Snow Job (A Resolution Pact Short Story) Read online

  “No, but I assume that if you act like the crazy cat lady, they start to show up. The universe provides and all that.”

  I laughed, and she joined in.

  “What do you do when you’re not here?” Annalise asked.

  “I don’t do anything else. I’m here on Thursday, and I work whatever Bob assigns me.”

  Something moved across her face so quickly that I couldn’t tell what it was and the smile was back in place. “That sounds very relaxing.”

  “It is. It’s what I need right now.”

  “This isn’t a permanent thing for you?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing is permanent. I’m not sure what’s next. I’m working on that,” I add with a smile.

  “I get that.”

  I looked at her. “Do you? You seem pretty set with what you’re doing.”

  “Well, I put on a good show.”

  “Yeah, you do.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. It was more than I wanted to get into over the lunch table during our lessons. But I found that I did want to get into it. What made this girl tick?

  We both leaned in, and our hands brushed, and I got such a jolt—one that went right to my groin--I nearly fell off the bench. I looked at her, and she had the same look on her face that I figured was on mine. Great. I already had no idea what to say, and now this. The urge to kiss her, right there, was overwhelming.

  Thankfully, there was no chance to get into the awkward silence as one of the kids came up, and we were back on the clock.

  After the Sunday lesson, Annalise said goodbye, and she disappeared. I wanted to talk to her some more, and I found that I wanted to ask her out while we were in the City.

  So, when I got home, I did what any sane person does while on the hunt. Or deciding to be on the hunt. I Googled her to see what sorts of social media she was on.

  I found her on a couple of pages, and I totally stalked her to see what she put out there.

  She had a lot of friends. For someone worried about being a cat lady, her friends were always posting on her pages. But nothing that looked like a significant other, from the little that I could see. Calling one of the investigators at my firm would have given me everything down to her shoe size and favorite laundry detergent, but I didn’t. That would have taken normal social media snooping to stalking levels, and I didn’t want to do that.

  I’d have to do this the old-fashioned way and ask her out this weekend. My heart raced at the thought of having time alone with Annalise that didn’t involve work, or thousands of people around us. I did look up the best restaurants around Wonderland so that I could take her somewhere decent.

  Assuming she said yes.

  Annalise

  As I drove up for my third weekend at Wonderland, I smiled, and stretched in the seat. I’d finished all my current projects, and I wouldn’t have any work that had to get done this weekend. It put a damper on my plans to have a social life when I had to race off and work at the end of the day.

  Not that it was going to be easy. Savannah, already not a fan, had a lot of snippy asides to offer every time I passed her, and she wasn’t afraid of who heard her. Well, other than Markus. She was livid that I’d been paired with him the past two weekends. But when he came around, she shut her yap.

  Which made me laugh.

  The other problem I had, and the one I didn’t want to face, was that I had the sneaking suspicion that I’d fallen victim to memory being better than I thought it was. The guys were hot. For absolute sure. Some of them had abs that were things of beauty. They tended to walk around with no shirts at the oddest times after work. Since Wonderland closed at dusk, the staff had a lot of free time. It was amazing how many of them lived up here for the season.

  Thankfully, the cabins had rooms, although they were tiny and barely a room—but they had a door that closed, and I was grateful. My roommates—none of whom were Savannah—liked to hang out and have wine if there wasn’t a staff party, and they’d come in late once or twice, but they were nice. Grace and Leah were their names, and both were on a year off from school to work here over the season. Grace was doing online work, so she studied a lot during the week, she told me.

  Anyway, the guys. Most of the guys I’d talked to didn’t seem to have a plan; not for life, and not even for what happened after the season. They would go work in a summer tourist town, doing various things. Some were in school, but it seemed like it was the extended plan.

  And I enjoyed them—but we weren’t on the same track. I wanted something, someone different, but not so different that we had nothing in coming outside of skiing. What would happen over the summer? Even Markus, who I thought was older, was on some sort of relaxation plan. And what was that hand touchy thing last weekend? We’d brushed hands, and it was like I’d touched an electric socket. Everything below the waistline on me had woken up and taken notice as well. Even more than it did normally. I thought he might try and kiss me, and I was debating how to handle it when a student came up to where we were sitting.

  Unfortunately, he was not one of the shirtless guys I’d seen so far. Probably a good thing since he already made my insides all hot and bothered.

  I couldn’t figure him out. He seemed a lot more like me, serious, with the potential to be a workaholic. But he was all kinds of vague, and I didn’t do vague. It made me nervous. Too many variables that would come in and disrupt anything.

  I laughed at myself because I’d described right there why I worked in accounting.

  This was a good weekend to see where this gig was going to fit in with my mission plan. What sucked is that I’d be here for the season. Barring death or dismemberment, I was in for the whole thing.

  I shook my head. This wasn’t the way to look at it. Even if the guy aspect didn’t work out, this was what I needed. I loved the teaching. I hoped I’d get my own class this weekend. Bob hadn’t said anything to me one way or the other last weekend.

  And I needed to ease up—I was starting to feel like one of those boy-crazy girls who had nothing else interesting to say. But I found that now that I’d decided it was time to look for someone, it completely preoccupied me. I even found myself looking at men at the office. If this general awareness of men kept up, I’d need to head to the local sex shop and pick up something to help me out. It was getting ridiculous.

  But Markus—I thought there was something there. A connection. I didn’t know. I forced myself to shrug and leave it be. I was in the place I needed to be, I hoped. Control was a big thing for me, and I found when I let go of some it, and let things happen, often they happened in a way I wanted. Sometimes not.

  The text from Stacy on New Year’s Eve was resonating with me. This was my year. I just needed to get out of my own way. I had no extra work this weekend. I’d hang out, be social, and see what happened. There. Let it be. I was still smiling as I pulled into the parking lot of my cabin and went in to drop my stuff.

  Grace was there, peering at her laptop.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Oh, hey.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “I won’t bother you.”

  “Thanks,” she muttered, eyes still on the screen.

  I moved quickly into my room and spent some time getting myself ready for tomorrow. I heard a knock at the door, and Grace talking to someone. Then a knock on my door.

  “Annalise?”

  Oh my God. It was Markus. I opened the door, my heart pounding. “Hey, what are you doing here?” I forced myself to smile. I was nervous, damn it, and I needed to get over it.

  He leaned against the door jamb, looking absolutely fab in non-ski clothes. “You have any plans for tonight?”

  “Um… no. I hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

  “Would you like to go to dinner?” He smiled then, and I nearly melted. Sweet baby Jesus this guy was delicious. I felt my panties get wet for God’s sake.

  “That… that would be great,” I finally got out. My cheeks warmed, which meant I was probably blushing and
looking silly.

  But he smiled even wider, which I didn’t know was possible. “Great. I’ll pick you up in about an hour?”

  “OK. Yes.” What the hell? I’d forgotten how to talk.

  “See you later.” With another smile that made my cheeks heat, he pushed off the door jamb and walked out.

  Grace watched him leave, and the minute the door closed behind him she put her laptop down and jumped up. “Did Markus Donnelly, Mr. Ice Cold, just ask you out on a date?”

  I put my hand to my cheek. “I think so. Holy…”

  “Shit,” Grace finished. “All right. What are you going to wear?”

  I threw up my hands. “I don’t know. All I have is casual stuff.”

  She held up her own hands in a ‘Stop’ motion. “That will be fine. I didn’t know if you brought anything other than sweats, and I wasn’t going to let you go out, even around here, in sweats. Not with that hunk of a man.”

  “He is pretty hot,” I said.

  “Yeah, and Savannah is going to have a shit fit. I’ll be delighted to mention it around her this evening. You know, casually.”

  “Oh, Lord. Don’t antagonize her.” Although it gave me a smug feeling to think of the hair flipping phony blond having a shit fit.

  “What are you waiting for, girl? Start primping. But not too much.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible with my current wardrobe choices,” I admitted.

  “Well, get yourself together, and I’ll give you my professional opinion once you’re done. I think I’m as excited as if he asked me out!” She stopped, and said, “Maybe not. I’m close. Everyone here has drooled over him at one time or another since right before Christmas when he started. But he’s super polite, and just all ‘Not Interested.’’

  “I didn’t think he was,” I said, not mentioning the electric, panty-dropping touch from last weekend. Or the fact that I was seriously concerned for the health of my panties this evening.

  “Well, you hit the jackpot, girl. Now go! You have an hour! You want his mouth to fall open.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said as I went back into my room to figure out what was the best mouth-dropping outfit I owned.

  Although I didn’t bring much, it took nearly the entire hour to get myself together. I was excited and found my stomach full of butterflies. But when there was a knock at the door, I was ready, right down to the lip gloss.

  Grace had pronounced me ‘hot as hell’ minutes before, so I opened the door. She was sitting in her chair again, grinning madly.

  “Ready?” Markus said.

  He’d changed into a button-down shirt, rolled at the arms. He was wearing a puffy vest in lieu of a coat, which I loved. He had strong, tan wrists.

  Lord save me. This man kept getting more and more delicious. I could imagine his hand on my—stop it! I told myself. We’re certainly nowhere near that.

  We walked together, and he led us to a car, a smooth and sleek slate blue BMW. I had no idea what kind of BMW, but it looked expensive. How in the hell did a ski instructor afford a BMW? And one that did not look used.

  He opened the door for me.

  “Wow,” I said. “I feel underdressed.” I had on jeans and a rose-colored wrap sweater, along with my favorite riding boots. This made me feel like I should be in a long, swishy skirt.

  Markus closed the door behind me and got in the driver’s side. “You look amazing, Annalise. I think you’re dressed perfectly. Don’t get overly impressed with the car. It was my big splurge back when I—” he stopped.

  “When you?”

  “It was a splurge when I could do that kind of thing.”

  OK. His expression indicated that he didn’t want to talk about it. I had no problem honoring that, but I might die of curiosity. A big, gorgeous guy with a history? I’d have to ask Grace if she knew anything when I got home.

  “Well, where do you hide it in the City? I had to promise a year of accounting to the board in my building to be considered for a parking spot.”

  “My… my parents used to live in my apartment, and it came with a space.”

  “God, that’s one of the best kind of hand-me-downs,” I said.

  He glanced at me quickly and said, “Yes, it is. I love not having to park this on the street.”

  “I was all right with the street until the first winter I lived there. After having to dig my car out and go to war for a spot, I knew I had to be crafty and inventive. I started going to the building association meetings, and when they stated they were looking for an accountant, I said I would do it, and check the last ten years, if they would help me get a spot in our garage.”

  “Your neighbors must have loved that,” he teased. “Made you a real favorite with Carol next door.”

  “Hey, I found the board an extra twenty-thousand in deductions and saved them from a potential tax liability, so I earned my space.”

  “I would agree. When there’s any kind of mistake, somehow that always makes it back to the tenants in the form of fees, or dues.”

  I nodded. “Exactly.” I stopped. I’d been trying to draw him out and it hadn’t worked. I decided to hell with being nosy, and I’d go with whatever.

  We talked casually all the way to the restaurant, which was a local steak house. “Good choice,” I said.

  “I eat at the Lodge a lot and it’s good, but I get tired of café kind of food after a while.”

  I smiled.

  After we’d been seated and ordered, Markus leaned back. His leg was next to mine and I felt it relax. I liked that he was touching me. The chills rolled over me. What would be like to touch him naked?

  “I’m glad you decided to come out,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  He shrugged, and I could see there was color in the tops of his cheeks. “I don’t assume.”

  “I’m glad you asked me,” I said, feeling the heat come into my own cheeks.

  He looked at me, and slowly, his hand came over and took mine, and he rested our clasped hands on the table. “You don’t mind?” he asked.

  My hormones were going crazy, and I itched to touch him more. “Not at all,” I said, smiling widely.

  The entire meal, we held hands, or he kept touching my hand, or my leg, and the series of small touches and glances and hyper awareness of him next to me that had me wanting to toss all the clothing off and have sexy times.

  Which shocked me. But Markus had lit a fire in me, and it wasn’t getting easier, or more controlled. It was getting worse, and I thought that the only thing that would help would be when I finally got to see him naked.

  I didn’t even feel bad about thinking such things. Markus was clearly interested, and despite my concerns over his lack of ambition, he’d seemed like a guy who had it together. My hormones didn’t care if he called himself the President and lived in a box.

  When we finished dinner, Markus took my hand as we left. It was gratifying to see a couple of other women in the restaurant look longingly at him. He opened the door when we went to the car and was around the other side so fast it surprised me. He slid in, and reached for me.

  “I need to kiss you. I’ve been dying to kiss you all night. Would that be OK?”

  Whoa. Yes. Hell yes. “Yes,” I said, and I didn’t get out another word.

  Markus pulled me closer to him and planted his lips on mine, kissing me hungrily, his tongue in my mouth and his hands in my hair. He ran them down along my body, and up, grazing my breasts.

  I couldn’t help it. I moaned and arched toward his hands.

  He slid one hand down in between my legs and rubbed me there, and I gasped.

  “Oh God, you are so hot Annalise,” he whispered against my lips.

  Inspired, I sent my hand downward and rubbed his cock. The size of it gave me a thrill. I loved hearing my name on his lips.

  This was what I was looking for, this was what I wanted—passion, and a sexy man who moaned for me. As if reading my
mind, he moaned again as my hand continued touching him.

  I had an even better inspiration.

  Markus

  She was everything I hoped she would be, even when I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to hope. Her lips were the best thing I’d ever tasted. I could taste the wine she’d had with dinner. She kissed me with small nips, giving back as fiercely as I’d kissed her.

  And then she touched my cock. I had to stop thinking about this amazing woman in my arms and concentrate on not coming all over both of us.

  Holy.

  Shit.

  While I was busily trying not to come, she pulled back from me and pushed me back into my seat with one hand. “Does your seat move at all?”

  I nodded.

  “Would you move it back a little, please?” Her voice was breathy. Because she was with me. Not because of who I was, or who my parents were, or what she thought I had to offer.

  But because she wanted me.

  Old ladies falling. Kids screaming. The Lodge at lunch. Anything not to—

  Annalise tugged at the waistband of my jeans. “I’d love it if you would get these out of my way.”

  I unbuttoned them, and slid them down, meaning to take them off, but she stopped me with a hand on my arm.

  “That’s far enough.” She took the waistband of my boxers and pulled them down, letting my cock spring out.

  It was ready, that was for damn sure.

  Old ladies. Screaming kids.

  She leaned over, and gently blew on the top of my cock and opened her mouth, and took it in. The warmth of her mouth, with the light scrape of her teeth nearly undid me and my hips came up.

  “Jesus, Annalise!” My voice came out strangled.

  She laughed, my cock still in her mouth, and the hum of it only made me harder. She began to move up and down, taking time to suck hard on the tip, and my hips moved up with her again. She kept going and I was on the edge, and she slowed down.

  My heart stopped.

  She was still, and my heart started again. I wasn’t ready to come anymore, and I smiled. She was good at this. And thank God for it.

  Annalise moved her head again, going up and down on my cock slowly at first, and then faster. I was reaching a point of no return.