end of the phone and Heather thought she slipped into that octave range that would make animals cringe. “Well, I can’t wait to hear what made Little Miss Junior Peach Blossom turn rogue, but I’ll let you get back to whatever hell you’re raising up there at the North Pole or wherever you are.”

In the interest of temporary peace, Heather said goodbye, ignoring her sister’s—half sister’s—implication that Heather could never raise hell.

As she hung up the phone, she glimpsed at Jared’s back silhouetted against the window where the scarcest of daylight now illuminated the lake. She opted to skip mentioning the phone call altogether and joined him by the window, hoping they could resurrect their talk about her business. Maybe he hadn’t even heard about the wedding she’d mentioned.

She didn’t know how or when she’d get back to seduction tonight, but Trish’s phone call had taunted her to follow through on the plan. Being a good girl had given her one broken heart, one broken engagement and a reputation as the Woman-Most-Likely-to-Answer-Her-Cell-Phone.

Tonight would be different.

* * *

Jared waited outside a store in the Olympic Village in downtown Lake Placid while Heather bought a hat later that evening. Over a foot of snow had fallen since she’d touched down that afternoon and the inches kept accumulating. He hadn’t bothered to drive his truck into town since the village was walking distance from the Timberline Lodge. Heather had already made a few comments about the fact that he’d never be able to drive home tonight, implying he should sleep over at the cabin although she’d never said it outright.

Peering over his shoulder at her through the glass panes in the store’s front window, Jared watched her charm the guy behind the counter in that effortless way she had. He’d gotten so much pleasure out of watching her that first night they’d met, observing how she turned heads everywhere she went. Not because she was exceptionally beautiful, but because of the comfortable way she carried herself, the ease with which she worked a room or bartered down the price on a knit hat. People wanted to make her happy, partly because her smile was an addictive drug that could bring a man to his knees, but more because she radiated a warmth of spirit that people could spot a mile away.