Page 18 of Forbidden Impulses

The three of us head out down to the restaurant in the lodge. If we'd known that Suzie would get sick and we'd be playing tour guide to Annie in her stead, I'd have made another reservation at a fancier place, but at the end of the day, it's just breakfast and the start of the day.

The hostess smiles at us in greeting before showing us to a quiet booth in the back corner of the dining room.

Annie slides in, her nervousness apparent in the way she fidgets with her napkin. Monte and I slide in across from her, even though I'm sure he wants to scoot in next to her just as much as I do.

I'm not sure what about this girl has gotten us soobsessed with her in no time at all, but I'm tired of questioning it and relieved that my husband is on the same page as I am. I love Monte. Have loved him for a very long time, and if he was truly opposed to pursuing any kind of relationship with Annie, I would have respected his decision. That is why I didn't push him about it to start with. He needed to come to this without me pushing him.

I grab a menu and place a calming hand on Monte's bouncing leg.

"Morning! My name is Ted. I'll be your server today. What can I get you for breakfast?"

Annie blinks up at Ted before grabbing the menu on the table. While she hides behind the pages, I look at Monte before shrugging at him. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

"We'll have three of the specials, Ted. Two coffees, one large juice and if you can please start us off with a couple of bowls of fruit salad, that would be great, thanks." I take the menu from Annie's hands and have to suppress the urge to laugh at the shocked expression on her face.

Ted doesn't seem to blink at me taking the reins before repeating the order and hurrying away to go put it in.

"Excuse me?" Annie's voice is a mix of confusion and amusement, her brows raised in disbelief. "Did you just order for me?"

Monte chuckles, patting my leg in a sympathetic gesture. Coward.

"I thought I'd take the pressure off. Plus, Suzie mentioned how much you love fruit salad."

Annie's expression softens, a small smile tugging at her lips. "She is the best friend ever."

Her words seem to strike a chord because the smile that hadjustlit up her face falls and her brows pull together in a frown.

"Suzie will be okay. She is resting and will be back to her usual spunky self within no time." Monte rushes to reassure Annie, but her frown stays in place.

The rest of breakfast is a quiet affair. Annie responds to our questions, but very little comes from her side of the table. I'm uncertain if she's not as interested in us as I'd originally thought or if she really could be that preoccupied with her friend being unwell.

"So, Annie…" Monte speaks up after Ted clears away the last of our empty dishes. "What do you want to do with the rest of your day? I thought we could hit the slopes again, but after that, our day is pretty empty."

Annie looks thoughtful, nibbling on her bottom lip. "Well..."

"Yeah?" I push when it's clear she might not finish her thought.

"It was snowing quite a bit last night, which means there's a lot of fresh snowfall."

My face splits into a huge grin. I'm no mind reader but I'm pretty sure I know where this is going.

"You want to build a snowman?"

Finally, Annie's beautiful face lights up again and it's like I won the biggest jackpot.

"Can we?"

Chapter Fourteen

Annie

Snow, sexy men, laughter and fun.

What can go wrong?

Well, I could have too much fun with twoveryunavailable men.

There's also the very likely possibility that I could flirt with them. And share long lingering looks. Maybe there will even be a few lingering touches that will get my heart rate going.

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