Jacquie ’Alessandro - Holiday Inn Bed

Mrs. Krause glanced toward her and offered a grin and a friendly wave, both of which Jessica returned. Eric shook both their hands, then walked toward her while the Krauses gave their attention to the young woman who was next in line to check in.

Jessica watched Eric striding toward her and everything female inside her came to immediate attention. With his parka unzipped, sturdy snow boots, his favorite Levi’s that hugged his long legs, and a thick, cable-knit sweater that stretched across his wide chest and exactly matched his dark blue eyes, he looked rugged and masculine and absolutely delicious. That same whammo of attraction that had all but knocked her unconscious the first time she’d seen him almost a year ago slammed into her now-as it did every time she looked at him. She’d dated some very attractive men over the years, but Eric was the first one who could knock the breath from her lungs with a mere look.

A look like the one he was giving her right now.

The one that curved up a corner of his gorgeous mouth and resulted in a totally sexy lopsided grin that dented a shallow dimple in his cheek and made her knees feel like freshly kneaded bread dough. The one that made his eyes glitter with that wicked gleam and sizzling sensuality she loved.

Heat that had nothing to do with the roaring fire poured through her. Looking at him now, it was impossible to believe their relationship could ever teeter on the brink of imploding. Or that their sex life was suffering. How was it possible that for weeks she hadn’t found a way to wade through the morass of stress and make love to this man who could make her nipples hard by just standing there? Surely with this time alone, away from everything and everyone that had been conspiring to pull them apart for the past four months, she’d be able to relax. And together they’d find a way to solve their problems. All they needed was a break. And here, at the Timberline Lodge, that’s exactly what they’d have.

Thank God.

When he reached her, he didn’t say a word-he just pulled her into his arms and kissed her. A deep, lush kiss that tasted of pent-up frustration and anticipation. One that revved her pulse and ended way too soon. After he lifted his head, his eyes were smoldering. “We’re all set. Our cabin is just a short walk and overlooks the lake. You ready?”

“Absolutely.” She lightly bumped her pelvis against his. “Are you ready?”

A half laugh, half groan escaped him. “God, yes. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about it until I get you alone. But once I do-” he yanked her tighter against him, making it very obvious that he was indeed ready “-you’re in big trouble.”

Good Lord, she hoped so. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted up on her toes to brush her lips over his. “Oh, yeah? Watch it, big guy. Maybe you’re the one who’ll be in trouble.”

“Sweetheart, I’ve been in trouble since the first moment I saw you.”

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”

He shook his head, framed her face between his large hands that still bore a hint of chill from outside and looked at her through suddenly serious eyes. “Best damn thing that ever happened to me.”

Jessica’s heart flipped over and she swallowed around the sudden tightness in her throat. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. “Everything is going to be okay, Jess. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”

She shook her head and their noses bumped. “No.”

“And I’m not going to start now. We’ll work this out. All of it.”

She leaned back and looked at him. There was no doubt he believed what he said, and that confidence, along with the love shining in his eyes, bolstered her belief that he was right. And here, in this cozy setting, where it was just the two of them, free from all the outside pressures that constantly bombarded them, the way it had been for those first six glorious months they were together, before they’d announced their engagement and all hell broke loose, all seemed right with the world.

“You are, without a doubt, the sweetest, kindest, most patient-not to mention the sexiest-man I’ve ever met.”

“Can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say that,” he murmured, punctuating each word with a nibbling kiss along her jaw. “Now about that ‘sexiest’ bit…I’m dying to give you a personal demonstration.”

“Hmmm…a tempting offer, but my fiancé will be arriving any minute now and he might object.”

“Damn. I might have guessed you were taken.” He slipped his hands inside her coat and ran his palms down her back, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. “Your fiancé is one lucky guy. I hope he tells you that every day. Right after he tells you that you’re the most beautiful, sexy woman on earth.” He nuzzled her neck. “And that no one smells better than you. And that he loves you so much he can barely think straight most of the time.” He lifted his head. “Does he tell you that every day? Because if he doesn’t, I’ll have to hurt him. Bad.”

The wave of love that washed over her nearly drowned her. “He tells me.”

“Good. Then he can live to see another day.”

She shot him an exaggerated leer. “Now, about that personal demonstration you mentioned-”

Her words were cut off when he grabbed her hand and started across the lobby with such a brisk, long-legged stride, she had to jog to keep up. Laughing, they half ran, half skidded across the parking lot to Eric’s SUV, which was already covered in snow. After retrieving their overnight bags, they held hands and headed down the tree-lined path leading toward their cabin. Snow fell in a white silent blanket, coating the roofs of the cottages dotting the trail. Smoke puffed toward the slate-gray sky from the chimneys, indicating the occupants were enjoying the intimate warmth of a fire. Their progress was slowed by catching snowflakes on their tongues and exchanging lip-warming kisses, each one lengthier and deeper than the one before, notching up their arousal. She hadn’t felt this carefree since they’d announced their engagement, and she offered up a silent thank-you that they’d decided to take this weekend for themselves. Everything is going to be fine, her inner voice whispered.

By the time they reached the cabin, they were both breathless from their last tongue-dancing kiss and the stunning cold. Eric unlocked the door and they practically tumbled into the warmth. Before she could even glance around the room, her back was pressed against the door, Eric’s lips were on hers and his clever hands were unfastening her coat. Clearly he was as anxious to make up for lost time as she was. Thank God. He hadn’t even touched her yet and already she felt like a bomb on the verge of exploding. Every thought fled except getting all of him on all of her.

“Are you trying to melt my knees?” she asked against his yummy mouth.

“Absolutely. Is it working?”

“Absolutely.”

Their heavy parkas hit the floor at the same time and Jessica’s hands immediately plunged beneath Eric’s sweater to run up his smooth back, just as his palms cupped her breasts. They both groaned.

“Damn, it’s been so long,” he muttered.

“Too long,” she murmured, nipping kisses along his jaw.

“Thirty-two days, seventeen hours and nine minutes-not that I’m counting. How the hell did we let that happen?”

“I don’t know. Clearly we’re insane. Eric…I love that you’re so warm.”

“I love that you’re so soft.”

She rubbed herself against his erection. “I love that you’re so hard.”

He flicked open the button on her jeans and eased down the zipper. Slipping his hand beneath her lacy underwear, he stroked a long finger over her already swollen folds. A moan escaped her. “I love that you’re so wet.”

“All your…ah…fault.”

“God, I’ve missed you, Jess.”

“I’ve missed you, too…” Her words evaporated when he slipped two fingers inside her and slowly pumped, his tongue matching the lazy rhythm as he kissed her. An edgy pressure quickly grew inside her, one that demanded relief. This…this magic was the way it was supposed to be between them. The way it had been before their families had gotten involved. She reached out, intending to unzip his jeans and show him two could play at this game, but he changed his rhythm, quickening and deepening his strokes, touching her in exactly the way he knew would drive her over the edge. Her climax was roaring down on her, the sweet, hot pulses of pleasure just a heartbeat away when a knock sounded on the door, right next to where her head lolled, startling her. And chasing away her orgasm, leaving her panting and frustrated.

“Ignore it,” Eric whispered.

Before she could reply, another knock sounded, then a muffled voice came through the door. “Eric, open up. It’s me, Kelley.”

They both froze.

Kelley? His sister? Here? She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed the scream that threatened to strangle her.

Looking as angry and thwarted as she felt, Eric muttered a curse then slipped his hand from her.

Fighting to regain her composure, Jessica quickly zipped her jeans, scooped up their parkas and walked toward the closet, while Eric opened the door. “Kelley?” she heard him say in a stunned, tight voice. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Are Lara and Chloe okay?”

“They’re fine,” came Kelley’s familiar, clipped voice. “What’s wrong is that your wedding is only two months away, Eric. There are a thousand details we need to discuss.”

Several long seconds of silence passed and Jessica, still clutching the parkas and standing like a statue near the closet, looked at Eric. She could almost see the waves of tension rolling off him. “We can talk about them when Jess and I return to MarbleFalls on Tuesday,” he said with a hint of impatience.

“We need to talk about them now.”

Jessica pressed her lips together. Good God, could this get any worse?

She walked to the door, intending to greet Kelley and stand firm with Eric that anything that required discussion could take place on Tuesday, but the words died in her throat when she saw that, good God, things could most definitely get worse.

Striding up the snowy path toward the cabin were Jessica’s mother and her brother, Marc, both of whom looked extremely displeased.

Yes, this could definitely get worse.

“May i come in, Eric, or are you going to let me turn into a Popsicle out here?”

Standing in the doorway of the cabin where he and Jess were supposed to spend the next four days alone, where they’d just been on the brink of making love for the first time in weeks, Eric stared at Kelley and tried his damnedest to swallow his frustration and annoyance. But it proved extremely difficult, especially when he caught sight of Jessica’s brother, Marc-or the incredible glaring hulk as he mentally called him-and his future mother-in-law-who in spite of being a good foot shorter than Eric still somehow managed to look down her nose at him-making their way along the snow-covered path toward the cabin.

Damn. In less than two minutes this situation would deteriorate from worse to catastrophic.

“C’mon in,” he said, not seeing that he had much choice.

“Thank you.” Kelley sailed into the room, and Eric closed the door to keep out the snow and cold air until the next batch of uninvited-and unwanted-guests arrived.

Jess, who clutched their parkas to her like a down-filled shield, came to stand beside him. “Hi, Kelley,” she said. “This is a, um, surprise.”

Eric wrapped an arm around Jess’s shoulders, noting the stiff tension in her body. “A really big surprise,” he agreed, failing at his attempt to not sound irritated. “Kell, I left the message telling you where I’d be this weekend in case of emergency only.”

“This is an emergency, Eric,” she said. “We need to discuss the menu, the invitations, the decorations…dozens of details you both have been putting off. I told you last week that these things had to be finalized by this week. Obviously you forgot because here it is this week and now they can’t be put off any longer. Tomorrow is the drop-dead date to have everything ordered and since you decided to go away until Tuesday, you left me with no choice but to come here.”

“You could have called.”

“I did. I left half a dozen messages on your voice mail. Have you checked your cell phone at all today?”

“No. Because I’m on vacation.”

She cocked a single brow at him, in that I’m-not-gonna-take-any-crap-from-you-or-anybody-else way of hers. “Believe me, Eric, I’m not any happier about driving all the way here than you are to have your weekend escape interrupted. But if you’d bothered to check with me before taking off instead of just leaving a message on my machine, I could have saved us both a lot of trouble. This shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours, so why don’t we get started? That way you can get back to your vacation and I can get home.”