LITMIR.BIZ

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in particular. Then I looked up and realized I was headed here. So...”

      Lauren had the door open and was yanking him inside before he could finish his sentence. Colton was so grateful to feel the rush of warm air on his skin he collapsed onto the floor in a snow-covered heap. Lauren shut the door but not before the blustery conditions blew snow onto the polished wood floor. She gazed down at her uninvited guest. “Frank passed away?”

      Colton’s eyes met hers. In hers he saw shock and sympathy.

      He stood up. He was at least six inches taller than she was and she wasn’t a small-statured woman—five-eight, maybe five-nine. “Yeah, of pancreatic cancer. Kept it quiet for years. He didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him.”

      There were tears in her eyes. She stood there with a towel wrapped around her hair and dressed in a bathrobe with pink bunny slippers on her feet. She should have looked comical, even ridiculous, but instead she looked beautiful to him. Not just beautiful—angelic.

      It could have something to do with the fact that she’d just saved his life by letting him in, he thought skeptically. “Please, don’t cry,” he said softly as he rubbed his arms to speed up his body’s recovery from the cold.

      Lauren wiped the tears away with her free hand and seeing he was severely underdressed for the weather outside and must be freezing, she sprang into action.

      “Come with me,” she told him, and began walking toward the back of the cabin.

      “Is that a gun?” he asked cautiously after catching sight of the weapon she held at her side.

      “A girl has to stay safe,” she said offhandedly.

      “So, it’s true what they say about you Gaines girls,” Colton said as he followed her.

      Lauren smiled over her shoulder at him. She had been under the impression he knew nothing of her background. But apparently her reputation, or to be more accurate, her father’s reputation, had preceded her.

      “What do they say about us Gaines girls?”

      “That you don’t mess with the general’s daughters.”

      She laughed shortly. “Damned straight, you don’t.”

      She led him to the guest room and switched on the light. She gestured to the closet. “I’m sure some of the clothes in there should fit you. There are towels and toiletries in the bathroom. By the time you’re finished taking a hot shower I’ll have something warm for you to eat and drink.”

      Although grateful, Colton hesitated to accept her generous offer. He stood peering down into her upturned face, an expression of surprise on his own. “Are you sure this is okay with your husband?”

      He wanted to avoid being caught naked in the shower by an irascible husband who’d stalked in from somewhere else in the house.

      “Ex-husband,” Lauren informed him tightly.

      He looked confused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

      “Nondisclosure clause in the prenuptial,” Lauren said briskly. “I can’t speak to the media about our divorce or about anything that happened in our marriage. He thinks it might reflect negatively on him, from a business standpoint. Now, I’ll leave you alone.”

      She left before he could say anything else, closing the door firmly behind her.

      Colton looked around the spacious room with its pine floor, vaulted ceiling with exposed beams, and a natural stone fireplace. He’d heard she was an architect. As a builder he could see the thought and skill that had gone into its design.

      Right now, though, a nice warm shower was what he needed. He wasted no more time peeling off his clothes and stepping into a steamy bath.

      * * *

      Having taken the time to put on jeans and a long-sleeved cotton shirt, Lauren stood in the kitchen, heating up some of her hearty beef vegetable soup she’d made earlier that day. As she stirred it with a wooden spoon, she wondered how Veronica was doing. Veronica and Frank had to have been married nearly forty years. What did you do when you lost someone you’d been with for that long? Someone you adored? Frank had a reputation for being a hardnosed businessman but with Veronica he’d been nothing but loving. The time Lauren had spent with them up in the mountains, sharing meals and playing chess with Frank who once told her that she and Veronica were the only women who’d ever bested him at the game, would now be dearly cherished memories.

      Their son, though, was a mystery. She knew only what others had told her about him. He’d taken over the company when his father had retired. The Rileys had been in the construction business for more than half a century in the Raleigh area. They were known for being trustworthy and for producing quality private homes and commercial buildings. On the other side, Lauren had spent the entire length of her marriage listening to Adam complain about “those damned Rileys” who “have had a monopoly in this city for too long.” Adam was the upstart, and in order for the newcomer to triumph over the standard-bearer, deals were made that might be conceived as manipulative, perhaps even downright illegal. In return, Lauren had started to dislike her ex-husband long before she discovered he was having an affair.

      Back in the guest room, Colton had showered and brushed his teeth, and then found a pair of jeans that would fit him and a soft denim shirt in the closet. No underwear, which was fine with him. Unless he found a pair of briefs fresh out of the package, he wouldn’t be wearing anything that had once been that close to Adam Eckhart’s body.

      He did find a package of thick, white athletic socks, which he opened, selected a pair and pulled onto his feet. Appropriately dressed now, he went in search of his hostess. He let his nose lead him to the kitchen. Whatever she was cooking smelled wonderful. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He’d left Raleigh hours ago, his trip a meandering blackout until he recognized some familiar landmarks and realized he was headed to the family cabin, a place where he’d spent many an idyllic summer fishing, swimming, hiking and kayaking and generally making his older sister, Jade’s, life miserable. She’d been such a neat freak that he’d gotten a kick out of throwing her in the pond, or putting frogs, snakes and insects in her bed. He’d been a total jerk to her back then. It was a wonder they had such a close, loving relationship today. He’d left Jade in Raleigh with their mother. Which reminded him, by now they must be worried sick about him. He needed to call and tell them that he was fine. He felt bad for making them worry on top of the grief they were feeling due to his father’s recent death.

      Where was his cell phone? He found his jacket by the front door where Lauren had hung it on the coat tree to allow it to dry. He rummaged through the damp pockets until he found it. No lit-up display indicated it was in need of a recharge.

      A few seconds later, he was walking through the kitchen doorway. Spotting Lauren ladling soup into a bowl, he said, “Thanks. I think my body temp’s back to normal again.”

      She looked up and smiled, “Good. You’re not a vegetarian, are you? I’ve got some beef vegetable soup. Would you like coffee? Or maybe hot chocolate?”

      Colton sat down at the place setting she’d provided for him at the high-counter kitchen island. “No, I’m definitely not a vegetarian. That soup sounds good. And a hot chocolate, please,” he said. “Thank you...”

      “Call me Lauren.”

      She smiled again, and his heart skipped a beat. He hoped he wasn’t becoming infatuated with Adam Eckhart’s ex. It didn’t help that the woman was kind and generous to a fault. She was also drop-dead gorgeous with her fresh face, skin so clear and golden-brown with a hint of red as if she was blushing underneath. She’d taken the towel off her head and her blue-black hair fell in waves about her heart-shaped face. She was adorable without makeup. He’d seen her all dressed up at the Black and White Ball last year. She’d been on Eckhart’s arm with him beaming like an idiot, and no wonder—she’d been the belle of the ball. She’d been breathtaking then but not as appealing as she looked now, so vulnerable, as if her emotions were barely being contained.

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