It's a beautiful winter wonderland and I wonder if there's any sleds underneath the cabin, thinking maybe it could be romantic for the two of us to get outside and sled down a hill or build a snowman this morning. I fry up some eggs and toss bacon on a griddle as she saunters into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed, her blonde hair rumpled. God, she looks good, a sheet wrapped around her.

  "Fuck, baby," I tell her. "You look hot as hell."

  "Yeah?" she asks, looking down, her tits pressed together, her nipples poking through the bed sheet.

  "Yeah," I say, drawing her close to me. I'm wearing a pair of sweats, and my cock is already aching at the thought of her and me together again. Last night was nothing but perfection, bliss. I could fuck this girl all night, forever, all day. I don't want to let her go, ever. I could hardly sleep. All I could think about was making her mine for good.

  I said the word “love” last night, and it wasn't an exaggeration, it’s not something I regret. It was something real.

  Love at first sight turns out to be something that's not just found in romance novels and movies made for the big screen.

  Turns out, love at first sight is something that can be found right here in Winter Falls, because I found it while I was snowed in at Christmas. I found it with her. I want this girl for keeps.

  "What are you thinking about?" she says. "I feel like I lost you for a second."

  I cup her cheeks and kiss her. "I got lost in your eyes, Quinn. Got lost in you. Fuck," I say. "The bacon!"

  I can smell it burning, and she laughs, reaching for the potholder. "Here you go," she says as I grab the potholder from her hand and pull the cast iron skillet off the stove.

  "I'm not much of a cook,” I admit.

  "That's okay," she says, swatting my ass with a dish towel. "I'm pretty good around the kitchen."

  "Yeah? And how do you take your coffee?"

  "With cream, but considering we're snowed in," she says, reaching for a bottle of brandy, "how about we add some of this to the coffee too?"

  "Perfect," I say.

  "I was wondering if you had anything I might be able to borrow to wear? Not that I mind walking around the cabin nearly naked, but it's kind of cold."

  "Right," I say. "In the bedroom, there's my suitcase. I haven't had a chance to unpack, but I have some flannel shirts in there, T-shirts, you can wear anything. I can grab it if you'd like, or you can help yourself. I can start the fire, maybe that will help warm up the place too."

  "Great," she says. "I'll be right back. You get the fire, I'll get some clothes to make myself decent, and then coffee?"

  I nod. "Perfect."

  Forgetting about the coffee for a moment, I head to the fireplace and add a few logs to the wood-burning stove. Once it's crackling, I return to the kitchen and add some brandy and cream to our coffees. Setting them on a tray, I carry it to the living room and put it down on the coffee table. Plating the bacon and eggs, I bring that into the living room as well, thinking a nice breakfast by the fire sounds good. We need some protein after the night we've had. I know we both certainly worked up quite an appetite several times over.

  "Quinn?" I say, realizing she's been taking a while. "Everything okay? Do you need some help?"

  A moment later, though, she walks out and she's no longer smiling, bright-eyed, and ready to play. Instead, she's holding my phone, an expression on her face that is anything but happy. "Hey," she says. "So, look, I'm not some creeper, I swear. And I'm not trying to invade your privacy, but..."

  "What?" I say.

  "Look, I was just reaching in your suitcase and your phone was right next to it on the floor and there was a text that popped up on your screen. I wasn't, like, messing with your passcode or anything. It just was right there. It was impossible to not see." She passes the phone to me, and right on the screen is a text from Veronica.

  Fucking Veronica.

  The image Veronica sent is impossible to ignore, and now I know why there are tears in Quinn's eyes. The picture is of an engagement ring, a big, fat diamond ring. And the words underneath it are devastating if read in the wrong context.

  Nicky, you'll be home tomorrow morning for the engagement party, right? It's time you put this ring on my finger in front of the family, don't you think? XO, yours forever.

  "It's not what you think," I say, shoving the phone in my pocket.

  "No?" Quinn says. "Then what is it? Because it sounds like there's a girl waiting for you to come home for Christmas to propose."

  "Well, there is a girl waiting for me to come home for Christmas to propose, but..."

  Quinn shakes her head. "Oh my God. You're totally playing me. I thought... I thought we..."

  "You thought what?"

  Quinn covers her face with her hands. "I thought we... I thought you... I thought this was real. Who is she?"

  "She's no one. I mean, she's my stepsister."

  Quinn drops her hands. "And that's supposed to make it better? Nicholas, that makes it so much worse."

  Quinn

  His stepsister?

  I shake my head, frustrated and annoyed and still mostly naked.

  I turn back to the bedroom and grab my clothes from yesterday. I begin sliding on my jeans before realizing that I'm shaking and I need to sit down.

  His stepsister?!

  Now my jeans are around my ankles, and I don't even have on any underwear because, well, they were basically ruined last night, and I have no shirt on, and now tears are just falling down my cheeks. I'm on the edge of the bed and I'm crying into my hands and Nick’s in here and I haven't had any coffee and this is just worst-case everything. Everything.

  He's getting engaged to his stepsister? This can't be real.

  "Let me explain," Nicholas says. "Please." He's on his knees in front of me. He hands me a flannel shirt, wrapping it around my shoulders. It smells so good. It smells like him. And I hate that. And I love that. I wipe my eyes.

  "Give me the five-second version because I don't have time for more than that."

  "Well, you're not going anywhere," he says. "There's a freaking blizzard outside. It's not like you can just jump in your car and go home. You're stuck here. You're stuck with me."

  "That's supposed to make this better?" I moan. "Nicholas, that just makes it worse. That makes me feel trapped with you, a stepbrother-lover-person who tricked me into having sex with him."

  "I didn't trick you into anything. I love you, Quinn. I want you, forever."

  "Don't," I say. "Don't mess with my heart like that. Don't mess with my everything. You love me? You love me, but you're getting engaged to someone else?"

  "I'm not getting engaged to anybody. Well, I want to get engaged to somebody."

  "See," I say, "you do want to get engaged to your stepsister."

  "No, I want to get engaged to you. I want to marry you, Quinn. God, I freaking love you. I met you last night and I want to make my life here with you in Winter Falls. I don't even know your granddad, but heck, I'm going to do whatever I can to make him trust me. I want to help out with your family so he can retire and I can help with the grocery store. Heck, I'll work the cash register. I'll bag the groceries. I'll unload the trucks. What do you need, Quinn? Let me be your person."

  "Stop it," I say. "Just stop it. Stop saying everything right and everything perfect, and explain who Veronica is."

  "Veronica is my stepdad's daughter. My mom thinks we should get married, for some reason unbeknownst to me. My mom married this guy like four years ago and Veronica thinks... I don't know what she thinks. She is not the one for me. In fact, you’re everything she’s not. We work in the same office because it's a family business, but we didn't grow up together or anything. We've never been anything at all, I swear to you. I've never kissed her. I've never so much as touched her. I've never gone on a date with her. She is nothing to me."

  "That's not what she thinks," Quinn says. "And why is that?"

  "Because my mother is meddling in my life. Why do you think I left for Christmas? Because I was refusing to play their game anymore. I knew if I didn't cut ties, I was going to be trapped in a world that I don't want to live in. I don't want to stay there anymore because it means foregoing my own choices for a life that they're going to choose for me."

  "You want this instead? You've never even been into the town of Winter Falls. You've never even been to my granddad’s marketplace. You've known me less than 24 hours and you're making promises that you have no idea if you can keep."

  "I'm a man of my word. I told you I had a big package and I did, didn't I?"

  I shake my head. "Stop it, Nicholas."

  “Stop what?" he says.

  "Stop being everything that I want."

  "Why?" he asks. He presses his hands to both my cheeks. He wipes away my tears with his perfect thumbs. "Why?" he says again. "Why would you want me to stop being what you need? Because, Quinn, you're everything I want. Let me be what you need. Let me be yours this Christmas. We're snowed in together. Won't you please be my Christmas miracle?"

  "You mean that? You really don't love her?"

  "Not even close," he says. He pulls out his phone. "Look, listen," he says. He calls Veronica and puts her on speakerphone. "Hey," he says. “It’s Nick.”

  "Hey, Nicky," she says. "So did you get my text?" she cackles. "I thought it was kind of funny, right? Okay. So are you coming home or what? Because the party is tomorrow, and like everybody is coming and it's going to be like, super awkward if you don't even show up for our own engagement party, which is already going to be awkward enough considering, you know, we're not together, but like, for all intents and purposes, we have to make this happen."

  "No," he says. "We don't. We're not together, Veronica. We never have been and I'm not marrying you."

  "Nicky, that's so stupid. Like, there's a thousand reasons this makes sense."

  "No," he tells her, "there's a thousand reasons it doesn't. Whatever plan you and my mom have, it's twisted and it's wrong and I'm not going along with it."

  "For tax reasons alone it makes sense," she moans.

  "I'm not marrying anyone for tax purposes. Besides, I'm already engaged."

  "What?" she says. "That is not possible, considering there is no ring on my finger."

  "Well, that would make sense because I'm not marrying you. I'm marrying Quinn."

  My eyes go wide as I listen to the words coming out of Nicholas's mouth. He hasn't officially proposed, but, I mean, I guess he basically has, and I guess I basically have said yes.

  I shake my head, trying not to squeal.

  "Are you serious? Your mom is going to literally lose it. You understand that, right?"

  "I don't care what my mom does. I'm going to let her know shortly that I am not working for her or the family business anymore. I have other work that I need to tend to. Goodbye. And Veronica?"

  "What?" she shrieks. "What?"

  "Merry Christmas," he says.

  Then he ends the call and he draws me to him. "Quinn," he says, "one more thing."

  "And what is that?" I ask. "You know, besides the official proposal that hasn't exactly happened."

  He laughs. "Well, I can't actually officially propose until I talk to your grandfather."

  "Fair enough," I say, laughing as he scoops me up into his arms and carries me into the living room where breakfast and coffee are waiting for us in front of the fire.

  Bodies entwined, we watch the snow fall. I kiss him.

  Again and again and again. I kiss him all day long, knowing in my heart that I am ready to start a life with this man who swept me off my feet when we got snowed inn for Christmas.

  Frankie Love Books and Bio

  Frankie Love writes filthy-sweet stories about bad boys and mountain men.

  She is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, believes in love-at-first-sight, and happily-ever-afters. She also believes in the power of a quickie.

  Get ready to fall in love … you deserve it!

  Check out my books here!

  Gavin and Tory

  Rochelle Paige

  Copyright © 2021 by Rochelle Paige

  Cover design by Elle Christensen

  Edited by Editing4Indies

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter 1

  Tory

  “You can’t stay in this cabin forever,” I muttered to myself as I laced up the liners of my ski boots. I’d been so excited when I’d bought them because they’d extend the life of my favorite pair of ski boots. I hadn’t had the opportunity to use them in way too long. We didn’t get much snow in Nashville, and this was the first time I’d been back out West since I moved there a few years ago.

  When my best friend asked me to join her on this trip, I’d jumped at the chance to get away for the holiday and do something I used to love. But nothing had gone as planned over the past couple of days, and I hadn’t left the cabin except to get food in forty-eight hours. I’d been incredibly lucky to get it at the very last minute during the busiest time of year for the Winter Falls Ski Resort.

  The cabins were separate from the inn where I was supposed to stay in a room with Stephanie, but I’d still been worried about running into her, her boyfriend Brad, and his best friend Chuck each time I’d ventured out for food. I finally shook off my melancholy this afternoon and decided the best gift I could give myself was to enjoy the rest of my time in Winter Falls to the fullest. It was Christmas Eve, after all. I needed to do something to get into the holiday spirit before I wasted my entire week here and was stuck on a plane next to Stephanie for the flight back home. After the stunt she pulled when we were checking into the inn, I wasn’t ready to spend five minutes in her presence, let alone two and a half hours.

  A few hours later, I was happy that I’d forced myself out of the cabin. The fresh air had done me a world of good, and I’d even managed to find some fresh powder that hadn’t been

  tracked out even though I’d gotten a late start. I felt better than I had in days as I removed my planks to head inside the lodge to grab a hot cider and a snack. But my good mood was quickly soured when I spotted Stephanie sitting in the corner with Brad and Chuck.

  I ground my teeth together at the timid smile she flashed me. With a sharp shake of my head, I turned away from her and headed over to the hostess stand. “Table for one?”

  That’d been my original plan, but I didn’t want to stay long after seeing that my ex-best friend was here. “Any chance I could get a hot cider and a sandwich or soup to go?”

  “Sure, the bartender can help you with that.” She jerked her chin toward where the bar was situated. The only way to get there was to walk directly past Stephanie’s table, and I gave serious consideration to leaving instead. But she’d already ruined enough of my trip, and I refused to let her dim my enjoyment of Christmas Eve, too.

  Steeling my spine and lifting my chin, I marched past her table without acknowledging Stephanie or the guys who’d come between us. I heaved a deep sigh when she didn’t say anything, and I was able to make it to the bar without a confrontation. No stools were available, so I walked to the end farthest away from Stephanie and stood next to the corner of the U-shaped bar. Tapping my fingers against the gleaming mahogany surface, it took a couple of minutes before one of the bartenders noticed me.

  “What can I get you?” he asked.

  I’d checked out the menu while I was waiting. “Hot apple cider and a club sandwich to go, please.”

  “Want your drink spiked with dark rum or schnapps?”

  “Dark rum sounds good.” I hadn’t planned on having any alcohol since I wanted to get some night skiing in later, but one drink wouldn’t do too much damage. And some liquid courage might help if I got stuck talking to Stephanie.

  I leaned my elbows against the bar top while he put my sandwich order into the system and poured my spiked cider into a to-go cup. When he set my drink in front of me, I murmured, “Thanks.”

  “Incoming,” he warned, earning himself a hefty tip. I wasn’t sure how he’d noticed the tension between Stephanie and me, but I was grateful for his perceptiveness. His heads-up meant I wasn’t surprised when she tapped me on the shoulder.

  I turned around but didn’t say anything since I had zero desire to make this easy for her.

  Her shoulders slumped, and she awkwardly whispered, “Hey.”

  “Hello.”

  “So, um...did you want to join us for an early dinner? There’s plenty of room at our table,” she offered.

  “No thanks.” I lifted my to-go cup in the air between us. “I already ordered.”

  “I’m sure they’ll be willing to deliver your meal to our table,” she suggested, glancing over my shoulder toward the bartender who was helping me. “Right?”

  “Sure, she can eat wherever she wants,” he confirmed.

  “Which definitely isn’t at your table,” I muttered, setting my cider down to cross my arms over my chest as I tapped my foot against the floor. Stephanie has always been a little oblivious, but she couldn’t actually think I was going to act as though nothing was wrong after our falling-out.

  “C’mon, we’ve been friends since we were ten, and it’s Christmas Eve. We came here to spend the holiday together. Don’t you think you should let this whole thing drop so we can do that?” she wheedled.

  I figured I wouldn’t get an apology from her because she’d never been good at admitting when she was wrong, but this was too much—even for her. “No can do, Stephanie. You knew how hard this week was going to be for me, and you still pulled that crap at check-in.”