Winter's Heart (14 page)

Her breath caught in her throat at his teasing flirtation and for a moment she was at a loss for words, wondering what would happen if she grabbed the lapel of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. Shaking the crazy thought from her head, she heaved an exaggerated sigh and crinkled her nose at him, “I can’t think of a thing you could do to make it up to me since there are no dragons to slay and no golden fleeces to recover so you’ll have to remain in purgatory.”

He bent his head in disgrace but she could still see his smile and she waited with too eager anticipation for his response. It wasn’t meant to be as Fallon cleared her throat and Flynn jumped away from Winter, another cursed blush stealing into her face. Without thinking, she explained, “He imagined what it would be like to have sex with both of us at the same time but that’s not going to happen.”

Fallon snorted, “That’s for damn sure. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Winter Mitchell.”

Her sister pushed herself to her feet and sashayed across the room with a becoming smile on her face, her green eyes sparkling, and her hand held out for Winter to take. After only a moment’s hesitation, Winter released Flynn’s hand and took Fallon’s hand. Bringing it up to his lips, kissing the air above her flesh, and giving Fallon his panty-melting grin, Winter said, “The pleasure is all mine.”

Fallon fanned herself with her hand and sighed meltingly, “You do know how to make a girl feel welcomed. You have a lovely home, by the way.”

“Thank you.” He nodded his head in acknowledgment of her compliment but when his eyes darted to Flynn’s, she saw a hint of panic in the blue depths. Or at least, she thought she did. But it could have been wishful thinking because when Fallon put on the charm, she could wrap any guy around her dainty finger.

Fallon could flirt with anything and everything that was male and it was perfectly harmless and never meant much. So why did Flynn feel green with envy? And was it her imagination or was Fallon laying it on awfully thick? Oozing charm like a seductress intent on landing the sexiest man in the world….

That’s when Fallon looked directly at her and Flynn realized her sister was purposefully tweaking her pride, though she wasn’t sure why unless Fallon knew something. But how much could Fallon possibly know? Doing a quick check of her actions over the past week, she could think of nothing that could have given her away. The only time she had talked with Winter was late at night while Fallon was sleeping or during the evening when her sister was out with Harry. And once when she was at work, but they spent a few minutes discussing decorations for the party so it counted as business.

She didn’t think she was acting any differently than normal, not like Fallon who was floating around the apartment with a perpetual smile on her face, though that could have been giddiness at getting the commercial, not just a blossoming romance with Harry. Laughter invaded her thoughts, bringing her back to the present and when she blinked, she saw that both Fallon and Winter were laughing at her.

“Where did you go just now?” Winter asked with a quizzical smile on his lips.

“I just spaced out,” she mumbled, glancing at Fallon and seeing the unmistakable look of intrigue on her sister’s pretty face. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her gaze from returning to Winter and within moments, she was losing herself in his eyes. Shaking her head out of her trance, she pasted on a smile and asked, “Shall we go see what my dad and brother are up to?”

“It sounds like a good idea,” he said, still confused by her behavior, not that she blamed him. Holding out his arms for them, he crooned, “Ladies.”

With surprising speed, Fallon wrapped her arms around his arm and plastered her body against his side, but she was grinning at Flynn the entire time. Trying to keep her fluttering pulse under control, Flynn took a breath before she looped a single arm through his other arm, keeping enough space between them to park a bus. But he wasn’t having any of that as he tugged her until she was plastered against his side as well.

“There, that’s better,” he whispered in her ear, nudging her hip with his.

“How so?” Fallon asked with perfect, albeit false, innocence.

“It’s always better to keep beautiful women close at hand,” he improvised, gifting Fallon another one of his smiles. Flynn was stunned when Fallon sucked in a sharp breath, not completely unaffected by Winter’s charm either. “Just don’t tell Melissa.”

The casual mention of the third person in their fake relationship put another damper on Flynn’s spirits but she couldn’t act like it affected her at all. The tangled mess of Winter and Melissa’s faux relationship was not something she had spent a lot of time thinking about because she hadn’t wanted to think about it. With the reminder that she was technically the other woman, she felt ill. But she
wasn’t
the other woman because the relationship between Winter and Melissa was a complete fabrication.

Clearing her throat, she asked in a soft voice, “Will we be seeing Storm today?”

Winter shook his head no in genuine regret. “He wanted to come but I felt it was better to leave him with his aunt. Even though he knows about the pirate ship, I want to leave the design as a surprise so the first time he sees the ship it will be at his party when it’s complete.”

That was actually kind of sweet. “Does he spend a lot of time here?”

“Not as much as we’d like to,” he answered with a hint of resignation in his voice. “When things are settled, we’re hoping to move up here full time.”

“What does your
fiancée
think of that idea?” Fallon asked, this time in genuine curiosity.

Flynn felt Winter stiffen but one would never be able to tell by his expression that he was bothered by the question. “Missy hates the idea, of course. She prefers living amidst the gilded
streets of Beverly Hills whereas I prefer the quieter life up here in the country.”

Flynn nodded her head in silent agreement. Living in a warm, cozy house surrounded by hundreds of acres of pristine land was her idea of heaven. Add in a few animals, a large garden, a couple of kids, a husband, and she’d be set for life. She could easily picture herself living in Winter’s country home, with Winter by her side and a gaggle of children running wild in the backyard, with Storm leading his half-brothers and sisters into fake battle….

She faltered a step as the perfect image flashed in her head, leaving her wanting so much more than she had any right to want. Winter wasn’t going to marry her and she wasn’t going to be having his children and, for pity’s sake, she had only known the man for a few weeks. Before that he had been a picture on her wall. She was getting way, way ahead of herself and she mentally castigated herself for being so foolish.

“Peanut! Pickles!” her dad called out, excitement bubbling in his deep voice. “There you two are! This place is amazing and the pirate ship… Holy crap, the pirate ship is going to be a dream come true. Once it’s built, I might never leave…. Oh, you’re not alone.”

Flynn smiled at her dad’s enthusiasm, stepping away from Winter as she took in her dad’s ruddy face. “Dad, I’d like you to meet Winter Mitchell, the owner of this amazing property and the man who will be commissioning that pirate ship.”

“You’re awfully sure of yourself,” Winter whispered in her ear as he stepped past her and held out his hand. He stumbled a step when he saw just how big her dad was, who stood over Winter by a good three inches. “Mr. Rogers, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Daniel,” her dad said gruffly, accepting the hand and giving it a manly shake, squeezing it until Winter’s fingers turned white. It was her dad’s way of testing the worthiness of opponents, which included males who were within dating age of his daughters. By her father’s satisfied nod, Flynn knew that Winter had passed. “Mr. Mitchell.”

“Please, call me Winter,” he said. A moment later, Jeff appeared and Winter visibly swallowed, glancing back at Flynn with a look that was akin to panic in his eyes. But the panic was gone a heartbeat later as he smiled and held out his hand for her brother to shake. “Mr. Rogers.”

“Jeff,” her brother corrected with an affable grin, shaking Winter’s hand with a little more enthusiasm than the occasion called for. “You have some beautiful land out here, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Please, Winter is fine.” Clapping his hands together, he was suddenly all business and so sexy Flynn couldn’t help but stare. “Tell me what you’ve got planned so far.”

Off the three of them went, discussing bows and planks and two by fours and finding a local distributor to deliver the materials and a million other things. Flynn and Fallon stared after the three men with similar looks of astonishment on their faces. Turning as one, they looked at one another and started giggling. They automatically linked their hands and walked sedately behind.

“So, what’s going on between you and Winter Mitchell?” Fallon asked abruptly in a quiet voice.

“Nothing,” Flynn said. At Fallon’s look of disbelief, she continued, “That I’m allowed to talk about.”

“Come on, Flynn,” she cajoled. “I see the way he looks at you. You can’t tell me there’s nothing between you when he was practically fucking you with his eyes.”

Flynn felt the tell-tale blush heat her cheeks and she looked down, concentrating on her steps because she couldn’t wipe the stupid grin from her face. How much could she tell her sister, the one person in the world she had always told everything to before? How much did she want to tell her because there was still a part of her that wanted to keep the secret of Winter close to her heart? “There really isn’t that much to tell, Fal. He’s an attractive man and he makes me laugh.”

“He makes you blush as well,
Flynnie,” she smirked.

“Everything makes me blush.” For once in her life, she was grateful for that truth that helped conceal an even bigger, more complicated truth.

“Just be careful,” Fallon told her, the warning coming from a place of love. “You don’t want to end up like Murphy.”

“I’m not getting involved with a married man,” Flynn said, which was the absolute truth. Before Fallon could protest, she held up her hand and continued, “Nor am I getting involved with an engaged man. Don’t worry,
Fal. I’m fine.”

“I’ll always worry,” she said with a slight smile, resting her head on Flynn’s shoulder as they continued their leisurely walk across Winter’s massive backyard.

Flynn smiled but her thoughts went to Murphy and she wondered once again if it had been like this for her oldest sister. Of course, Murphy had been sixteen and the man with whom she had fallen in love was the father of the children she babysat. He was older, mid to late twenties and married and she had been underage and starry-eyed. The whole thing had been a huge scandal but it was Murphy who was the one who paid the price, getting shunned by her friends and having her heart broken when the guy decided he wanted to make it work with his poor wife, who conveniently held the purse strings.

Two years later, the bastard ran off with some nineteen year old heiress and the last Flynn heard of him, he was some smarmy lawyer with an eye on politics. He was just slimy enough to get elected. It had taken Murphy years to get over him, as well as a round of antibiotics, a difficult pregnancy and a beautiful little girl who never saw her father. Flynn had been twelve when the affair blew up, old enough to understand what was going on and young enough to be traumatized by it. The extra year that Fallon had on Flynn had given her some perspective, namely don’t fuck with sleazy, married bastards.

It was fucked up all around.

Which reminded her: she really needed to get in to see a doctor and get some birth control pills.

Murphy had her head turned by a handsome, suave older man who said all of the right things and promised her eternity but it had only lasted a few months. Was the same thing happening to her? She didn’t want to believe Winter was just some smooth-talking Lothario but what if he was? Unlike Murphy, she was not some naïve sixteen year old girl. She knew what she was getting into and she had both eyes open. Still, it was a lot to think about and it was best to do her thinking when Winter wasn’t around because her brain turned to mush the moment he stepped into the room. 

She could take some comfort in the fact that Melissa confirmed they were not engaged and that the game between them was coming to an end. Continui
ng the charade for another five months still didn’t make perfect sense to Flynn but she felt like she was at least on somewhat solid ground.

♥~♥~♥

Winter looked at the group of people sitting around his dining room table and a pit of yearning yawned open in his gut, almost painful in its intensity. He found he really liked Flynn’s family, from her bear of a father to her teasing brother to her beautiful sister. But it was Flynn he was drawn to, like a cat to a bowl of cream. And like a cat, he wanted to lap her up. Her smile lit up the frickin’ room and he found that it was nearly impossible to tear his eyes away from her.

Being away from her for a week while he was filming had nearly killed him. He felt like a drug addict going through withdrawal, shaky and moody, and the only time he could breathe were the moments he was able to talk with her on the phone. Now she was sitting less than five feet away from him, he could almost smell her intoxicating scent, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

He wished this bargain with Missy was over and done with. Or that he had met Flynn after he and Missy parted ways. No, he didn’t wish he hadn’t met her yet because then he would have missed this time with her. It was just complicated and if he wasn’t careful it was going to get messy. Especially since he kept finding himself staring at her, studying her.