Sweet Christmas Kisses (79 page)

In defense, she said, “I wanted to make sure I brought everything I’d need.”

“And then some,” he muttered under his breath as they walked out the door. He put her bag in the trunk while she locked up, then he went around the car to open her door.

As he watched her walk toward him, the wind blew her golden curls across her lovely oval face. She brushed a strand out of her eyes, and a slight smile turned up the corners of her naturally rosy lips. He was glad to see her looking more relaxed. Hopefully, she’d enjoy the trip and not worry about Riley or dwell on why Jeffrey broke things off with her. When she slid into the passenger seat, he waited for her to buckle up before closing the door.

He kept the conversation light during the hour-long drive to Green Mountain. He talked about his phys-ed position at the high school and how well it suited him, along with being head coach of the football team, and she chatted about how much she loved painting and was so glad that she’d given up her job as customer service manager at Brookfield Electric to open her own studio in the spare room above the garage.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, he was pulling into the Green Mountain parking lot. He’d been there a few times years ago, but had never stayed overnight. He’d taken Martha Taylor the last time he was there. It turned out to be their first and only date. She liked to drink more than she liked to ski and wound up leaving with some guy she’d met in the bar.

The lodge was cradled in a valley, surrounded by the spectacular snowcapped Green Mountains and framed by forty acres of meadows, woodlands, and tree-canopied country roads.

After parking the car, he went around and helped Harper step out onto the snowy pavement by offering her his arm. She readily accepted his assistance. “Why don’t we check in, grab a bite to eat, and then I’ll come back out and get our luggage?”

“That sounds good to me.” She panned the gorgeous view with wide eyes, then sucked in a gulp of frigid pine-scented air, letting it out in a white puff. “This reminds me of a Currier and Ives postcard,” she said with delight. “I only wish I’d thought to bring my paints.”

“We can always come back another time.”

She raised a brow at him as they walked together toward the huge eighteenth-century farmhouse that had been converted into a lodge.

“Not as a date or anything,” he added, knowing she probably thought him presumptuous.

“We’ll see.”

Inside the lodge, people sat in wingback chairs and on cozy leather love seats in front of a large wood-burning stone fireplace that crackled as flames shot up the iron grate. At the far end of the great room, along a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows with the Green Mountains and a huge frozen lake as backdrop, were bistro tables where diners were being served hot beverages and food. The scene was warm and welcoming.

Cole walked with Harper up to the reception desk.

A young woman wearing a Santa hat looked across an oak counter at them. “May I help you?”

Harper rested her elbows on its marble top. “Yes, we’d like to check in. I’m Harper Malone.”

“Hello, Ms. Malone.” The woman looked at a computer screen for a moment, then said, “You’re in Suite 210.” She handed Harper two room keys, along with a couple of activity schedules. “Take a left, go up the stairs, and your room is down the hall on your right. I hope you enjoy your stay with us.”

“Thanks. I hope so.” Harper handed Cole a key and a schedule.

He pointed to a table with two seats over by the wall of windows. “Let’s get some food.”

As soon as they sat down, a waitress wearing an elf costume came by with menus. “Would you care for something to drink first?” she asked.

“I’ll have a coffee with cream on the side,” Harper replied.

“Make it two.” As soon as the waitress walked away, Cole began to look over the activity schedule. “Wow! They offer a lot more than just skiing. There’s snowmobiling, ice skating, even a sledding hill. And look here.” He put his finger on a spot near the bottom of the page. “They’ve converted the barn into a fitness area with massage therapy and yoga classes. You’ll like that.”

“And look here.” She pointed to the center of the page. “There’s a Christmas Eve sleigh ride through the village. I’ll bet it’s beautiful. It says we’d even get to see the ice sculptures done by local artists.”

“We won’t be bored. That’s for sure.”

“Definitely not,” she replied with a huge smile, but a moment later, her mouth turned down and her face paled. “Cole, I—”

But before she could finish her sentence, the waitress arrived with their coffees. “Here you go. Careful, they’re really hot. Are you ready to order lunch?”

“Not yet.” Harper quickly snatched a menu off the table and held it up over her face.

The waitress raised a penciled-in brow at her. “Okay. I’ll be back in a few to take your order.”

Not wanting to acknowledge Harper’s bizarre behavior, Cole said, “Thanks. We were so involved with planning our activities that we forgot to look at the menu.”

“No problem.”

After the waitress left, Cole scowled at Harper. “What’s wrong with you? It’s not like you to be rude.”

She looked at him over the top of the menu with eyes as wide as saucers. It took a moment for her to answer. “I-I don’t believe it. Jeffrey’s here…and he’s not alone. He’s with a woman.”

“What?”

Cole started to turn around, but Harper hissed, “No, no. Don’t look. I don’t want him to see us.” She pulled the menu up higher, covering her entire face with it.

“I’m sure we’ll run into him at some point.” His response held a note of impatience.

“Well, now’s not the time,” Harper shot back. “I’m not prepared to talk to him. I might say something I’ll regret.”

“So? That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“Well, I need time to think. Like you said, it’s not like me to be rude, and I’m afraid if I spoke to Jeffrey right now, I wouldn’t have any control over what came out of my mouth. When the jerk broke up with me, he said we’d lost that spark, not that he’d met someone else.” Her trembling hands shook the menu. “I made this reservation over two months ago, and they were nearly booked up then, which means he made his a while ago, so he didn’t just dump me, but he was cheating on me too. What a fool I am!”

Cole’s irritation with her disappeared. “You’re no fool, Harper. I understand, you’re angry and hurt. I just hope you’re not still hung up on him.”

“No! Of course not.”

However, the strength of her denial made him think maybe she wasn’t being completely honest with him. Or herself. “I know one thing. I’m not going to let that guy ruin our good time. Just put him out of your mind, and think about what you want for lunch, and you’d better not tell me you’ve lost your appetite.”

Harper groaned. “I’ll have soup and salad.”

“Good. Now you need to put down your menu so the waitress will come back over.”

She peered over the top of it, shifting her gaze across the room to the reception desk. “I can’t. Jeffrey’s over there checking in. I have to wait until he’s gone.”

Cole turned around despite Harper’s cry not to. “Relax. He has his back to us. Besides, look at all these people. He’s not going to notice you in this crowd. And he has no reason to think you’d be here, right?”

She shook her head. “No, he had no idea this was my Christmas gift to him. It was going to be a surprise.”

“Then stop being paranoid.”

“I’m not being paranoid,” she hissed. “I’m being cautious.”

Cole shrugged. “Well, call it what you like. I’m hungry and want to order some food.” With that said, he reached across the table and snatched the menu out of her hands. As luck would have it, the waitress was at the table behind them, so when she walked by, Cole said, “Excuse me, miss, we’re ready to order.”

“Fine, what would you like?” She took the menus from Cole and focused all her attention on him, totally ignoring Harper.

With her foul mood, he knew it would be best if he ordered for the both of them. “She’s going to have the soup and salad, and I’ll have a chili dog with fries.”

“Very good. I’ll put that right in.”

When the waitress left, Harper grumbled, “I can’t believe you did that.”

He feigned ignorance as to what she meant. “What? Order for you? Why, did you want something else?”

She waved her hand at him in disgust. “I don’t care about that, and you know it.”

“Oh, the menu. Were you planning on holding it over your face all day?” He chuckled.

Her lips thinned with irritation. “No, just until he was gone.” She glanced across the room to the reception desk. “Great. He’s coming this way.” She spun on her chair so that she faced the window.

Cole watched as Jeffrey and a tall, very attractive brunette, who couldn’t hold a candle to Harper, though, weaved through a crowd of people, then sat at a table by the fireplace. “Coast is clear. You can relax now.”

“Where are they?” she asked, still with her back to him.

“They’re sitting at the other side of the room,” Cole replied coolly.

“Are you sure he can’t see us?” A hint of paranoia was back in her tone.

Tired of this game, Cole said, “Not unless he has eyes in the back of his head.”

“I’m sorry. I must look pathetic.” Harper repositioned herself in the chair so that she faced Cole again. “I can’t believe I let Jeffrey get to me like that.”

“I can’t either. Forget him, and move on.”

“Believe me, I’m trying, but I never in a million years thought I’d see him here…at Christmas…with someone else.”

Trying to coax her into a better mood, he said, “Maybe in a way, it’s a good thing. Now you’ve seen firsthand just how wrong he was for you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Harper sipped her coffee.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought their food, and they ate in silence. Cole knew Harper needed time to digest what she’d learned about Jeffrey. He hoped she wouldn’t dwell on it, though, and let it ruin their holiday.

When they were done eating, he pushed back his chair and said, “Why don’t you go on ahead to the suite while I go out to the car and grab our luggage.”

“That’s fine.” Harper reached into her handbag and pulled out her room key.

He waited for her to head down the hall before he went outside. His chest tightened when he thought of how badly Jeffrey had hurt her. She was so vulnerable, making her a magnet for creeps like him. Cole only wished there was something he could do to help her get over that guy.

Harper entered the suite with a heavy heart. She’d been having a good time with Cole and had actually forgotten that the whole reason they were at Green Mountain was because she’d bought the Christmas package for Jeffrey, and then out of the blue he walked in with a gorgeous woman on his arm. She never thought Jeffrey was the type of guy to cheat. But apparently she’d been wrong about that. What a snake!

She sank onto a soft armchair and put her head in her hands. She’d been such a fool to have fallen for Jeffrey’s words of love and devotion. She’d actually been stupid enough to think that someday they might even get married. It certainly looked like marriage might never be in the cards for her. She’d shied away from guys like Cole, thinking they were the wrong type, yet she’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for an even worse type—the quiet, reserved guy. She hated to stereotype men, but they sure did seem like they were all the same. Or at least the ones she wound up with.

She was contemplating going home when Cole entered the suite, pulling her suitcase with his duffel bag over his shoulder.

“Wow! This place is great.”

She followed his gaze, taking in her surroundings for the first time. The living room was rustic and homey, while at the same time chic. There was a large off-white couch, adorned with lots of plush pillows in various shades of brown, ranging from taupe to chocolate. Across from it were two burgundy wingback chairs. And a pair of French doors that led out to a balcony that overlooked the Green Mountains. But the focal point of the room was the huge slate fireplace with a gigantic flat-screen television above it.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, he said, “I checked the itinerary. There’s an ice skating party in thirty minutes. If we hurry, we can make it. Just throw on some warmer clothes.”

Harper looked down, avoiding his eyes, and focused on the Berber carpet at her feet. “Cole, I’ve been thinking. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea.”

He left their luggage by the kitchenette, then crossed the room and stood before her. “Please don’t tell me you want to go home because of Jeffrey,” he said impatiently. “When are you going to stop letting him control you? Don’t you see he’s still doing that?”

She straightened her shoulders and shot him a level look. “That’s not what I’m doing at all.”

His brows rose, then drew together in frustration. “Oh, really. Then what do you call it?”

She folded her hands in her lap and let out a breathy sigh. “I don’t want to embarrass myself. I’m bound to run into him sooner or later, and what do I say? That I’m here with my best friend’s brother because he’s doing me a favor so that I won’t throw away all the money I’d spent on a romantic Christmas getaway for two?”

Cole stared at her with a look she couldn’t decipher. She didn’t know if he felt sorry for her or was really, really angry with her. “What? Say something?”

Appearing a little dazed, he scratched his head. “The Harper I know wouldn’t wallow in self-pity. She’d get out there and show the idiot that she could care less about him. Show him that she’s moved on.”

She sent him a worried frown. “And how do I do that?”

“I’ll show you how.”

Before she knew what he was doing, Cole had her on her feet. He wrapped his arms around her, then leaned in and kissed her.

Her first impulse was to push him away, but he was hard to resist, so she circled his neck with her arms and kissed him back. With her lips pressed against his, girlhood emotions from the past began to bubble up inside her, leaving her giddy. This was how she’d felt back when they’d been a couple. But that was a long, long time ago. Suddenly, reality came rushing back, and no matter how good it felt to be kissing him, she knew she was making a mistake. One she would surely regret if she didn’t stop right now.