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For a couple of hours, they’d shared dinner, laughter and a history that was made up of a lifetime of knowing each other. And darn it, Lacy thought, she had been completely charmed and thrown off balance again. He’d said he was going to give her romance, and if last night was the beginning of that, he was off to a great start.

“Have you had a chance to talk to any of your friends about the gift shop?”

“Oh, I did get a couple of them on the phone and they’re very interested.” Excited, actually. Thrilled to be asked and to have another venue to sell their wares.

“Good.” He shoved both hands in his pockets and stared out the office window at the view. “I’m meeting with the architect in an hour. I want the plans drawn up as soon as possible.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” she said wryly.

He glanced at her. “Why’s that?”

“Nobody says no to you for long, do they?”

Sam’s mouth quirked. “That include you?”

She felt her balance dissolving beneath her feet. One smile from him, one whispered comment sent jagged shards of heat slicing through her. It just wasn’t fair that he had so much ammunition to use against her.

Rather than let him see that he was getting to her, Lacy replied, “As I recall, I also said ‘yes’ a couple of weeks ago.”

“Yeah,” he said, gaze moving over her like a touch. “You did.”

She squirmed in her chair, then forced herself to settle when she noticed him noticing.

“Don’t get jumpy,” he said, coming around the desk to lean over her.

“If you don’t want me jumpy, you should back up a little.”

That smile came again. “Seduction in the office isn’t romance, so you’re safe from me at the moment.”

It could be, she thought wistfully. Lock the door, draw the blinds and—oh, yeah, the office could work. Oh, boy.

He kissed her light and quick, then straightened up. “I’m heading into Ogden to the meeting with the architect. If you need me, you’ve got my cell number.”

“Yeah. I do.” If you need me. She smothered a sigh. She did need him, but probably not in the way he meant.

“Okay then.”

He was almost at the door when she remembered something she had to run by him. “I hired an extra chef to give Maria some help in the kitchen. He starts tomorrow.”

“That works,” he said, and gave her a long look. “You don’t have to run this stuff by me, Lacy. You’ve done a hell of a job managing the resort for a long time now. I trust you.”

Then he left and Lacy was alone with those three words repeating in her mind. He trusted her.

And she was keeping his child a secret from him. Was she wrong to wait? To see if maybe his idea to romance her had more to do with reigniting love rather than the flash and burn of desire?

How could she know? All she had to go on were her instincts and they were screaming at her to protect herself—because if he shattered her again, she might not be able to pick up all the pieces this time.

* * *

For the next few weeks, Sam concentrated on setting his plans into motion. As February became March and spring crept closer day by day, he was busier than ever. It felt good, digging back into Snow Vista, making a new place for himself here. And Lacy was a big part of that. They had dinner together nearly every night—he’d taken to showing up at the cabin bringing burgers or Italian or Chinese. They talked and planned, and though it was killing him not to, he hadn’t tried to smooth her into bed again yet.

He was determined to give her the romance neither of them had had the first time around. And that included sending her flowers, both at work and at her house. The wariness in her eyes was fading and he was glad to see it go.

A roaring engine from one of the earth movers working on the restaurant site tore through his thoughts and brought him back to the moment. The construction team was digging out and leveling the ground for the foundation. As long as the sun kept shining and temperatures stayed above freezing, they’d be getting the lodge addition started by next week. The hard-core, hate-to-see-winter-end skiers were still flocking to the mountain, but for most of the tourists, the beginning of spring meant the end of looking for snow.

Which brought him back to the latest plan he’d already set in motion. Right now there was an engineer and a surveying crew laying out the best possible route for his just-like-Park-City forest ride. There would be rails for individual cars and the riders would be able to slow down if they didn’t like the speed attached to careening down a mountain slope. The architects were busily drawing up plans and making the changes that the Wyatt family insisted on.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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