Taming His Montana Heart
Vella Munn
Chapter One
Shaw Chamberlin was laughing; something Haley Walters had rarely heard the Lake Serene resort manager do. In fact the tall man with broad shoulders and deep-set brown eyes looked downright carefree. Maybe there was another side to her serious boss. She hoped so, not that his demeanor was her concern.
He and a girl who looked to be four or five stood at the side of the road that led to the resort while snowflakes drifted down around them. Thanks to the snow mound she was standing on, the girl, dressed hood to boots in purple, was nearly as tall as Shaw.
If it had been what Haley could call a snowball fight, the girl was clearly winning. However, Shaw was laughing too hard to be able to hold up his end of the battle. One small, irregularly shaped snowball after another pelted his bare head and coat-protected chest. He could have moved out of the child’s reach or thrown her over his shoulder. Instead, he continued to present himself as the perfect target. Haley couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she guessed Shaw was joking with the girl because he wasn’t the only one laughing.
Haley kept as much distance as she safely could between herself and the battling pair ahead of her and inched closer. A pickup traveling in the other direction kicked up slush. Fortunately right now she and the pickup were the only vehicles on the access road. Hardly for the first time, the surrounding Rocky Mountains made their presence known. Montana’s trees seemed to be watching her. More than that, the wintery setting was claiming her. Taking over. In control. Inescapable.
Perfect.
Whatever Shaw and the girl were up to was none of her business but that didn’t stop her from winding down her windows. Childish laughter reached the interior, making Haley smile. She’d been like that once, full of joy, before her world had been torn apart.
Pushing her past in to the corner where she usually kept it, she continued. The SUV’s interior was getting cold, but she kept the windows down. She’d wind them up once she could see the pair in her rear view mirror.
“Not fair!” The little girl announced. “You’re making me laugh too hard.”
“You’re making me laugh too hard.” Shaw countered.
“Am not.” The child pointed a gloved finger at Haley who had reached them. “Tell him to stop being so silly.”
Haley put on her brakes and leaned toward the passenger’s side window. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“I bet you could if you tried. Tell him something sad.”
“But that would make you and me sad and we don’t want that.”
“No, we don’t.” She frowned. “Make him hold still.”
“Hey,” Shaw said. “I am holding still.” He acknowledged Haley with a nod and lingering eye contact. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes! Dark and digging. Sexy. “You asked me to meet you at the lodge.”
“That’s right. Sorry.” After looking at her longer than her nerves were used to, he planted his hands on his hips and glared at the girl. “It’s your fault for making me forget what I’m doing.”
“Is not. Lady, he’s too far away. I can’t throw that far. Make him come closer.”
Before Haley could ask how she was supposed to accomplish that, a horn behind her sounded. She motioned for the driver to go around. “I’m in the way,” she said.
Shaw took in his surroundings, frowning as he did. “And we’re too close to the road. I know better than to let that happen. Go to the turnout. We’ll join you.”
The turnout was a little more than a hundred feet away. By the time she’d parked and gotten out, Shaw and the girl, walking hand in hand, had reached her. Instead of keeping distance between herself and her boss, she came so close she could have touched him. Even with snow still clinging to his coat and hair, his heat was undeniable. They’d spent little time together. Once she’d gotten over how physical he was up close, she’d stop reacting but for now—
“This is good,” the girl said as Shaw lifted her onto the mounded snow. “I can make lots of snowballs here.”
“Hey, that’s not why I put you there. You’re safer where you are.”
“Daddy says I’ll always be safe when I’m with you.”
“Does he? Well, there’s nothing that’s more important to me.”
As Shaw continued gazing up at the girl, Haley felt an ache all through her. It didn’t matter how many times she’d been a witness to pure love between a man and a child, she longed to experience it. She suspected she always would.
“I love your outfit,” she told the girl when she could speak.
“Purple is the best color in the whole wide world.”
“What about pink?” Shaw winked at Haley. “I thought all girls liked pink the most.”
“No.” The girl stuck out her tongue. “No way.”
“What about you?” Shaw asked Haley. “I’m taking a poll. Was pink your thing when you were Missy’s age?”
Shaw Chamberlin had never asked her a personal question. That and the affection between him and Missy had to be the reason for the flutter in her stomach. He was the resort’s business-oriented manager, not this smiling, snow-covered man who was trying to make sense of little girls’ color preferences.