Kristin Hardy - Under The Mistletoe

Gabe snorted. “How old are you again?”

“I mean it. She doesn’t need to be scared, not when she’s still getting over losing Dad.”

“Okay, sealed shut,” Gabe promised, invoking their child hood code.

“I had to go in after one of my guys who got hurt. The building came down on us as we were getting out.”

“And what happened to you?”

“Nothing serious,” Nick said. “A few burns and bruises. It looked worse than it was—the people on the outside thought we both bit the big one. Sloane bolted.”

“Well, you’ve got to admit, it would give a person pause. If the idea of waking up with you didn’t do it already.”

“She lost her brother in that Hartford fire a couple of years back. What I do gives her bad vibes, I guess.”

“It’s not as simple as what you do. It’s what you are.”

Nick let out a long breath. “That’s the problem, isn’t it?”

Gabe had never heard Nick sound quite so miserable. “Did she ask you to quit?”

“She says that she knows I couldn’t.”

“At least she gets it.”

“That doesn’t really help,” Nick said with a little edge.

“I know.” Gabe paused. “Do you love this woman?”

“Yes.” Nick’s answer was calm, immediate, without question.

“Then go after her.” Relationships had always seemed simple to Gabe. You were interested in a woman, you asked her out. If it worked, you kept at it until it no longer did. Eventually, you found a keeper.

Unless the one you were interested in was completely off-limits. Gabe shook his head. “Talk to her, change her mind.”

“It’s not that easy, charm boy. I can’t push her into living with a firefighter any more than she would push me into quitting. She’s got to come to it on her own. If she ever does.”

“While you just sit and wait?”

“While I just sit and wait.”

“You’re not exactly a waiting type.”

“You’ve noticed?”

Because he knew arguments would be futile, Gabe didn’t bother. “That sucks, man.”

Nick sighed. “Yeah, it does. What about you—are you stuck with this situation?”

“Unless I want to get another job.”

“Do you want another job?”

“I don’t know. I love this place. If I left, I’d feel like I’d let down the old owner and the staff. And the hotel itself.”

“You ever going to stop trying to take care of everyone?”

“You ever going to stop risking your neck trying to save people?” Gabe asked by way of answer.

“At least I get paid for it.”

“I do, too, most of the time.”

“So what are you going to do about your goddess?”

“I don’t know. Try to do my job. Try to keep her from doing too much damage.” Try to erase Saturday from his memory.

“Show her what matters to you about the hotel. Maybe it’ll become important to her, too.”

What he loved about the hotel was the romance, the history of it. The way he’d felt on the dance floor with Hadley in his arms. The hotel belonged to lovers. If he could make her feel that, really feel it all the way through, maybe they had a chance. “I’ll give it a try,” he said thoughtfully. “Hey, Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you come up and ski next time you’re off? Beat the hell out of yourself on the mountain. It might not make things better, but it’ll sure as hell be a distraction.”

“Maybe I will,” Nick said. “Maybe I will.”

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.