‘So, about that Starbucks.’ Drake had to shout above the noise of the engine and the wind to be heard.
‘What Starbucks?’ Kitty replied. ‘The closest you’ll be getting to a venti mochaccino is Annie’s gritty percolator, and that’s if you manage to sweet talk her.’
‘Who’s Annie? Is she a barista?’ He scrunched his nose up, as though something smelled really bad.
She tried to stifle her shocked laugh. ‘No, Annie’s the housekeeper. We’re in the middle of nowhere. There aren’t any coffee shops or restaurants. Apparently there’s a store and a run-down bar and that’s it.’ She shot a glance at Adam’s back, remembering his harsh words when he found her next to that dying deer on the road. There were no businesses in Cutler’s Gap.
Was it really less than an hour ago that he was holding her in his arms, giving her the most sensual experience of her life? All the while that he prepared the snowmobile and loaded everything on board, Adam had continued to avoid her gaze. Now she was more baffled than ever. The man blew hot and cold so fast she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to burn or freeze.
Every time she looked at him she could feel butterflies somersaulting in her stomach. That couldn’t be good, could it?
‘A bar?’ Drake asked. ‘Is it one of those authentic mountain bars with bearded old men and a pool table in the corner?’ He turned to Everett. ‘We should check that out. It would be perfect for the farewell scene…’
‘Drake.’ The tone of Everett’s voice cut him off before he could finish. ‘We can talk business later, OK?’
‘Oh, of course. Do you play pool, Everett?’ The rest of the ride to the big house carried on something like that. Drake and Everett managed to keep up an unending stream of conversation that distracted her from her thoughts.
Adam pulled up just behind the house, shutting off the engine before climbing down from the driver’s seat. Everett jumped out, with Drake following close behind, the younger man muttering his thanks before they rushed towards the warmth of Annie’s kitchen. Adam held his hand up to Kitty, his head tilted to the side as he looked at her, and she grasped his gloved palm with hers, allowing him to lift her down from the seat.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, Adam squeezed her tightly as he set her feet down onto the snow-covered lawn. His hold lingered for a moment longer than necessary, sending shivers pulsing down Kitty’s spine.
Damn those butterflies. They got everywhere.
‘There you go,’ he said, finally releasing his grasp. ‘You should get inside before you catch the cold.’
Kitty looked up at him, trying to read his expression. Between the hair and the thick cap he was wearing, there wasn’t very much she could read at all.
‘Aren’t you coming too?’
He shook his head. ‘No, ma’am. Not while it’s all so busy in there.’
‘It’s not that busy. Just a couple of extra warm bodies.’
They both knew it wasn’t the number of people stopping him, it was who those people were. Curiosity washed over her. ‘What is it between you and Everett anyway?’
She wanted to kick herself as soon as she’d asked. Adam frowned and kicked at the snow with his heavy boot, looking angry at her intrusion.
‘It’s a family thing.’
She couldn’t equate the brooding man standing before her with the one who was so sensual less than an hour before. He looked the same, he even smelled the same, but it was as if the guy who kissed her had retreated inside his shell.
‘I should think so, you’re brothers after all. But it’s the season of goodwill, peace to all men, isn’t there any way you could try to reconcile? Especially with your mother’s accident?’
Memories of her own mother came rushing back. Or rather her lack of mother. Each Christmas it felt as though there was something missing, in spite of the efforts of her father and her sisters. A memory flashed into her brain, of a young Kitty curled up on the sofa, ramming sweets into her mouth as she watched some Hallmark Christmas movie.
Alone, as she so often was.
‘Don’t get caught up in something that doesn’t concern you,’ Adam said, his voice low. ‘What happens between me and my brother is my business and I’ll thank you to keep out of it.’
Stepping back as if he’d slapped her, Kitty stumbled in the thick snow. Her chest tightened in response to his vehemence, as she wondered what on earth she had done to deserve such a response.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly, blinking to disperse the tears. ‘It’s just that if my family was here I’d be delighted, not hiding away in a cabin by the lake.’
Something clouded his face, an emotion that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. All the same, it was enough to soften his voice when he replied. ‘Well in that case you’re very lucky.’ Pulling at his hat as if he was agitated, he quickly shrugged and then turned back to the snowmobile. ‘I’ll see you around.’
Those four words panicked her, as if she was losing something she wasn’t willing to let go. ‘Won’t I see you in the morning?’ she asked, still breathless. ‘When I come down to see to the dog.’
Adam turned his head, finally meeting her gaze. But instead of saying a word, he switched the engine on, the roar of the motor drowning everything out. He backed the snowmobile up, then turned the giant machine around, until every part of him had his back to her.