“Thanks, man,” Grass said. “Those sound good.”
If Grass had only seen the look that passed over Diego’s face, he would have left Rick’s couch and house and pizza bagels far behind. But Grass was too busy watching Quinn’s face instead.
The poor girl was oblivious to the fact that both were in love with her.
“Maybe we should give them some space,” Lana said as they cleared the table.
“It’s cold outside,” Rick reminded her.
She bumped her shoulder into his companionably. “I won’t turn into a popsicle.”
They tucked Peyton back into his carrier before heading out to the porch. The swing had acquired a nice thick layer of snow in the time since he’d left that morning.
“Why don’t you have any Christmas lights on?”
“The Santa Moose destroyed what I still had up. Plus, someone blew the main breaker in my barn. I haven’t had a chance to get to the hardware store to replace it yet.”
Guilt flashed over her features. “Wow, I bet that sucks. Who would do something like that?”
“Someone who decided to shoot me full of moose tranquilizer and take advantage of my inebriated state to pry all my deepest and darkest secrets out of me.”
This time, Lana’s eyes widened with indignation.
“I did not. I would never.” Rick waited, then she giggled. “Not on purpose anyway. What you chose to say was entirely on you.”
Like a surly kid on one side of the couch, Rick couldn’t help looking over at her. Lana’s lashes kept brushing her cheeks as she glanced down at the snowflakes on her knees. Maybe they were all the same. Dumb guys without a clue how to cover the distance between their part of the seat and hers.
But Rick wasn’t a kid. He was willing to try.
Lana’s eyebrow rose. “Did you just yawn and put your arm around me?”
“Technically, I yawned and draped my arm on the back of the swing. If you so happened to be in front of it…”
She leaned into his shoulder. “It was very smooth. I was very impressed.”
“I thought you would be.”
Since she was snuggling in, Rick figured he might be allowed to snuggle a little too. Wrapping his arm around her, he shifted to make a more comfortable space for her to lean. And when a soft sigh escaped her lips, he rested his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her hair.
“Thank you for dinner. I had fun tonight. And last night. And pretty much every moment I’ve spent with you.”
Diego showed his loyalty and affection through mini bagels covered in cheese and pepperoni. Rick showed his by closing his eyes and ignoring the mitten-covered fingers sneaking a bit of snow into his shirt. When she slipped her leg over to straddle his lap, Rick took a moment to remember this. The way her hips felt beneath his hands as he steadied her. The softness of her lips as she pressed her mouth to his. Her hair sliding through his fingers as he cradled the back of her neck, drawing her into a deeper, more heated kiss.
When they pulled away, Rick wondered if Lana could see the hunger in his eyes. Every muscle in his body felt shaky, he wanted her so much. Instead, he said quietly, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t keep hoping you’d do that again.”
“Depends if you were a good boy this year,” she said coyly.
“You’re teasing me.” He’d never admit how much he loved it.
“You’re a really cute target.” Lana winked at him.
“Are you ever not pretty?” His question was soft, his thumb lightly brushing the sleeve of her jacket.
“You should see me after half a bottle of tequila and a phone call with my tax attorney.”
“Nah, pretty sure you’d still be a knockout.”
More snow found its way beneath his collar, and this time, he flinched as it slipped down to stick between his shoulder blades. Rick broke the kiss, reaching back to try to free himself from the iciness. “That was mean.”
“I’m pure evil. Haven’t you heard?”
“They don’t know you.” Rick held her gaze, thinking no one had ever had eyes as beautiful as hers. “I’d make you pizza bagels.”
Her smile took his breath away.
“Considering the context, that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I get the feeling that people don’t say nice things to you very much.” Rick held her eyes, because he wanted her to know that whatever else did—or didn’t—happen, he saw her. “Which is a shame. I’m tempted to say nice things to you every second of every day.”
“Really?” Her voice was always sexy as hell. But when it softened, her body leaning into his a little as if her defenses were softening too, Rick had never heard anything sexier.
“Yep.” This time, he pulled his gloves off, not caring about the cold as he wrapped her up in his arms, squeezing tightly. “I’d make you chicken wings too.”
“Spicy ones?” Lana asked as he pressed a kiss to the side of her slender neck.
“The spiciest. And carrot sticks with ranch.”
“Love, one must only eat their wings with celery and blue cheese. Really, what kind of heathen are you?”
Love, huh? That was a first. And man, if Rick didn’t like the word on her lips. He kissed her there, tasting the lingering endearment before it slipped away from him. The chill in his knuckles was worth it to feel those silky strands beneath his hands, tilting her face down to his again.
“I’d even make you breakfast.”
“Trout and toast?”
“Good lord, woman, your taste is terrible.”
“On the contrary, my taste is fabulous.” A deeper kiss this time, passionate enough that Rick didn’t care if it was fifty below…there was no cooling the fire burning through him. “One expects nothing less from a Montgomery.”
There, that slight tone to her words, as if self-mocking. And yeah, he wanted to pick her up, carry her inside, and throw everyone else out of there. Diego and his friends could sleep in the barn for all he cared at the moment. Or they could stay right here, doing exactly this, until they both turned into ice cubes.
But he wanted that slight tone to go away even more.
Their breath misted in between them as Rick chose his words carefully. This was the kind of shit he’d always gotten wrong, no matter how badly he’d wanted to get it right.
“Lana? I don’t expect anything from you. Just being next to you is enough.”
When she leaned her forehead into his shoulder, he realized how wrong he’d been. The woman he’d thought was softened in his arms was nothing compared to the one he was holding now.
Right or wrong, he was glad he’d said it.
Chapter 11
This time when Lana went out in the woods with a tranquilizer gun, she went alone. She also wore the accidentally sexually explicit Christmas sweater Graham’s mother had made her. Maybe it would give her some much-needed moose-catching luck.
Alas, all Lana found was a cold nose and too many emails from her family. She’d wanted to take the day off and focus on her quest, but by the time Rick called on his lunch break, Lana was back at the resort, locked in a conference room and eyeballs deep in a nightmare of a meeting.
As much as Lana wanted to take Rick’s call, she couldn’t. Instead, she was stuck in her seat, trying not to let her reactions show on her face. A private video conference with her mother, Silas, and Killian to determine the fate of Moose Springs was one of the few things more important than her deepening relationship with Rick or her desire to catch the Santa Moose.
“I think the best thing we can do is halt construction on the condominiums,” Silas was saying.
“There’s no way we can recoup what we’ve put in this,” Lana argued. “The condominiums will sell for a range of $1.5 million to $4 million per unit. The purpose of investing in the town was to force through the project. If we back out now, not only do we eat the cost of those properties, but we lose $250 million in potential sales.”
“So?”
“I’m sorry, Silas, at what point have you become so disconnected with reality that a quarter of a billion dollars is negligible to you?”
“I’m with Lana,” Killian said. “Liquidation makes less sense.”
“Silas, why is this so personal to you?” Lana demanded.
Silas snorted. “I was going to ask you the same question, but considering your reaction to that flannel-wearing moron at the pool hall, it’s clear. The Montgomery Group coffers don’t exist for your warped version of a dinner date.”
“Would someone explain that please?” Jessica arched an eyebrow.
Silas wasn’t as good at hiding his own facial expressions. He thought he had won. “It’s become clear that she’s only pursuing this project because she’s emotionally invested in Moose Springs.”
“Yes, okay?” Lana said. “I’m emotionally invested in Moose Springs, but not because of Rick Harding and not because of anyone else there. We have all seen what happens when a tourism-driven town loses their main source of income. The day the Shaws close their doors, that town will die. If I have personal reasons for not wanting that to happen, then at least I’ve balanced those reasons with financially profitable alternatives.”
“Dear lord, Auntie, your daughter wants to be a small-town queen.” Silas groaned dramatically. “Will someone cut off her access to the corporate accounts, please?”
“Silas, trust me,” Lana snapped, her cool officially destroyed. “Your attempts at undermining me are even more thinly veiled than you think. You’re not getting control of this company because yours is the loudest voice in the room. The Montgomery Group is my mother’s, and then it will be mine. No amount of showboating and grandstanding and acting like a complete jackass will put it in your utterly incompetent hands.”
“That right there is exactly what I’m talking about,” Silas said, narrowing his eyes at her. “Lana needs to be pulled from the Moose Springs account. She has no concept of self-control when it comes to these people. Sorry, Cousin. You’re too emotional.”