“What’s wrong?” he asked her roughly, worried by her pensive expression.
She raised a brow at him. “You have a Jeep and a snowplow?”
Oh, hell. Busted!
“Yeah. Out in the other garage.”
“So tell me exactly why I was snowed in here when you could have taken me back to the resort pretty easily.”
Tate wasn’t going to bullshit her. She looked pretty miffed. “Because I wanted you here. We were in the middle of a blizzard, Lara. Even if I did have a plow, it wasn’t exactly safe to be out that night.” He wasn’t going to tell her that he’d gone out and plowed himself out in worse weather. The truth was…he’d wanted her to stay. And he hadn’t wanted to take her out in the cold just to get her back to the resort. “You were hurt.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “You could have told me,” she said, sounding disappointed.
Damn. Disappointed was worse than her being pissed off. “I could have,” he said carefully.
“I don’t like lies, Tate, for whatever reason.”
He didn’t like them either, especially between him and Lara, so he could understand her point. “I didn’t lie exactly. I just didn’t tell you I had a plow.”
“A lie by omission, Colter,” she told him sternly. “You didn’t tell me because you didn’t think about it. You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to know.”
She was right. “I’m sorry. I appreciate honesty, too. I would have told you eventually.”
“Don’t do it again,” she told him in a voice that reminded Tate of his fifth-grade teacher, and that woman had been pretty scary.
Lara put the puppy down and strode into the kitchen without another word.
Tate followed curiously. He watched as she went through the motions of fixing breakfast.
“I won’t lie to you ever again, Lara.” He meant that statement with his entire being. Now that he knew her better, he’d never be able to avoid laying everything on the table with her.
“Good.” She nodded at him and went back to fixing breakfast.
“That’s it?” She wasn’t going to fry him over the issue?
“That’s it. Now that I’ve made myself clear, I trust you to honor what I want.” She caught his gaze for a short moment. “Besides, you did probably save my life, or at the very least having to touch that disgusting man. And you’re almost disgustingly perfect. I guess you’re due one mistake.”
“Almost perfect?” Damn, he loved it when she teased him. “What would make me absolutely perfect?”
She pretended to study him for a minute. “You could learn to cook,” she replied in a smart-ass tone.
He moved over to her and slapped her on the ass just to hear her cute little squeal. “Baby, nobody deserves to eat my cooking.” But damned if he didn’t want to try harder to learn because of her. She didn’t deserve to do all of the cooking. “But I know every good restaurant in Colorado, and I can get us there fast. You don’t have to cook.”
“Hmm…I suppose there is that,” she answered cheekily.
“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.” He kissed her lightly on the temple and breathed in her intoxicating scent.
“After breakfast, I need to go to the resort. I just told Chloe I’d meet her in the gym. I hope it’s not crowded by then.”
Tate groaned. “Chloe ratted me out, didn’t she?” His sister had been the one to tell Lara he had a snowplow.
“Not on purpose. She just happened to mention it.” Lara fried the bacon.
“Why are you going there?”
“I promised Chloe I’d teach her a few self-defense moves.”
“The gym is never crowded in the winter. People are getting their exercise by skiing. Nobody wants to be inside when there’s fresh powder.”
“I do,” Lara said adamantly.
“If I teach you to ski or snowboard, you’ll love it.” Lara was adventurous, and she’d take to winter sports if she had a teacher. And he knew just the guy to show her the joy of winter.
“I think I’d rather be sitting by a warm fire doing…something else,” she said innocently, but turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I think if I teach you the benefits of staying inside, you’ll love it,” she parroted him teasingly.
He kissed her, and admitted that she was probably right, especially if she meant staying inside her.
“I think I have the basics down, but do you think we could keep practicing?” Chloe asked Lara as she walked at a sedate pace on the treadmill.
Lara was up to a run, but she wasn’t out of breath yet. “Sure. We can go over it until I have to leave.”
They’d practiced basic self-defense for quite a while before they finished and Lara jumped on the treadmill to do her daily routine. She’d seen a few more bruises on Chloe, and her alarm bells went off pretty damn loud. “Chloe, is James hurting you?” She had to ask. Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to stay silent.
Chloe looked straight ahead as she answered. “No. Of course not. The martial arts thing was an accident. He got impatient and he’s under a lot of stress right now.”
“You have new bruises,” Lara argued.
“I’m a klutz,” Chloe said hastily. “I trip a lot and do some stupid things. I bruise easily.”
She knew she was putting Tate’s sister on the defensive, so she answered simply. “If you ever need to talk, I’m here to listen.” Sometimes it was easier to talk to a woman than a man.
It hadn’t escaped Lara’s notice that Chloe had never really called on James when she’d needed him, and during this family crisis it would be nice if he was around to reassure her.
“Thanks,” Chloe answered casually. “But I’m good. Every relationship hits some bumpy areas, I think.” She paused. “God, do you torture yourself like that every day?”
Lara thought that maybe most relationships did have ups and downs, but she was afraid that Chloe was hitting mountains instead of bumps in her relationship. “Yep. I have no choice but to work out every day. I have to be in good condition for my job, and I like to eat.”
“Me too,” Chloe answered with a sigh. “But I gain weight if I even smell chocolate or something fattening.”
“You’re not fat, Chloe,” Lara told her sternly, angry that some man had made her feel unattractive when she was actually gorgeous.