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“No,” he muttered, one hand tightening on the wood door frame. “You want more than that. Much more.”
He thought back over the past several days and realized that beneath the lust was a layer of annoyance. The Lacy he had left behind two years ago had been cool, calm. And crazy about him.
Sam could privately admit that he’d half expected her to jump into his arms with a cry of joy when he came back. And the fact that she hadn’t, stung. Not only that, he had thought he’d be dealing with cool dispassion from her. Instead, there had been temper. Fury. Which, he had to say, was arousing. He liked that flash of anger in her eyes. Liked the heat that spilled off her whenever they were together. And he knew Lacy liked it, too.
She could argue all she wanted, fight what lay simmering between them, but the truth was, she still felt it, whether she wanted to or not.
Those kisses proved him right on that score.
Now his skin felt too tight. There was an itch inside him—damned if he’d ignore it any longer. This all began and ended with Lacy, he told himself. When he left Snow Vista two years before, he’d been wrapped up in his own grief and fury. Losing his twin had sliced at Sam’s soul to the point where even breathing had seemed an insurmountable task. He’d deliberately exiled himself from this place. From her.
He’d picked up Jack’s dreams and carried them for his dead twin—believing that he owed it to his brother. But dreams were damned empty when they weren’t your own. Now Sam was back. To stay? He didn’t know. But while he was here, he and Lacy were going to straighten out a few things.
Behind him, the heat of the room swelled, while in front of him, the cold and the dark beckoned. And he knew that whatever was between him and Lacy, it was time they settled it. He reached back to snatch his jacket off a hook. He was shrugging it on as he stepped into the night and closed the door behind him.
It didn’t take him long to cross the distance separating his cabin from hers. And in those few moments, Sam asked himself why the hell he was doing this. But the simple fact was, he had to see her again. Had to get beyond the wall she had erected between them.
Stars were out and a pale half-moon lit the path, though he didn’t need it. He could have found his way to Lacy’s place blindfolded. On her wide front porch, he looked through the windows and saw a fire in the hearth, a couple of lamps tossing golden puddles across a hardwood floor. And he saw Lacy, curled up in a chair, staring at the flames as flickering shadow and light dazzled over her.
Even now, his heart gave a hard lurch and his body went like stone—but then, passion had never been a problem between them. He knocked on the door and watched as she frowned, pushed to her feet and walked to it.
She opened the door and her features went stiff. “Go away.”
“No.”
Lacy huffed out a breath. “What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“No, thank you.” She tried to close the door, but he slapped one hand to it and held it open.
He stepped past her and walked into the main room, ignoring her sputter of outrage. “You should close that door before you freeze.”
Glaring at him, she looked as though she might argue the point, even though all she wore was a flannel sleep shirt, scooped at the neck, high on her thighs. Her long, toned legs were bare and the color of fresh cream. Her feet were bare, too, and he noted the sinful red polish on the nails. Her blond hair was free of its braid, hanging in heavy waves around her shoulders, making him want nothing more than to fist his hands in that thick, soft mass again. But her blue eyes were narrowed and there was no welcome there.
Finally, though, the winter cold was enough to convince her to shut the door, sealing the two of them in together. Still, she didn’t cross the room, but stayed at the door, her back braced against it, her arms folded across her chest. “You don’t have the right to come here. I didn’t invite you.”
“Didn’t used to need an invitation.”
Her mouth worked as if she were biting back words struggling to escape. The flannel nightshirt she wore shouldn’t have been sexy, but it really was. Everything about this woman got to him as no one else ever had. He had thought he could walk away from her, but the truth was, he’d taken her with him everywhere he went.
“What do you want?”
“You know the answer to that.” He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on the back of the nearest chair.
“Don’t get comfortable. You won’t be here that long.”
