Willow winced. “He had one relationship, right?”
“After the way it ended, why would he be looking for another?”
Her friend threw her hands in the air. “Callie, you won’t know unless you ask.”
“True,” Callie admitted. But great sex did not a relationship make. And it didn’t even seem fair to start asking questions. “Hey, where’s Finley?”
“I handed her off to Dane.”
Callie put a hand on the bedroom doorknob. “Dane isn’t going to let me live this down, is he?”
“Nope!” Willow said cheerfully. “So you might as well face the music.”
* * *
Hank had stoked the fire and stirred the chili. Then he’d brought Dane another beer, and transferred to the other end of the sofa. The baby reclined in Dane’s lap as if her father were a chaise lounge. She drank her own beverage of choice out of a bottle, while her big moony eyes tipped upward, watching Dane, listening to his voice through the vibrations in his chest.
The comfortable way his friend’s hand rested on her chubby leg was hard to look at, somehow. The guys on the circuit used to mourn for every one of their cohort who got married and settled down. But Dane looked as happy as Hank had ever seen him.
Hank distracted himself by propping both legs onto the coffee table, stretching out his quadriceps. His leg muscles had begun to spasm. The reflex was almost certainly caused by all the action in bed earlier.
It had been totally worth it.
“I hope Willow can convince Callie to come out here,” Hank chuckled, tipping his head toward the bedroom door.
Dane grinned. “But how will they talk about you, then?”
“Good point.” Hank took a swig of his beer and refused to worry about it.
The bedroom door opened and both women came out.
“Oh, my God, she’s huge!” Callie exclaimed, running toward Finley. She sat down on the big sofa between Hank and Dane, and gave baby Finley’s little foot a squeeze.
Dane held up a hand to Callie for a high five. “Good to see you,” he said. And after she smacked it, he added “…with your clothes on.”
“Dane,” she warned as he laughed.
Hank leaned forward, putting his hands on Callie’s hips and hauling her backward across the expanse of leather until she was close to him. “Don’t listen to him,” he said, sliding an arm around her waist.
“I try not to,” she said, her voice dipping. He wanted her to turn around, to give him a smile. But she didn’t.
“Who needs another drink?” Willow asked.
“Callie needs a new snakebite,” Hank said. “I brought her a drink earlier, and then didn’t let her drink it.”
“Hank,” she whispered.
“Sorry.” But he wasn’t, not really. She made him want to beat on his chest in victory. The sexy, intelligent woman in his arms was finally his girl. He’d almost wrecked their chance to be together. Gently, Hank reached around to cup her chin and turn her face toward him. When he found Callie’s eyes, there was a quiver of uncertainty in them. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Sure,” she said, her gaze sliding away.
Hank lifted one of her hands, giving her palm a brief kiss. If she was feeling skittish about everything that went down between them tonight, that was understandable. Maybe he could get a quiet moment alone with her later. Given the chance, he’d tell her a dozen times tonight how much it meant to him to have her there.
Willow fetched a beer for Callie and a soda for herself, then took a seat on the opposite end of the L-shaped sectional, which meant that four—no five—friends occupied his giant sectional sofa. It had been a long time since his lonely little house had held so many contented faces. Hank took another drink and felt lucky for the tenth time in an hour.
Outside, there was the sound of gravel kicked up by car tires. Willow carried her soda over to the window and looked out. “You have a guest. Two cars, actually.”
“That’s probably Bear,” Hank said. “I told him you guys were here tonight. And maybe my sister? I left her a message earlier.”
A quick series of footsteps could be heard on the ramp outside. “Hey, guys!” Bear stepped inside, his eyes finding Hank’s. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought the star of my commercial,” he said quickly. “She’s staying with me.”
“You cannot be serious,” Hank spat.
Bear looked guilty. “I should have called ahead.”
“Too late now,” Hank grumbled.
* * *
Callie watched, helpless, as Hank’s ex-girlfriend swept inside. Heedless of the pile of shoes near the door, Alexis stalked across the wood floors in her high-heeled boots. “Hi all!” She stopped in front of Hank, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. On the lips. Callie felt a flash of irritation, but then the Skier Barbie moved on. “Dane, what a cute baby!” she cried.
“How are you, Alexis?” Dane said. Since they were both on the U.S. ski team, of course they knew each other. Though Callie couldn’t help but notice that Dane’s greeting lacked a certain amount of enthusiasm.
“I’m great! My God, Hank. I love the renovation.” She sashayed into kitchen. “I’ll bet we can still make a decent margarita in here. For old times’ sake.”
She looked very, very comfortable in Hank’s space, and Callie felt a little smaller with every passing second. In Hank’s kitchen, Alexis cut a lime in half and began to squeeze the juice into a blender. “You do have tequila, right?” she asked with a toss of her hair. “You always have tequila.”
Ugh. Callie knew she shouldn’t be thinking jealous thoughts about Hank. She didn’t have any claims on him. All the same, she didn’t need to watch his ex marking her (former) territory. “Hey, Willow?” Callie asked. “Didn’t you say you wanted to swing by and say hello to Travis? I’ll drive you into town.”
“But I was just about to break out the chili,” Hank said.
“I’ll do it,” Alexis volunteered, reaching for the stack of bowls on the counter.
Callie gave her best friend the laser beam eyes. Help me, here, she silently begged.
Willow cocked her head to study Callie before she spoke. “Well, sure. Let’s swing by Rupert’s. And if we miss dinner, we’ll get Travis to bring us a bite to eat.” Rising from the sofa, she leaned over Dane and the baby. Before lifting Finley, Willow ran her fingers through the hair on the back of Dane’s head in a gesture so intimate and familiar that it made Callie’s heart ache. “We’re going to show off the baby. Back in an hour or so?”
He gave her a kiss and handed Finley up to her.
* * *
“Spill,” Willow demanded from the passenger seat of Callie’s car. “Why did you want to get out of there so badly? The two of you look cute together, and Hank is such a hottie.”
“That he is.”
“And that sexy voice…wow.” Willow giggled. “Just give your married friend one detail. Don’t make me beg.”
Callie felt her face heat. “Like what? It isn’t nice to kiss and tell.”
“I dunno. Just one teeny, tiny thing,” Willow begged.
“Fine—he definitely does not have a teeny, tiny thing.”
Willow giggled. “I’m so happy for you both. It sounds terrible to say, but I’m glad to hear that he can…” She cleared her throat.
“You’re not nearly as glad as he is,” Callie quipped. But that was all she would ever say on the matter. No one needed to know how anxious the question had made him, or how distraught they’d both been.
“You two look great together,” Willow said.
“Seriously? I’ll bet he looked pretty good with Sporty Barbie back in the day.”
Willow snorted. “Hank did not look happy to see her. He looked pissed. What’s Alexis doing in town, anyway? She trains in Utah. But I think she grew up near Stowe.”
Callie shrugged, miserable. “She was shooting a commercial today. For the Vermont Tourist Board, or something like that. And she’s here to look blonde an
d fancy in comparison to me.”
“Callie! Stop.”
“I know I’m being morose. But on top of all the other complications, I know I’m not really Hank’s type.”
“How can you be so sure? He seems really into you. I’m serious.”
“He… I know he was quite the player.” A few weeks ago, Callie had broken down and searched Hank’s exploits on the internet. She’d learned that he and Alexis were an item for less than one year. Before that, there were People magazine pictures of him with a dozen other models and female athletes. “I just feel like there’s an expiration date on his heart, and I’m going to be left behind. I was thinking of taking preventative measures.”
“Is there such a thing as a vaccine against broken hearts?”
“Willow, I’m still going to apply for that job in Marin. They won’t interview me until January, anyway. Besides, I like the idea of being closer to you guys. Like, a cheap-flight-for-the-weekend distance.”
“But…hang on a second. You’ve been making noises about leaving Vermont, because you haven’t met a guy. But now you’ve met a guy that you really like…and you want to leave, so he won’t break your heart? Why wouldn’t you give it a fair chance, first? If it ends badly, move wherever you want.”
“Did you see his ex? She’s an Olympian and a model. I’m never going to be able to compete with that.”
“But I’m not those things, and I’m married to one.”
“You’re beautiful and perfect. And you make pastry from scratch.”
“Callie, God. If you don’t love him, then go. But if you think you might, then don’t. You’re being a chicken. He’s not out of your league.”
Crap. Willow’s logic was giving her a headache. “It doesn’t matter, because I can’t have him, anyway. We work too closely at the hospital. I’m not his doctor, but people won’t give me the benefit of the doubt. It would look so inappropriate on paper. He got me the job as the study researcher.”
“That sounds like an excuse,” Willow grumbled.
“It isn’t, I swear.” Tonight she’d put her reputation on the line, and all because Hank had made her feel sexy. She was supposed to be smarter than that. Yet she’d made the same mistake again. Something about being in the same room with that man lowered her IQ by an easy twenty points. “Willow, I know I can’t have Hank if I move to California. But I can’t really have him if I stay here, either. I’m not just chickening out.”
“Nobody knows chickens like I do, Callie,” Willow quipped. She used to raise them. “And I’m sitting next to one right now.”
“Not true.”
“Bawk, bawk, bawk!”
“Stop.”
Sixteen
Later, when Alexis got up to go to the bathroom, Hank gave Bear a look. “Dude, why? Why did you bring her here? She chased my girl away.”
“Sorry, Hazardous. I didn’t know you had a girl. And I just thought it would do you good to see this one again, and realize you didn’t lose out on anything. Also, she’s killing me, and I needed backup. There’s only so much Alexis a guy can take.”
Hank frowned into his empty bottle. Bear was right, of course. It’s just that Hank didn’t need the reminder anymore.
“I’m leaving this folder right here.” Bear pointed at the coffee table. “Promise me you’ll read it tomorrow.”
“Should I assume this is about your film?”
“Yep. Read it. And pay special attention to the itinerary. Because I want to buy your plane tickets, like, this month.”
Hank snorted. “You can buy all the tickets you want, but that doesn’t mean I’m getting on the plane.”
“Yes you are. I’m even going to let you drive the snowcat when we go to Sun Valley. Somebody has to.”
That idea silenced Hank, because Bear made him picture it—the pre-dawn sky, the sleepy riders queuing up to climb into the heavy vehicle. The crunch of snow under boots, and the puffs their breath would make as they swung aboard, thermoses of coffee in hand. The smack talk. He felt a powerful pull to be part of that again.
Shit. He sneaked a look at Bear, who was sitting back, hands behind his head, looking pleased with himself.
Dane brought another round of beers over to the sofa.
“Dude,” Bear said to him. “Your baby is so cute. I don’t even like babies.”
Dane grinned. “Guys keep asking me how I’ve survived with a kid. But two years ago I was the loneliest asshole there was. Now I have a pretty girl in my bed every night, and a child who thinks I walk on water.”
“You don’t have to sell it to me,” Hank said in a low voice. “This place echoes.”
“Well, Hazardous, you can get carpets or a girl,” Bear said. “Or go big and get both.”
Dane put down his beer bottle. “Speaking of going big, I brought some Cubans. Who wants a cigar?”
“Hell yes,” Hank said. “But let’s smoke them out on the deck so we don’t stink the place up.”
“He’s getting all domesticated,” Bear said. “Next thing you know he’ll be asking us to put our beer in a glass.”
“As long as there’s beer, what difference would it make? I’m just going to grab a sweatshirt.” He rolled into his bedroom and found the condom on top of the laundry basket in front of his dresser. He jammed it into his pocket with a smile, then opened his dresser drawer.
“What’s so funny?” Alexis was just coming out of his bathroom, pressing her lips together in that way women do after reapplying their makeup.
“Nothing.” He let the sweatshirt fall into his lap instead of putting it on. She was the last person he wanted to see him struggle, even with something as stupid as pulling on a shirt. He wanted to roll out the door again, but she sat down on the bed beside him, as if to strike up a conversation. Damn. “How’ve you been, Hazardous?” She twirled a bit of her hair around one finger.
“Good, really good.” And damn if it wasn’t the truth. Now, if Alexis would just get the fuck out, he would be even better. Not only had she scared Callie off, but she was keeping him from a Cuban cigar.
But instead of leaving, Alexis put her hands up to cup his face. “I’m so glad to hear it. You sure look good.”
He held very, very still, wondering how best to extract himself from this conversation.
“We had some good times, didn’t we?” She slid forward toward him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “We had some hot times.”
He eased back in his chair, buying himself a few crucial inches. “Alexis…”
Her hands strayed from his face down his chest. Fuck, she wasn’t going there, was she? Her fingers dipped lower, and he caught them as they began to approach his belly button. Only Alexis would actually go there.
And he was the one they called Hazardous?
“How about one more, for old time’s sake?” She smiled, her blue eyes flashing. That smile used to drive him wild, but now it just looked a bit manic. “Come on, Hazardous? When was the last time you had sex?” She patted his fly. “It still works, right?”
No longer interested in saving her feelings, he wheeled himself back about a foot, to give himself some space. “Alexis, seriously? You’d cheat on your man, just to throw me a mercy fuck?”
Her smile wavered. “You don’t have to be rude.”
“And you don’t have to be…” such a crazy bitch. He took a deep breath. “There’s something going on with you, isn’t there? Don’t take this the wrong way, Alexis, but you’re acting kind of crazy.” Even for you, he might have added.
She dropped her head but didn’t say anything.
“Did you break up with him or something?” No—that wasn’t it. Something clicked for Hank, and he had a sudden hunch about his ex-girlfriend’s ridiculous behavior. “You’re freaking out about getting married, aren’t you? When is the date, a month from now?”
She pushed her yellow hair off her face. “Is it that obvious?” she whispered.
“Aw, buddy,” Hank chuckled, giving her arm a singl
e squeeze. “You can’t use me to exorcise your demons.” Not anymore, anyway. “That is so rude.”
“I know,” she sighed. “Sorry.” She was quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure if I’m going to go through with it.”
Ouch. Hank did not know what to say. She was so young. Just twenty-five years old, and anything at all seemed possible. Life hadn’t handed her any real setbacks yet. It was both an envious and a torturous position, wasn’t it? Because she was just beginning to understand that choices had the power to alter the shape of your life.
Hank knew that already. Maybe he learned it the hard way, but he’d learned it all the same. And that meant that the next wonderful choice that came along wouldn’t scare the shit out of him like it was doing to Alexis.
And now he knew what to say. “Next time you’re in the same room with him, ask your gut what to do. It will tell you.”
She raised her eyes. “I hope so.”
“You’ll be okay,” he said, patting her hand.
She caught it in hers and squeezed. “You do look good, Hank. Seriously.”
“Thank you,” he said. And thank you for extinguishing any final regrets I may have harbored. “But I think it’s time for you to leave.”
She gave him a catty little smile. “Your loss.” She stood up then, and turned her back on him, heading for the living room.
He followed her out. As she reached the front door, he said, “And not that it’s any of your business. But the answer to your question is—an hour or two ago.”
She chuckled as she went for the door. “Glad to hear it,” she said over her shoulder. And then she was gone.
“What happened there?” Dane asked as the door closed.
Hank pulled his sweatshirt over his head. “I had to get rid of her so we could smoke a cigar in peace. Now, let’s get to it, before the women come back.” He rolled toward the door.
Outside on the porch, his friends reclined on the deck chairs. Dane trimmed the ends, and Hank chain-lit the stogies. Their burning orange tips were the only light on the porch. Hank put the cigar in his mouth and gave several quick puffs to assure his light. “God, Alexis is such a piece of work. She just propositioned me.”