Winter's Heart (3 page)

The gym set was amazing, with hidden rooms and rope bridges and a climbing wall and swings, of course, and a million other features that made it a functional work of art. Standing up, she offered Winter her seat so he could scroll through the pictures and get an idea of the type of work her father and his crew could do. Never taking his eyes off the pictures, he sat down and pulled Storm up onto his lap and the two of them were suitably impressed.

He stopped at a picture of the upper room with the telescope set up and let out a low whistle. Flynn pointed at it and said with pride, “My father takes each grandchild up there one at a time and the two of them look at the stars together. There are two ways of getting up there, one for the kids and an easier one for the adults.”

“Wow,” Winter said softly. “I’m very impressed. How soon can we get him out here to break ground on this little one’s pirate ship?”

“Well, we’ll have to figure out sleeping arrangements but I’m sure he can come out as early as next week and as soon as everything is finalized, we’ll get the rest of the crew out here.” Flynn frowned when she saw Winter’s grin but she ignored it as she continued, “I can call him tonight so he can start coming up with a few ideas…. Okay, what’s so funny?”

“Do you really think we wouldn’t put up your father and his crew for the entire time they’re here?” he asked, clicking on the next picture. Since he wasn’t looking at the screen, Flynn quickly reached over and clicked to the next image. He put his hand over hers and she froze, her heart fluttering madly in her chest as she turned her head and met his eyes, the blue depths sucking her in. In a low, velvety voice, he asked, “What don’t you want me to see?”

“Nothing,” she stammered, drowning in the blue of his eyes and trying to keep her wits about her.

“It was a girl in a bikini,” Storm offered innocently.

“Really?” he said, arching that eyebrow and making Flynn want things she had no right to want.

“It’s nothing you need to see,” Flynn told him, trying to remain as calm and unaffected as Winter.

“I think I do,” he countered, nudging her hand away and clicking on the previous picture, a shot her brother took when Flynn was making fun of her sisters, both Murphy and Fallon. Her hands were on her hips, her breasts were thrust out and she was making a wildly dramatic face, with heavy eyes and pursed lips. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was wearing one of Fallon’s tiny bikinis. His eyes widened before he seemed to catch himself and he smirked, “Nice.”

If she was smart, she would tell him that it was her sister but she enjoyed the thrill of being admired by him too much to let it go. Privately holding the admiration close to her heart, she clicked onto the next picture, “Yeah, that’s not my usual swimsuit.”

“Let me guess,” he said in a light voice, though she noticed the heightened color along his cut cheekbones. “You’re really an actress who is only working as a party planner until you get a lucky break.”

“God no, actresses are neurotic,” she vowed quickly, adamantly. “And like I keep telling you, I’m not really a party planner, either.”

“Neurotic?” he asked with a grin.

With a frown, she thought about her words and realized she managed to stick her foot in her mouth yet again. “Well, not all actresses, of course, but I think you have to be a little insane to want to be in this business, you know?”

He chuckled but didn’t say anything as he returned his attention back to the pictures. Uncomfortable with the following silence, she continued, “Actually, my sister is the actress. That’s why I’m living out here working for my mom’s best friend.”

“Is she any good?” he asked without taking his eyes from the computer.

“My sister or my mom’s friend?” she asked, surprised he was even following her ramblings.

He smiled, glancing at her briefly before going back to the pictures. “Your sister.”

“She likes to think so,” Flynn snorted, a smile curving her lips as she thought about Fallon. Chuckling to herself, she added, “Actually, yeah, she’s pretty good. Of course, there are a lot of really good actresses trying to make it but Fallon has that spark. I think she could be really great.”

“Is she as pretty as you?” he asked, never taking his eyes from the computer so it took her a moment to realize
he had just called her pretty.

A ridiculously pleased smile curved her lips, “Well, no, she’s far prettier, though everyone says we could be twins.”

Slowly, he turned his head and looked at her, “Really.”

“And don’t get any ideas about us,” she scolded, narrowing her eyes at him.

He stared at her for a moment, an expression of bafflement quickly replaced by amusement, “I’m not the one who went there. I was just surprised because I can’t imagine two such exquisite beauties walking the earth at the same time.”

“Oh, please,” she scoffed, realizing he had been humoring her the entire time. She tried to ignore the pangs of disappointment, reminding herself that he was absurdly charming and every word that oozed from his lips was probably rehearsed. No, he probably didn’t have to rehearse cheesy pickup lines. He was probably born with honeyed words coming out of his adorable little mouth.

If nothing else, realizing that flirting just came naturally to him made it easier to remember that she was hired to do a job, not mentally undress a practically married man.

“I was thinking a rope bridge between different parts of the ship would be a lot of fun,” she said, getting back on track. “Like, the ship broke apart when it sank and each area can have different features.”

“Cool,” Storm breathed, looking at her with a rapturous expression.

“So you’re just going to ignore what I said?” Winter asked lightly but when she looked at him, he looked almost hurt, which was ridiculous. He was Winter Mitchell, a man who could have anyone, a man who had Melissa Irish. Surely he didn't need her approval, did he?

“As if you weren’t teasing,” she managed, adding a brief chuckle to show him she didn’t take his flirting seriously. Leaning over, she pointed at the climbing wall on the picture, focusing on the job and not the man who exuded charm. “What do you think about something like this?”

“I love it,” Storm gushed.

They made their way through the rest of the pictures but Flynn couldn’t help but notice how Winter spent more time studying her than her father’s work. Pasting a smile on her face, she finally faced him and asked, “Well? What do you think?”

“I think you are prettier than you could possibly imagine,” he said, leaning back in his chair and looking at her with a solemn expression. He wrapped his arms around Storm and hugged the little boy as if it was the most natural thing in the world and seeing the two of them side by side, she was struck once again by how much they looked alike.

“I’m talking about my dad’s work,” she said, hoping he would focus on planning the party and stop trying to fluster her with his outrageous flirting. She wasn’t like her sister, able to return flirtations with a wink and a smile. She was more apt to blurt out something better left unsaid and scaring the guy away. “I mean, I think it’s incredible but I’m biased because he
is
my dad and I think he’s awesome.”

“He
is
awesome,” Winter agreed, his eyes dancing with laughter that he was careful to keep at bay. “But let us discuss your inability to take a compliment.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” she deadpanned, feeling the smile in her eyes. When he huffed, she sighed, “Fine. Thank you.”

“Was that so hard?”

“Absolutely,” she grinned.

“Oh, wow,” Storm breathed, his timing perfect as he saved Flynn from making an even bigger fool of herself. “Look at that, daddy.”

Winter’s smile faltered as he looked at the image on the screen, a picture of a faux tree house that was a part of the jungle gym at her oldest brother’s house. It was crafted to create the illusion of a tropical rain forest and was really quite spectacular, with rope vines and a hammock and all sorts of nooks and crannies. “That’s really impressive.”

“My brother Jeff designed it,” she said, looking back and forth between Storm and Winter, seeing the resemblance that was impossible to deny. She shook her head, her forehead creasing as her eyes dropped to Storm and the solemn blue eyes that stared out of his cherubic face, the same eyes as his father no matter how impossible. Swallowing, she ignored her suspicions and tried to discuss the party. “We could probably get him out here, too, to design an even more impressive pirate ship for your son’s birthday.”

Winter’s eyes flew to hers and she saw the panic and the entreaty that he couldn’t quite hide. His smile was tight as he set Storm down and ruffled the boy’s hair, murmuring, “Why don’t you go find Missy and figure out what we should have for lunch.”

“Okay,” Storm said with the sweetest smile, giving Winter a kiss on the cheek before racing out of the room, yelling at the top of his lungs, “Missy!”

“Is it difficult?” she asked softly as he stayed in that position for a few moments, watching the space where Storm disappeared for a while longer before turning back to
face her.

The warm smile on his face disappeared as he frowned. He tilted his head back and his gaze slammed into hers, holding her still as he rose to his feet. “Would you care to explain what you mean?”

Uncomfortable beneath his intense scrutiny, she shifted on her feet and tried to explain what she meant when she wasn’t really sure. “Well, everyone knows that you and Missy met after Storm was born and yet he looks exactly like you. I can’t imagine the amount of lies necessary to convince the world that your son isn’t your son at all, how difficult it must be to keep your relationship a secret.”

“Why do you think I’m keeping anything a secret?”

“I don’t,” she stammered, regretting her comment and wishing she could take it back. She hadn’t meant to upset him, she just wanted to understand. “You’ll have to forgive me. My mouth sometimes runs away before my brain tells it to stop.”

He towered over her, invading her senses and her space until she wasn’t sure if he meant to intimidate her or seduce her. With a tight smile and hard eyes, he rasped, “
Wanna know a secret?”

Not trusting his cool smile, she took a step back and asked, “Will it get me in trouble?”

“Only if you tell anyone.” He took a step towards her and they were closer than they were before. His eyes zeroed in on her and it was as if he was peering into her soul, debating whether or not he was going to claim it for his own.

“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t tell me anything,” she said in a pathetically breathless voice, trying to take another step back and finding the desk in her way. Her breath hitched in her throat as his eyes darkened and his aura seemed to swell until she was surrounded by him, basking in his heat. As desire and fear mixed together within her, her heart raced frantically in her chest. Rationally, she knew he wasn’t really flirting with her but her body didn’t get the message.

“But you already know it,” he crooned, closing the non-existent distance between them and reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face. His fingers lingered against her temple and she had to remind herself how to breathe. Bending his head until his lips were right next to her ear and his breath danced over her skin, he whispered, “Storm
is
my son.”

“Uh huh,” she managed, his scent curling around her, drugging her, pulling her under and making her forget what they were talking about. Her eyes drifted shut as his warm breath moved over her neck and she wanted impossible things.

His lips brushed over the shell of her ear as he continued whispering, “Missy wanted a child and chose me because of my,” he huffed out a harsh laugh as he rubbed his hewn jaw. “Pretty face.”

“It
is
very pretty,” she murmured, tilting her head back and looking at him. “But surely there was more to it than that? I mean, once she spent five minutes with you she must have fallen madly in love.”

He huffed out another laugh, this time less harsh and more unexpected. Taking a step back, giving her space to breathe, he smiled down at her, “The arrangement was handled by our agent. I filled a cup and her doctor impregnated her.”

“But conception is the fun part,” she blurted, thinking about her naked body entwined with his, the heated kisses and glistening skin. Even though she had limited experience, translation: none, she had a vivid imagination and she couldn’t imagine leaving out the most pleasurable part of pregnancy.

A startled laugh pushed past his lips as he turned around and dragged his fingers through his silky hair. “You
never say what I expect you to say.”

“Well, you just told me Melissa had sex with a turkey baster,” she said, resting her butt against the edge of the desk since her knees were now made of gelatin. “I think if I chose you to be the father of my child I would make sure I was on the pill for the first five years before I actually tried to get pregnant just so I would have that much more time to, um, get to know you.”

“Yeah, well, appearances can be deceiving,” he said, his words faltering some as he stared at her with something close to confusion on his handsome face.

“I do know that,” she returned, hoping he didn’t think she was a complete moron. Somewhere beneath the fog of lust, she actually had a brain and she even knew how to use it.