Not a Chance (3 page)

"Do you do that sort of thing with...with women?"

Travis chuckled again. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?"

Oh, now he decides to play coy
, she thought. "What the hell else is there to talk about? Besides, here you've presented yourself the expert on the subject, out of the two of us anyway. The least you could do is enlighten me."

"Oh, I'll enlighten your socks off, princess," he said. And before she could take a breath he'd leaned forward on hands and knees and pressed his lips to hers. It was a quick, soft kiss, but as soon as he pulled away, she found herself trembling and her breath rattling in her chest. He was sitting back on his ankles right in front of her now, grinning like the devil. And then his grin faded as he honed in on her lips again, this time threading his fingers into her hair and pulling her toward him by the back of her head. She parted her lips involuntarily, but just as he was about to kiss her, she gasped and pressed her hands against his shoulders to stop him.

"I'm engaged," she whispered.

His lips hovered over hers. Their noses touched. "I won't tell," he whispered, and tried to kiss her.

She shoved herself back until there was several feet of distance between them. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't want to do this."

He sat back, then, his back against the couch. "Would it help if I said please?" he said in a business-like manner.

Arden pressed her lips together to keep from grinning. "No," she said, unable to disguise the laughter in her voice.

"I'm really good," he said. "I'll guarantee you two...no, three orgasms before I get mine. How 'bout it?"

She shook her head and tried not to laugh. "You're terrible."

She was sitting on the blanket she'd slept on. He reached forward, grabbed the edge and pulled her closer to him. "Come on, now. Surely we can work something out. You go through June's novels and pick you out something real nice and I'll do it to you. Huh? Sound good?"

She laughed then and he grinned at her. They were sitting close together, legs crossed, their knees touching. She forced a serious expression onto her face. "You could never satisfy me," she said. This flirting thing was a lot of fun. She'd never done it before.

"Sounds like a challenge, to me," he said, winking at her. He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and looked down at her lips again.

"Don't even think about it," she said. This time she scooted back.

"Sounds like all I'm allowed to do is think about it." He leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. "Oh, yeah," he said. "That's good, baby, take it all off."

"Stop it!" she shrieked, slapping at his legs.

"Oh God, don't stop," he groaned before the grin spread across his face again and he laughed and tried to block the blows Arden was reining down on him.

"Bastard!" she laughed, still swatting at him.

He laughed and caught her by the wrists. He swung her 'round and pinned her to the floor beneath him, trapping her hands above her head. She was still laughing and squirming. When she opened her eyes her laughter faded. She was suddenly struck by the fact that she was playing with fire with a man she barely knew.

He stared hard into her eyes. "Things are serious, now," he said. "What do you say, Arden? Nobody has to know." And the way he undressed her with his eyes made her light up all over so that for a brief second she was genuinely tempted to say yes.

"I would know," she said, before that temptation could expand any further. "I won't cheat on my fiancé."

He kept her pinned for another moment. She didn't struggle, knowing he would back off as soon as he realized she was serious. His eyes narrowed briefly, assessing. Then they softened into a sad sort of smile.

He rose to his knees and extended his hand, pulling her to a sitting position. Then he leaned back against the couch. "You change your mind, just let me know," he said.

"I won't. But thank you for the offer."

He shrugged, picked his novel back up and started looking for the place he'd left off. And for some reason she felt a sudden emptiness.

CHAPTER FIVE

On the second morning, sunshine streamed through a crack in the drapes and spilled directly into Travis's eyes. If not for that, he might have slept until noon, like he had the day before. He squeezed his eyes shut and rolled over, the mattress squeaking beneath him. The day before, he and Arden had dragged the queen size mattress down the stairs from the master bedroom. It was a good suggestion on Arden's part and may have had something to do with his grumbling about the floor hurting his back. Thirty-four...surely that was too young to be complaining about bodily aches and pains.

Travis sat up and glanced at the other side of the mattress. She slept soundly, looking profoundly beautiful with the early morning glow of the sun brightening her skin and casting shadows over her face. She had the blanket pulled up to her chin. He might have enjoyed fantasizing about the body underneath, with its soft subtle curves, but he knew that she was fully clothed and likely to stay that way.

The evening before they had played Monopoly and she had drank wine that she found in the kitchen cupboard. She'd asked why he didn't drink and he told her about the alcoholism. She'd surprised him by digging for more information. He wound up telling her way more about his past than he'd intended. He'd watched her the entire time, making sure she was truly interested and that her sympathy wasn't condescending or fake. She'd nodded along and empathized with him. She'd even told of a friend of her father's from out of town who had an alcohol problem.

It was a comfortable visit. Maybe it was because neither of them gave a shit about the opinion of the other. Maybe that's why they were so relaxed and comfortable together. Maybe getting all the sexual teasing out of the way earlier had lightened any tension they may have been dealing with.

He wanted her. No doubt about it. But she knew that and didn't seem to care. And she obviously didn't want him back. So they wound up falling into a companionable acquaintanceship rather quickly. Now she was sleeping and he took the opportunity to appreciate her beauty. She wasn't ice on the inside after all. She tried. But really she was playful and sexy and interesting. Maybe if they were snowed in long enough he could get in her pants.

She started to stir, so he stood and stretched, not wanting her to know he'd been gazing adoringly at her. His breath caught as she stretched and moaned and arched her back. "What time is it?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"Nine-thirty," he replied.

She exhaled and slowly pushed herself up. Then she smiled. "Sunshine!"

"Yes, cupcake?" he replied, grinning.

She rolled her eyes and stood and walked to the window. "Jeez. I've never seen that much snow, before. Look, it's blown in a drift all the way up to the window."

He joined her. It was deep, for sure. The sun would go a long ways towards melting some of it. But there was no way they were making it back to the road and getting the truck out of the ditch today.

She looked up at him and opened her mouth.

"Probably not today," he said, before she could ask.

She closed her mouth and frowned.

"Hey," he said. "If you're missing the warm embrace of your dear lover Nick, I'd be glad to fill his place for a while." He held out his arms.

She glared at him.

He dropped his arms.
Okay, she's not in the mood for i
t, he thought. For that matter, he wasn't either. There was nothing pleasant about wanting a woman you couldn't have. If he could, he'd go up to Rowdy's bar and play pool with the guys and try to pick up a woman there. Lots of desperate thirty-somethings hung out up there. And Travis needed a thirty-something. Or a forty-something. Not a twenty-something with too many life lessons to be learned before she'd be stable enough for a relationship.

Just as he'd decided to turn and walk away, he noticed that her glare was gone, replaced by a rather vulnerable uncertainty. She was gently biting her bottom lip and staring at his chest.
That's more like it
, he thought.

He took a half step closer and leaned against the window. She looked up, meeting his eyes. She swallowed and he tried not to grin at her. Poor little princess wanted to be held and protected. He could do that. He would love to do that. "You okay?" he asked, reaching out and touching her shoulder. She glanced down at his hand and then back up to him. She nodded.

And then surprise of surprises, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Elated, he wrapped his arms around her waist and took a deep breath of the amazing scent coming off her hair.

She was rubbing his shoulders and back and running her hand up the back of his neck and into his hair. It felt amazing. Sent tingles down his back. Made him achingly hard.

"You're a good man, Travis," she said. And there was something about the way she said it. The certainty and firmness in her tone. So that suddenly she wasn't the one being held and protected; he was. He gasped as his eyes suddenly stung. She kept stroking his neck and hair and back. He squeezed her tight against him. "I mean, a really good man," she said. "I hope you know that."

He cursed himself mentally for feeling so good about her approval. He shouldn't need it. He'd never gotten it from anyone besides Dustin and never missed it. But here he'd gone and spilled his guts to her the night before and she was proud of him. Why should he care that she was proud of him? He should probably be insulted. Except that she wasn't condescending. She was sincere.

He pushed back and held her shoulders. Her expression was kind. She smiled up at him. Nothing to indicate she was anywhere near as hot for him as he was for her. "Thanks," he said. He felt stupid saying it.

"You're welcome. I'm really glad we got trapped together in this snowstorm."

His chest swelled. "Me too," he said. He still held her shoulders. Still stared into her eyes. He wanted her. But now it was different. She'd changed something. And it didn't make any sense, but he knew what he was feeling. He'd been in love before.

He moved his hands to her neck, his thumbs stroking her jaw.

She grabbed his hands and pushed them away. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to seem like I was coming on to you."

He swallowed. Blinked. Nodded. Ached with desire.

She smiled sweetly again and then walked away towards the kitchen. Travis now wondered how he was going to get this girl to fall in love with him before the snow melted.
Please, God, send more snow
, he prayed silently.

CHAPTER SIX

Arden knew she'd done something wrong. She'd hugged him and told him how great he was, not for any other reason than that she was overwhelmed with appreciation for him. He'd had a terrible upbringing. And sure, he was just a mechanic in a nowhere town with little ambition for anything else. But he was the most optimistic, pleasant person she'd ever met. He flirted wonderfully and he backed off when appropriate. He was open and honest. The conversation was amazing. Arden had gone to sleep wondering why she felt so deliriously happy. So when she found him standing there, a big teddy bear of a man, she'd just let go of all restraint.

That was a mistake. Now he was different. He'd quit flirting for the most part and was just plain nice. The flirtation still oozed out of him once in a while. It was, after all, firmly ingrained into his behavioral patterns. But now he'd stopped focusing on overtly trying to get her into bed and started...wooing her. That's what it felt like. He was courting her. Taking care of her.

Arden's only recourse was to put some emotional distance between them. And she felt terrible doing it. But she couldn't have him thinking he had a chance with her. Earlier in the day she'd been sitting on the couch reading when he sat down next to her with his own book and a cup of coffee. She'd deliberately scooted over, just a bit, and angled herself away from him. All without looking up from her book. She could tell it had hurt his feelings.

As they played chess, she was careful to keep the conversation away from romance novels.

"If you put that there, you'll lose your rook," she said.

Travis glanced up at her and put the piece back where it was. He reached for his knight.

"Mmmm, I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. She couldn't keep the amusement off her face.

He frowned at her and reached for one of his pawns.

She clucked her tongue.

He froze and glared up at her. "Why don't you let me do what I'm gonna do and you can win faster that way," he growled.

"You've never played before. I'm just trying to help."

"It's a stupid game."

"It just requires you thinking ahead a few moves. It's strategy."

"I don't do strategy. I'm a live-for-now kind of guy." He surveyed the board a little while longer.

"Because that's worked out so well for you?" she teased.

"Yes, smart-ass, I think it has." He reached for the other knight. She hissed softly. He threw up his hands. "I give up. Pick another game."

She laughed. "You're being a big baby. If you'd just give it a chance."

"I gave it a chance. Let's play checkers."

"I already told you I couldn't find any checkers."

"Fine. But I'm not playing this. Not with you."

She shook her head, still smiling. He caught her gaze and smiled back. Then his smile transformed to that troublesome grin of his. "We should read out loud hot scenes from romance novels."

"No, thank you," she said, giving him her best stern look.

"Aw, come on, Princess. Live a little."

"No. You can go read hot love scenes out of romance novels by yourself."