Read Unexpected Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Series Book 1) for Free Online Page A

that I plan to change that, because now that you’ve run into me, you’re no longer going to be alone for the holidays.” He reached out with his finger and with a gentle touch, wiped the cream off her lip.
    It was a bold move, something he wouldn’t normally do. But he also wasn’t normally faced with such an unusual circumstance. Instinct told him bold was necessary; the intensity and heat behind Andi’s gaze told him he was right.

CHAPTER FIVE

    December 23

    The morning dawned bright and clear. Andi stretched in her bed, rolled over and looked out the large picture window. The view was magnificent. The snow from the night before blanketed the trees, sparkling like gemstones in the morning sun.
    Andi could have just lay there wrapped in her down comforter all morning, and was contemplating how to get a cup of coffee without actually moving, when there was a knock at the door.
    “Good morning.” Colin’s voice came from the other side. “Are you awake?”
    “I am. You can come in.”
    The door opened a crack. “I don’t want to bug you.”
    “You kind of already did,” Andi said with a smile. She hauled herself up to a sitting position and let her blankets fall. A moment too late, she realized she was wearing her faded Bugs Bunny t-shirt, her sleepwear of choice since Blaine left.
    Colin moved slowly, like he was unsure if he should even be in her bedroom. His sandy hair was still damp, and he smelled fresh, yet musky in that way men did when they had just stepped out of the shower. He held a mug of coffee in his hand.
    “I wasn’t sure how you took it, so I guessed,” he said before handing it to her.
    Andi wrapped her hands around the mug and inhaled the rich aroma deeply. “Am I still dreaming?”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “I think you read my mind.” She took a tentative sip. “Sugar,” she said. “No cream.” She looked at Colin, who was grinning like he’d just won the lottery.
    “Like I said, I guessed. Did I get it right?”
    Andi took another sip and said, “Close. I like it a little sweeter. But really close, thank you.”
    What were the odds he knew how she liked her coffee? Andi didn’t think Blaine had known how she took it, and they’d shared more than one cup together in the past.
    Banishing thoughts of her ex, she said to Colin, “I was just laying here thinking how much I’d love a coffee while I enjoyed the view and then you showed up. Are you a mind reader?”
    Colin laughed and gestured to the corner of the bed. “May I?” he asked.
    When she nodded, he sat down opposite from where she lay. It was a king-sized bed, and he was quite far away, but his proximity sent shivers through her body.
    “This is weird, isn’t it?” Colin said.
    “Being here in this villa with my ex’s friend? Or the fact that you’re sitting on my bed while I’m wearing the lamest pajamas ever?”
    “Both, I guess.” He laughed. “And I like your pajamas, but I must admit, I’m a closet Bugs Bunny fan.”
    Andi smiled. “It’s not weird. At least not anymore,” she said and meant it.
    Of course, she did still think the circumstances of their accommodations were less than normal. And the fact that she was going to spend the holiday season with a guy she just met was also not typical. And she was going to stay. She’d decided last night that even if the roads were cleared, she’d stay. There was nothing waiting for her at home and after talking over drinks and dinner well into the wee hours the night before, she felt okay with it all. Better than okay. She liked the idea. And she liked Colin. He was genuinely funny and kind. He made her laugh over stories of his childhood growing up in Sparwood, a small town in the mountains, and told her all about how he’d spent the last few years working and traveling in the Caribbean, installing alarm systems for his own company, which explained his amazing tan in the middle of winter. It also explained how he could afford an entire villa to