Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
To show him just how fun a one-night fling could be.
I gave him a quick squeeze on the shoulder, then started off back toward my room. “Meet me at eight. I’ll be at the front bar. And you won’t feel out of place, I promise.”
3
JAMIE
“You’re telling me you’ve never hooked up with someone on a ski lift?” I asked, cradling my gin and tonic in one hand.
“Are you nuts?” Landry said, leaning over the table in the cozy booth we were sitting in. “Didn’t you see how tiny the chairs are when we were out there this morning?”
A lock of his hair fell over his forehead, glinting in the dim light from the small pendant hanging above us. I reached out to brush it back into place without thinking, then blushed as I realized I’d touched him.
I’d always been a little too affectionate when I drank, and apparently that was even more apparent in this little pub.
Landry watched me closely as I took another sip of my drink.
“You could still hook up on a ski lift,” I finally said. “I thought maybe at least you’d fooled around up there in some capacity, if you’re this wild, free spirit who hooks up with people all the time.”
Landry leaned back in his seat, still watching me. Having his eyes on me was making me feel warmer than the alcohol already had.
“No,” he mused. “When I’m skiing, I’m skiing. If I wanted to hook up with someone, I’d do that after the slopes.”
We were tucked in one of the corners of the small bar at the front of the hotel. I already liked it about a thousand times better now than I had last night, when I’d just been sitting at the bar alone. We’d snagged a booth with dark leather seats. From where we were sitting, we could even see the crackling fire in the fireplace across the bar.
It was the coziest thing I could imagine. And now that I was working on my third gin and tonic of the night, I was feeling looser and warmer and very comfortable here with Landry.
When I’d first met him, I never could have guessed that I’d soon feel comfortable enough around him to share old stories, but here we were.
“I definitely hooked up with a guy on the beach once,” I said.
“You? Really?”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Why are you so surprised?”
Landry shrugged one shoulder. “Didn’t take you for a public hookup kind of guy, that’s all.”
“It was hardly public. It was a slow night at a very small beach, surrounded by cliffs. It was nowhere near as exciting as it sounds. Turns out sex on the beach requires managing a lot of sand.”
He snickered. “That sounds horrible.”
“I wouldn’t do it again.”
Just then Landry glanced out toward the arched entrance of the bar, and his entire expression changed, all at once. He went from looking like a cool, calm Casanova one moment to looking like he’d just seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over where his gaze was.
A guy who looked just as wealthy as Landry had just walked in, and he had another guy on his arm.
Landry’s lips pressed into a thin, tight line. “That would be Parker. My ex.”
“Your ex?” I asked. “I thought you said you only do casual hookups.”
He pulled in a breath. “For a long time, it was the opposite. I was a bit of a serial-relationships kind of guy.” Landry’s eyes flickered over to look at me, and he cleared his throat. “I proposed to Parker a year ago and he rejected me, flat out. Nobody had even known we were dating, because he’d wanted to keep it all secret, and… yeah. It sucked.”
Holy shit.
So Landry hadn’t just been a lifelong playboy. He’d actually wanted to marry someone, for God’s sake.
When I looked over at Parker now, it was very obvious that things had changed. Parker was leaning over to kiss the young blond dude that was hanging on his arm.
“Is this the lounge? This can’t possibly be the lounge,” Parker said afterward as he glided through the bar, looking around like he was inspecting an insect. As he walked his eyes finally landed on Landry, and a smirk appeared on his face as he walked over.
“Parker,” Landry said, his face still like stone.
“Lando,” Parker said. “You’re in this little bar? Please tell me this resort has a better bar?”
“The larger lounge is past the front desk. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding it.”
Parker’s partner was still shivering and had snowflakes all over the shoulders of his coat. “Parks, this answers it for me,” the guy said. “It’s a definite no on the winter wedding idea. We’re doing full summer, no matter what.”
I saw what Landry must have been seeing at the same time: Parker and his partner each had thin silvery bands around their ring fingers.