Love Lessons Read Free Page B

below his belt, he looked even sexier than ever.  She liked him in his work wear, but she liked him out of it every bit as much. 
    He handed her the coffee and went back to stirring his, barely sparing her a glance. 
    She took a sip.  “Mmmm, good.”  She leaned against the doorframe and watched him.
    “You should get dressed,” he said, staring into his mug like it held all the answers to the universe.
    “Oh, what’s the hurry?  It’s still early.” 
    He coughed.  “Yeah, but I’m starved,” he said. 
    “Are you sure you’re not getting sick?”  She stepped up to him and once again put her hand on his forehead. 
    He breathed deep as her arm lingered in front of his nose, then puckered his mouth like he’d just taken a shot of Buckley’s cough syrup or something equally distasteful. 
    “Vanilla,” he murmured, almost under his breath.  
    She brought her arm to her nose and breathed in the scent of her new body wash.  Was it that bad?  “You don’t like it?” she asked.  “I thought I’d try something new.”     
    “No, I like it.”  He coughed again.  “I just think you should go get dressed.”  She turned to go, and he said, “Wear something warm.”
    “Fine,” she said and made her way to her room.  Honest to God, he was like a mother hen, always worried about her, probably because he was the oldest of four and always bailing his brothers out of trouble.  Taking care of others just seemed to come natural to him.  She pulled on her jeans and a big sweater.  When she went back to find Nate, he was in her living room, shaking her Paris snow globe and watching the little white flakes inside fall over the Eiffel Tower.
    “Still want to go?” he asked, holding the globe up and looking at her through it.
    “Yeah,” she said dreamily as he put it back on the bookshelf beside her small drafting table.  “Someday.”
    He stepped toward her and met her in the hall.  “What is it about Paris that you love so much?”
    She shrugged.  “It’s the city of love.  If only I had the money to fly there this week.  I could meet someone, fall in love, and then all my comic strip troubles would be behind me.”   She gave a happy sigh.  “Valentine’s in Paris.  How perfect would that be?”  When a car outside honked and pulled her thoughts back, she shook her head.  “Then again, what am I talking about?  Love could hit me over the head and I wouldn’t know it.”
    With a half-cocked grin on his face, he said, “For a smart girl, you’re kind of dense like that.” 
    “Hey,” she said, whacking him, and even though he was right, and she was smart about a lot of things, when it came to love, she was clueless. 
    He feigned hurt, then grabbed her by the waist, pretending he was about to tackle her to the ground.  He played football in university and liked to pull his moves on her.  She’d just bet he’d learned all kinds of other moves at university.  If only he’d pull some of them on her.  
    She grabbed his shoulders and yelled as he raced down the small hall. “Put me down.”
    He carried her to her closet and dropped her by the door.  “Get your coat.” 
    Grace pulled on her black parka as he shrugged in to his and tugged on his big, size twelve boots.  She looked at his feet and couldn’t help but think, big in the shoes, big in the pants .  Not that she was ever going to find out.   
    “Hey, you ready?” he asked, dragging her thoughts back.  She grabbed her hat and gloves as he pulled open her apartment door.  They exited the building, and a frigid mountain breeze whipped over them. The sky was star-studded and so beautiful that she didn’t mind the cold.  If they were lucky enough, they might even see some northern lights tonight.     
    They jumped into his truck, and a few minutes later, they walked into the main lodge at Stone Cliff.  The place was busy, ski vacationers milling about, talking excitedly about how many