grin widened a hair. “Nope. What you have there, Rachel, is dessert.”
“Wow, like minds and all that.” Rachel took another hefty swallow of her “dessert,” and said, “Is this one of those ‘real men don’t eat quiche’ sort of things? Or in this case, real men don’t drink fancy coffees?”
“Nah. I like quiche.” Cole picked up a napkin, leaned across the table and wiped the corner of Rachel’s mouth. The touch was quick and effortless, but a flood of warmth overtook her just the same. “A little whipped cream was...er...anyway, it’s gone now.”
She felt more than saw Andrew stiffen beside her. In another second, his arm was cradled over her shoulders. He tipped her chin toward him and kissed her. Also quick. Also effortless.
“There. Now it’s all gone.” Andrew settled into his prior position, keeping his arm snug around her. “I hope that didn’t make you uncomfortable, Kyle. She’s just so kissable, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Not at all,” Cole said with a good ole boy grin and a laidback shrug. “Nothing there to feel embarrassed about. Why, I’ve given my mother the same type of affectionate peck in public on more than one occasion.” He winked at Rachel. “My sister, too, now that I think about it.”
“Didn’t say I was embarrassed.” Andrew shifted an inch closer to Rachel. “Some people dislike public displays of affection. I belatedly thought you might be one of them.”
“Nope.” Again with the shrug. “But I appreciate your concern.”
“Wow, is it cold outside!” Rachel blurted before Andrew could respond. She faked a shiver. “So...cold. I still haven’t warmed up from the...um...short walk here from the car.”
“We could be in Hawaii right now, sipping mai tais by the ocean.” Andrew kissed Rachel again, this time on the top of her head. “If you’re having second thoughts, we could be on a plane tomorrow. All you have to do is say the word.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. Rachel understood why. She and Cole had made plans before Andrew had asked to join her...which he hadn’t done until after Rachel had refused to cancel this visit to go with him to Hawaii.
She guessed Andrew saw that as choosing Cole over him, but that wasn’t the case. Not really. Mostly, it was about going home for the holidays. Because in many ways, Steamboat Springs was the closest she’d ever had to a real home.
Due to Cole and his family, though, not hers.
“I’m not having second thoughts, but I like the idea of going to Hawaii for your birthday in May. If you still want to.”
“Of course I do.” Andrew’s voice was smooth. “I simply wanted to give you the option, now that you’ve seen your friend.”
“Thank you, but I’m good. And we’ll have fun here!” She patted Andrew’s arm. “You’ll soon see why I love Steamboat Springs so much, especially at Christmas.”
“You’ve never been here before, Andy?” Cole relaxed in his seat, looking for all the world as a man completely at ease. “Odd, but I swore I recognized you when you walked in. A lot of people come through here every year...thought maybe you’d vacationed with an ex-girlfriend. Or, perhaps, an ex-wife?”
Good grief. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. “Andrew doesn’t have any ex-wives.”
“And I never will. I don’t believe in divorce.”
“Who does? I doubt anyone marries believing they’ll divorce,” Cole said in a conversational, let’s-get-to-know-each-other manner. “But divorce happens. Sometimes, folks marry too young, pick the wrong person, make mistakes in the heat of the moment. Sometimes, a relationship becomes so messy that divorce becomes the only option that makes any sense.”
He spoke from experience. His brother Dylan was divorced. In his case, they were married too young, she cheated and became pregnant, and ran off with the other guy. So while Rachel didn’t believe in divorce, either, she agreed with Cole’s take.
Heck, she’d be the first to stand up and cheer if her parents untied the matrimonial knot.
“You’re right, but only to a point. A lot of those scenarios can be written off as the result of poor decisions before a proposal is given...or accepted.” Andrew clasped her hand tightly in his. “When I put a ring on a woman’s finger, it will be forever.”
Cole leveled a weighted, questioning stare on Rachel. “Life can often be...unexpected. It’s how each person reacts to some of those moments that can make or break a relationship.” Pausing, he bent his head ever so slightly toward Andrew, but kept his sinfully dark eyes glued to hers. “You can analyze all you want, think every last thing through, and you still won’t know for sure until you’re in hip-deep. In my opinion, of course.”
The urge to squirm came on strong, but she ignored it. Was he referring to her littered-with-broken-relationships past, or was he sending her some type of a hidden message regarding Andrew? Darn if she knew. For not the first time in Rachel’s life, she wished she could read Cole’s thoughts.
“Anyway,” she said, drawing the word out slowly, “Andrew hasn’t been to this part of Colorado before, so I have a lot to show him. I can’t wait to take him skiing.”
One of Cole’s eyebrows shot up. He looked at Andrew. “Is that so? Are you a skier?”
“No, I’m not. But—”
“Snowboarding, then?”
“No,” Andrew repeated. “I’ve skied before, naturally, but my skill level is that of a beginner. But for Rachel, I’m willing to give the sport another try.”
Nodding enthusiastically, Cole said, “That’s good. Rachel loves to ski...snowboard...ice skate.” Pure pleasure gleamed in his voice, in his eyes. “And, going back to your earlier comment, sharing the same interests is important in any successful relationship. Again, in my opinion.”
Andrew sat up straighter. “Which is why I’m excited to give the sport another try. As I said.”
“Well, what you said,” Cole drawled, “was that you were willing to try. Not quite the same as excited.”
She was, maybe, three seconds away from clobbering them both. Right on top of their manly heads. “There are lots of interests that Andrew and I share. We bike, go to the gym...um...horses! I love horseback riding and Andrew is an excellent horseman. He grew up on a ranch in Texas.”
“That’s great to hear. Plenty of horseback riding to have here in Colorado. I still think, though—” Cole broke off and scratched his jaw “—I know! How about if we pick a day and hit the bunny slope, Andrew? We can go over the basics, get you up to speed, as it were.”
“I can handle a bit more than the bunny slope,” Andrew replied in a dry manner. “And frankly, I’d rather have my girlfriend as my teacher. I think of it as one more way for us to grow closer. Which is, after all, an important aspect of this visit.”
Cole glanced at Rachel and her frisson of alarm escalated. She knew that expression. It meant trouble with a capital T. Darn it all, what had he latched on to now? She reached toward him, intent on grabbing his
