Snowbound with the Biker (Holiday Encounters Book 2)

  Snowbound with the Biker

  Amy Lamont

  http://www.amylamont.com

  For Nola and Kaylie

  Snowbound with the Biker

  Published by Lazy Husband Publishing

  Copyright © March 2015 by Amy Bender

  Cover design by the Killion Group

  Editing by Kelly Anderson

  Formatting by Ellen Stacey Publishing Services

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  A Note from Amy

  Other Titles By Amy Lamont

  Chapter One

  Katelyn

  “Let me top that off for you.” Paige leaned forward with the pitcher of frozen margaritas and refilled Emma’s glass.

  I stuffed a mini quiche in my mouth to keep from giggling at Paige’s none-too-subtle tactic. It was common knowledge that tequila worked like truth serum on Emma, and we’d all been waiting to get the dirt on her and the hot guy she’d hooked up with over Christmas.

  “Me, too, please.” I held my nearly empty glass out and Paige stretched to fill it.

  I settled down, curling my legs underneath me and reached for a stuffed mushroom. I’d been waiting for tonight for a month. Between work and school, I hadn’t had a chance to breathe lately.

  But tonight was New Year’s Eve, and Paige, Jade, Emma and I were indulging in our New Year’s Eve tradition—staying in and binging on munchies, dessert and frozen margaritas while we watched the ball drop from the comfort of our own living room.

  “Well, first things first,” Paige said, rubbing her hands together. “We need to decide on the winner of our bet.”

  I grinned. On Thanksgiving the four of us made a bet to see who could have the wildest adventure by tonight. And it had gone exactly as planned.

  “I know I’m not the winner. I haven’t even had time to think about doing something adventurous,” I said.

  “Me, too. The closest I came was having drinks with Jared Sloane,” Paige said.

  “Oh my God, that totally counts.” Jade shook her head. “I still can’t believe you had drinks with the lead singer of Sliding Violet.”

  Paige shrugged, but a small smile tugged at her lips, letting us know she wasn’t as cool about the whole thing as she’d like us to think. “It’s not like I got to do more than that. He got a phone call and had to leave. He never even asked for my number.”

  Paige nudged Jade’s leg with her toes. “How about you? Did you manage to hide some big adventure from us?”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “I wish. The most exciting thing that’s happened to me since Thanksgiving was getting an extra fortune in my cookie when we ordered Chinese the other night.”

  We all turned to stare at Emma.

  She held her hands up, palms out as she laughed. “All right, all right. I’ll concede. I had an awesome adventure. I won.”

  A twinge of jealousy in my belly took me by surprise. Not that I had any desire to have a one-night stand. But I couldn’t help but think there were other opportunities I’d passed up on over the last few years. What might have happened if I’d acted on those impulses?

  As soon as the thought entered my head, a vision of the boy who lived next door to me most of my life, the one guy I’d never had the nerve to say more than two words to at a time, flashed in my mind—Hunter Lawson.

  As quickly as the vision came, I shook my head to clear it. That was a dream that died years ago.

  “I think you guys need to fess up,” Emma said.

  Jade, Paige and I exchanged guilty looks.

  “Ha! I knew it.” Emma pointed a finger and moved it to encompass the three of us. “You planned all this. You guys never had any intentions of trying to win our bet.”

  Paige grinned, unrepentant. “How do you figure that?”

  “My first clue should have been when Katelyn agreed to your scheme so quickly.” She pinned me with her gaze, her brown eyes dancing with amusement. “You never go along with their crazy plans.”

  I shrugged and fought a smile. She was right. Paige, Jade and I had come up with the idea of the bet before Thanksgiving to try to pull Emma out of the rut she’d been in since graduation.

  She was right, too, in saying I usually resisted Jade and Paige’s crazy schemes. The bet had been no different. I’d only gone along when they swore I wouldn’t have to do anything outrageous to make it look like I was trying to win.

  “I didn’t catch on right away. Really it wasn’t until this week when I realized nobody else seemed to have done anything. Especially you.” Emma jabbed a finger toward Paige. “You’re one of the most competitive people I know and you didn’t even try to win. You helped me. And please, that story about Jared Sloane.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

  “What do you mean that story about Jared?” Paige sat up straight. “You were there. You saw me having a drink with him.”

  Emma nodded. “I did. I also know you. If you wanted to win the bet…hell, usually you wouldn’t need the bet to get you to act. You wouldn’t have let him leave that hotel without at least giving him your phone number. I’m not buying the ‘he didn’t ask for it’ bit. Normally you’d have written it on a napkin and stuck it in his pocket or stolen his phone and programmed it in. When do you wait for adventure to come find you?”

  I couldn’t help it. I burst into giggles. Emma was so right. Paige was no shrinking violet. If she wanted to win that bet, she’d have gone out on tour with Sliding Violet, not settled for a drink with the lead singer in a hotel bar. Even Paige couldn’t keep a straight face.

  “Okay, you’re onto us,” Jade admitted. “We might have planned it out. But we really did it because we were worried about you. It wasn’t like a prank or something.”

  Emma’s face softened. “I know. And I appreciate it. I did need something to shake me up. My whole world was becoming these four walls. I was about a year away from collecting cats.”

  “So no hard feelings?” I asked. Our intentions were good, but I would hate it if we hurt her.

  “No, no hard feelings.”

  “How could she have hard feelings? She snared Nathaniel Wilder. Billionaire, playboy and best of all, hot guy to end all hot guys.” Paige jabbed a toothpick into one of the pigs in a blanket and shoved it in her mouth.

  Another spear of envy prickled hotly in my stomach. Not that I begrudged Emma her time with Nate. But thoughts of my own hot guy to end all hot guys seemed to have a grip on my mind tonight. Why was Hunter back in my thoughts again? I’d put away the fantasy of riding off on the back of his motorcycle years ago.

  “And speaking of,” Jade said. “You’ve been awfully tight-lipped about what happened with him, Emma. We want some details.”

  A mixture of emotions chased across Emma’s face and my heart squeezed. I had a feeling all was not ri
ght between her and Nate, and if she got hurt because of our scheme to get her out of the house, I’d never forgive myself.

  “There’s not much to say.” Emma tugged a hand through her heavy, dark blonde hair. “We had sex. We spent Christmas together. We had more sex. And he’s been out of town on business since the day after Christmas when he dropped me off here.”

  I bit my lip and then asked softly, “Have you heard from him?”

  “He called once and texted a few times.” She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not like he made any kind of commitment to me, but I think maybe I read more into spending Christmas together than he meant. Or, I don’t know, maybe he decided he’s not into me. Or maybe I’m assuming too much. The guy is busy. Maybe one phone call and a couple of texts are him being super attentive.”

  Paige leaned over and gave Emma a quick hug and I reached over and squeezed her hand. She leaned into Paige for a second before sitting up. “But hey, no feeling sorry for me. If nothing else, I had an awesome time.” A mischievous smile spread across her face, wiping away any sign of distress or confusion. “And contrived or not, I made a bet in good faith and I won. You guys owe me.”

  The three of us exchanged looks before Paige turned back to Emma with a shrug. “That seems fair. I guess we each owe you a favor.”

  Paige’s pragmatic response had my stomach churning. I knew this bet thing was going to come back to haunt me. That’s why I argued when Paige and Jade first cooked up the idea.

  I turned my own apprehensive gaze on Emma. “What do you want us to do?”

  She grinned and tapped her index finger against her chin. “I may have to give this one some thought. It’s not every day I have something to hold over the three of you.”

  Paige snatched a pillow from the couch and tossed it at Emma’s head. “I think we need a statute of limitations on this bet.”

  Emma dodged the pillow with a laugh, and then sat up straight.“ I know what I want!”

  I twisted my hands in my lap. Paige and Jade wore identical expressions—eager and curious at once. I was pretty sure mine didn’t match theirs.

  “Okay, lay it on us. What’s the favor you’re going to collect?” Paige rested her elbows on her knees.

  “My favor is…” Emma took a deep breath and let her playful gaze travel over each of us. “You all have to continue with the bet. You each need to try to have at least one wild adventure.”

  Again the image of Hunter Lawson flashed in my mind. Why on earth would I think of him right now?

  But I knew. Too many of my fantasies over the years featured having wild adventures with Hunter Lawson. The only things that stood between me and going after him all these years was my parents’ disapproval and the fact he was my brother’s best friend.

  “I don’t know, Emma. What are the chances there are two guys like Nate Wilder waiting in a bar?” I asked.

  Emma laughed. “Well, that night there were two. Don’t forget Paige’s rock star was there, too.”

  I shook my head. “You know what I mean.”

  Emma sent me a soft smile. “You don’t have to run out and have a one-night stand with a stranger. It can be anything—bungee jumping, taking a wild vacation, jumping from a plane, quitting your job.

  “I love it.” Jade said. “We can all use a little shaking up.”

  Emma nodded. “I think so, too.”

  Was it my imagination or did her gaze linger a little longer on me?

  “So are the stakes the same?” Paige asked. “Whoever wins gets a favor from each of us?”

  “Nope. I’m not including myself in the bet since I already more than stepped out of my comfort zone.” Emma’s lips quirked into a wry smile. “And while there are some days I’m ready to go right back into hibernation, I think I get the message. Life is much better off the couch.”

  I bit my lip in an attempt to hold back my giggles, but when Jade and Paige cracked up, I couldn’t help but join them.

  “Oh my God,” Jade said. “I don’t know how I managed not to burn those pink flannel pajama bottoms. It’s a wonder you were able to pry them from your body.”

  Emma shook her head and tried to give us each a disapproving look, but she failed miserably when she joined us in our giggles. “I know, I know. But I’ve been better and I don’t plan on relapsing.”

  “Good.” Paige threw an arm over Emma’s shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

  “Anyway,” Emma said, “since I’m not in on the bet, I get to decide the winner. I know everyone’s busy so I’ll give you until this summer. Whoever has the wildest adventure by July Fourth wins. And I’ll treat the winner to a full day of pampering at the Pink Posey.”

  “Oh, this is so mine.” Paige grinned.

  “You’re on, Paige. There’s no way I’m missing out on a day at the Posey,” Jade said.

  I had to admit, a spa day at the Pink Posey was pretty powerful motivation. I nibbled on the cuticle around my thumbnail. “I’d love a day at the spa. But how the heck am I supposed to compete with you two?”

  Paige winked at me. “Come on, Katelyn, you know you’ve been dying to tell your boss off. Here’s the perfect excuse. You get to tell him what you really think of him and you get a day at the spa.”

  Emma shook her head. “Katelyn would never do that. Unlike some people,” she cut her eyes to Paige when she spoke those words, “she’s too nice to start insulting people at work. But I’m sure you’ll think of something, Kate. If I could do it, you can, too.”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes nice is overrated. I say you should go for it, Kate.” Paige wiggled her eyebrows at me.

  I rolled my eyes. But as we turned our attention to the television, and the ball about to drop and bring in the New Year, I couldn’t help but turn her words over in my head.

  ***

  That night, despite the alcohol I’d consumed and the fact it was after two in the morning before I tumbled into bed, I tossed and turned. Thoughts of the bet and my goody two-shoes status and Hunter Lawson swirled through my mind. No wonder once I finally drifted off to sleep, I drifted straight into a dream about Hunter.

  In it, I was back in my bedroom in the house I grew up in. The walls were a pale pink. Books and framed photos filled every available space. I could see one on my dresser of Jade, Paige, Emma and I on the day we graduated from college. I stood at the window and engaged in one of my favorite high school extracurricular activities—spying on Hunter.

  From my window, I could see him in his driveway. He was bent over his old Harley, a toolbox at his feet. A couple of his buddies were there, their motorcycles parked nearby. They were all muscled, tattooed and totally hot. But I only had eyes for Hunter. The way his muscles rippled under his tight, black t-shirt. The way his jeans sat low on his hips, showing tempting glimpses of skin as his shirt rode up while he worked.

  I licked my lips and, as one, the bikers in the driveway turned to stare up at me. My heart thudded in my chest.

  Oh, God. They’d caught me staring. I wanted to drop the curtain back into place, but my hands gripped the white eyelet so tightly I knew my mother would pitch a fit at the wrinkles I’d leave behind.

  As I stood immobile, Hunter’s head slowly lifted. He swiveled his head to look at each of the guys standing in his driveway and then his gaze followed theirs. Straight up to me.

  Fear and a desperate relief surged through me. He could see me. Finally. How many times had I stood here staring at him wishing he’d just once look up and notice me?

  In the next instant, the walls of my bedroom and the faces of Hunter’s friends faded away. He and I stood in his bedroom. Part of me wanted to spend hours investigating every nook and cranny, every poster on the wall, every scrap of paper on his desk. I’d never had a chance to see his room, his private space.

  But I couldn’t look away from him. He stared down at me with an intensity that made me shiver. I lifted my hands to his chest and realized he no longer wore the tight black tee. My fingers met firm, bare flesh.


  His teeth flashed in his tanned face, and I stared at him. I could count on one hand the times I’d seen Hunter smile. And now I was the cause of it.

  His hand came up and grabbed mine, holding it trapped against the warm skin of his chest.

  “Are you going to be a good girl, princess?”

  I could do no more than nod.

  “That’s right,” he said and bent to tease his lips across my jawline. “You’re my good girl.”

  The last words were whispered close to my ear and I shivered.

  Hunter pulled back and took the hand he still held and placed it on my own chest. I looked down and saw a white button-down shirt. My brow crinkled. Didn’t I wear this to work last week?

  “I want you to unbutton this,” Hunter commanded, his voice thick.

  I looked up at him and nodded. I was a good girl. His good girl.

  My fingers moved down the front of my shirt, slowly undoing each button, one by one. My eyes locked on Hunter’s face. His gaze followed my fingers, his jaw tight.

  When I got to my last button, I stopped. My teeth sank into my bottom lip and I fidgeted under his intense stare.

  “Be still,” he said.

  When I obeyed instantly, he smiled. “Good girl. Now take it off.”

  My hands shook at his words. Keeping my eyes glued to his, I complied, sliding the thin, white material over my shoulders and letting it spill down to the floor.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered, his hot gaze raking over my body.

  When I looked down at myself, a small gasp escaped me. All my clothes had disappeared. I was completely bared for Hunter.

  My eyes flew to his and he grinned back at me.

  “You knew I had a way with women,” he said with a smirk.

  I had heard the rumors about Hunter’s reputation with the girls at our high school. He was a legend there even after he graduated. But I hadn’t known he could do this.

  His grin turned into a smirk. “Now, how are you going to win this bet?”

  I huffed out a breath. “How do you know about the bet? Did Paige tell you?”