Sugar Shack (3 page)

The Mackenzies had a small sugar shack she remembered down the way a bit, but obviously they
’d outgrown it and needed more room to process the harvest.

She parked in front of the barn and unbuckled her seatbelt. Taking a determined breath, she slipped on her leather gloves and opened the door. As much as she wanted to do this, she was scared out of her mind. She
’d never been good at handling rejection—even after ten years. A sliver of determination stiffened her backbone. She could do this. She had no choice.

Before her confidence flagged, she hopped out of the car and hurried across the snow toward the barn. Luke used to spend a lot of time in there with the family
’s horses. She smiled. He loved those horses.

The door was open a crack and she slipped inside without making a sound, looking around for any sign of him. A horse whinnied nearby. Noting the rounded star on the mare
’s forehead, she walked closer to its stall. “Is that you, Sapphire?” she asked the animal, rubbing its soft nose. “Is that you, old girl?” The horse nuzzled her palm as if in reply.

T
ears she’d held back for ten years rushed forth as she hugged the animal’s muscled neck. So much time had gone by. So much and yet, it felt like she was coming home after a long trip away. She held Sapphire tightly and sobbed into her thick, black mane.

A few moments passed before she realized the horse was stretching
its neck to look across the room.

Catherine wiped her eyes on her scarf, trying to compose herself before she turned around. She hadn
’t come here after so many years to look like a total wreck.
At least let me look presentable.

She turned in the direction of Sapphire
’s whinny. Standing not ten feet away was the man she used to dream about. Still dreamed of, she corrected. God, he looked good. Even better than she remembered. Tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick thatch of wind-tousled dark blond hair. Even from this distance, she could see the surprise in his maple-colored eyes.

A smile curved his lips before he could temper it.
“Cat?”

The pet name had slipped out before he could check himself. She loved when he called her that. His husky voice made it sound like an endearing purr.

“Hi, Luke,” she managed around a tongue that suddenly felt as dry as cotton. “You look good.” He did look good. Hell, he looked better than good. He looked fan-damn-tastic. She fought the overwhelming impulse to run and throw her arms around him. Instead, she hugged herself and took a few tentative steps toward him.

He nodded, the gaze he leveled on her now more composed and guarded.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised to see you here after all this time.”

Cutting straight to the chase was Luke
’s way. She couldn’t help the small laugh that fell from her lips. “Always down to business, aren’t you?”

He nodded.
“Most of the time, yes. I’m not very good at games.”

“
I guess that depends on the game,” she murmured. Unbidden, her mind conjured images of them role-playing in the barn’s loft. She’d played the part of a Swedish milkmaid and he was a soldier separated from his regiment who had wandered onto her father’s farm. The game began as nothing more than a silly escape, but turned into one of the hottest sexual experiences they’d ever shared. Even now, she couldn’t smell hay without thinking of hot, sweaty, mind-blowing sex.

His eyes softened a bit, and she wondered if he joined her in the memory. Then he frowned.
“I’m sorry for being blunt, but what are you doing here?”

Time to pay the piper.
“Honestly, I was headed home for the holidays, but the weather wasn’t willing to cooperate the entire way. I’m afraid I won’t make it another two hours on the road. I was wondering if I could...I was hoping I could wait out the storm here. I would also like to apologize for being such an immature bitch ten years ago.” There, she’d said it. It was now the elephant in the room and she’d put it there, unchained.

He looked surprised for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
“Wow.” Pulling the suede work gloves off his hands, he shoved them into the back pocket of his jeans and crossed his arms across his chest, the wool-trimmed denim jacket bunching at the shoulders with his movements. “You wait this long to tell me something you could have told me if you’d returned even one of at least twenty phone messages I left for you over the past ten years?”

Warmth flamed in her veins and traveled swiftly up her neck to her face.
“I apologize for that, too,” she managed. “All I can say is I was a totally different person then.”

“
And now you’ve changed?” he asked, cocking his head.

She nodded.
“I hope so, yes.”

He took a deep breath and released it slowly, the heat of his exhale turning to frost as it hit the frigid air.
“I happened to like the person you were.”

A butterfly flapped to life in her tummy.
“I’ve tried to improve on the older model.” She took off her own gloves and wiped her palms on her coat before extending her right hand to him. “I hope we can work out some kind of friendship, Luke. I’ve missed you in my life.”

He looked at her hand for a long moment, then stretched out his own to grasp hers. Electricity flowed at the contact and Catherine felt a warmth like no other when their palms touched.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember, Cat,” he said, pulling her to him and embracing her tightly.

Burrowed against him, Catherine inhaled his scent deep into her lungs. God, he smelled so good. Leather, wood, earth, maple, everything unique to this man. He smelled of home. She nearly lost it in his arms. She wanted nothing more than to just be held by him and cry against his chest. But she had to be strong. She had to see if there was anything worth salvaging between them. And that would take time.

She stepped back, clearing the lump in her throat. “Thank you. You look amazing. The years have been extremely kind to you.” Boldly, she rushed on, “I hope your wife realizes how lucky she is to have you.”

He actually laughed at that.

Another rush of heat bathed her face. Had she overstepped herself? God, with Luke, she didn’t know how to act or what to say.

“
Still single, thanks to you. Now, come inside, it’s too cold out here.” He draped an easy arm around her shoulders and led her out of the barn, kicking the door shut behind them. At the back door, just inside the porch, he stepped out of his muddy work boots and opened the door to the warm kitchen. “After you,” he said, ushering her inside.

The room was cozy and laid out just as it had been the first time she
’d visited. “How’re your folks?” she asked, the kitchen bringing back memories of his entire family gathered around the table, eating and laughing.

“
They’ve retired to Florida. Traitors,” he mumbled good-naturedly.

Her eyebrows rose.
“I’m really surprised to hear that. They loved this place.”

Nodding, he took a seat at the table near the hearth.
“They loved it, but Mom’s arthritis didn’t.”

“
How about Beth? How’s she?” Catherine had always been close to Luke’s sister. That she’d let their friendship die because of the misunderstanding with Beth’s brother was a mistake she regretted.

“
Divorced.” He shrugged. “Lives in Florida near the folks. She gave up maple for oranges.”

Catherine couldn
’t help but smile. “Everyone deserted you, didn’t they?” Immediately, she regretted the glib remark.

His gaze turned toward the fire, avoiding hers.
“So, how are we supposed to act with each other, Cat?”

Settling into the chair beside him, she sighed.
“I seriously have no idea, Luke. I just know we once had something phenomenal and I screwed it up. If I could take it all back...” She shook her head. “Actually, if I could take it all back, I wouldn’t. I needed to leave so I could learn there wasn’t some big mystery I was missing outside of Vermont.” She lowered her voice. “It also made me realize what a good thing I had with you.”

Flames reflected in his eyes as his gaze slid to hers.
“If it was so good, why were you so hell bent to leave me?”

Just bite the bullet, Bennett.
“Because I was a moron. I didn’t know what I wanted. I just knew I wanted to see what else was out there. Does that make sense?”

He blew out a heavy sigh.
“Now that we’ve put some years between us, yes. It makes sense. But then—I can’t say I understood your logic.” He frowned. “Or why you didn’t want to at least try to work it out between us.”

“
I didn’t know how to do that. And I’d heard such awful things about long-distance relationships.”

“
But you didn’t want to even discuss it?”

“
Ugh.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know where my head was then, Luke. I was stupid and irresponsible. I hurt a lot of people. Mainly you. And I really, truly apologize for that. Please believe me when I tell you the last thing I wanted was to hurt you like that.”

He turned back to look into the fire.
“I loved you, Cat. I never wanted anyone but you.”

His words were so soft, she barely heard them.
“All I can say is I’m sorry, Luke.”

“
I know. I’m sorry, too.” He stood and grabbed the gloves out of his back pocket. “Let me try and get my head around this. I’m going to check some of the lines out in the back twenty. You can put your stuff in my old room upstairs if you want. No one uses the other part of the house in the winter so I keep it closed off.”

“
Where do you sleep?” she asked, knowing the master bedroom was also upstairs, in the part of the house he claimed was now closed.

“
A few years ago I converted the extra den downstairs to a bedroom. It just made more sense for me. But, I give that room up to my folks when they visit since Mom can’t climb the stairs much these days.” He flipped up the wool collar of his jacket and headed toward the back door. “You need me to grab your suitcases?”

Catherine shook her head.
“I’ve only got an overnight bag. I can get it.”

“
Okay then. I’ll be back shortly. Make yourself comfortable and feel free to call your folks and let them know you’ll be staying with me for a couple days.” He stopped mid-step through the door and turned back to her. “I mean, tell them you’re going to stay here until the storm passes,” he clarified quickly.

She grinned.
“No problem. I hadn’t even told them I was coming, so it was going to be a surprise. They don’t even know I’m in Vermont.”

“
You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Cat?” With that, he turned and strode out the door.

Catherine grabbed the edge of the table in front of her and willed herself to stop shaking. The worst was over.

The worst, she chided herself. Hell, how could the worst be over when she was stuck in this house with the most gorgeous man on earth? A man she still had feelings for even after all these years? A man she was still very much attracted to and, if he so much as gave her an in, she’d rush into his bed and stay there until he kicked her out.

Oh, God, this was not going to be easy.

She alternated between cursing and thanking the blizzard brewing outside that brought her here.

Chapter Four

Luke drove down to the trees he
’d told Cat he was going to check on. Hell, there was nothing to look at here. All the piping was perfect and the taps had been double-checked for the past week. No. He just had to get out of there and get his head on straight. Seeing Catherine Bennett in his barn had knocked the breath out of him. Holding her in his arms had made his cock harder than it had been in a decade.

And now she was back.

But for how long?

He pulled the truck beside the fence and threw it in park, leaving the motor running for the heater.
“Why are you here, Cat?” he asked aloud. Was she going to play with his heart again? Willing away the memories, he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain she’d put him through.

Yet, she didn
’t seem insincere. He glanced toward the house on the hill. She was here. In his home. Making herself comfortable in his old bedroom. The room where she used to get naked and lose all inhibitions when they made love. He whistled low. A lot could be said about their relationship, but they burned up the sheets in bed. She was insatiable and he was willing to do whatever she wanted to make her scream his name.

His cock bulged against the zipper of his jeans. Fuck. How could the woman still have the power to turn him on after all these years?

But she could. With just a coy smile on her full lips, or a teasing look from her jade-green eyes. Or, Jesus, just a wiggle of those tempting round hips would be enough to send him over the edge. All he could think about was getting her out of those clothes and into his bed again. The talking could wait.