Licking her lips, she struggled to form words over her dry throat. At the prospect of being with him, her body tingled from head to toe, every inch of her aware of him. She knew this wasn’t just about a place to lay her head for the night.
This was aboutthem.
Alone. Together.
“I’ll go with you,” she agreed, deciding that taking pleasure for herself wasn’t an act of weakness after all. She wanted him, and she owned her feelings. There was a kind of strength in that. “As long as you understand this really is just for one night.”
The gleam in her ex-husband’s eyes should have warned her that his notorious competitive streak had been stirred by the challenge.
But far from sending her running, the knowledge that he would do everything in his power to make tonight amazing for her only made her look out the helicopter window and wonder how fast they could land.
Nine
She’d said yes.
Gibson couldn’t quite believe his luck. Even though he’d screwed up in the courtroom by drawing extra media attention to Lark’s case, then added to the trouble by admitting he wanted her back, she had still agreed to spend the night with him at his retreat in the mountains.
His gaze swept over the gray shirtdress that covered her incredible curves, her shape only hinted at by the slim belt that tucked in at her waist. The silken rope of her braid had come to rest between her breasts at some point during the flight, making him fantasize about unbuttoning her dress beneath it while leaving her hair right where it lay. He would use the velvety ends of her tresses to paint lightly along her skin until she arched closer to him for more contact...
And damn, but the helicopter ride couldn’t possibly pass quickly enough.
Finally, twenty minutes later, the chopper descended at a location just outside the Flat Tops Wilderness area. The pilot touched down in a clearing ringed by tall aspens, less than twenty yards from a two-story rustic log cabin.
“This is your place?” Lark asked through the headset, pointing to the structure with wide porches on the rear of both levels. Her dark brown braid shifted forward as she leaned toward the window.
With an effort, he pulled his gaze from her to glance out at the property that he hadn’t visited in months. In a nearby detached garage, a truck awaited them along with a snow machine and a dirt bike, but none of that was visible from their seats in the helicopter as the rotor slowed.
Nodding, he unbuckled his seatbelt and tugged off the headset while she did the same. “It is. I bought the cabin last year, thinking I might need a place to retreat. My mother’s medical team mentioned that it’s important for caregivers to schedule time to unwind, and it got me thinking I might appreciate having another property nearby. I purchased the cabin in the name of a limited liability company as well so the media can’t track me here.”
She hesitated before answering, her expression pensive.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into transitioning your mom into your house.” Lark rose to her feet while he pushed open the aircraft door.
There were no houses around for miles, the view of the Flat Tops Wilderness a breathtaking sweep in front of them. And even though it was a warm day, the weather was cooler at the higher altitude.
“Maybe now you’ll believe I really am retiring from hockey,” he commented drily, holding out a hand to help her down.
The scent of pine rose to meet him as he stepped to the ground, the clean mountain air a welcome respite after the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small-town courtroom.
“I do. And now that I know you’re committed to retiring, it helps me understand what a big change this is for you.” Her hand in his felt so natural. So right.
But he let go, mindful of letting her set the pace tonight. As much as he wanted to take her inside and make her remember how good they could be together, he needed to feed her. Give her time to unwind from the hellish day she’d had in court.
“From team captain to rookie owner of a bison ranch? You’d be right about that.” He signaled to the pilot once they cleared the rotors and the helicopter took off again, sending branches and saplings nearby into a frenzy of movement until it was well above the tree line. Then, not wanting to discuss the drastic U-turn his life was taking now that he’d walked away from the one thing he’d always been good at, he redirected the conversation. “Are you ready for dinner? I had a catering service deliver some options for meals tonight.”
Beside him, she tensed as they walked onto the gravel driveway in front of the cabin. “Was my visit a foregone conclusion?”
How could she think that? He had championship trophies in his den that he hadn’t worked half as hard to win as this time away with Lark.
“Absolutely not. I ordered the food since I planned to spend the night here either way. The construction is almost finished on the annex to the ranch house, but it’s still disorganized. I’ve got a cleaning crew coming in later in the week to make things habitable again.” Waving her ahead of him onto the wide front porch, Gibson studied her face in the early evening sunlight, hoping to gauge her reaction to the cabin. “What do you think of it?”
He stepped past her to open the security panel so he could tap in the entry code.
“It reminds me of that chalet we stayed in when we went to Vail.” A sexy smile curved her lips as she ran one hand over the rough-cut log porch rail and slanted him a sideways look. “Remember?”
The shared memory lit a fire inside him again despite his efforts to be a considerate host. “Hell yes, I remember. We never did get around to skiing.”
In fact, thinking about that time now—and the possibility that she might want a repeat of that incredible weekend—made him forget the security code to the cabin. His finger hovered uselessly over the panel, his attention drawn to Lark as she moved closer to where he stood.