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  “I think I’d know mistletoe.” She stretched up to hold the stuff in place while she nailed it with the gun.

  He waited until she’d reholstered the staple gun, until she’d turned to face him before putting a hand on the mantel on either side of her. Leaning in close, until their lips were only an inch apart, he waited for a reaction.

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth and went to half mast.

  He loved how she put herself out there, no façade, no hidden agenda. It was one of the most attractive things about her, and he shifted even closer. His mouth brushed her cheek now, then the corner of her lips, and when her hands came up to grip his shirt, he kissed her.

  She immediately leaned into him, making that same soft sigh of pleasure she’d made last time, the one that made him instantly hard. She tasted like warm, sweet, giving female, like forgotten hopes and dreams, and when she moved against him and slid her tongue to his, he thought he might die of the pleasure.

  “Okay,” she murmured, pulling back, eyes still closed. “Maybe it’s mistletoe.”

  He ran his thumb over a smudge of dirt on her jaw and let out a rough breath. “Yeah.”

  “That stuff should come with a warning.” She turned, and with her tool belt slapping against her hips with every step she took, she walked out of the room.

  6

  Hope strode into the kitchen and headed straight for the sink, where she downed a full glass of cold water.

  It didn’t help.

  She stared out the window at the still falling snow and put a hand on her heart to keep it from leaping right out of her chest, because holy smokes. Holy smokes could that guy kiss. She set down the empty glass and found Lori standing in the doorway grinning at her.

  Hope sighed. “Saw that, did you?”

  “Seriously. You ever hear of behind closed doors?”

  “I know. God.” At least no guests had been roaming about. Real professional, Hope.

  “Look at it this way.” Lori gave her a thumbs up. “You’re doing a helluva job with that evil plan to make his visit miserable. I bet he hated that torturous tongue lashing you just gave him.”

  Hope thunked her head on the cabinets. “My evil plan is kaput.”

  “Good. Why?”

  “Because he quit. He’s going to start his own business, one where he doesn’t have to suck the soul out of people.”

  “Wow. Good for him. You got to him.”

  Yeah. And damn if he wasn’t getting to her . . .

  She shoved away from the counter and headed toward her office.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To bury myself in paperwork.” Anything to avoid reliving the past few minutes, which had been fantasy-worthy, and definitely worth reliving—neither of which she wanted to face. “And like you were helping me make him miserable. You were too busy manufacturing ways to get us together.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lori said innocently.

  “You locked me out of the house earlier. You sent him to the living room where you knew I’d be. You—”

  “Wow, you’ve got quite the imagination.”

  Hope rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. Play innocent. Just stop playing me.” She hit her office, where she spent the next few hours trying to rob Paul to pay Peter, and unable to do that, did her best to handle the money situation so as to make every creditor happy.

  An impossible feat.

  With a sigh, she closed her eyes and tried something she hadn’t tried since she’d been four and in church with her mother. She clasped her hands together and bowed her head. “God? Do you think you could do me a favor? If you help me, I promise I’ll . . .” She hesitated, wracking her brain for a worthy offering. “I’ll stop fantasizing about Edward’s speedy death.” She opened her eyes, peeked at her bank balance, and sighed in disappointment.

  As usual, she was on her own.

  She turned to the window, where she saw not just the snow, falling much more lightly now, but Danny, walking the perimeter of her property while simultaneously looking down at a large piece of paper in his hands.

  What was he up to now?

  She should just ignore him. But she could no more do that than stop thinking about how he’d kissed her. How he’d held her face and looked into her eyes before and after as if . . .

  As if she meant something to him.

  The thought brought a lump to her throat, which pissed her off. Pushing up from her desk, she shoved on her knit cap and grabbed her coat. Because he might have kissed her as if she was the most important thing to him at that moment, but right now he had something else on his mind.

  And she wanted to know what.

  And . . . and maybe, just maybe, she wanted to see if he meant something to her, too.

  So she headed outside, but the cold slap of air on the porch knocked some sense into her and she hesitated.

  What was she doing?

  She didn’t need to talk to him, she needed to ignore him. And repeating that like a mantra, she turned back to the door.

  Which was locked.

  “Dammit, Lori!” But the door remained locked. With a sigh, she headed toward him.

  Danny walked through the snow, squinting behind his fogged-up glasses as he checked the plot map in his hands to the lot Hope had up for sale. It ran adjacent to the B&B, most of it a hill overlooking the valley far below.

  A stunning view.

  He knew from Hope’s business plan that she wanted to build a sledding and tubing area here. She’d need equipment for the tow lift, maybe some lights to operate at night, and the sleds. Cheap—relatively speaking—and it would give her a nighttime activity for guests. Plus, she could charge for the activity and bring in additional income. He liked it, he liked all of it, and could now see the draw, see what kept her here.

  The potential was amazing.

  He’d always loved the city life, everything about it; the traffic, the noise, the availability of fast food . . . but he could admit, there was something to this, too. Something wild and almost savage, and incredibly soothing at the same time.

  Through the falling snow he caught sight of someone standing on the back porch. Jeans, a white down jacket, snow boots . . . that frown.

  Hope.

  She was walking toward him with purposeful steps, and at the sight of her a mix of heat and wariness hit him. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this way about a woman before; the intense need, mixed with a deep, abiding affection.

  As he dealt with the onslaught of emotions over that, he caught yet another movement. Something small, brown . . . a dog. A brown Lab, he thought, bounding up to play with him. Danny crouched low, encouraging it to come up to him—

  Whoa. It wasn’t a dog.

  It was a bear cub.

  He straightened and stared in shock down at the cub, now frolicking and rolling in the snow at his boots looking like the cutest thing he’d ever seen. But even he, a certified city rat, knew baby bears didn’t travel alone.

  And sure enough, as he looked up at Hope still coming toward them, he saw the momma bear behind her, heading for the equipment shed and trash box between him and the B&B. Even as he registered that, Hope came to a stop and slowly turned.

  And came nose to nose with the momma bear. “Oh, shit.”

  In answer, the bear puffed itself up and let out a low but unmistakable growl.

  Danny leaped forward and let out a primal yell born of sheer terror, accompanying that with waving his arms like an idiot; that’s what he’d read one was supposed to do with bears in the wild. Be big and strong and intimidating.

  God, he hoped he was looking big and strong and intimidating.

  He frightened the baby bear, who cried out and leaped forward to the closet tree, which it scaled in a matter of two seconds all the while whimpering for its momma—

  Who turned to the new threat and looked at Danny as if maybe he was a twelve-course meal and she was suddenly starving.

  Danny grabbed Hope an