An Unexpected Kiss (2 page)

His mouth
quirked up for only a second before he looked away as the conveyor belt came to
life. That counted as a smile, right? It was better than the scowl he’d given
her on the plane. If only she could’ve sat beside him instead of Jed. She
would’ve found out if he lived in California or Montana, and whether or not he
was single.

Not that
any of that mattered. She didn’t have any luck when it came to men. They were
either workaholics or liked to party. Lucy was looking for someone like her
daddy. A hard worker who loved God, his family and his country. They didn’t
make men like her daddy anymore.

Sighing,
Lucy focused on the carousel, hoping to spot her luggage so she could retrieve
it and then rent a car. All before Lance arrived.

She
inched closer, still scanning the surrounding area for any signs of her old
boyfriend. Finally, she spotted her bag. She moved forward and grabbed her
carry-on and then her larger boarding case. Just as she extended the handle,
she saw Lance coming toward the carousel.

Stifling
a moan, she watched him in disbelief. In one hand he held a bouquet of red
roses, in his other hand he carried a small wrapped package. Panic engulfed
her. What if her mother had somehow talked him into proposing to her at the
airport? Worse, he wore his high school letterman jacket.

She did
not want a proposal from a guy wearing his high school letterman jacket.

It didn’t
look like he’d noticed her yet. Maybe she could duck through the crowd and hide
out in the women’s bathroom until he left. Slowly, she backed up a few steps,
all the while keeping her eyes pinned on Lance. Just before she made it out of
his line of sight, Lance saw her. He smiled and made a beeline straight for
her.

Lucy
froze, desperately trying to come up with a plan. Why couldn’t she have a
boyfriend with her?

From the
corner of her eye, she saw the cute guy with the amazing blue eyes grab his
luggage from the moving conveyor.

In a
moment of temporary insanity, Lucy rushed over to the man and threw her arms
around his neck. “Please. Just go along with this, okay?”

Startled
,
the man only stared at her. Lucy didn’t have time to appreciate how good he
smelled. She was on a mission. The man must have seen the distressed look in
her eyes. Although somewhat stiffly, he brought his hands up and settled them
around her waist.

“Lucy?
What’re doing?” Lance’s voice was loud and irritated.

“Um, hi,”
Lucy said, ignoring Lance, and trying not to get distracted by the color of the
man’s eyes. “I’m Lucy, and I need you to kiss me. Right now.”

“Are you
crazy, lady?” the guy answered.

Was it a
good sign that he hadn’t dropped his hands yet?

“Maybe a
little. But I’m also desperate.”

“Lucy,
who is that man you’re with?”

Lance was
closing in.

“Please.
Just one little kiss. If he sees me kissing another man maybe he’ll finally get
the message and leave me alone.”

The guy’s
eyes flickered up, and his gaze narrowed slightly. Then his hands tightened around
her waist, and in one smooth motion he dipped his head and covered her mouth
with his.

The kiss
was tentative, like a kiss between strangers should be. Not that Lucy had ever
done this kind of thing before. Still, it was nice, and warmed her all the way
down to her toes.

Too soon,
the guy pulled back and gazed at her with troubled eyes. She was anything but
troubled, and desperately wanted to ask for another kiss. He must have read her
mind. After a slight hesitation, he lowered his head and kissed her again. This
time long, sweet and slow.

Lucy
dropped her hands to his chest and gripped his coat to keep from falling over.
She held on and returned the kiss. She heard Lance call out her name and knew
he had to be directly behind her. She didn’t care. All she wanted was this kiss
to go on forever.

A loud
wolf-whistle and thunderous clapping finally penetrated her brain. Well, that
and Lance tapping her on the shoulder.

She reluctantly
ended the incredible kiss. Breathless, she and her…kissing counterpart drew
back and held each other’s gaze. Heat surged through her when the guy looked
like he wanted to resume their spontaneous interchange.

“Lucy,” Lance
said. “Who is this?”

I have
no idea but boy can he kiss
. “Um…” She bit her lip, and looked
to Blue Eyes for help.

“Cole.”

She liked
his name, especially the husky way he said it. “Lance, this is Cole,” she said,
noticing how breathy her own voice sounded.

“Yeah, I
got that. Why are you kissing him?”

“I think
that would be obvious.”

“Your
mother said you aren’t dating anyone.”

“My
mother doesn’t know everything.”

Suddenly,
a phone vibrated in Cole’s shirt pocket. He cleared his throat and stepped
back, making Lucy’s hands fall to her side. “Excuse me, but I need to get this.”

Please
don’t let it be his girlfriend
.

Cole
answered, and immediately his eyes widened. “I just landed, but I’ll get there
as soon as I can.” He ended the call, and looked at Lucy. “Hey, I’m sorry but
I’ve got an emergency and need to leave right now.”

What
could she say to that? It’s not like she could demand he not leave her.

“Okay.
Drive carefully.”

Cole
smiled, shook his head and grabbed the handle of his boarding case. “I will.
Thanks…for…uh, understanding.”

They were
talking like they were complete strangers—which they were—she just
didn’t want Lance to know that.

“Call me
later,” Lucy tossed out to Cole’s retreating back.

Looking
back over his shoulder, he lifted a questioning brow. “Sure.”

Yeah, she
knew he didn’t have a way to contact her, but she couldn’t just yell out her cell
number. Instead, she waved, knowing she’d never see the guy again. It really
stunk. Here she finally met a man who lit her up like Snow Valley’s city
Christmas tree, and all she knew was his first name. Well, she also knew what a
great kisser he was.

He
disappeared through the crowd, leaving Lucy with Lance.

“You aren’t
upset your boyfriend just left you?”

“He had
an emergency.”

“And he
couldn’t have taken you with him?”

Lucy
grabbed the handle of her boarding case. She didn’t want to have this conversation.
What was that saying her dad used to say? Something about weaving a tangled web
when you lied. Her impulsive kiss with a total stranger created one heck of a
tangled web. If she kept talking it would only make things worse.

“I never
planned on riding with Cole.” Ha! That was definitely not a lie.

“So you
two aren’t serious then?”

Shoot. If
she answered truthfully it would give him hope. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah, it
matters,” Lance said. “Then I’ll know if I still have a chance.” Lance’s voice
cracked, and for a second she thought he might start to cry. In fact, now that
she was really looking at him his nose looked a little red.

“Do I
have a chance, Lucy?”

He
sounded so hopeful, but Lucy had to set him straight. “Lance, you’ll always be
my friend, but nothing more.”

His eyes
narrowed, and the muscle in his jaw ticked. Suddenly, he leaned over and
pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss surprised her, and it took her a few
seconds before she pushed him away.

“What did
you do that for?”

“To show
you that you still have feelings for me.” He grinned. “It worked, right?”

No! Nothing
could compare to the incredible kiss she’d just shared with a man named Cole.

“No, Lance.
The only feeling I have right now is anger.”

She
grabbed both of her bags and started marching toward the car rental desk. Lance
was right on her heels.

“Lucy,
where are you going?”

“To rent
a car.”

“It’s
snowing outside. You don’t like to drive in the snow.”

“Then
I’ll catch a bus.”

“You
really want to be on a bus in a Montana snow storm?”

No. She
really, really didn’t want to be on a bus. Period. She halted and whirled
around to face him. “Then I’ll wait the storm out.”

“I’m
sorry, Lucy.” His voiced cracked again, and he winced when he coughed. “I
shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

“You’re
right about that, buddy.”

“No, I
mean I really shouldn’t have kissed you. I might have strep throat.” He coughed
again. “At least that’s what my nephew had last week. Doc Taggart gave me a
prescription for antibiotics, but I didn’t get it filled yet. I figured I’d
wait until Monday to see if my culture comes back positive.”

Lucy
stared at him, curbing the impulse to slap him upside the head. She did not
want to be sick for her Christmas vacation. “So you haven’t started the
medication yet?”

He shrugged.
“Nah, you know how I feel about doctors and medicine. I’d rather let nature
heal me.”

Closing
her eyes, Lucy silently counted to ten very slowly. Telling Lance she wasn’t
going to date him was futile. He would never get it. The only way he’d leave
her alone is if she got married, or found him another girlfriend.

“C’mon,
Lucy. Don’t be mad. You’re healthy, so I doubt you’ll get sick.”

Letting
out a defeated breath, she opened her eyes. “Is it really snowing? My weather
app said it wouldn’t snow until after midnight.”

“It’s not
here where the storm is. Snow Valley is getting pummeled right now. Heck, even
with four-wheel drive I barely made it out of town.”

“All
right. I won’t rent a car.”

He
grinned and handed her the roses. “I almost forgot. These are for you.”

Lucy
accepted the flowers. “Thank you.” She watched as he pulled the little package
out of his coat pocket, and didn’t try to prevent him from giving it to her.
What would be the point?

“This is
for you too.” Lance held out the gift.

“I’ll put
it under the tree.”

Lance
shook his head. “No, you need to open it now. In case you want to get a nice
dress or something.”

If this
was his idea of proposal, she wouldn’t have a hard time saying no.

Without
really having a choice, she slowly unwrapped the gift. The box wasn’t the
typical velvet jeweler’s box, which gave her a small measure of relief. Opening
the lid, she spied a scroll of paper, tied with a tiny bow.

Taking
out the scroll, she slipped off the ribbon and unrolled the paper. It was a
ticket to the Christmas ball. Seven years earlier, that dance had been her and Lance’s
first date.

“Will you
go with me to the dance, Lucy? It’ll be like old times.”

“We’re not
in high school anymore.” Her eyes honed in on his coat.

He
laughed. “I know that.” He glanced down at his jacket. “I couldn’t find my
other coat and just threw this thing on.”

“I don’t
know, Lance. I’ll have to think about it.” Maybe if she took long enough she
could find someone else for Lance to take to the Christmas ball.

“C’mon,
Luce. Say yes.”

“If I
remember right, girls usually have time to answer, right?” The last time he’d
asked her to the dance, she’d taken a week to answer him. Then it had been
something lame like giving him a bag of Swedish fish with a note saying “Out of
all the fish in the sea, I’m glad you picked me.”

Lance’s
eyes lit up, like he remembered her answer, and he had liked it. Or, maybe he
just liked Swedish fish. She could get him a few bags and say something like,
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea, you don’t want to end up with me.”

“Okay.
I’ll wait for your answer.” He winked and then started coughing.

Lucy
turned away and held her breath. She really didn’t want to get sick. On second
thought, if she did come down with strep throat it would be a good excuse to
say no.

Lance
took her two bags and led her out to his SUV. It was then Lucy remembered she
actually had forgotten to pack her coat. Score one for her mother.

Cole
Taggart
fell onto the bed, exhausted from the day’s events. And what a day it had been.
First, the fight with his ex-fiancée, Nikki, about the engagement ring he’d
never given her, but she thought she should get since she’d said yes to his
proposal. It didn’t matter to her that she’d been cheating on him with the
other doctor in his medical practice. She really believed she was owed the
ring. Cole had laughed and walked away, leaving her to have her temper tantrum
in private.

The
fourteen thousand dollar one carat diamond had been an investment he’d made
before starting medical school. Nikki hadn’t decided on a setting yet, and had
been trying to negotiate getting a bigger diamond. Negotiations came to a
screeching halt when Cole found her and his partner entangled in a passionate
embrace late one night at the clinic. They’d tried to say it wasn’t a big deal,
but since neither of them had any clothes on, Cole had won that argument too.

At least
closing up his condo had been uneventful, and the moving truck was now on its
way to Snow Valley, Montana. Cole would miss the Southern California weather,
especially since he’d chosen to move during the winter, but he’d done his
residency at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and was accustomed to cold weather and
snow.

Before
catching his plane, he’d stopped by to tell his parents goodbye. It wasn’t even
noon and his dad had already had too much to drink. At least his dad was a
happy drunk. It compensated for the cold, hard woman his mother was. Like
always, she let Cole know how angry she was with him since he’d announced he
was buying his uncle’s medical practice and moving to Montana.

Actually,
his mother had been mad at him since he’d opted to specialize in family
practice medicine rather than go into plastic surgery. It wasn’t good enough
for her social circle. She was also angry he’d broken off the engagement with
Nikki. Just like his mother, Nikki came from old money. And money meant
everything to his mother.

A knock
sounded on the door, and Cole didn’t have the energy to get up and answer it.
“Come in.”

His Uncle
Will stuck his head in the door. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you for your
assistance today. The emergency crew and hospital workers were really impressed
with you.”

“Thanks.
I’m glad I could be of help.” The twenty car pileup hadn’t taken any lives, but
it had left plenty of people injured. Even though it took Cole a little over
two hours to get to the hospital, he’d still been needed. He, his uncle and the
rest of the health care providers had worked tirelessly assessing and treating
the accident victims. They’d finally finished nearly five hours after Cole
arrived.

“I know
you’re worn out, but I’ll bet you’re also hungry.”

Cole was
starving, but he didn’t think he had the strength to do anything about it. How
could his uncle be so perky? The man was more than twice Cole’s age of
thirty-one, and yet he didn’t look at all tired.

“I could
eat.”

“My
neighbor, Beverly, just brought by a pot of homemade beef stew and hot rolls
fresh out of the oven.” Uncle Will wiggled his eyebrows. “She’s got a thing for
me and is always feeding me.”

Chuckling,
Cole sat up. Uncle Will had a girlfriend. She must be nice since his uncle was
so cheerful. “You’re a lucky man.”

“That I
am. I was married to the sweetest woman in the world for thirty-eight wonderful
years, and now I’m dating the best cook in the state of Montana.” He winked at
his nephew. “She ain’t a bad kisser either.”

Why did
his uncle have to bring up kissing? Cole’s body heated at the thought of the
pretty girl he’d kissed in the airport. He hoped his face wasn’t as flushed as
he felt.

“TMI,
Uncle Will.”

“I’m too
old to know what that means. You’ll have to translate.”

“It means
too much information.”

His uncle
barked out a laugh. “You’re just jealous.” He waggled his brows again. “You
need a woman of your own. Bev and I can set you up with a few pretty gals that
will keep you warm this winter.”

“No
thanks.” Cole stood up and stretched. “I’m done with women.”

“Hogwash.
Just because that uppity thing you about married cheated on you, doesn’t mean
all women are like that.”

“I know,
but I’m not ready to date anyone right now.” He made his way to the door to the
adjoining bathroom. “Give me a minute to wash up and I’ll be out.”

“Just
make a lot of noise so Bev and I’ll know when to stop smooching.”

Cole
laughed, marveling that his father and Uncle Will were brothers. They couldn’t
be more opposite. More than once he wished he’d been born to the older brother.
It wasn’t the first time he’d wanted William Taggart to be his father, nor
would it be the last.

Once
inside the bathroom, Cole splashed warm water on his face, and immediately his
thoughts went back to
her
. Lucy.

He’d
noticed her when she’d first walked up to the ticket counter. Her long, blonde
hair hung in loose curls, coming to the middle of her back. With her light blue
eyes and tanned skin, she looked like the typical California girl. He’d also
liked her laugh. She’d smiled and joked with the ticket agent, and it hadn’t
come off as fake and flirtatious but as if she really liked to laugh.

Turning
off the water, Cole grabbed a towel and dried his face. When she’d boarded the
plane, and then stopped next to him, he thought for sure she’d be seated next
to him. After the fight with Nikki, he wasn’t in the mood to talk with a girl
he found attractive.

He’d been
relieved when she announced her seat number would put her on the opposite side,
while at the same time he felt sorry she’d had to sit next to Jed. Cole had
already heard enough from the big guy in the five minutes it took for him to
wait until he could load his duffle in the overhead storage.

But it
was that unforgettable kiss they’d shared spontaneously that made him glad he
didn’t know her last name and would never see her again. Cole had kissed his
fair share of women over the years, but nothing could compare to the feelings he’d
experienced the moment his mouth touched hers.

If Uncle
Will hadn’t called about the mass accident, Cole wasn’t sure what he would’ve
done. He’d been tempted to kiss her again, even with her boyfriend looking on.
The phone call had saved him.

He flipped
off the light, and loudly shut his door. The last thing he wanted to see was
his uncle and his girlfriend making out.

That made
him think about the kiss again. Who did that anyway? Kissed a complete stranger?
Of course she’d admitted to being desperate. She also admitted she was a little
crazy.

He should
count himself lucky he hadn’t gotten her name and number. For all he knew, she
kissed men she didn’t know just for kicks. His former fiancée didn’t have a
problem kissing other men, either.

Women. They
caused nothing but trouble. At least the women in his life did.

Even if
he found someone attractive, he wasn’t looking to get married any time soon. Taking
over the medical practice would require a lot of his time. It would take a
little while for his uncle’s patients to transition to Cole as their primary
care physician. Uncle Will hadn’t even notified his patients he planned to
retire before the new year. The letters were written but needed to be mailed
out.

It would
be so much simpler if things could be done electronically. One of the first
changes Cole planned to make was converting all of the patient’s files over to
the computer. He hoped he could hire somebody local to do the job, but knew for
the right price, he could get someone out of Billings or Missoula.

Coming
into the kitchen, Cole caught the heavenly scent of the beef stew, which made
his stomach rumble. Uncle Will and his neighbor sat close together at the
little dining room table in front of the fireplace. Thankfully they weren’t
kissing.

“Cole,
come on over here and meet Beverly Thompson.”

“It’s
nice to meet you, Ms. Thompson,” Cole said, shaking the older woman’s hand.
“The stew smells delicious.” Beverly had pretty skin, and looked to be about
ten years younger than his uncle who had just turned sixty-eight last month.

“Thank
you. And please call me Bev.” She released Cole’s hand and laid hers across his
uncle’s. “Will has told me so much about you.”

“I hope
it was all good.”

She
smiled. “Of course. He can’t say enough good about his brilliant nephew.”

If Cole
was so brilliant then why had he kissed a complete stranger, and now couldn’t
stop thinking about her?

“He just
says I’m brilliant because I followed in his footsteps.”

His uncle
laughed, but had a look of pride cross his features. “Yep, Cole’s the son I
always wanted. If he didn’t have the same last name as me, I would’ve adopted
him a long time ago.”

Cole must
be tired because his uncle’s words made his eyes sting, like he might cry. He
turned away to dish up some of the beef stew. “I love you too, Uncle Will.” His
voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “And you’ve always been more of a
father to me than my dad.”

“You two
are gonna make me cry,” Beverly said. “Then my makeup will be ruined.”

“With or
without makeup, Beverly Thompson,” Uncle Will said. “You’re still the most
beautiful woman I know.”

Cole
grabbed two of the hot rolls and headed back toward his room. “I’ll just leave
you two alone. Thanks again for the food.”

“You’re
welcome,” Bev said.

Once more
his uncle laughed. “He’s just hightailing it out of here before we start
kissing again.”

“William
Tagg—”

Beverly’s
words were cut off, no doubt by a kiss from his uncle.

Cole
wasn’t sure he could handle being around such a loving couple. His parents
never showed any kind of affection, to him or to each other. Good thing his
house would be ready for him to move in after the New Year. He had a feeling
Uncle Will’s retirement would also include a honeymoon, so having his nephew
hanging around wasn’t ideal.

Cole’s
new house was a beautiful log-cabin home that wasn’t far from the hospital or
his office. It needed all new carpet and paint, as well as some significant
plumbing repairs that wouldn’t be fixed until after the holidays.

The
home represented the beginning of his new life. A life without all the
social-status pressure his mother, and his ex-fiancée, placed on his shoulders.
Monday would be his first day in the office, and Cole could hardly wait.

Yep, life
in Snow Valley was going to be a lot less complicated than in California.