“Sorry.”
He was at risk of turning things even frostier, but his ego was still bruised, and the way she had melted the previous night, however briefly, told him she was attracted to him. “It wasn’t very nice.”
“Double plus sorry.” She sighed and stepped away from him and the french doors. “The thing is, I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but the opposite. I’m not proud of the way I treated you, but you did say you were a no-strings drifter kind of guy, so it goes both ways. I don’t think I mislead you in any way at all.”
“Forget the word relationship if it helps. I’m not looking for ties and promises, either. I just wanted to spend some more time with you. You blew my mind, and I wanted more. I wanted to get to know you better, share more good times. I still do.”
Her gaze dropped to her feet. “Matt, it happened in an exceptional place at a particular time and we’re unlikely to ever be able to recapture the magic of that day and night. Reality means morning breath and bed head hair and being grouchy before work.”
“I can deal with that.” He caught her by the elbow and ducked under the fall of her hair to steal another quick kiss. “See? We can kiss without brushing our teeth.”
She smiled and a flush of pink appeared on her cheeks. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. And for the record, Florida was fun. Delightful, like a dream.”
“Therapeutic?”
“Very.”
He couldn’t stop himself digging for more information. “So you’re fully cured now? Over the ex?”
“You mean Stanley.”
“If that’s what the loser is called.”
She raised a fine eyebrow and lifted her chin. “You don’t know anything about him.”
The fact that the guy existed and had hurt Piper was enough to make him want to slap the guy hard. “He dumped you so he’s obviously stupid.”
She laughed. “I just hope I don’t bump into him with the spray-tanned girl. The town is way too small sometimes.”
“His loss, big time.” He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. “And he’ll be sick as a dog when he sees you with me, all dressed up and looking utterly gorgeous.”
Her face dropped and she pushed hard against his chest to escape. “Thanks.”
“What did I say?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She wriggled free and made for the stairs, then froze halfway there, turning around and sending him a furious look. “You have quite an ego going on there, Matt DeLeo, but Stan didn’t want me at Christmas, so he’s unlikely to be eaten up with jealousy and regret now. And…and I’m pretty insulted that you think dressing me up as some kind of trophy girlfriend arm candy would be enough to change his mind.”
He lifted both hands over his head with exasperation. Any thoughts he might have had about suggesting they have a full-on fling in the next few weeks went up in smoke. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“But maybe you’re right, maybe a tight little designer dress, neon yellow acrylic nails, and a Brazilian wax would have made all the difference to our relationship. It seems to feature pretty highly on your list of priorities, too.”
Before he could answer her allegations, the upstairs bedroom door slammed shut and he was alone. “That went well,” he muttered to himself and glared at the coffee machine as it gurgled and hissed, almost as if it was laughing at him.
Piper pulled open the drapes and blinked as the ice-white brightness of a calm, clear winter morning flooded into the loft. The morning view from the kitchen was sensational—mountains, sugar-coated pine trees, and an impossibly clear blue sky—but this room was directly positioned in front of a picture-perfect waterfall.
The wispy white and blue ribbons of a pure mountain stream tumbled over gray boulders, sprinkling the mossy rocks and overhanging branches with diamond-bright drops that glittered in the morning sunshine. It was beyond beautiful and a world away from the treacherous wilderness the place had been during the big storm.
“That’s nice.” She sighed as the cat slithered around and between her ankles in spite of the plastic cone around her neck, her cool fur like silk against her skin. The cat’s pelt was strikingly silver and white with bold black markings in the shapes of rosettes and spearheads. Limpid green eyes stared up at her with black whirlpool irises and her purr was a deep, throaty rumble. She’d be perfectly camouflaged outside in the snowy Colorado wilderness. “Look at you, waterfall cat, so beautiful but dangerous, like rapids. I think I know what I’m going to call you.”
The cat made a tiny squeak as she picked her up and kissed her on the back of her neck. “Aspen. I’ll call you Aspen. Now that’s not too corny, is it?”
“Sure beats Felix.” His deep mellow voice from behind made her heart rate kick up and she tensed as she heard him draw nearer.
“Glad you approve.” She gently lowered Aspen to the floor. “Even though it was a private conversation.”
“A private conversation with a cat? That’s crazy cat lady stuff.”
“Do you think I really care what you think?” She shrugged and focused her attention on Aspen, aware of how sharp her reply had sounded, how distant she must now appear. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she didn’t really want to be his arm candy for the next few weeks, either. She just wanted a quiet life, making and selling her pretty, harmless trinkets and earning enough money to cover the bills. For now.
“I couldn’t see the driveway leading up to your house this morning. There must be tons of fresh snow out there. Do you think we’ll be getting back to Passion Creek today?”
“Do you want to go back so soon?” She felt his hands move to either side of her neck and onto the dip of her shoulders. “We have enough food, drink, and fuel for at least a month.”
He wasn’t going to seduce her back into being all sweetness and light that easily. She wanted an apology. “And I have a business to run, not to mention an urgent requirement to get a new wedding guest outfit.”
“Which you wouldn’t be able to do if you were slaving as an office temp over a hot calculator, so what’s the difference? You must have had to shut your store up while you worked in my finance department, right?”
“I would have had nights and weekends free to keep things going, but fortunately I share floor space with four other artists so we cover for each other now and again. The rents in Passion Creek are so high that none of us can afford to have a shop of our own.” She twisted her neck and coolly looked him up and down. “Greedy landlords, you understand.”