Winona was looking forward to the hot tub after hiking in the cold. “Thanks, Nate. I’m sure we will. It’s very generous of you to have us.”
“It’s our pleasure.” Nate told them how lonely Jack had been after his first wife, Nate’s mother, had died suddenly of an aneurysm. “He lived in that big house and had no one to share it with. I was deployed, serving with a Marine Special Operations Team. When I was nearly killed, it hit him hard, but I think it gave him a new sense of purpose. Then Megan came along and, after that, Janet. He loves having a full house with lots of kids and noise. The more, the merrier.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay now and that he’s no longer alone.”
“Thanks, Win.” Nate glanced back at her. “Do you know why he cooks so well?”
Winona had no idea. “Because he likes to eat?”
“That’s part of it.” Nate chuckled. “Learning to cook with my mother’s old recipes made him feel that she was still with us.”
“Oh.” That put a lump in Winona’s throat.
“I can understand that.” Jason’s voice held a hint of sadness. “There are things my mother made, like her mole poblano, that were special. No one made mole sauce the way she did. I think she sweetened it withsitol—saguaro syrup.”
“If you’ve got the recipe or can get a hold of it, you should give it a shot—or let my old man try to make it. He’d love the challenge, I’m sure.”
“I just might do that.”
Nate drove the truck around a bend in the road. “There it is.”
The cabin wasn’t the small, rustic cabin Winona expected, but a log home, its porch light on to welcome them.
“This is beautiful.” The place was bigger than Winona’s house.
Nate parked near the front stairs, handed Jason the keys. “They brought your bags here earlier. I think one of the men got a fire going in the wood stove, so it should be nice and warm. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine for breakfast, and then we can see the horses and do some riding if you like.”
Winona and Jason thanked Nate and climbed out, Winona waving as Nate backed up and drove away. They walked up the stairs through about three inches of accumulation, Winona inhaling the scents of snow and wood smoke, coyotes yapping and howling in the distance.
“It’s so peaceful up here.”
“They call this a cabin?” Chuckling, Jason pushed open the door and stepped back so that Winona could enter.
She flicked on the lights and found their bags sitting in a short hallway just inside the door. “This is nice.”
They gave themselves a quick tour. A leather sofa sat across from a flat-screen TV, a wood stove in one corner, a fire roaring inside. The blinds were drawn back so that she could see the sliding glass door and the hot tub that glowed blue on the deck beyond, steam rising off the water.
There were two bedrooms. One was off the living room and had a queen-sized bed and an en suite bathroom with a large tub. The other was off the kitchen and had a bunk bed and a leather recliner. There was a second smaller bathroom near the back door.
“These Wests don’t do anything halfway, do they?” Jason picked up his duffel. “You can have the big bedroom. I’ll take the bunk.”
Before they could debate the issue, he disappeared into the back.
Winona carried her bags to her room. “I don’t know about you, but I’m heading straight for that hot tub.”
She set her bags down on the bed, closed the bedroom door, and changed into her bikini. She’d forgotten to bring a towel, but there were plenty of those in the bathroom. She tucked one under her arm and stepped out of the bedroom.
She stopped mid-stride and stared.
Jason stood there in a pair of black swim trunks, a towel in hand, his torso beautifully bare from his muscular shoulders to the rounded slabs of his pecks and his well-defined abs and obliques. The man was a walking anatomy lesson. Could he possibly be any sexier?
His gaze slid over her, pausing on her breasts and belly, sending a trill of excitement through her. It had been such a long time since she’d been with a man, so long since a man had made her feel desired or even desirable.
You’ll be sorry if you sleep with him.
Yes, she probably would. But she might regret it even more if she didn’t.
“You ready?”