Unexpected Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Series Book 1) by Elena Aitken Page A

mask of concentration and within seconds she’d regained her composure. “Don’t tell me you’re getting tired?” She didn’t turn to look at him, focusing instead on what she was doing.
    “Not tired,” he said. “But thirsty. Besides, we have more planned for today.”
    “We do?” she said.
    “Of course. You didn’t really think this was it, did you?”
    She smiled, but didn’t take her gaze off the ice.
    “I’ll tell you what—I’ll go find us some water. You make a couple more laps.”
    “Thanks, Colin. I’ll be fine. Honestly.”
    He laughed and watched her go ahead. He almost followed her again; the draw towards Andi was undeniably strong. But he didn’t want to appear too eager, so after a few moments, he turned and skated towards the bench where he’d left his shoes.
    Colin sat down on the bench next to another man taking his skates off.
    “Your wife’s first time on skates?” the man asked.
    Colin looked over at him while he undid the laces. “Yeah,” he said, not bothering to correct him. “Can you believe she hasn’t skated since she was a kid?”
    “Well she seems to be doing pretty good now,” the man said. “I’m Kirk by the way.” He extended his hand which Colin took. “I’m up here with my family. We just taught my son to skate, too.”
    Colin looked to where he pointed; a woman was loading a baby into a sleigh wagon while a little boy made snow angels. “Did he like it?” he asked.
    Kirk laughed. “He did, but I think he liked the promise of hot chocolate after even more.”
    Colin tugged his first skate off. “I’d have to agree with him. Hot chocolate sounds good.”
    “Hey, why don’t you two join us?”
    Colin looked over to Andi, who was still doggedly skating around the pond. He smiled at her dedication. For a woman who hadn’t wanted to try it, she really seemed to like it.
    “The Lodge was going to set up a big bonfire down by the toboggan hill later,” Kirk said. “According to my wife, there’ll be hot chocolate, apple cider, and snacks. Should be nice.”
    Colin took another glance at Andi before looking back at Kirk. “It does sound nice. I don’t remember seeing that on the schedule they gave me at the front desk yesterday.”
    “Apparently, that schedule of events is out the window.”
    “What do you mean? I thought this place had the best Christmas activities around. Better than the North Pole, even.”
    Kirk pulled his boot on and grabbed his skates. “They do. We come here every year for the holidays. But from what I understand, the event coordinator up and quit yesterday. So, they’re winging it. So far so good, though.”
    “Sounds like it,” Colin said and turned his attention to his other skate. “That’s really too bad, though. I had a whole thing planned for us for the next few days.”
    “Well, like I said, they’re still going to have stuff going on. But Carmen at the desk was pretty frazzled when I saw her earlier.” Kirk stood. “Anyway, I should get going. But maybe we’ll see you guys later? The kids are great, but some adult company would be good, too. I’m sure our wives would get along.”
    Colin was about to tell him that Andi wasn’t his wife, but something stopped him. “Yeah,” he said. “We’ll see you later. Hot chocolate sounds perfect. Besides, I have to rethink my itinerary as it turns out.”
    Kirk laughed and returned to his family. Colin watched him kiss his wife on the cheek and ruffle the boy’s hair. Something in his chest tweaked. It couldn’t be envy. There was no way he wanted the happy family lifestyle. Colin hadn’t given relationships much thought since the mess with his ex. Over the years, he’d learned it was so much easier not to get too deeply involved with women. Anything longer than a week was reason for trouble.
    Besides, whenever he thought of what a healthy, loving relationship should be like, he thought of his parents. Since they were teenagers, they’d been deeply in love,