Montana Sky

pull her out of the heap of muddy snow. She wanted to shudder at what she was going to see in the mirror but managed a cool smile. “Thank you. And,” she added, aiming the smile at Willa, “I’d say that the matter is now settled. Friday morning, and pack a decent dress for dinner.”
    Too furious to speak, recognizing the danger in uttering a single word, Willa spun on her heel and stalked into the pole barn. The laughter inside instantly cut off into silence.
    “She’ll go.” Ben said it quietly, took out a bandanna, and gently dabbed at the blood at the corner of Tess’s mouth. “You got her on pride and honesty. She can buck just about anything but those.”
    “Ouch.” She closed her eyes a moment, then gingerly fingered the rising lump on her temple. “It cost me more than I bargained for. That’s the first real fight I’ve been in since ninth grade, when Annmarie Bristol called me Wide Load. I cleaned her clock, then I went on a diet-and-exercise program.”
    “It worked.” He bent down and picked up her crushed hat. “All around.”
    “Yeah.” Tess set the hat on her dirty, wet hair. “I’m in damn good shape. Never figured she’d be so hard to take down.”
    “She’s lean, but she’s tough.”
    “Tell me about it,” Tess murmured, nursing her swollen lip. “She needs to get away from here. More than I do, more than Lily does.”
    “I think you’re right about that.”
    “I don’t know when she sleeps. She’s up before anyone else in the morning, spends half the night in the office, or out here.” Then she shrugged. “What the hell do I care?”
    “I think you know.”
    “Maybe.” She looked back at him, arched a brow. “I tell you what else she needs. A good sweaty, mind-emptying bout of sex. What the hell are you waiting for?”
    It wasn’t something he cared to discuss. But even as propriety urged him to shut up, instinct tugged in a different direction. He glanced back toward the barn, took Tess’s arm, and led her farther away.
    “Willa, you know . . . she’s never . . . she’s never,” he repeated, and then shut his mouth.
    “Never what?” The narrowed, impatient look in his eyes tipped her off. Tess stopped dead. “She’s never had sex? Good God.” She blew out a breath, readjusted her thoughts. “Well, that puts a different light on the matter, doesn’t it?”
    Despite her throbbing lip, she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “You’re a patient, considerate man, Ben McKinnon. I think that’s lovely, and very sweet.”
    “Hell.” He shuffled his feet. “I’m thinking maybe she never had anybody to talk to about, to explain things to her.”
    Tess caught the drift instantly and shook her head. “Oh, no, uh-uh. No way.”
    “I just thought maybe, you know, being sisters—”
    “Oh, yeah, Will and I are like this.” Sarcasm dripping, Tess crossed two fingers. “Just how do you think she’d take to me giving her a crash course in Sexual Relations one-oh-one?”
    “Yeah. You’re right.”
    And you’re a frustrated, hungry man, Tess thought, and patted his cheek. “Just keep working on her, big guy. And maybe I’ll think of something. I’m going to go soak in theJacuzzi for a day or two.” With a hand pressed to her sore ass, Tess limped off to the house.
     
    “O H . MY .” IT WAS ALL LILY COULD SAY . ALMOST ALL SHE ’ D managed to say since they’d driven to the Mountain King Spa and Resort.
    She’d never seen anything like it.
    The main lodge spread for acres, glass and wood and clever pebbled paths through snow-dipped evergreens and heated pools where steam curled in dreamy mists.
    She’d clutched the strap of her purse tightly as they checked in, her head swiveling in wonder around the plush lobby with its double fireplace, atrium ceiling, and lush plants. Her heart had begun to thunder as she’d thought of the expense, for surely any place so beautiful, so quietly sumptuous, would cost the earth even for an overnight stay.
    But Tess had greeted the desk clerk with a friendly smile, called him by name, and chatted easily about how much she and her companion had enjoyed their stay earlier in the season.
    He’d all but simpered over her, calling up a bellman to take care of their luggage and guide them to their private cabin nestled on a ridge behind curtaining pines.
    Then the cabin itself had simply wiped her mind clean.
    A huge wall of glass opened up the living area to the majesty of the mountains, offered a