Vacation (45 page)

"Hurry up and get in here." She
helped me in and moved back, putting her hands on her hips. She had on a tiny
tank top and a pair of boy shorts.

"Fuck," I whispered and let my
eyes drag down her. Now wasn't the time, and yet she was the hottest thing I'd
ever laid eyes on.

I moved toward her before I realized what
I was doing.

"Finn. No." She put her hands
out, but I moved past them, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her
against the wall behind her roughly. She groaned, but it wasn't a scared sound.
She still wanted me. I could sense it all over her.

"I'm sorry." I leaned in and
drug my lips up her neck, breathing her in. "I was told you had a man,
Chloe. By my best friend and your brother."

"I know," she whispered roughly
as her hand ran up the back of my hair.

"I was hurt and so far beyond pissed.
You can't have another man." I licked at her ear and pressed my lips to it
as I ground against her. "That leaves no room for me."

She cried out again and whimpered. "I
need time. I can't do this right now."

I shifted my upper body back and brushed
her hair off her face before pressing my forehead to hers. "Time is all
yours. Take as much as you need, but I don't want a friendship. I want you. All
of you."

She whimpered again and closed her eyes,
rolling her hips and stroking my body with hers.

I clenched my teeth, respecting the fact
that her father was down the hall. If we'd have been alone that night, I would
have already had her stretched out on her bed, my face between her taut thighs.

She opened her beautiful, green eyes and
nodded as she bit her lip.

"Tell me we're okay and I'll
go." I brushed my lips by hers and slid my hand down her side, over the
curve of her breast, and around her hip, my fingers tracing the outside of her
panties.

"We're okay. I'm sorry for
overreacting, but you hurt me today." I could smell the liquor on her
breath.

"I'm sorry for that. I hurt you out
of my own pain. It won't ever happen again. I promise." I pressed my lips
to her and snaked my fingers into her panties, rubbing over the curve of her
ass as I kissed her long and passionately. She had my heart. I didn't know how,
but she did.

She pushed at me and I moved back, panting
just as she was. "I need time to think through this."

"I understand. I'll wait as long as I
can for you to come find me. If you don't...I'll come find you. Be ready to
accept me or not, but know that I want you. More than I've ever wanted anyone,
Chloe."

I moved back and she clung to me, her
fingers wrapped in my t-shirt bunched at my shoulders. "Tell me to stay
and I will," I said. I licked at my lips and took one more look at her,
which left me overwhelmed.

"Soon." She released me and
backed up, hugging herself and watching me intently.

I stood there a minute longer, needing her
to change her mind, but wanting to give her time to want me the way I wanted
her. The sound of her father coming down the hall almost caused my heart to
stop and I moved through the window and chuckled at the sound of her laughing
softly out of her window.

Things weren't perfect, but maybe they
were at least getting back on track.

Chapter 19

Chloe

It had been three days since I'd spoke to
Finn, since the night he came through my bedroom window. I hadn't thought of
too much other than him, but I wanted to make sure I was ready for a
relationship before approaching him. He was as fragile as I was. There was no reason
to start something that I couldn't finish.

The meeting with my dad a few days back
went relatively well. He liked my designs and even allowed me access to one of
his manufactures to start working on a prototype for the women's windbreaker I
designed. It wasn't what I wanted to do with my life, but it was a first step
in helping him see me for the professional I was becoming.

With only ten days until Christmas, I had
a list of gifts I needed to get, mostly for my brother, but I was running out
of time. I had a piece of toast and then headed out for the morning and made
sure Parker was still planning on taking me snowboarding for the afternoon. I'd
decided over the last three days that I wanted to learn how to do it. I would
have asked Finn, but we had some damage repair to get through.

After talking about everything with
Parker, he confessed to lying about me still being with Seth simply because it
seemed to be in my best interest to steer clear of Finn. I was pissed, but I
understood where he was coming from. He was all for me calling Finn, but I
needed to make sure I was completely for it, too.

I picked up my purse and paused by the
door as my brother called for me.

"Chloe. Wait. I
wanna
go."

"Shopping? Have you lost your mind?
You're the worst shopper in the universe."

"Come on. I don't want to stay cooped
up here. Let's go shop, eat lunch, and then we'll go hit the slopes and I'll
teach you some tricks."

"Yeah, let's start with the one where
I stay vertical on the board."

We laughed and I moved out into the
garage. I got into the Cherokee and buckled up as he got into the other side.

"I invited a friend to go boarding
with us. Hope that's okay." He turned toward me.

"Yeah, sure. Just show me the ropes
and then you and your friend can go get lost." I winked and pulled the car
out. "I'm glad the roads haven't been too bad this Christmas. I remember
as a kid having to help Dad put those track thingies on the wheels."

"Chains?" he snorted.

I slapped his arm. "Hush or I'll take
you into every pantie store I see."

"Please?" he growled, and I
rolled my eyes.

I'd forgotten I was dealing with a sixteen-year-old
boy. He wasn't a kid anymore, oddly enough. Neither was I, and I needed to stop
acting like it in several areas of my life.

"I think I'm going to call Finn
today." I turned on the heater and waited for my brother's reaction.

"I think that's a great idea,
actually. He's the only thing that can keep you here, so I'm all for him."

I glanced over at my brother. "Keep
me here?"

"Yeah. I don't want you to go back to
Cali. Neither does Dad. We were talking about it last night when you conked out
on the movie." He smiled and leaned back in his seat. "It's fantastic
having a woman around the house. We get to eat, have clean clothes...and feel
loved."

"Awe, you feel loved by me?" I
teased him, reaching over to pinch at his chest and ears.

"Alright. Never mind. Get your ass
back on a plane." He pulled away from me and laughed. "Stop. I'm
ticklish."

"Finn's not the only one that could
keep me here, Parker. I would consider it for you and Dad."

"Right, but he'd be enough to sway
the vote." Parker shrugged. "And honestly, after thinking about
everything, I think maybe I misjudged him. He didn't seem like a playboy
asshole the other day. He seemed like a normal guy to me."

"He is. I think we've all done a lot
of misjudging each other." I turned into the large shopping mall and
parked. "You ready for this fun day?"

"Just get me a hot chocolate and a
nudie mag and leave me in the food court."

I laughed and snorted at my brother and
his antics. "I am not getting you a hot chocolate. You'll be jumping
everywhere."

He slipped his arm into mine and chuckled
at my response. "Where are we eating lunch?"

"It's ten in the morning. I seriously
have to get a few gifts today. That's my focus."

"Okay, but that still begs the
question. Where are we eating lunch?"

"The Chinese place on the top floor?
You like their soup and egg-rolls, right?"

"I do. I'll meet you there. I'm going
to go look at the game stores. Like, an hour?"

"Two." I pulled from him and
walked toward a large department store as the lights and Christmas music
beckoned me to come.

"Two? Come on, Sis."

"One and a half." I called over
my shoulder and walked in, stopping by the fragrance counter and smelling three
different types of men's cologne. The last one smelled like Finn.

"Yum," I mumbled and found the
largest box of it.

"Chloe?" The feminine voice
beside me caused me to freeze. I didn't know any girls in Aspen.

"I'm Kari, Finn's friend from
school." She moved up beside me and extended her hand. The nasty snarl she
wore a few nights before was gone and her expression was almost kind.

I shook her hand and nodded. "And,
what can I do for you, Kari?"

"Nothing. I just saw you and thought
I recognized you. I'm glad I did. I needed to apologize."

"For what?"

"For being a bitch the other
night." She pursed her lips and let out a long breath through her nose.
"Finn's such a great guy and I think all of us around here have beaten him
up and taken him for granted for far too long. The other night when he got
upset was the first time I'd seen him show emotion about anything since we were
kids. Like a part of him died when he lost his mother and then slowly over time,
it kept getting worse. I know he gets around, but I understand why."

"Your point?" I didn't want to
be rude, but I couldn't help myself seeing that this bitch was unbelievably
rude to me only a few nights back.

"No point. Just an apology. I was
jealous and acted like a jerk. I'm sorry."

"It happens." I glanced around
to see if he was somewhere behind us. Seemed like him to start sending flowers
and people to help me see the good in him. It was ingenious, which was right up
his alley. "Did he put you up to this?"

"Finn? Heavens, no. I haven't seen
him since the other night. He's working his ass off, no doubt. He wants to
build his own lodge, but money has always been so tight for him and his dad."
She smiled. "Anyway, I'm sorry and I hope things work out with you guys.
He deserves a good woman."

"And, you think that's me? That I'm a
good woman?"

"I don't know, but I think he
believes that, which is enough for me." She nodded and turned, walking
back into the crowd.

I reached for my phone and dialed his
number.

He answered on the first ring, breathless.
"Chloe."

"Hey. Sorry it took so long; I was
just..."

He cut me off. "No apologies. I told
you to take your time."

"You working?" I looked around
at all of the people milling about. Most of them were couples, holding hands
and having a good time together. It made me long for him all the more.

"Yeah, but I get off around two. You
want to get together and talk?"

"No. I want you to join me and Parker
on the slopes. He's going to teach me to snowboard."

Finn snorted, and my lip raised in a
smile. "Confession time."

"What?” I asked.

"Parker already invited me. The kid's
been texting me for the last three days with what to do and what not to do. I
didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't getting involved until you were
ready for me, too." The sound of his voice caused my heart to swell in my
chest.

"So, you're his
friend
for this afternoon?"

"I am, but I was going to text you
just after lunch to make sure you were okay with it."

"Too funny. That little shit." I
turned as the attendant walked up. I pushed the cologne toward her and gave her
my card. Finn would be upset over my getting him something, but I didn't care.
I wanted to buy him the world now that I'd decided to give us a try. I had no
idea what that really meant, but the thought of even taking a first step left a
peace settled on me that affirmed that I was headed in the right direction.

"He's a good kid." Finn cleared
his throat. "Where are you?"

"At the mall. Getting gifts."

"For your dad and Parker?"

"And you." I smiled.

"Chloe, I don't want anything but
you. Don't buy me anything. Just tell me we can go on a second date and I'll be
the happiest man in the world. I don't need things. I need you."

"Wow. From friends to an instant
romance. Almost like that crazy love you read about in romance novels."

"We were never friends. That was your
dumb rule and it didn't work." He chuckled and I did, too.

"True. Come with us today and let's
get one over on Parker. Help me pull a prank on him."

"Only if you'll agree to a second
date with me."

"Deal."

"What are we doing?"

"Show up like he wants you to and
when I see you, I'll throw a fit and shove you backwards. Lose your balance and
slide down that small hill by the lift. Drag me with you and let's roll down
and play dead until he gets there. Then, we'll pull him down and bury his ass
in the snow." I was smiling so hard that my cheeks hurt.

"Damn. That's a little much. Is that
what sisters do to their baby brothers?"

"You bet your ass it is. Help me or
I'll get you back, too." I took the bag from the lady and thanked her before
moving to the next store.

"I'm in. You're too scary to cross,
just don't really hit me, please."

I laughed. "Never. See you later
today."

"Chloe."

My breath caught in my chest. I prayed
that he wasn't about to say that he loved me. I knew it was starting to build
to that, but it would have been too much, too early.

"I've missed you. I haven't stopped
thinking about you." His voice was gravelly and sensual.

Chills ran down my back and I groaned
under my breath. "Stop it. You're making me all hot and bothered in the
middle of the shopping mall."

"You gave me a damn fever the first
time we went out. I think payback should be hell."

"I'll see you around three,
handsome."

"Yeah, you will. Be careful,
baby."

There was no need to pretend I wasn't
interested or to play hard to get, anymore. We didn't have time for that drama.
My days were running short and I needed to make some hard decisions.

I dropped the call and dropped the phone
back in my purse, feeling good about the afternoon and evening to come. After
we snowboarded with my brother, I was going to find a way to get Finn to cook
for me. He had mentioned his cooking skills several times, but I'd missed out
on trying his stew seeing that Parker ate the whole bowl of it.

Letting my thoughts go, I ducked into
another store and started my search for the two most difficult people in the
world to buy for: my father and my brother.

What
do you buy for guys who have everything already?

* * * *

Parker was bouncing on the balls of his
feet as we purchased our tickets for the lift, the nervousness running through
him was almost humorous.

"You excited or what?" I glanced
over at him while handing my card to the guy at the front counter.

"It's the hot chocolate. Should have
stuck to your guns on it." He turned around as if looking for someone.

"Your friend here yet?" I asked
and took our tickets. "I got him one, too, just to be nice."

"Oh, cool. Yeah, I see him."
Parker smiled like a tomcat.

"Great. I'll be outside, by the lift.
You guys just come out there and bring my board with you, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever you want, Sis."
He chuckled as I turned and walked outside.

Nervousness swelled in my stomach over
seeing Finn again. The last time I'd laid eyes on him, I was half dressed in my
bedroom and things got hot quick. I'd fantasized over him taking me against the
wall of my bedroom twenty times since it almost happened.

His aggressiveness combined with his soft
fingers and warm mouth left me needing him in ways I wasn't used to. I wanted
to explore every inch of him and have him return the favor. Hopefully, he would
be up for it sooner rather than later. Something told me I had nothing to worry
about.