Maybe This Christmas (25 page)

Brenna looked at the pancake without seeing it. “How?”

Élise eyed Elizabeth, who gave a half smile. “Don’t mind me, dear. If you have a suggestion, out with it.”

“My suggestion is that you walk into his room wearing very sexy underwear and nothing else.” Aware that they were all gaping at her, Élise shrugged. “You are not only a friend, you are a woman. Show him.”

“I could never do that!”

“You had sex with your clothes on?”

Brenna felt her cheeks heat. “No, but—I’m not like you.”

“Which is probably just as well or Tyler would be chopped to pieces by now,” Kayla muttered. “I’m not sure Elizabeth should be listening to this.”

Elizabeth stirred. “I happen to think it’s an excellent plan. I will keep Jess for another night. She can help me stock the freezer for Christmas. She’s turning out to be a natural chef. And talking of food—” Elizabeth leaned across, cut a slice of pancake and fed it to Brenna. “You need to keep your strength up, dear.”

“Wait a minute!” Brenna almost choked. “For a start, I don’t own any sexy underwear.”

“Vraiment?”
Élise looked appalled. “Not a single piece of silk or lace? Please tell me this is a terrible joke.”

“No.” Her face was burning, and she saw Élise glance at Kayla and then back at her.

“So instead be naked.”

“He’ll turn me down.” The possibility of rejection made her shrink. “And then what?”

“You are no worse off.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” Brenna shook her head. Despite what had happened the night before, Janet’s words were still wedged in her brain. “If he doesn’t want me, that’s the end of it. I won’t push myself on him. That isn’t how I want our relationship to be. It’s finished, and now we somehow have to get our friendship back to where it was.” But what if they couldn’t do that? What if it wasn’t possible? “Can we talk about something else?”

“Of course. In fact, I have some news of my own,” Elizabeth said casually, putting the fork down on the plate. “Tom has asked me to dinner, and I’ve said yes.”

Kayla stopped with her fork poised in midair. “Tom? Tom who?”

Élise rolled her eyes. “You should try looking up from your phone occasionally. There is a whole world going on out here.” She beamed at Elizabeth. “Me, I like Tom very much, and he grows the best tomatoes. He has good hands, I think, and I love a man with good hands. Sean, he is the same.”

“Tomatoes?” Kayla’s face cleared. “Oh,
that
Tom.”

Brenna, relieved at the change of subject, sipped the tea Élise put in front of her. Given that her friend was holding a hot pan, she decided not to tell her it was disgusting. “I love Tom. I’ve known him forever.”

“He has been very patient.” Elizabeth took a sip of tea, paused, swallowed and pulled a face. “I confess I didn’t find it easy after Michael died. But Tom has been a good friend to me, and friendship is the best basis for any relationship, isn’t it?”

“This is true,” Élise said, “but you are never too old for good sex, as Alice is always telling us. And now you might as well pour away that tea because I can see you all exchanging looks and forcing it down. And next time ask me for coffee.”

* * *

“
G
UESS
WHAT
?” J
ESS
BOUNCED
into the kitchen the following morning. “School is shut
again.
Snow day! Can we ski powder? Dad? Are you listening? Why are you staring out the window?”

Tyler stirred. “What are you doing here? I thought Grandma was dropping you at school.”

“I just told you, snow day!” Jess frowned and dumped her bag on the floor. “What’s wrong?”

Guilt mingled with thoughts that threatened to set his brain on fire.

He’d texted Brenna twice, and she hadn’t answered.

He had no idea where she was.

“Nothing is wrong.” Restless, Tyler grabbed his jacket. Maybe it would help to be out in the mountains. “Get dressed, we’re going skiing.”

Jess tugged on her boots. “Are we inviting Brenna?”

“She’s teaching.”

“Dad, what’s going on?” Jess stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her. “Something has happened, hasn’t it?”

“No. Get your coat.” He was out of the door before she could ask any more questions.

They skied a few runs together, then Tyler coached her, making her do the same run over and over again, repeating turns until he was satisfied. And she didn’t complain, not even when she caught an edge, fell and tumbled down the slope toward him.

She lay, winded, staring up at the sky. “I guess I messed that one up.”

He stooped and hauled her to her feet, rescuing her skis. “Your weight was wrong on the inside ski. You’re spraying snow, which means you’re sliding not carving, but aside from that little lapse, you’re doing good. Really good.”

And Brenna was right. He was enjoying teaching her. Far more than he’d ever anticipated he would.

Jess emptied snow out of her gloves and scraped it from the front of her ski. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Go on.”

“You’ll think I’m a wimp.”

“Tell me.”

Jess shrugged and shifted her gaze to the top of the slope. “When I’m up there looking down, before I start, I’m scared.”

“Of course you are.” Tyler reached out and brushed snow from her jacket. “We all are.”

Her eyes widened. “Even you?”

“Oh, yeah. You ask any racer, and he’ll say the same. If he doesn’t, he’s lying. Most of us know how it feels to fall, and in that moment before you start when you’re looking down the hill, you start to see the worst that could happen. And let’s face it, when you’re flying down at those speeds, it doesn’t take much to make you crash—you hook an edge or take a wrong turn—” he shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the chilling options “—it’s not that you don’t feel fear, but you control it. And that takes discipline. What people don’t realize is that it’s not only a physical challenge out there, it’s an emotional challenge.”

“I thought maybe the fact that I’m scared might mean I can’t do this.”

“No. It’s not feeling fear that’s the problem, it’s how you manage it. You can learn.” He reached out and fastened her helmet. “You could do this. You have what it takes.”

“Do you think one day I might even have my own crystal globe?”

“If you work hard, who knows? Do you want to?”

“Will you help me?”

He felt a rush of adrenaline and elation that he hadn’t felt since his accident. He knew he could help, and he knew he’d enjoy doing it. “All the way.”

“Then let’s do it.” Excitement burned in her eyes, and she knocked the snow from her boots and stamped her feet into her skis. “Let’s take it from the top.”

* * *

B
RENNA
FINISHED
HER
last lesson and drove back to Lake House. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was to relax in a deep bath and stare through the window at the snow falling.

What she didn’t want was an embarrassing, uncomfortable moment with Tyler.

What was she supposed to say?

Forget it, Tyler. It was just one night. Plenty of people do it.

But she didn’t. And he knew she didn’t.

Let’s pretend nothing has changed.

How could she say that when it was obvious to both of them that
everything
had changed?

She should never have said the
L
word.

Exasperated, and cringing with embarrassment, she was relieved to see no sign of his car. At least she could go straight to her room.

She opened the door, made a fuss of Ash and Luna and then saw the package lying on the floor with her name on it.

Luna whined and pressed her nose against Brenna’s leg.

“I messed up, Luna.” Brenna stroked her gently and then opened the package.

A flimsy wisp of black tulle and lace fell into her hand and she stared at it, and then at the note from her friends, in disbelief.

Maybe this is the day you have a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny. Coco Chanel (with some tweaks from Élise and Kayla xxxx)

“You
have
to be kidding me.”

Luna whined, and she shook her head at the dog. “I cannot wear this. I can’t.”

She turned it over in her hands and then held it up.

She didn’t need to try it on to know it was going to reveal far more than it covered.

She heard the slam of a car door and listened for the sound of voices, but a quick glance through the window told her Tyler was on his own.

Without bothering to take off her coat, she sprinted upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door, the offending package still in her hand.

Heart pounding, she put the garment on the bed and checked the label.

French, of course. And expensive. Sheer, sexy and something she wouldn’t wear in a million years.

Except—

Heart thumping, she took off her coat and hung it up, feeling as if the underwear was watching her, blaming her for being a coward.

Did Élise really wear that sort of thing? No wonder Sean was always walking around with a smile on his face.

What was to stop her doing the same thing?

From downstairs she heard a clash of pans in the kitchen and relaxed slightly. One thing she was sure of—there was no way Tyler would come looking for her. He was obviously as uncomfortable about the whole thing as she was.

After stripping off her clothes, she ran herself a deep bath and sank into the water.

She thought about the underwear lying on the bed.

It wouldn’t hurt to try it on, would it? Then she could at least thank Élise and Kayla, tell them it was a lovely thought but that it hadn’t fitted.

Leaving the comfort of the deep bubble bath, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked into the bedroom. The only light in the room came from the lamp next to the bed, and she dropped the towel and reached for the underwear. It felt soft and flimsy in her fingers, a whisper of wicked temptation.

Pulling it on, she turned to look at herself in the mirror. She’d never worn anything so light and delicate. It was like wearing nothing, and the tulle bra fitted her small frame perfectly.

She had a feeling Coco Chanel would have approved.

Piling the heavy mass of her hair on top of her head, she pouted and struck a pose and then shook her head.

She looked ridiculous.

If she walked into Tyler’s room looking like this, he’d laugh. She could imagine his expression.

And then the door to her bedroom opened, and she didn’t have to imagine his expression because he was standing in the doorway looking as if he’d been caught in the path of an avalanche. And there was no sign of laughter.

“Holy—”

“Tyler! What are you
doing
here? Get out!” She dropped her arms and tried to cover herself, then snatched the damp towel from the floor but it caught in her foot and she crashed down onto polished wood in a tangle of long limbs and black transparent underwear.

Dignity shredded, she lay sprawled at his feet thinking that when Coco Chanel had referred to
a date
with destiny,
she hadn’t anticipated that it would look anything like this. She felt as if she’d let the whole of womankind down.

Sorry, Coco.

She heard Tyler inhale and assumed it was because he’d never witnessed anything more clumsy or less provocative in his life.

“Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not all right! You’re supposed to at least
knock
or something. Oh, my God, Tyler, just—
go!
” She felt the burn in her cheeks, and anger mingled with frustration, all aimed at herself. Élise or Christy would have given him a feline smile and beckoned him into the room. They wouldn’t have fallen over and yelled at him.

“Are you hurt?” Instead of leaving, he hunkered down next to her so that those powerful shoulders were eye level.

“Yes. No.” Her pride was hurt. Her confidence decimated. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to say— I wanted to—” His gaze dropped to the tulle bra. “Why are you wearing that? Where are you going?”

She could hardly tell him she was about to march into his bedroom and make an indecent proposition. He’d laugh at her, and she couldn’t even blame him.

“I was getting dressed.”

“Why?” His eyes darkened, his mouth unsmiling. “Are you going out with Josh again?”

“No!”

“Then why are you walking around dressed like something out of a bad boy’s dream? Is that what you wear under your ski pants? If I’d known, I would have wiped out years ago.”

And in that moment, hearing those words, she stopped feeling like a fraud and started to feel like a woman.

She’d already told the truth. How could more of the same truth make things worse?

“I was trying it on. Plucking up courage to walk into your room and proposition you.”

His gaze lifted from the transparent bra, to her mouth, and then finally met her eyes.

“Excuse me?” His voice was husky, those eyes a wicked blue under thick, dark lashes that sent his sex appeal rocketing off the scale.

“I don’t agree with what you said last night.” She thought of Elizabeth’s words. “You wanted to put the clock back, to pretend it never happened, but we can’t do that. We can’t go back, Tyler, only forward. We’re both a little freaked out by what happened, but it happened so now we have a choice.” Her voice was firm. “And this is mine.”

He was still, his breathing uneven.

She waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.

Color seeped into her cheeks, a slow simmer of humiliation. Had she read him wrong? Was he about to tell her he wasn’t interested? That last night had been the result of too much whiskey and honesty?

Her fragile confidence evaporated in the heat of the silence.

“All right, this is embarrassing.” She pushed her hair away from her face with a shaky hand. “You need to go, Tyler. Right now.”

“Go?” He seemed to be struggling to speak. “You went to all that effort to gain my attention, and now you want me to walk away?”

“Because you’re obviously not interested!”