Sleigh Bells in the Snow (15 page)

“The long legs enable him to walk through deep snow. Moose are fine as long as you don’t get too close.”

“Do I look like I intend to get close? I’m trying to run, but you’re holding me. Let’s go.”

“No. This is all part of the Snow Crystal experience.” His voice warm with laughter, he slid his arm around her waist, locking her against him. “Lots of tourists come here hoping to see what you’re seeing now.”

What she was seeing was a strong jaw shadowed by dark stubble and a firm mouth that was too close for comfort.

Suddenly the moose didn’t feel as threatening as the chemistry. “With the benefit of many years of experience I can tell you that the moose is not going to be what gets you on the cover of
Time
magazine. Let’s go—”

“The important thing to remember is that there is no safe way to approach a moose.” He tightened his grip, holding her easily. She was pressed against the hard muscle of his thighs and it wasn’t the moose she was thinking about, but him.

“I can assure you I won’t be approaching it. In fact this might be a good time to show me your love of speed.”

“They’re not usually aggressive unless they’re frightened. It’s one of the reasons we tell people to keep their dogs on leads around here. During the mating season, in the fall, the bulls can become aggressive.”

“Note to self—never visit in October.” She tugged at her hand. “Now can we—”

“Kayla—” he tugged her back to him “—he’s
not
going to hurt you.”

The chemistry was suffocating. The knot in her tummy wound tighter and tighter.

“You don’t know what his intentions are toward me. He might sense I’m a city dweller and decide to send me back to New York with one kick.” She tried to joke. Tried to do anything she could to cut through the tension that was like a steel wire pulling her toward him. “I presume they kick?”

“Yes. Despite their size, moose are flexible. They can kick in all directions, including sideways.”

“Sounds like my yoga instructor. Can we go now?”

He smiled that slow, dangerous smile, his mouth just a breath away from hers. “Don’t you trust me to protect you?” He was all hard muscle and masculinity, and she no longer knew where the threat lay, but she had a feeling it wasn’t behind her.

“I’ve always preferred to be in charge of my own protection.” She felt weird, and she had no idea whether it was the proximity of the moose or the proximity of Jackson O’Neil. “I guard myself.”

“Yeah, I got that.” His voice was husky, his eyes on her mouth. “And what happens when you let your guard down, Kayla?”

“I don’t let my guard down. I don’t let people close.”

But he was close.

Too close.

And then his mouth wasn’t just close to hers it was
on
hers, sure and demanding, and his kiss felt as good as she’d known it would. Hunger ripped through her, the sexual chemistry so intense the heat threatened to burn right through them. It was the most erotic, sexually explicit kiss she’d ever experienced, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, lost in it.

“Christ, Kayla—” He groaned the words against her mouth, his voice thickened and rough. He had one hand locked in her hair and the other on her back, holding her hard against him. Pressed thigh to thigh, she was aware of hardness and heat, of the sensual stroke of his tongue against hers, and she grasped the front of his jacket, hauling him closer, wanting more,
needing
more. The sheer force of the chemistry shocked her because it was as sharp as it was unfamiliar.

She didn’t do this....

But she was doing it now, her mouth as hungry for his as his was for hers. Her gut tightened. Nothing mattered except his kiss, and the skill of that kiss turned her brain to slush and her limbs to water. Her surroundings faded, and her entire world became this man, his mouth, his hands and the desperate heat burning through her body.

They were creating enough heat to melt the frozen waterfall, and yet still she wanted more. She wanted to climb all over him, rip off his clothes, get to see those muscles without the clothes, she wanted to—

He powered her back against the nearest tree and she would have lost her balance had he not steadied both of them. She felt the roughness of the bark pressing through the thickness of her jacket. He rested one arm above her head, caging her, and still he kissed her, as if he couldn’t stop, couldn’t help himself, and she moaned his name because she couldn’t help herself, either. She fumbled with his jacket, pushed her hands inside and felt the hard swell of male muscle against her seeking fingers. The smell of pine mingled with the tantalizing scent of him. A shower of snow thudded onto her head from the branches above, but she barely registered the sudden cold because his fingers were on her zip, too, and when he cupped her breast she felt herself shiver. She moaned, twisted as the heat pooled low in her pelvis. She felt the skilled drag of his fingers over her nipple, the erotic slide of his tongue in her mouth and the only sounds were the pumping of blood in her head and the shallow rasp of their breathing.

All around them was silence, a mysterious magical silence as the snowbound forest cloaked their illicit moment of passion in wintery whiteness.

And then he lifted his head. Slowly, reluctantly, as if he were locked in a battle between willpower and desire, and Kayla opened her eyes, too, dazed and disorientated.

Maybe it was because they were standing in the shadow of a tree but his eyes seemed dark, an almost midnight-blue, and for once there wasn’t a hint of a smile on his hard, handsome face.

And then he gently eased himself away from her and slid up her zip, protecting her from the cold. “So now we have the answer.”

“The answer?” Her lips, still tingling from the pressure of his, could barely form the question. “What answer?” She didn’t have the answer to anything, least of all why she’d done what she’d just done. He’d started it, but she’d been right there with him. The only difference between them was that she wouldn’t have stopped.

“The answer to what happens when you let your guard down. If you feel the need to check your emails, go ahead.” A slight roughening of his voice was the only hint that he was affected by what had happened.

“Emails?” She stared at him dizzily, wondering how a man’s kiss could blitz her brain so completely.

“Yeah. Those things you check when you’re bored by the man you’re with.” He paused long enough to let the words sink in. Then he stepped back and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know the moose has gone.”

Moose?

She hadn’t given a single thought to the moose since he’d started kissing her.

In fact she was fairly sure that while Jackson’s mouth had been on hers a whole family of moose could have stampeded right over her and she wouldn’t have noticed. She was surprised to see the snow still thick on the trees and deep underfoot. She’d half expected to find herself standing in a pool of meltwater.

As reality slowly reasserted itself, so did the panic.

She never did this. Never
felt
this.

But maybe this happened to Jackson O’Neil all the time.

Judging from the way Brenna had hugged him that morning, she obviously wasn’t the only one affected by Jackson O’Neil. The thought cooled her more effectively than the shower of snow.

“Does Brenna mind you kissing random women?”

Those blue eyes narrowed. “I’ve never asked, but I’m fairly sure she’d tell me to go ahead and kiss who I want to kiss.”

Confused, Kayla stepped back, but he locked his hand in the front of her jacket and dragged her back to him. “I’m not with Brenna.”

“I’m not interested in your love life, O’Neil—”

“Yes, you are. You saw her hug me and you wondered, but you don’t need to wonder. You could have asked me straight-out, of course. For the record, that’s the way I’d prefer it, because then there are no misunderstandings. But seeing as you insist on pretending none of this is happening, I’ll answer the question you haven’t asked. Brenna and I are friends. We’ve been friends a long time. If it was going to be more, it would have happened long ago.” His hand was still on her jacket as he held her toe-to-toe with him and the power of the chemistry almost blinded her.

“Fine.” Except it wasn’t fine.
None of this was fine.
“I just have no idea why you kissed me, that’s all.”

“No?” A slow smile spread across his face. “You’re a clever woman. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Failing that, why don’t you ask yourself why you kissed me? That ought to give you some clues.” With that, he released her and walked back to the snowmobile, the view of his powerful shoulders leading her to decide that Jackson O’Neil looked as good from the back as he did from the front.

CHAPTER SEVEN

J
ACKSON
ENDED
THEIR
snowmobile tour at his favorite mountain restaurant.

“We’ll have lunch here.”

Kayla pulled off her helmet. Her gaze was fixed on the view, which could have been because it was spectacular, but he had a feeling it was because she’d rather look at just about anything but him. “I’m grateful for the offer of lunch, but what I’d really like is to go back to the resort and do some work.”

She was running from him.

The kiss had shaken her, and he had some sympathy with that because it had shaken him, too.

For a brief moment in the forest, she’d thawed. Under his hands and mouth, Kayla Green had transformed from ice machine to warm, soft woman, but now she was frozen again, the layer of ice between her and the world thicker than ever.

He wondered what it would take to melt it permanently.

“This is work. You’re getting to know Snow Crystal.” Jackson chose the table with the best view. “Sit down. The specialty of this place is the hot spiced apple cider.”

If they hadn’t been on top of a mountain, she would have argued. He saw it in the way she held herself, tense and poised for flight. But there was no flight because her only way out of here was on the back of his snowmobile, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

So she sat. “If it’s a local specialty I’d like to try it of course, thanks.” It was a signal that she wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. “I’m interested in—” She broke off, her expression frozen, as a pretty girl wearing a red ski jacket and a Santa hat skipped across the deck to them.

“Jackson! I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.” The girl flung her arms around him and Jackson almost drowned in blond hair and perfume. As he gently extracted himself, he saw that Kayla was already on her feet.

“This looks like a good moment for me to use the bathroom.” She smiled her most corporate smile, and Jackson sighed because she was back in hedgehog mode, complete with a full set of prickles. And they were aimed right at him.

“Kayla, this is Dana. Dana is my cousin.” He emphasized the word gently and saw Kayla frown slightly.

“Oh. I assumed—” She stuck out her hand, as if she was making sure she couldn’t be on the receiving end of the same effusive greeting. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Hi, Kayla.” Dana gave a friendly smile, shook hands and then turned back to Jackson. “Guess who I have in my kindergarten class this week. The Foster twins, can you believe that? I babysat them. Now they’re on skis.”

“That thought is close to terrifying. How are they doing?”

“They’re awesome. Overexcited about Christmas, but who isn’t? Hey, Cliff—” Dana leaned back and waved her hand to the owner of the restaurant “—starving to death and dying of thirst here. Any chance of some service?”

Cliff strolled over, eyebrows raised. “You just told me you weren’t eating because you couldn’t afford my shocking prices.”

“I can’t, but that was before Jackson showed up. He’s paying.” She peeped at him and Jackson gave a half smile.

“My debts are so huge one burger isn’t going to make a difference.”

“In that case I’ll have the mountain burger with fries, thanks. Unless I’m interrupting—” Her eyes slid to Kayla, who was still wearing her corporate smile.

“What could you possibly be interrupting? It’s great to have a chance to chat with someone who lives around here. It gives breaking for lunch a purpose.”

She had a smile for different situations, he decided. And he preferred the one she’d given him when he kissed her.

She looked a whole lot healthier than she had when he’d picked her up that morning. The fresh air had whipped pink into her cheeks and added sparkle to her eyes.

Or maybe it was the kiss that had done that.

He pulled off his gloves and put them on the table. “Do you ever do anything just because it’s fun?”

“I find work fun.”

Jackson spoke to Cliff and ordered the artisan cheese board and the charcuterie plate, along with a basket of fresh rolls and Dana’s burger.

Kayla stared at the food. “I’m really not hungry.”

“You’ll be hungry when it arrives. The food is sourced from local suppliers. The quality of food around here is exceptional. It’s a definite draw for the tourists.”

At the word
tourist
she relaxed. “So what would you say is the special appeal of Snow Crystal, Dana?”

“If I had to pick a favorite, I’d have to say dogsledding, but I’m biased because my parents run Snow and Sled from the farm right next to Snow Crystal. We have a huge network of trails, and when I’m not teaching classes, I help out in the kennels. We have eighteen huskies. Twenty-two if you count the four that are retired.” Dana sat back as Pete delivered their drinks. “I can guarantee it is the most fun you will ever have in your life. If you like, I could take you out. We run daily most weeks and at this time of year we run at night, too.”

Kayla sipped her cider. “You go out on the sled in the dark?”

“If there is enough moonlight we use that. If not, headlamps. Going out at night is special.”

“It sounds romantic.” Kayla’s gaze connected briefly with Jackson’s. Just for a moment they were both back in the forest, mouths hot as they’d feasted on each other. Then she looked away. “Romantic destinations are an important draw for the traveling public. We try to target a wide range of media so we’re always looking for a story that’s a little different. A new angle. Something that sets you apart. That way we get top-tier placements.” She paused as Cliff delivered the food to their table.

“One artisan plate, one charcuterie and a burger. Enjoy. And don’t forget to tell your friends how good we are.”

“I always do. In fact this burger should be free, given the number of people I send up here.” Dana bit into her burger while Jackson looked on in amusement.

“Technically that burger
is
free since I’m the one paying.”

“You’re still repaying the debt for all those snowballs you stuffed down my neck when we were growing up. So, are you flying back to the U.K. for Christmas, Kayla?”

“No, I’m staying here.” Kayla reached across the table and helped herself to a thin slice of cheese. “I’m living the Snow Crystal experience.”

“You couldn’t find a better place to spend Christmas. It’s magical.” Dana slapped Jackson’s fingers as he reached across to steal her fries. “If you wanted fries you should have ordered some.”

“I ordered these and paid for them.”

They played verbal tennis, the banter bouncing backward and forward between them as it always did and, as lunch progressed, other people drifted over and joined them until the table was crowded with a dozen people, most of whom Jackson had known since childhood.

Kayla was polite, factual and impressive as they encouraged her to talk about her work. She didn’t seem overwhelmed as she had with his family, and he decided it was because the conversation wasn’t personal.

He was surprised to discover how much he wanted it to be personal.

“We should go.” He rose to his feet, exchanged a few words with one of the instructors about snow conditions and the forecast for Christmas itself, and checked his watch.

Dana was on her feet, too, pulling on her gloves and still chatting to Kayla. “If you want a sled ride, let me know. It’s something everyone should try once in a lifetime.”

“That would be interesting, thank you.”

“Not interesting. Magical. And romantic.” Dana gave Jackson a meaningful look, and he shook his head. He would have laughed but he knew better than to encourage her.

“Go! And keep those Foster twins out of trouble.”

“Not possible. Bye. Love you.” She stood on tiptoe, kissed him and then winked at Kayla. “I do that because it increases my cool rating among people who don’t know we’re related.”

“Goodbye, Dana,” Jackson said mildly. “Leave, now, before I charge you for the burger.”

“I could give Kayla a ski lesson.”

He reached for his gloves. “Or you could go do your job and leave me to give her a ski lesson.”

Kayla didn’t smile. “Maybe we should leave skiing for another day. I could use some time alone with my laptop, and I was hoping to talk to your mother this afternoon.”

The words made sense. Her expression didn’t. He saw panic in her eyes. The same panic that had been there when he’d kissed her. The same panic that had been there the night before.

It all added up to one thing.

She didn’t want to be alone with him.

* * *

K
AYLA
PACED
THE
length of the cabin, trying to regain her balance.

She’d come here to escape Christmas, expecting to find calm and peace to work until the whole thing was over. She hadn’t expected to find a hot guy with no respect for boundaries. It unsettled her.
He
unsettled her.

It wasn’t just because of that kiss—although admittedly it had been enough to make a girl forget how to stay upright on her own two legs—it was the way he behaved around her. He wasn’t prepared to be frozen out, and he seemed to have no issues with blurring the boundaries between business and pleasure.

Kayla opened her laptop. She wanted to work, but now her head was a mess, her concentration shot and all coherent thought tangled up with images of Jackson.

Trying to focus, she phoned the office and spoke to Stacy.

“I took a look at those activity reports—thanks for that. Any news from the Wexford Hotel Group?” She listened while Stacy updated her, calmed by the familiarity of the routine. “I need to call Howard—I’ll do that from here—and ask Melinda to send me through the timeline, proposal and business deck for the airline pitch. I’ll look at it in a quiet moment.”

“Over the holidays?”

“I’m working.”

“Not right the way through, surely. What about Christmas Day? Do yourself a favor and at least get up close and personal with that gorgeous guy. Find mistletoe if you have to.”

They hadn’t needed mistletoe.

They hadn’t needed anything except each other.

She felt color rush into her cheeks and was relieved she and Stacy weren’t in visual contact. “I would never get involved with someone I work with.”

“Kayla, you work all the time. The only guys you are ever going to meet are people you work with, so unless you plan on leading a celibate life, you’re going to have to cross your own line at some point. Brett wants you to bring back maple syrup. His wife and youngest daughter like it.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “He can buy it at the store.”

“It’s not the same as homemade in Vermont.”

Homemade in Vermont. She thought about the gingerbread Santas and the smell of baking.

“That’s it. I’m going to use that for our campaign. Homemade in Vermont. It’s all about traditional family values. A place you can share idyllic moments with those you love. Don’t most people want that?”

“Er—
you
don’t want that.”

“I’m not talking about me.” Kayla felt the familiar rush of excitement that came with ideas, swiftly followed by relief that at least part of her was operating normally. “People lead busy lives. They don’t have enough time for family and they feel guilty about that, and then the holidays come round and they want something that reaffirms their values. Snow Crystal does that. It’s a perfect place for families. We’ll put together some packages. And maybe we should profile the O’Neil family. They’ve built this place, stuck by each other—it’s the sort of story people love.” Her brain working, she strode back across the cabin and scribbled notes on her pad.

“That’s great. Are you having any fun there?”

“Fun?” She thought about the snowmobile ride.
She thought about the kiss.
“Everything is fine. I need to go. I want to talk to Elizabeth O’Neil about cookery.”

“You don’t know anything about cookery.”

“That’s why I need to talk to someone with knowledge.”

* * *

T
HE
AROMA
OF
cinnamon and spice hit her as she walked up the snowy path to the front door. From the artful twist of fairy lights in the trees to the elaborate wreath on the door, the place sparkled with Christmas cheer.

Through the door she could hear Elizabeth singing along to Christmas songs. It made her want to run a mile and then she decided she didn’t want to be a woman who could be unsettled by a few twinkly lights and someone’s cheerful rendition of “Jingle Bells.”

Nor did she want to be a woman who was unsettled by one man’s kiss, even if that kiss had been insanely good.

Trying to push that out of her head, Kayla knocked briskly on the door and was greeted by ecstatic barking. Moments later, Elizabeth opened the door and Kayla saw the puppy springing up and down like a child on a trampoline.

“That’s a warm welcome.” Kayla was relieved at least one person in the family wasn’t bearing a grudge. “I wondered if you had time for a chat? But if this is a bad time—”

“It’s a perfect time! Tyler was supposed to be bringing Jess over, but there’s no sign of either of them. Maybe they’ve gone shopping. You know how it is at Christmas.”

Yes, she knew.

That was why she’d agreed to a week here. It was just a shame it wasn’t quite turning out how she’d planned.

She stepped into the hallway, saw boxes of decorations laid ready and tinsel heaped high and backed away like a wild animal sensing danger. “I’m disturbing you.”

“You’re certainly not disturbing me. It’s lovely to have company. I have biscuits in the oven and then we’ll trim the tree together.”

Kayla felt a rush of horror. She’d rather hug a moose than trim the tree. “No! I mean—I’m no good at it. I have no eye for what makes a pretty tree.”

“It will be fun. You’re so much taller than me, you can reach the top. Come through to the kitchen for a minute.” Elizabeth removed several trays of freshly baked cookies, which she quickly and efficiently transferred to a cooling rack.

Kayla tried to work out how she could escape from decorating a Christmas tree without causing offence. “Are you feeding the whole of Vermont?”