Free Snowbound Seduction by Melissa Schroeder Page A

found his bed cold. He sat up frowning. He listened, thinking she might be in the shower.
    No sounds. With quick movements, he pulled on a pair of jeans but didn’t bother buttoning them.
    “Elaine?” he called out. Nothing. He heard dripping, but it must be the melting snow outside. Now he really was worried. He rushed out of the room yelling her name. His first thought was that something had happened to her. He ran down to her room and found it empty. The bed was made. Of course it was. Elaine Masterson didn’t leave her room in a mess, he thought with a sneer. He looked in her bathroom and found her toiletries missing, as was her suitcase.
    Bloody hell. She’d left him.
    The phone rang and he ran over to pick it up.
    “Hey, Trevor. I’ve been trying to get ahold of Elaine but I can’t,” Mick said.
    “That’s because, my dear man, your Elaine ran away.”
    There was a beat of silence. “What are you talking about?”
    “You know what I’m talking about. She’s taken off.”
    Another pause. “And you’re pissed off about this because…?”
    “Because?” He screamed into the phone. “Because I had the best night of my life with the woman. I was ready to offer her everything, but when I woke up she was gone.”
    Mick sighed. “That doesn’t sound good. She never does things like that unless she feels threatened.”
    Irritation caused him to speak more sharply with his friend than he normally would have. “Yes, well you know her better than I do.”
    “I would smack you for that comment, but since I know you are jealous of me, I will let it go. Well, that and the fact that you’re in another country. What you don’t understand is that for you this is a good sign.”
    “Well,” Trevor said, sarcasm filling his tone, “why don’t you explain it to me, Uncle Mick?”
    “You think you know her, but you don’t. Do you know how she grew up?”
    “Foster homes.”
    “That’s something at least,” Mick said. “She rarely tells anyone that. Can you imagine what it’s like to move from house to house? She never had anyone she could count on.”
    It was Trevor’s turn to sigh. “That doesn’t explain her actions now.”
    “Tell me what happened?”
    He hesitated then poured out the important details. He kept some of it to himself because it didn’t feel right sharing it with Mick, not when he was still too raw, and even if he was furious with Lainey, it would feel like he was betraying her.
    “Well, you’re gonna have to go fetch her.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Listen, the woman has never had a lasting relationship, ever. I’ve known her for over three years and men just don’t last with her.”
    “Except for you.”
    Mick snorted. “Yeah, and she sees me as a brother. It’s the only reason she keeps me around.”
    He’d like to believe it, but there was a tiny part of Trevor that worried about that.
    “You’re still not convinced.” The resignation in his friend’s voice had Trevor reevaluating the situation.
    “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked. The moment he did, he regretted it. Did he really want to know if there was something going on? Did he want to know if Mick was in love with her?
    “We kissed once.”
    “What?” Trevor yelled into the phone.
    “Ow, dammit, I’m going to be deaf now.”
    “Sorry, but I don’t think you can lay something like that on me and not expect that reaction.”
    “Well, you don’t have to worry. The kiss—if you can call it that—was not arousing at all.”
    He blinked. “You mean you kissed Lainey, and it didn’t turn you on at all?”
    “Kind of hard to do, chap, when we both ended up laughing. It grossed us both out. Her words not mine. It was like kissing a sibling.”
    Trevor sighed. “Good.”
    “Why is that good?”
    “Now I don’t have to kill you.”
    Mick laughed. “I knew you wanted her. Lord, I never knew you would fall for her.”
    “Lock, stock, and barrel.”
    “As I said, you need to go claim