Page 5 of One Snowy Seduction
“Great, I rented a truck,” he said. “It’s parked in the driveway around back. I’ll bring it around front and meet you in a few minutes.”
“I can walk,” she replied when he turned to leave. The independent and control-freak part of her had to say it. “When the car service brought me up here, it didn’t seem like too far of a walk to the village. Besides, I love the snow.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s ridiculous. If we’re both going into the village, we might as well ride together.”
“We’re not together,” she snapped. “So it’s not ridiculous if I walk. This isn’t a lavish week-long Christmas vacation that we planned together, Kendrick. It’s a mistake that we’ve ended up here together and as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, I’ll be calling the concierge just as they instructed, to see if there’ve been any check-outs or cancellations.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond, but instead, stepped back and closed the door softly. There, she’d proven she wasn’t running away from him and stood her ground at the same time.
When she walked forward to rest her forehead on the wood, then pulled it back to lightly bang it against the door again, she prayed he didn’t hear her. Just as she hoped she wasn’t going to regret staying here tonight. Teesha believed all things happened for a reason and no matter how painful things had ended between her and Kendrick in the past, she’d eventually come to believe that it was necessary for them both to find their own way in the world.
She’d told herself repeatedly that all things would work out in the end and she’d believed that. Right now, though, she couldn’t figure out if being in this chalet alone with Kendrick was going to end up being good or bad for her. And that thought spurred a fear she’d never felt before.
* * *
All Kendrick could do was shake his head.
Women were an anomaly.
Teesha could be an infuriatingly stubborn woman, that he’d thought he once understood. Now, watching her lift one leg high off the ground and stomp a fur-booted foot into the piles of snow, then do the same with the other leg, he had no idea who this ridiculously annoying person was.
He continued to drive slowly beside her as she walked down the road at the end of the hill where the chalet was perched. She’d been true to her word and walked right past the truck when she’d come out the front door, heading down the driveway on foot. That hadn’t been a big deal since the driveway had obviously been plowed. Even the road where he was driving had been plowed, but the side of said road had caught all the snow drifts and provided a very messy walkway for her.
“Still determined to do everything your way,” he said after rolling down the passenger side window and shouting out of it for the third time since they’d begun this terribly slow trek into the village. “Your legs are going to be soaked by the time you get to the village.”
Those pants she was wearing, while they might’ve been the sexiest things he’d ever seen, molding to every curve and crevice of her legs, her ass and the dip between her legs he’d glimpsed when she’d been standing at the door of her room, were anything but practical. He was certain she knew enough to change into actual ski pants when she hit the slopes but figured for this impromptu tour they’d decided to take, that she hadn’t bothered to change. Not that he was complaining. The way his body was reacting to just the sight of her again, Kendrick could certainly continue to stare at her for hours on end. But not if it meant she might end up getting sick from wearing wet clothes in nineteen-degree weather.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re stubborn as hell, that’s what you are.”
The cold and annoyed look she shot him may have been enough to shut him up and send him on his way, if she hadn’t suddenly gone down, her arms flailing in the air as she fell. Kendrick slammed his foot on the brake and pushed the gear into park. He jumped out of the truck and ran around the front of it to get to her.
“Get off me!” She yelled before he could actually touch her. With her arms outstretched she tried to ward him off and stand simultaneously. Her boots, while they were kinda cute, were totally useless in the snow. The long-haired fur was now matted to the sides of her ankles. She’d pulled the hood up on her head and tied it tightly at her chin. He could barely tell her white gloves from all the snow currently on her hands.
Narrowly ignoring her swinging arms, Kendrick wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up. The effort brought their bodies flush and she blinked rapidly as she looked up at him. Despite the heat soaring through his body at the contact, he grinned down at her.
“It’s not funny, you jerk! Trying to run me off the road is rude and—”
“I’m not laughing at you,” he said. “There’re snowflakes on your eyelashes and they’re really cute.” The snowflakes weren’t the only things that were cute. Her eyes were hazel with tiny flecks of green. When she was really angry, they became darker looking almost like gingerbread. But now, they had those fierce glints of green that meant her irritation was growing. He’d missed the different looks of Teesha. More than he would’ve ever admitted.
“Let me go,” she huffed and pulled out of his grasp.
He didn’t resist, although a huge part of him wanted to keep her close. How many times had he thought about how their cherished friendship had ended in the past years? But Kendrick had never been one to make a person stay when they wanted to leave. His ex-wife could attest to that. Shaking his head free of that thought he was just about to turn around and tell her she was being foolish and that she should just get in the truck when he looked up to see her doing just that. A smile ghosted his face as he circled around the truck again to climb into the driver’s seat.
“You didn’t win,” she said and snapped her seat belt into place. “I chose to take the ride.”
Wisely, he kept his mouth shut and put the truck in drive. Making her own decisions was very important to Teesha. Coming from a family who’d dictated every aspect of her life until she’d finally escaped to go to college—as she’d so eloquently put it—had forged a fierce independent streak in her. There were times when he’d called it controlling, but never to her face.
CHAPTER3
“Do you still like honey in your tea?”
Teesha didn’t startle but Kendrick heard her huff at his question. She was standing in front of a glass case at the artisan butcher and delicatessen shop they’d ended up at.
She moved to the side, keeping her back to him as she continued to survey the array of charcuterie boards on display. “Are you following me?” she asked.
“Why would I follow you?” He left off the rest of what he’d been thinking, which was there wasn’t a need to follow her since they’d agreed to meet at the truck in two hours to head back to the chalet. And she’d be spending the night there. With him. A scenario he hadn’t considered in a very long time.
