“Another good idea,” he said. “Do it.”
“That was easy.” She looked at him. “And since you’re being so reasonable, what do you think about moving the laundry facilities to the old owner’s suite? It’s on the other side of the hotel, opposite the great room, and there’s plenty of space for water and electrical hookup, plus worktables for the folding or ironing or whatever is needed.”
Sean pulled the layout of the hotel into his mind and could see it just as she’d described it. “Yeah, that’d work. Be easier for everyone. But then we’ve got an empty basement and don’t really need the insulation, do we?”
“Of course we do,” she argued neatly. “Insulating down here will help keep the floors above warmer, cutting down on heating bills. And you could set this up as a tool room for the maintenance crew you’ll need to hire.”
He walked down the rest of the steps, stopped beside her and laughed shortly. “And they won’t get in the way upstairs in the kitchen.”
“Nope,” she told him before walking across the room to slap one hand against the wall. “Because we’ll cut out a double door right here, with a ramp, so maintenance can get heavy tools and machinery in and out with no problem. Gives them easy access to what they need, and you know you’ll need riding mowers and at least a couple of snowblowers, as well. They can be stored down here. There’s plenty of space for everything you could ever need.”
He could see it once she’d painted the picture, and Sean was only a little annoyed that he hadn’t seen it before. But why would he? He’d never used a snowblower in his life and since he lived in a condo at the beach, he really didn’t need a lawn mower, either, did he?
Unaccustomed to having to work out solutions for anything other than how to market their next video game, he was stumbling around in the dark here. And all in all, he thought he was doing a pretty damn good job of it.
“Okay, it’s a good plan.”
She just looked at him for a long moment, then cocked her head and asked, “Why are you being so agreeable all of a sudden? We spent the first week you were in Wyoming arguing about everything.”
She had a point there, too. But from the first, she’d gotten under his skin. Sean hadn’t wanted to admit it was desire chewing at his insides, so instead he’d told himself her attitude was aggravating. Maybe she’d had some great ideas all along and he’d just been too distracted by what she did to him to hear her out. And that knowledge was lowering for a man who had always prided himself on his ability to focus.
“Things change,” he finally said.
“I guess that’s true enough.” She came toward him, but instead of stopping alongside him, she walked past and took the stairs back up to the main floor.
“What’re you doing now?”
She stopped in the threshold and was backlit by the kitchen light. Her face in shadows, he felt her smile more than he could see it. “As long as you’re in such a good mood,” she said, “I figured we could start tearing down one of the walls to check the wiring.”
He choked out a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Okay, not the whole wall, but we should be able to at least rip away enough drywall to take a peek.”
“And you want to do construction while we’re trapped in a blizzard, why?”
“We can’t stay in bed all day,” she said.
His body burned at the thought. “Don’t see why not.”
“Of course you don’t. And what you and I will be doing upstairs is not construction,” she insisted, flipping her ponytail behind her. “It’s more de-struction. What we in the building business lovingly call ‘demo day.’”
“Great. Demo.”
“Come on. You’ll like it.”
Well, he told himself as he climbed the stairs, if they weren’t going to be having sex, at least he could take out his frustrations with a hammer.
Five
They worked together all day, with Kate keeping them too busy and occupied for either of them to consider heading back to the sleeping bag. Though the temptation of it nibbled at her continuously. How could she not think of it? Sean had opened up a world of sensations she’d never expected. And she wanted to feel them all again in spite of the fact that her mind kept warning her off. Logically, her mind was absolutely right and her body should take a time-out.
The problem was, what she was feeling had nothing to do with logic. When the day finally ended and the snow was still falling, she was out of distractions. They shared another meal from their dwindling supplies and when they were finished, Sean reached for her and she went to him. Knowing it was a mistake to continue doing what she knew she shouldn’t, Kate still couldn’t stop herself. There was so much to be discovered in his arms, and she wanted—needed—to know everything.
But sometime during the night, the snow finally stopped. By morning, the sky was a brilliant blue and the sunshine on all the fresh snow shone like diamonds under a spotlight. Kate should have been relieved, happy that this forced togetherness was at an end. Instead, she really wasn’t.
“How long do you think it’ll take for the pass to be cleared?” Sean asked.
She glanced at him standing beside her at the wall of windows in the great room. “A few hours. The county plows will get to it fast.”
“Then all we’ll have to do is dig out the driveway so we can get your truck out of the garage.”
“We won’t have to.” She smiled to herself and shook her head. “Now that the storm’s over, I’ll call one of my crew. Raul’s got a snow blade for his pickup. He makes extra cash plowing mountain roads for residents. He can get up here to clear this as soon as the county’s done with the pass.”
“So we’re almost free,” he mused quietly.
“Yep,” she quipped, hoping for a light tone that would hide the yawning pit of emptiness opening up inside her. “Your nightmare ends today.”
He took her arm, turned her to face him and when she did, his gaze moved over her face like a touch. “I wouldn’t say nightmare.”
She wished she could read his eyes, see what he was thinking, but whatever he was feeling was carefully masked. “No?”
He shook his head. “Let’s think of it as a three-day seminar. Sean and Kate 101.”
In spite of everything, a tiny chuckle escaped her. She had learned a lot about Sean. Maybe too much, but it was too late to go back and un-learn it even if she wanted to. “And now class is over.”
“Almost.” He moved in, set his hands at her waist and effortlessly lifted her against him until she had no choice but to hook her legs around his hips. He stared into her eyes, then gave her a slow, wicked smile. “I think we have time for one more recess.”
God, he really was charming, she thought. She stared into those lake-blue eyes of his and knew that when he was gone, she was going to miss him. She didn’t want to. She’d like to go back to her old life and leave these few days with Sean in the past, where they belonged. But that, she realized now, would be impossible.
He’d touched more than her body during their time together. He’d reached into her heart and brought it back to life again. And with that life she knew there would be pain. But for now, there was still joy to be found.
“Exercise is important,” she said.
“There you go.”
* * *
Two days later, Sean was back in California. He deliberately jumped back into his real life, diving into the plans and strategies for launching their next video game, “The Wild Hunt,” in early summer. While he talked to distributors, marketing and the Celtic Knot website division, he was able to push thoughts of Kate out of his mind. He buried himself in work until the memory of a snowbound hotel and a tiny, gorgeous woman with a pit-bull attitude were nothing more than misty images nibbling at his brain. Which was just the way he liked it, he assured himself. His focus was on the job, where it belonged. Wyoming was a long way from Long Beach, California.
Just as well. Despite the snow and the cold and the fact that they had lived on coffee, shared sandwiches, cookies and crackers, Sean had been getting way too comfortable in that drafty old hotel. Nights spent with Kate in his arms, waking up with her sprawled across his body while a roaring fire hissed and crackled in the stillness was just too...something, he told himself, not really wanting to identify the feeling any more than that. Being there with her had confused the situation. Getting back to their own lives and their own work were the only real answers for either of them.
So why, then, was he in such a crappy mood? He’d already snapped at Linda, their admin, rejected their lead artist’s idea for the upcoming Christmas game and managed to insult one of their biggest clients. And it wasn’t even noon.
“There something you want to talk about, Sean?”
“What?” He looked up and saw his brother, Mike, standing in the open doorway of Sean’s office. “No.” He picked up a sheaf of papers and rattled them for emphasis. “Busy here.”
“Yeah,” Mike said, walking into the room and dropping into the visitor’s chair opposite Sean. “Me, too. So let’s wade through all of the denials and get down to whatever it is that’s got your shorts in a knot.”