2 Chapter 2

“Nice meeting you today,” Lane said softly.

Remy glanced around. They were alone. The other associates had either gone back to their desks or were out in the hallway with Remy’s planners. “I know we’ll work well together.”

The words were out before he could stop them. Not I hopebut I know. Inwardly he groaned. Slick one, Rem.

Lane’s smile lit up his face. “Hey, listen, how about we meet up for drinks tonight, or something? If you’re free.”

Remy nodded. “I’m sure the guys will be up for—”

“Just us,” Lane interrupted.

Suddenly the space between the two men seemed close, too intimate. When had that happened?

“You and me?” Remy asked, clarifying the obvious.

Lane stared at him openly, almost hungrily. A hint of a smile teased the corners of his mouth. “You can say no.”

“No, I would—I mean, yes, that’s…” Remy sighed. Had dating been this hard before his marriage? He honestly couldn’t remember. Taking a deep breath, he said simply, “Yes. I’d like that.”

* * * *

That first date turned into another, and two years flew by almost without Remy realizing it. He was always upfront and honest about his past—Lane knew of Braden, and Kate, Remy’s ex-wife. But he had never met the two, mostly because Remy didn’t want Kate to feel as if he were trying to steal his son away from her. She had as much difficulty as he did when it came to dating; more so, really, because she was a single mother and many men shied away from that sort of commitment. When Remy told her about Lane, she had said she was happy for them, but he knew her well enough to know she was more than a little jealous, too.

At first, though, she hadn’t wanted Braden to meet Lane. Not because he was the boy’s father’s male lover—she was much too open-minded for that. Part of her attraction to Remy in the first place was because he’d been with men as well as women. But she was hesitant to introduce their son to anyone who might prove to be only passing through, a casual relationship not meant to go any farther than a few dates. A young boy like Braden could possibly misunderstand if things didn’t work out between Remy and Lane.

Remy agreed. As things heated up between he and Lane, though, he had to think about how to introduce the two. Lane knew Remy was a planner, in work as well as play, and every detail of the first meeting had to be hammered out until it was perfect. Lane was willing to wait until Remy felt the time was right to merge together the two most important aspects of his life.

First, though, Christmas.

Much of Remy’s workload sent him all over the state, and on a business trip to a small town at the base of the Appalachian Mountains, he diverted from his return route home to stop and see the cabin himself. It was, in a word, perfect. In the summer, the place had been bustling with tourists; the lake was abuzz with motorboats and jet skis, families picnicked on the shore, kids tossed rocks into the water off the end of the pier where men were trying to fish. The sun dappled through the trees, casting the world in a peaceful green glow. The people renting the cabin at the time let him in to take a look around and he fell in love with it. Before heading back to Richmond, he stopped at the rental office to make sure they had him down for the last two weeks of the year. He had given his credit card number online, but he signed the rental agreement then, eager for his turn in the cabin. He could only imagine what it would be like in winter.

* * * *

At two minutes after five, the phone on Remy’s desk rang. He pushed aside the plat map he’d been studying and leaned back in his seat to answer. His administrative assistant usually announced who was calling before sending them back to Remy’s office; since she hadn’t bothered, that meant the call was from one of two people. This close to quitting time, he hoped it was Lane.

It wasn’t.

“Jeremy,” his ex-wife’s voice snapped in his ear.

Instantly Remy sat up straight, no longer comfortable. “Kaitlin,” he replied. Two could play that game. Then, to diffuse the situation, he offered, “Merry Christmas.”

“That’s four days away,” she reminded him.

Remy rolled his eyes. She always had to be so damn literal. “True, but it’s Friday, and I’ll be out of town the next two weeks, so—”

“Actually, that’s what I’m calling about.”

His guard went up. “Kate, we talked about this. Braden already knows I’m not going to be visiting next week, and he’s okay with it. So what’s the big deal all of a sudden?”

“The big deal is now I have plans, too,” she admitted.