Page 19 of One Snowy Seduction
That was the truth. Kendrick just wished that his aunt’s love of clothes had surpassed her love of drugs when he’d been growing up.
“Wait, you said you flew her to Milan? Look at you with your bigtime self. You know I looked you up after you told me you had an ex-wife. Titan Tech is a major company in the industry. I’m proud of you,” she said and leaned in to give him a nudge.
“Thanks,” he said. “After I finished the internship Yatlig put me in contact with some other startup groups. I worked with them on some big things before figuring I could do the same on my own. Once I’d secured my first contract and saw the money hit my bank account, I flew back to Temptation and moved Aunt Renee to a rehab facility in Richmond.”
“Wow, how’d you get her to agree to that?” Teesha knew how hard Kendrick had constantly pleaded with his aunt to get clean. She’d also been the one to tell him that his aunt wouldn’t go to rehab until she was ready.
“The twins were in high school. They wanted to go to college and she wanted that for them, she just didn’t know how to make it happen. I told her I’d pay for them to go to school but that she’d have to get clean. I promised to buy her a house and to help her with the expenses until she got on her feet again. It wasn’t easy and at one point, we were all in counseling sessions trying to get through the trauma that had put our family in the position we were in. It’s still a process, but things are better.”
His aunt had been clean for five years now and she lived in the house he’d bought for her with one of his twin cousins.
“That’s so wonderful to hear, Kendrick. I know how much your family means to you and I know how hard it was for you to go back to Temptation.”
She did know. While in college, they’d spent so many nights on the couch at each other’s apartments, talking about their families, their hometowns and all the things they wanted for their future. Kendrick had wanted to live anyplace other than Temptation, the place where he’d lost his mother. And he’d made that happen. Only now, he was thinking of just how far London was from Teesha.
“Listen, you came here to ski, right?” he said, not wanting to think on how many miles would be separating them in a few more days. “I think it should be safe enough for us to venture out today. Let’s get some breakfast and get out there early.”
“Yes! Finally.” Her tone was giddy now. “I was so happy when I won this trip. I was like, this is a dream come true. You remember all those times I talked about the things I wanted to do and skiing in the French Alps was in my top five.”
“Yeah, I do remember,” he said, his words trailing off as he started to think about something else.
“I’d never bid in an online auction before. But when I saw this one, something just told me I had to do it. I had to take a chance. And then when I got the email saying the first person hadn’t responded so I’d won, I was like yes! Fate finally working in my favor.”
Fate. Was that what this was?
“What was the name of the auction?” he asked and waited for her to say the name he’d just had rolling through his mind. When she did, he could only shake his head.
“Hey, what’s going on? Why are you looking like that? Are you okay?” she asked, shaking him as if she thought that would help if he wasn’t okay.
“Uh, I donated to that auction six months ago. I insist that my company does at least six charitable donations a year and we like to spread them out so that some are going to the medical industry with a special focus on drug rehabilitation, some are going to rebuilding communities and others would funnel directly to children in need.” Kendrick didn’t believe in fate, but he didn’t really believe in coincidences either. “I donated this trip. That’s probably why my assistant had all the information on hand when I decided at the last minute that I wanted to get away for the holidays.”
“Wait, what? Are you saying that you donated this trip because…because…”
He took her hand and brought her fingers up to his lips. “I donated this trip because I remembered how desperately you wanted to get here. The French Alps was on my mind so I figured it would be a nice trip for someone to win. Never, in my wildest dreams would I have thought you’d be the one to win the trip.”
“Or that you would end up here too?” She was staring at him incredulously, her eyes filling with tears. “Look at God,” she whispered.
Kendrick couldn’t help it, he laughed. “I don’t really think God meant for you to come here and end up in my bed, especially since we’re not married and we hadn’t spoken to each other in nine years.”
“No,” she said, easing her hand from his grasp and brushing the backs of her fingers over his cheek. “But I prayed for some peace this week and you wanted the same thing. I’m guessing since your divorce was so public and because Natasha and Ready Rod just announced their first baby.”
Kendrick had forgotten about that. He’d heard about the tabloids reporting the very public announcement last week and had told himself it didn’t matter. That failing at his friendship with Teesha and then failing at his marriage with Natasha didn’t matter. He was still a success in business.
“So, He gave it to us. This week has been our peace,” she continued.
Turning his face, Kendrick kissed the palm of her hand. “You’re right,” he said. She was his peace. He hadn’t realized it until this very moment how much he’d missed this calm, guilt-free feeling that he’d had for the past few days. There’d been nothing but him and Teesha—what they were going to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, what they were going to do in the between time, how he couldn’t wait to slip inside her each night since that had become part of their ritual as well. All those things had brought him the relief he hadn’t dreamed was possible.
“Let’s get some food and then hit the slopes. I want to be back in here with you as soon as possible.”
“Or,” she said, shifting her position so that she now straddled him. “We can skip breakfast, hit the slopes and then come back here for more of this.”
She closed her lips over his and Kendrick wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him as his tongue slipped into her mouth. It was a first for them, this slow and exploratory kiss as if neither of them knew where this was going or how it was going to end. They didn’t really, and yet, here they were continuing anyway. When she moaned and pressed her warm center against his now fully awake dick, Kendrick pushed all thoughts of how they came to be here and what would happen when it was time for them to leave. Instead, he let himself fall completely into the moment, into Teesha’s kiss and her waiting warmth.
CHAPTER9
By day five of their vacation, Kendrick had gotten her back to the village again. It hadn’t really taken that much convincing; all he’d had to do was mention that they’d finished off that charcuterie board he’d purchased the first day they’d arrived. Now, they were in one of the many shops in the busy village center.
“You don’t have anyone to buy souvenirs for?” she asked as she moved about the racks, pushing hangers back and forth while eyeing a bunch of sweaters.
