Just One Kiss: A heartwarming Christmas romance (Whisper Lake Book 4) Read online

  "It's like two truths and a lie," Jake said. "You have to decide which two are true and which one is a lie."

  "Or it could be three lies."

  "I don't know. Maybe Kelly is getting him a horse."

  "The only one I believe is that his teacher might have red hair."

  He scooped another spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth. "Let's play. Give me two truths and a lie about yourself."

  "I don't have time for games."

  "There is always time for games," he told her, reminding her of how many times he had stolen her away from her books to play a silly game or go somewhere fun.

  Jake had definitely expanded her world. He had pushed her to try things she never would have tried. But look where pushing those boundaries had gotten her—a world of pain.

  "Come on," he said, bringing her focus back to the present. "Let's play."

  "You already know way too much about me."

  "We'll see if I still do."

  She hesitated. It was kind of silly, but on the other hand, it was probably better than talking about their pasts. "Okay. Let's see." She thought for a moment about the life she'd lived away from Jake's view. "I ran naked through the quad at the University of Colorado in Denver."

  "Interesting." He gave her a thoughtful look. "What else?"

  "I won a contest and got to sing on stage with the Jonas Brothers."

  "That's two."

  "While I was training to be a nurse, I had to go to the morgue one day, and when I pulled the sheet off a corpse, he moved his foot. I screamed and went running out of the room." She smiled. "That's three. What do you think? Which ones are true, and which one is a lie?"

  "I believe the morgue story," he said slowly. "The lie is either singing on stage with the Jonas Brothers or the naked dash through the college quad. I've seen you do karaoke, so it's possible you got on the stage. I've never seen you run naked anywhere, and the time we went skinny-dipping in high school, you kept on your underwear."

  She flushed at that memory. "I forgot about that."

  "I've never been able to. Even in underwear, you were spectacular."

  "I was too skinny."

  "And too critical of yourself."

  "We're getting off track," she told him, not wanting to think about the fact that while she'd kept on her panties and bra, Jake had stripped all the way down, and his body had been more than a little impressive. "Which one is the lie?"

  "The naked run."

  She was happy he didn't know everything. "You're wrong. I did that on a dare and a couple of shots of tequila."

  "I'm impressed."

  "By that? I don't think your bar is very high for being impressed."

  "I'm impressed you let loose and ran free."

  "Things were definitely loose," she said with a laugh, as he grinned back at her. "And don't imagine it."

  "Too late. I can't help myself."

  "Your turn," she said, wanting to get his gaze off her body, as her nerves were tingling in all the right places. "Two truths and a lie." She was actually curious as to what he would say. She might get to learn something about him without having to show any interest. And that was another truth—she was interested to know more about the man he was now, even though she'd spent the past several years trying to keep his name and face out of her head.

  "All right," he said, a sparkling gleam in his brown eyes. "I got to take batting practice with the Colorado Rockies, and on the first pitch, I hit a home run."

  She nodded, thinking that actually sounded feasible, although it reminded her of one of his teenage dreams. He'd been the star shortstop in high school. Of course, he'd also been the football quarterback, and the high-shooting forward in basketball. Jake was the guy who did everything well. "Next," she said.

  "I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And in college, I played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet," he finished.

  "You're making this too easy. I can see you hitting with the Rockies. I can see you climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Romeo has to be the lie."

  "You're…right," he said.

  "So, I win. What's my prize?"

  "We didn't agree on a prize."

  "How about you let me out of the date?"

  "Nope. You should have negotiated before we played. And I should have come up with a better lie."

  "You should have," she agreed, as she sipped her coffee. "When did you climb Mount Kilimanjaro?"

  "The summer after college graduation."

  "What was it like?"

  "It was grueling. It's a six-day trip—four days to get up, two to come down. I thought I'd trained. I thought I was prepared, but I have to admit the altitude got to me. I had to battle headaches and nausea on day three, and the last day was a nine-hour trek that tested my will and my body."

  "But you made it."

  "I did," he said, meeting her gaze. "And it was an incredible view from Uhuru Peak. We spent fifteen minutes on what they call the roof of Africa, and it was a stunning experience. Definitely worth the pain and the effort."

  "That's incredible. It also sounds very difficult."

  "Most incredible things are."

  She nodded, thinking that was the philosophy Jake lived his life by. She'd been much more content to read about others' adventures, while Jake had wanted to experience them first-hand.

  "After that climb," Jake continued, "I knew I wasn't ready for a nine-to-five job, so I turned a summer of traveling into two years of exploring the world. I spent two months in Africa and then I went to India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore."

  "How did you support yourself? Or did your parents float you a loan?"

  "My parents were definitely not involved. My father was furious that I wasn't looking for a real job after paying for my college education. My mom occasionally sent me some spending money, but I worked along the way, picking up whatever jobs I could find. After the Asian swing, I moved on to Europe. I settled in Switzerland for almost two years, working at a ski resort where I taught skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, whatever needed to be done. My experience in the Alps was what inspired me to create my own business."

  "And you didn't want to run that business there?"

  "No. It was time to come back to Colorado. We have some fairly spectacular mountains here, not to mention a beautiful lake."

  "I know your parents were thrilled when you made that decision."

  He shrugged. "It is nice to be closer to my mother again. And I'm fairly sure Paul will be headed here after medical school."

  "Your dad can't wait for your brother to join the staff at the hospital."

  "I'm sure," he said dryly. "He loves the idea of Paul following in his footsteps. I personally think Paul should work somewhere else for a while. Whisper Lake isn't going anywhere, but there's a whole world out there for him to see first."

  "I agree with you."

  "You do? I'm shocked."

  She made a small face at him. "I was grateful for the experiences I had in two different city hospitals before I came back. I think they made me a better nurse. I hope Paul will consider all his options."

  "My dad will pressure him to come here. And Paul won't fight him."

  "I'm not sure your father will pressure him," she countered. "He knows that there's valuable experience to be had elsewhere. He'll want the best for Paul. Just as he wants the best for you, Jake. I know you two don't get along and God forbid I should mention either of your names to the other, but in some ways you're more alike than you realize."

  "I am nothing like him," he said flatly. "Please don’t compare us, Hannah. You can say anything else you want about me, but don't say that."

  She was taken aback by the strength of his negative response. "I—I'm sorry. But your father is a great doctor and a good man. I don't see how a comparison is so bad."

  "Because you don't know him the way I do."

  "Want to enlighten me?"

  "No. I don't want to talk about my father at all. And you should know better than anyone that parents
are not always who they appear to be to the outside world."

  She couldn't disagree, since her mother had clearly shown a different side at home than she had out in the community. But she was curious as to what Davis had done to turn his eldest son against him. "I wish—"

  Jake cut her off. "Let's change the subject. Let's talk about you. I know you went to school in Denver. What was that like?"

  She didn't really want to change the subject, but she could see the determination in his eyes to move the conversation along. "It wasn't the typical college experience," she said.

  "Why not?"

  "You don't know?"

  He gave her a speculative look. "Know what?"

  "I took Tyler with me to college. My mom had a relapse the summer after I graduated from high school. I postponed going to the university for two years so I could stay at home and take care of Tyler. I did my general courses at Lansing Community College. But when I was done there, I knew I needed to get us both out of Whisper Lake. I transferred to the University of Colorado, and I got us an off-campus apartment in Denver. Tyler was fifteen then and a sophomore in high school."

  "I'm surprised he wanted to leave his friends."

  "He didn't really have a choice, and he needed a break from Mom. She was in and out of the house, embarrassing herself and both of us. It was easier for him to go to a school where no one knew he had a crazy, alcoholic mother. We actually had a good time together."

  "It must have been hard on you to manage college and take care of your brother."

  "In some ways, but it wasn't bad, and it was the best situation for Tyler. We made it work. When he graduated and went off to college at Northwestern, I felt pretty proud of myself for helping to make that happen. Now, he's finishing up law school."

  Jake smiled. "Your little brother is going to be a lawyer, and mine is going to be a doctor."

  She smiled back. "They're showing us up."

  "And we're both proud."

  "We are," she agreed. "Remember when we used to play Monopoly with them? Tyler was cutthroat at buying up properties. Paul analyzed every purchase with careful deliberation."

  "Whereas you and I were mostly winging it," he said with a laugh. "We always lost to them when we played in teams."

  "Because you got distracted."

  "By you," he said, meeting her gaze. "Do you know that wherever I go in the world, I smell lavender and I think of you?"

  Her cheeks warmed at his words. "I guess I overdid it a little with the lavender; I just love the scent."

  "You also loved those vanilla candles."

  "I can't believe you remember that."

  "I remember a lot of things, Hannah. We were good together."

  "For a while," she conceded. "But all good things end."

  "That's not true."

  "From my experience, it is." She cleared her throat, realizing how personal they were getting. "Anyway…what were we talking about?"

  "What did you do after Tyler went to Northwestern."

  "I went to nursing school and worked in Denver for several years. I ran into your dad at a medical conference there, and he told me they would be opening a new medical center in Whisper Lake, and he'd love to see me come back. My mom had just finished a stint in rehab and was living a sober life, so I decided to come home. That was three years ago."

  "And you're happy?"

  "Yes. I love Whisper Lake and it's different now. I'm an adult. I live in a home that is all mine and has no bad memories. I have my friends. I can keep an eye on my mom if needed, although, thankfully, she hasn't needed me. She's been sober for almost four years. I pray that it continues, but who knows what might trigger a relapse? I want to stop feeling like the other shoe is about to drop, but I can't quite get there."

  "I can't imagine being in your shoes, but I think you're an amazing woman for taking care of your brother the way you have. You've always put him first. I hope he appreciates you."

  "I think he does, but I didn't do it for his appreciation. I took care of him because I loved him, and I'll always be there for him, no matter what."

  "I wish I'd known how hard everything got for you after high school," he said, regret in his eyes. "What about the rest of your family? Your aunt? Your grandmother? How did you support your brother? How did you pay for Northwestern?"

  "My aunt paid for Tyler's college, and my grandmother left me and Tyler two condos in Aspen that we could rent out and use the rental income to pay our own rent. To be completely honest, I also learned how to withdraw money from my mom's bank account early on. When she went off the rails, I took a chunk of her savings and put it in my account. I only used it for emergencies; I kept most of it. I actually gave it back to her a few months ago. She was shocked. But it was her money."

  "Money she should have used to support her kids."

  "True. She did have to sell our old house to cover her rehab stints. She managed to hang on to the cabin, though. She actually lived there for a while until she got her act together. Now she has a condo here in town. It's very modest, but she's happy there."

  "Are you close now?"

  "Not really. However, I feel a duty to take care of her. I just wish…never mind."

  "What were you going to say?"

  She shrugged. "It will make me sound terrible."

  "You feel duty but not love," he guessed.

  "I want to love her. She's my mother. But there's all this stuff between us." She drew in a breath. "I don't know why I just told you all that."

  "Because I was interested."

  As Jake finished speaking, Brett returned. "Who's going to play with me?"

  "We're both going to play with you," Jake said with a grin. "Have you ever gone sledding?"

  Brett shook his head. "Is it scary?"

  "No, it's super fun," Jake replied. "Do you want to ride with me?"

  "Can Hannah come, too?"

  "Absolutely," Jake said, giving her a smile.

  A shiver of desire ran down her spine at the look in his eyes. She felt like every second she spent with him was playing with fire but couldn't seem to say no to whatever invitation he offered. She told herself she was doing it for Brett. Everything she'd done with Jake so far had been to make Brett's life safer and more comfortable. But that wasn't the whole story. She knew it, and she had a feeling Jake knew it, too.

  As Jake drove Hannah and Brett to the snow park, he couldn't help but think about the sad story she'd told him. Her life had gotten really hard after high school, and he wished he'd been there to help her. She probably wouldn't have let him, but maybe he could have done something.

  He also couldn't help but think how differently both their lives would have been if he hadn't cheated on her, if he hadn't broken her heart and his at the same time.

  But that chapter was part of the bigger story of their lives, and he wanted to write another one, one that didn't have an unhappy ending.

  "Are we almost there?" Brett asked from the backseat.

  "Almost," he said, flinging Hannah a smile. "When's the last time you went sledding?"

  "I can't remember."

  "What about skiing or snowboarding?"

  "I went skiing twice last year but not this year yet. I have to admit I've lost a little enthusiasm for the mountains after patching up patient after patient with blown knees, broken bones, and head injuries."

  "That would be a downer," he agreed. "But think of all the people who don't end up in your ER after a successful run."

  "I wouldn't know. We're very busy during the winter. The summer is never as crazy, although we've seen some bad injuries from rock climbers and hikers who did not have enough skill to be doing what they were doing."

  "That can be a problem, which is why my guided tours provide a lot of instruction as well as hands-on attention."

  "No one ever gets hurt?"

  "We've had a couple of broken fingers," he admitted. "And one teenager sprained his ankle because he was texting instead of paying attention while we w
ere hiking by Embers Lake."

  Embers Lake was a small lake that fed into Whisper Lake and had been named for the beautiful orange sunset that made its water look like simmering embers. "I love Ember Lake. I haven't been there in a long time, either."

  "What do you do for fun if you avoid the mountains?"

  "I sing karaoke with the girls at Micky's," she said.

  "You've always had a good voice."

  "I can carry a tune, and I'm loud, but I'm no Chelsea," she said wryly, referring to her friend, who was a very successful and well-known country music singer.

  "Few people are. What else do you do? Do you still bike?" They'd spent a lot of days biking around the lake when they were younger.

  "Yes. Tim Hodges at the bike shop hooked me up with a sweet deal on an off-road bike that can get me down any rough road."

  "I think old Tim Hodges might be sweet on you."

  "He's seventy."

  "And he's still a flirt. However, I'm sure you can do better than a seventy-year-old."

  "Well, thanks," she said dryly.

  "Do you have someone that you're dating?" He tried to make the question sound as casual and as disinterested as he could. He'd seen her around town a few times with different guys but not one guy on a consistent basis.

  "Lots of someones."

  "Haven't found Mr. Right?"

  "I'm not even looking for him. But Mr. Fun For a While wouldn't be bad."

  "You don't want a relationship?"

  "They're a lot of work and, frankly, no one has made me want to do the work in a long time."

  "When was the last time you were in a relationship?"

  "Why do you care?"

  "I'm just curious. Is it a secret?" he challenged.

  "No. It was three years ago. It ended right before I moved back here."

  "What happened?"

  "Nothing dramatic. We met at a book signing. We both loved the mystery author, J.R. Welks, and we bonded while standing in line. Unfortunately, our mutual love of mystery thrillers didn't extend to much else in our lives."

  How long did you go out?"

  "About a year." She shifted in her seat, giving him a thoughtful look. "What about you? Are you dating anyone?"

  "Not at the moment."