Colton's Rescue Mission

“Yes, I saw. Ditto on Loveland Pass, which shouldn’t be such a surprise.” She took a deep breath. “Would you like some coffee?”

One side of his mouth quirked up, but he shook his head. “No thanks. This isn’t really a social visit. Is Seth around?”

“In there.” She inclined her head toward the closed door. “Is everything all right?”

“He didn’t show up for work.” Remy removed his parka and hung it on the back of a chair. “He didn’t even call, so they didn’t know if they needed to bring someone else in to cover his shift.”

Seth had said he was taking the day off. Clearly, he’d managed to forget to inform his employer of that.

Again, their gazes met and held for a second too long. Remy looked away first. “Is he still asleep?”

Feeling slightly dazed, she nodded. “I think so. I tried to wake him earlier but he was having none of it. We were supposed to hit the slopes first thing this morning. Though I guess since they closed them down, it was lucky we didn’t.”

“True.” Remy grimaced. “Please excuse me while I go talk to my brother.”

She nodded, trying to decide if she should retreat to her room or not. As he disappeared inside Seth’s room, she elected to remain in the kitchen. She couldn’t help but find how seriously Remy appeared to take his role of elder brother fascinating. Obviously, Seth could use the help.

“Get the hell out of my bedroom,” Seth shouted. “Who let you in here, anyway?”

“Your houseguest,” Remy replied, his tone measured and controlled. “I was here last night, too, after Gary called me all worried about you.”

A string of curse words followed. “I don’t work for you, Remy.” Seth stormed out of the bedroom, briefly stopping short when he saw Vanessa. He’d put on a sweatshirt and a pair of wrinkled jeans and shoved his feet into snow boots. “Sorry about this, Van,” he muttered, before snagging his down parka out of the front closet. He turned to glare at Remy. “I’m just living my life and trying to have some fun, bro. I don’t need you coming in here and giving me a hard time.”

Remy started to speak, but Seth cut him off with a furious command. “Don’t.” He held up his hand. “I’m out of here. Don’t follow me, either of you. I need to be alone.” With that, he bolted out and slammed the front door, knocking down a picture that had been hanging on the wall and shattering the glass.

Not sure what else to do or what to say, Vanessa went in search of a broom and a dustpan. She located them in the laundry room and went to clean up the glass.

“Here, let me.” Remy took them from her and immediately got busy. Surprised, she hung back, wishing she had something to do with her hands. Maybe then she could better resist this unexpected urge to touch him.

Once he’d dumped all the glass shards in the trash, Remy retrieved the vacuum and went back over the area. Vanessa watched him, amazed how he could manage to look so sexy while performing the most mundane task.

Finally, he shut off the vacuum, wound up the cord and put it back in the hall closet. “There,” he said, dusting his hands off on the front of his jeans. “All done.”

She nodded. “Thanks.” Then, because she felt awkward, she checked her watch. Since she’d had such a late breakfast, it seemed a bit too early for lunch. But since cooking was one of the things she loved and did well, she asked Remy if he’d eaten.

“Not for hours.” The grim set of his mouth told her food had been the last thing on his mind.

“How about you let me make you something? I can rustle up breakfast or lunch or brunch, if you want to call it that. Seth told me to help myself to anything I wanted in the kitchen.”

Though his gaze narrowed, he finally nodded. “I’d like that, thank you. But something simple. I don’t want to put you out.”

Relieved, she grinned. “Actually, I love to cook. And right now, I’d feel a lot better if I could keep busy.”

He followed her to the kitchen. “Again, I apologize about all that. You just got here. I’m sure you didn’t sign up for all this family drama.”

Did she hear the hint of a question in his voice? Deciding to ignore that possibility, she began rummaging in the fridge. “So…what are you in the mood for?” she asked.

“Have you had breakfast?”

Slowly, she nodded. “I made myself scrambled eggs earlier. But that doesn’t matter. I can whip you up some breakfast if that’s what you want.”

Watching her, he considered. “It’s still early enough for breakfast to be a respectable option. The Chateau restaurant serves it until ten thirty.”

“Breakfast it is, then. Bacon, eggs and toast? Or…” She took a peek inside the refrigerator again. “There are enough ingredients for eggs Benedict with ham. Would you like that instead?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.” He grimaced and glanced at the front door. “I wonder if Seth will be back to eat.”

Though she privately doubted that, she nodded. “I’ll make extra just in case. As long as I keep the eggs and the English muffins separate, it won’t get too soggy.”

Humming happily, she got busy. Next to skiing, cooking was her favorite pastime. And privately, she considered herself pretty darn talented at it. Her friends back in Boston had always raved about the meals she’d made. And since moving to Boulder, she’d hosted a couple of dinner parties with the same results.

And now she’d be cooking for Remy. Why that felt different, she wasn’t sure.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he murmured from behind her, his voice so close she knew if she spun around, she could reach out and touch him.

Forcing herself to continuing stirring the hollandaise sauce, she simply glanced over her shoulder. “Not really. Why don’t you make yourself a cup of coffee and sit down and relax? This won’t take too much longer.”

“Would you like a cup, too?” he asked. “You look like you’re about empty.”

Though she rarely had more than two coffees per day, she liked the idea of sharing a cup with this man. Maybe they could talk and get to know each other a little bit better. As long as that’s all they did, that should be safe.

“Sure,” she answered.

“Cream and sugar?”

“Yes, please.” She smiled as he did a double take. “I know, black coffee is better. According to Seth, you can best taste the coffee that way.”

“I agree with my brother on that.” Remy made them both a cup, then carried hers over to her before taking a seat at the table. “You seem to know what you’re doing,” he commented. “Do you cook professionally?”

“No.” She risked another glance over her shoulder. “I’ve thought about it. Though I’m afraid if I started doing it for a living, that would take some of the joy out of it.”

Just then the front door blew open and Seth burst inside. He shook off snow before removing his coat and barreling through to the kitchen. At the doorway, he stopped short, staring at the two of them.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he came up behind Vanessa and gave her a huge kiss on the side of her neck. “That smells interesting. Why are you cooking for my brother?”

At his touch, she froze. Again, she had the sense of barely leashed violence, though she managed to shrug lightly. “He was hungry, so I thought I’d make him something to eat while he waited for you to get back. There’s plenty, if you’d like some, too.”

Instead of immediately answering, he leaned around her and peered into the pan. “What is that?”

“Hollandaise sauce. I’m poaching some eggs and serving them on English muffins with cheese, topped by this sauce.”

“You know, eggs Benedict,” Remy chimed in, his tone dry. “I’m pretty sure you’ve had it before.”

Though Seth didn’t respond, judging by the hard set of his mouth, he wasn’t pleased.

Why Remy was pushing his brother’s buttons, she wasn’t sure. But she sure as heck planned to stay out of it. She kept busy, putting the English muffins under the broiler now that the poached eggs were in the water. “Seth, why don’t you get some coffee and sit?” she suggested. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”

Seth narrowed his eyes and glared at her, then stalked over to the coffee maker. Relieved, she relaxed her spine slightly, though she couldn’t help but wonder if coming here for closure might have been a huge mistake.