Winter Kisses (9 page)

T
he interior of the truck hadn't reached the freezing point yet. Alex had moved them to the backseat, pulling out blankets that had been stored there by the resort just in case.
A good thing the staff had the sense to think about “just in case,”
Alex thought as he and Monica slid closer on the backseat. He wrapped an arm around her and they both pulled at their ends of the blankets until they were covered up to their chins.

“How long did the tow truck say they'd be?” Monica asked, trying desperately not to shiver again. She was cold and she was more than a little shaken up by the accident, but Alex had already held her and she'd already assured him she was fine. It was time she acted like it.

“About an hour,” he said, pulling her even closer.

“So we'll just stay like this, hoping our combined
body heat and these blankets will keep us warm until they get here?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he responded with a wry chuckle. “You comfortable?”

She was, surprisingly. With her body tucked against his and the two thick blankets wrapped securely around them, Monica was beginning to feel better. She was beginning to feel safe.

“Yes,” she finally responded. “That other driver was a maniac. I can't believe he didn't even stop to see if we were okay. I wish I'd gotten his license number so I could report him.”

“Don't worry about it,” Alex said. “Let's talk about something else. Something cheerful.”

“You want cheerful when we're stuck in this truck that's stuck in the snow?”

He chuckled, but it didn't sound sincere. “Humor me.”

Okay,
Monica thought. She could do that. Alex had jumped out of the truck and had been moving ever since to get them help and make them as comfortable as possible in these circumstances. If being cheerful was the least Monica could do, she'd certainly give it a try.

“When I was ten I wanted to be a superhero.”

The interior of the truck was instantly silent.

Monica took a nervous breath but wouldn't look at Alex. “I used the sheet from my bed and tied it around my neck. I'd been in ballet for two years by then so I had leotards and tights in every color imaginable. I put the blue ones on and pretended my green-and-white floral-print sheet was red and used it for a cape. When my costume was complete with my red leather rider
boots I stood on the wrought-iron edge of my full-size canopy bed and jumped.

“The plan was to fly across the room to the dresser. Nothing big, I was just practicing. You know, building my way up to things like flying down the steps, into the den and eventually out the front door up to the sky. So, I misjudged the distance or the floral sheet wasn't as helpful as I thought it should be. Afterward I thought maybe because it was the wrong color. Anyway, I leaped off the bed and was airborne for about ten seconds before the side of my face crashed into the edge of the dresser.”

“Ow” was Alex's surprising reply.

Monica only nodded, remembering the pain that came about twenty seconds after the collision.

“At first I was just dazed, but happy that I'd made progress. My dresser was a couple feet away from the bed. Then my mother barged into the room. Karena and Deena, who I had dubbed ‘action news' because they reported everything that I did or said to my mother without delay, were right behind her. All three of them just stared at me for a few minutes. Then my mother went into action. She was scooping me up off the floor, yelling for Karena to get towels and for Deena to grab the phone and call 911.”

“Were you crying?”

She shook her head. “No. I didn't cry until later that night when we finally made it to the emergency room and the doctor said he'd have to stitch my eye closed. Then, you could have told me Santa Claus was in the next room with a bag of goodies just for me and I wouldn't have shut my mouth.”

Alex did laugh then and Monica found herself join
ing right in. The memory was still so clear in her mind even though she hadn't talked about it in years and she'd never talked about it to someone she wasn't related to.

On impulse she reached for his hand and lifted it until his fingers could brush over the barely there scar embedded now beneath her professionally arched eyebrows.

“My war scar,” she told him and was surprised into silence when he leaned over and replaced his fingers with his lips for a tender kiss.

“There. All better.”

Monica sighed. “My hero.”

Settling back and pulling Monica even closer to him this time, it was Alex's time to share.

“It was Christmas Eve. I was thirteen. Rico and Renny are three and six years younger than me, and they were there. We wanted to get a peek at our presents before everyone woke up. So we faked sleep early, avoiding the ritual of watching Christmas movies in the den with popcorn and hot chocolate. Gabriella and Adriana loved that stuff. Us boys simply endured it for my mother's sake.

“Anyway, it was around three in the morning when we, the three musketeers, crept down the steps. My mother loves all things Christmas so there was always a huge tree in the Bennett house. Half the den was filled with presents and holiday paraphernalia so that it took her the entire month of January to clean it all up.

“There were so many boxes and we just dug in, opening any and everything. Tossing the dolls and baby carriages aside, grinning like crazy over the Legos, Tonka trucks and army men. We were so busy unwrap
ping gifts we didn't pay any attention to what Bonkers was doing.”

“Bonkers?” she asked quizzically.

“Our chocolate-brown Lab who played just as hard and got into as much trouble as the three musketeers did.”

Monica nodded. A grin was already spreading across her face. She hadn't pegged Alex for a pet guy, but could clearly hear the love in his voice as he spoke of Bonkers.

“Bonkers wanted to get in on the opening of gifts, as well. So he'd loped on over to the tree, scooting on his stomach until he was firmly beneath it, and grabbed hold of a box. The box probably lodged on a branch or something and Bonkers became frantic with trying to retrieve his catch. It was too late the moment the three of us looked up and Rico whispered for Bonkers to stop. The dog was too far gone, his package firmly between his teeth as he continued the tug-of-war. We'd just stood up to go and get him when it started to tilt.”

“What started to tilt?”

“The tree,” Alex said with a sense of dread. “All eight-and-a-half feet of Douglas fir tilted and wobbled before falling on top of Bonkers and the three musketeers.”

Monica laughed so hard and so fast she didn't have time to think of whether or not it was appropriate.

Their laughter subsided only to be replaced by a sort of needy silence. The closeness could not be denied, not only physically but intimately. Beneath the blankets Monica felt warmth radiating between them. One of his arms was wrapped around her shoulders and the other rested in front of them on his lap. Both her hands
were in her lap until he lifted his hand and cupped her chin, titlting her head up to his. She touched his elbow then, rubbing her hand over his biceps and back again.

For an endless moment he simply stared into her eyes. She stared back at him, and though no words were spoken they communicated. He wanted to kiss her. She wanted to kiss him. It wasn't the time; then again, it was. Never again would they be in such a simplistic setting, waiting for one thing and one thing only. The hustle and bustle of her work life and his was not an obstacle here. Their families were thousands of miles away. Right here, right now it was just the two of them.

When his lips brushed over hers Monica sighed in relief. Waiting another moment was going to be damn near impossible for her. If need be, she was prepared to initiate the kiss herself. But that wasn't an issue any longer. His lips moved over hers slowly, his tongue snaking out to touch each corner of her mouth then stroke long, languid lines over her lips. Her next sigh had her lips parting, her own tongue searching for his. Their tongues sought and mingled even without their lips touching. It was a sensual dance, an intimate mating that sent shivers throughout her body.

Monica let herself stay right there, ensconced in his warmth, his protective embrace. She didn't think logically, didn't want to be cautious and didn't for one moment imagine what might lie ahead.

 

The tow truck showed up two hours later and its surly, overweight, cigar-smoking, short-sleeve-wearing-the-day-after-a-blizzard driver did, too. Alex helped Monica out of the backseat of the SUV. Afterward she
stood on the side of a snowy bank watching it being hitched to the back of the tow truck.

“Come on,” Alex said, holding a hand out to her. “He's going to give us a ride into town to the nearest hotel.”

She nodded but didn't try to talk as she gingerly stepped through the snow to the passenger side of the tow truck. For the next forty minutes she was pressed between big cigar man and Alex, who had wrapped his arm around her shoulders again, pulling her closer to his side than that of the driver's.

When they finally arrived at the gloriously named Room at the End Hotel, which sat just on the edge of a picturesque little snow village, Monica was hungry and sleepy, which translated to cranky. Alex got his first taste of her mood when he'd stepped up to the front desk, gave his name and requested a room.

“And if you have another room I'll take it,” she said, giving him a stern look before she turned her attention back to the clerk.

“Two rooms?” the clerk asked, looking at both of them, probably knowing that they'd come together since the tow-truck driver had come in here just before them to use the facilities.

“No.”

“Yes.”

They answered simultaneously.

The clerk held up a hand when they both were ready to speak again. “I have an adjoining on the fourth floor.”

“We'll take it,” Alex said immediately, then gave Monica a look that said she should keep quiet.

She also looked as if she was debating whether or
not to go along with him. Eventually—like when the clerk handed both of them keys—she looked resigned to their fate.

Once they were out of the elevator and walking down the hallway to their rooms she said, “I meant what I said about us forgetting about what happened in the cabin.”

“And I meant what I said.”

She sighed as she came to her door and flipped the credit card–like key between her fingers. “Alex, this just isn't smart for either of us.”

“You can tell yourself that all you want, Queen. But each time you kiss me I get a different message.”

“Then maybe I should stop kissing you.”

He shrugged and put his own key card into the slot on the door. “You could try that but I'm almost positive it won't work.”

“Why won't it work?” Alex could hear the puzzlement as well as the apprehension in her tone.

He pushed his door open, then looked over to her. “Because I have no intention of stopping anything where you're concerned.”

“No means no,” she said snidely and unlocked her door.

“See, that's the problem, Queen. Your nos don't tell me to stop. They allow you to retain some kind of defense in your mind, but your actions speak much louder. But rest assured, the moment you tell me to stop and mean it with your heart, I will.”

“And then what?”

“Then you'll be the one coming to me.”

She pushed her door open and took a step inside.
“Don't bet on that,” she said, letting her door close with a loud clank.

Alex only smiled.

He was wearing her down, he could tell. And that thought almost made him feel better about the jerk who'd just tried to run him off the road. Almost.

M
onica had just stepped out of the shower. Her hair was wet and she was tucking the towel under her arms when she heard a loud thump. Instantly she looked toward the balcony doors. There was a heavy curtain pulled closed over the sheer one and she'd already checked to ensure it was locked before she'd gone into the bathroom. Yet Monica was certain the sound she heard had come from that direction.

There was another thump and she knew she should have moved, probably run out of the room, but that really wasn't her style. Instead, she moved closer to the bed, lifted the lamp and pulled the plug out of the socket. Whoever was on her balcony was going to get an unwelcome surprise the moment they stepped foot into this room. She took a step closer, her legs slightly parted as she grabbed the lamp tighter in her hand, lifting her arms ready to strike.

But instead of the intruder working the lock to get in there was a loud crash and wind whipped into the room, the curtains at the balcony doors lifting behind it. Glass showered the room, catching Monica's bare shoulders and her face. She blinked but tried to remain focused, waiting for whoever it was to come into the room.

Behind her the door to her room was kicked open. Just as she was about to turn to see who intruder number two was, she glimpsed the one from the balcony, dressed in all black with a ski mask over his head. Monica hurled the lamp at his head instead of keeping it in her hand and whacking him with it. He dodged the assault just as she was grabbed by the waist and pulled away.

Without even turning she knew who held her and was furious that he was there. “Put me down!” she screamed as he lifted her off her feet and carried her to the door. “He's getting away!” She pounded her fists on his arms but that was useless. He wasn't letting her go.

“Calm down. I already called the police. He ran out onto the balcony. We're four stories up. By the time he climbs back down either the police or hotel security will be down there,” he said when he finally put her down in the narrow corridor of the hallway.

She spun around, wet tassels of hair slapping against her cheek. “What are you, some bodyguard or something? Why'd you come over here? I thought we agreed we needed our space.”

“First,” Alex said calmly, “lower your voice or all the occupants that didn't hear the window breaking are going to hear you screaming and come out to see what's going on.” She started to speak but Alex clapped a hand
over her lips to keep her quiet. “Second, I'm in the adjoining room, remember? I heard the noises on the balcony and was coming over to check on you. I started to break through the adjoining door but I was trying to observe the space that you think we need. And third, I'm going to leave you right here for a second, run into that room and get your robe before I have to beat every cop and/or male worker in this hotel to death for looking at you half-dressed as you are.”

He waited a beat and lifted his brows as if to ask if she understood what he'd said. Monica nodded reluctantly, hating to give in to him on any level. Then he removed his hand and turned away, ducking into the room where her clothes were. He was back in a couple seconds, clutching her robe in his hands. When she reached for it, he wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Now, when the police get here tell them exactly what happened. We'll let them search the room then get your things. You're staying in my room tonight and I don't want to hear another word about it.”

Monica huffed. “Sure, I'll just stand here and speak when you tell me to and shut up when you say so, just like a puppet.”

He cut her a glance when she pushed his hands away as he'd been trying to tie her robe around her. “I can do it myself.”

“I know you're independent, Queen. But sometimes you just need to sit back and let somebody take care of you for a change.”

“I don't need you to take care of me.”

“Everybody needs somebody.”

Two uniformed police officers stepped off the elevator before Monica could reply, which was probably
a good thing because this conversation was starting to border on juvenile for her.

Keeping one arm around her, Alex extended his other hand to both the officers one at a time, introducing himself and her.

“It was your room that was broken in to?” The first officer, the tall lanky one with the fuzzy mustache and the badge that read Cooper, asked.

“Yes,” Monica answered before Alex dared to answer for her. Even though she wasn't feeling her best after seeing the man jump through the window, she wasn't a simpering mess, either. She could talk for herself just fine. “I had just come out of the shower when I heard noises on the balcony. I picked something up to defend myself just before the glass shattered and the guy was standing in the middle of the room.”

“What'd he look like? Did you know him?” Officer number two was a few inches shorter than Officer Cooper and had a full dark beard and mustache. His badge read Harrington.

“He wore a ski mask,” she said then thought how trivial that must have sounded since they were so close to the ski capital of the world. “All black. Kind of short. That's all I remember since it was so quick.”

“As soon as I came in he jumped off the balcony,” Alex added.

“And where's your room?” Officer Harrington asked.

Monica noted that neither officer had pulled out a notepad. They both just looked from her to Alex with somewhat bored facial expressions.

“We have adjoining rooms. I heard the noise on her balcony, as well, and came over to see if she was okay,” Alex said.

“And why wouldn't she be okay?” Officer Cooper asked. “Did you know ahead of time that someone was going to break in to her room?”

Monica stared incredulously at the officer for asking such a ridiculous question. At her side she felt Alex stiffen and wondered if he were about to lose his temper.

Instead he answered in a calm tone, “We had another incident on our way here. Someone tried to run us off the road. So, yes, I was worried about her safety. Hearing the noises alerted me to the fact that something might be wrong.”

Officer Harrington cast a glance at Officer Cooper, who nodded his head.

“You two married?” Cooper asked.

What the hell did that have to do with anything?

“No, we're not,” Monica answered briskly. “Don't you want to check out the room? Maybe dust for fingerprints?”

“Hold on, little lady,” Harrington said, raising a hand in Monica's direction. “We're conducting this investigation.”

“Are you really?” Alex said to Harrington. “Look, that's the room the guy broke in to. Did you manage to catch him coming off the balcony?”

“Nah,” Cooper answered. “Crowd's pretty thick downstairs in the lobby and outside. With only an hour till the party, people are everywhere.”

So that meant they weren't going to catch the guy and weren't even going to try looking for him.

“Fine. I've told you all I know. Can I go now?” Fed up with the jerk officers, Monica shifted from one foot to the other.

“You want to file a written report?” Harrington asked.

“Don't you think she should?” Alex responded.

Cooper hunched his shoulders. “If nothing was stolen and nobody was hurt, might not be worth it.”

Or if they were of a different race it would change the circumstances dramatically, Monica thought and could tell Alex was probably thinking the same thing. But instead of calling the race card, they both just stood straighter, looking each officer in the eye.

“She'll stay in my room tonight, and I'll make sure she's safe. We're leaving in the morning so you don't have to worry about taking time from your New Year's celebration to write down a report. But know this,” Alex said in a deadly serious tone. “If this guy comes near her again while we're here I'm going straight to your superiors with my complaints about the two of you.”

“Now, hold on there, son. We came up here, didn't we? Just doesn't look like there's much to go on. She can't identify anybody and you can't, either, seeing as you got there a mite too late. Doesn't seem to me there's a lot to report except for the window damage.”

“And I'm sure the hotel would like that reported for insurance purposes,” Monica added.

“If that's all, gentlemen, we'll bid you good-night,” Alex said, pulling Monica away before either of the officers could speak again.

“Jerks,” Monica mumbled as Alex escorted her to his room.

“Big-time. But don't worry, one call to D&D Investigations and I'll have them both taken care of.”

Monica recognized the name of the private inves
tigation firm as the one Sam and Trent Donovan ran. If Alex was planning on calling them those joker officers would be reprimanded by the highest authority in Colorado by morning.

 

“There's a pre–New Year's Eve party going on downstairs in the ballroom,” Alex said when Monica came out of the bathroom, dressed in gray lounge pants and a long gray shirt.

“I'll be fine right here,” she replied.

She moved to sit on the edge of the double bed. Since they'd walked in off the street and asked for a room, on a holiday no less, they had to take what was available. He was sitting in one of the guest chairs that along with the small round table served as the only other furniture in the room besides the dresser and television.

He'd been sitting here since they'd talked to the police and retrieved Monica's things from her room. Using his phone he'd returned Renny's email asking when they'd be home and sent another email to Sam Desdune. Something wasn't right and the sooner Alex found out what was going on, the better he was going to feel.

“Are you sure you're okay?” he asked, knowing already what her answer would be.

“You asked me that before I went into the bathroom and I said I was fine.”

“I'm asking again because you look a little shaken up.”

She shook her head. “Why would I be shaken up? Because some maniac just broke in to my room?”

And because another maniac just tried to run us off the road.
Alex didn't say that part aloud. “Anybody would be a little off after such an eventful day, Queen.
You don't have to feel like it makes you any less of a person.”

“Stop telling me what to feel or what not to feel. How to act, how not to act. Do you think just because we slept together you can tell me how to live my life? I've been doing just fine all these years.”

She'd jumped up off the bed and was now pacing the room as she talked. Her agitation was apparent, unfortunately only to him. For that reason Alex remained quiet. Monica was the type of person who needed to work through her own emotions; she didn't want anyone doing that for her. He could respect that. What he couldn't do was sit idly by and let her suffer. That just wasn't going to happen.

“I'm going to go downstairs, grab something to eat and maybe a drink. I'll bring you something back,” he said.

She didn't even turn to him, just mumbled something that sounded like “okay.”

The minute the door closed Monica sat on the bed again, sighing heavily.

Something was going on. Whatever Alex Bennett thought she might be, stupid wasn't on the list. What were the odds that someone would try to run them off the road, then a couple hours later, someone tries to break in to her hotel room? No, she wasn't stupid. Whatever was going on definitely involved her and possibly Alex.

Moving from the bed, she picked up her purse and searched for her cell phone. The pack up and drive here had happened so fast she hadn't had a chance to call home. Besides, her phone had taken forever to charge. Alex was right; she was going to have to suck it up and
get a new phone. But first, she needed to check in with her office. Monica bypassed to her voice mail and listened to more than fifteen messages and three hang-ups. It was after nine at night so Adonna wouldn't be there, but she left her assistant a message letting her know she would be home tomorrow afternoon. Alex, forever the hero, had already booked them a flight out first thing in the morning.

Monica berated herself, something she did all too often as of late, for not openly appreciating all that Alex had done for her while they'd been stranded. He could have been a total jackass and simply ignored her, but he hadn't. Even after they'd had sex she was pushing at him and he simply took whatever she dished out in his own way, of course. What the hell was wrong with her?

Any other woman with a half bit of sense would be dying to have a man like Alex Bennett falling for her. But that was just it, Monica didn't believe he was falling for her. Alex was a natural-born fixer. He would try to help anyone he thought was in trouble, and for whatever reason he really believed she had issues that he could resolve. If he'd just listen to her she could tell him that her issues would never be resolved, not by another man anyway.

After punching in a speed-dial number, Monica put the phone to her ear and tried to block out her traitorous thoughts.

“Hi, Karena, it's me,” she said in a solemn voice. The less her sisters knew about what was going on with her, the better. Monica had always believed that.

“Hey, Monica!” Karena sounded genuinely happy to hear from her. Monica wondered what her sister had
thought Alex Bennett was going to do with her. And if they thought it might be bad, then why set this little get-together up in the first place?

“How are you? Where are you? Bree called and said Renny heard from Alex and he told him that you were leaving the resort together to find another hotel.”

“We did and we're at the new hotel.” She wanted to add
in separate rooms
but that wasn't true. Besides, it might lead to more questions than she was willing to answer.

“And when are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow” was her quick reply.