but she had to keep her breath steady and focused so as not to pant like an idiot.
After a while, he stopped and linked his heavily gloved hand to her heavily coated arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t push yourself if you think you’re getting altitude sickness.”
“I won’t,” she agreed, though being near him even on stable ground made her irrational. That could explain her attraction to him. Wasn’t she looking for new adventures?
Within minutes, nothing but mountainous valleys opening into wide-open skies, white peaks, and looming trees surrounded them. She could no longer see the town or the ski lift. They climbed a small knoll that bent and swayed to level ground. Mountains stretched out like jaws, open and ready to devour her. One look made her fear she would fall, and she wasn’t anywhere near the cliffs.
They took turns sledding down, and she watched him sideswipe trees and bypass craters. After a few runs, he retrieved a camera from his pack and shot pictures of her as she trekked up the hill she’d previously plummeted down. Her calves burned, her lungs hurt, and her mind raced at what Garret must be thinking.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures,” he answered. He snapped another picture and let the camera fall, a cord keeping it attached around his neck. “Of you.”
Was he flirting with her? He’d removed his shades and placed them on his forehead to get a better view through the camera lens, but it gave her a better view, too. Pink tinted his crystal clear complexion. The artist side of her appreciated the sharp angles and lines and shades on his face.
His eyes held the universe in their depths, as if his pupils had absorbed the colors of everything surrounding him and emitted the energy back out into the world. When he looked at her, her body absorbed that energy and left her warm and fuzzy. Warm as if his presence was a snuggly soft comforting blanket. Fuzzy as if his presence was the aftermath of a powerful storm buzzing along her spine.
What an understatement.
“Oh,” she replied as the sled slipped from her fingers and fell to the snow. Stepping closer to him, she tussled with the camera around his neck. The cord stuck in the crevices of his parka.
Placing his gloved hands over hers, he helped remove the camera. The gloves made things awkward as they both struggled with the strap. Laughing, she dropped her hands and let him deal with it.
Her body tingled as his breath lightly cupped her cheek.
Why, after her first night here, did she have to meet someone so captivating? He handed her the camera, and she chased away the awkward oh please kiss me feeling with a smile.
“My turn,” she said as she raised the camera. He grabbed the sled and slipped down the hill, his broad shoulders making the orange gadget appear smaller. Her nerves stretched and quivered as she watched him.
Reagan sucked at relationships. Kyle dreamed of being police chief one day and was a safe anchor as they both focused on their careers. But he’d been a selfish lover. That must explain her knee-jerk reaction to Garret.
Kyle’s affair no longer bothered her once she realized she wasn’t in love with him, but she wouldn’t mind proving she was not only able to turn on a man, but to fulfill that desire as well.
Garret came to mind as a possible candidate for her experiment. She snapped pictures of him, the unexpected flash like a lightning bolt warning of a bad decision. He was her next door neighbor and she didn’t want things to get awkward. When it didn’t work out — and it wouldn’t — they would resort to avoiding each other. She didn’t want a reason to leave.
A relationship was not on her agenda for this trip. Sex, maybe. Definitely. Eventually, if she got up the nerve. But a relationship?
She took another picture as Garret sideswiped a tree and almost hit another dead on, stopping in the middle of the two. She ran down the hill after him, practically tripping and
After a while, he stopped and linked his heavily gloved hand to her heavily coated arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t push yourself if you think you’re getting altitude sickness.”
“I won’t,” she agreed, though being near him even on stable ground made her irrational. That could explain her attraction to him. Wasn’t she looking for new adventures?
Within minutes, nothing but mountainous valleys opening into wide-open skies, white peaks, and looming trees surrounded them. She could no longer see the town or the ski lift. They climbed a small knoll that bent and swayed to level ground. Mountains stretched out like jaws, open and ready to devour her. One look made her fear she would fall, and she wasn’t anywhere near the cliffs.
They took turns sledding down, and she watched him sideswipe trees and bypass craters. After a few runs, he retrieved a camera from his pack and shot pictures of her as she trekked up the hill she’d previously plummeted down. Her calves burned, her lungs hurt, and her mind raced at what Garret must be thinking.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures,” he answered. He snapped another picture and let the camera fall, a cord keeping it attached around his neck. “Of you.”
Was he flirting with her? He’d removed his shades and placed them on his forehead to get a better view through the camera lens, but it gave her a better view, too. Pink tinted his crystal clear complexion. The artist side of her appreciated the sharp angles and lines and shades on his face.
His eyes held the universe in their depths, as if his pupils had absorbed the colors of everything surrounding him and emitted the energy back out into the world. When he looked at her, her body absorbed that energy and left her warm and fuzzy. Warm as if his presence was a snuggly soft comforting blanket. Fuzzy as if his presence was the aftermath of a powerful storm buzzing along her spine.
What an understatement.
“Oh,” she replied as the sled slipped from her fingers and fell to the snow. Stepping closer to him, she tussled with the camera around his neck. The cord stuck in the crevices of his parka.
Placing his gloved hands over hers, he helped remove the camera. The gloves made things awkward as they both struggled with the strap. Laughing, she dropped her hands and let him deal with it.
Her body tingled as his breath lightly cupped her cheek.
Why, after her first night here, did she have to meet someone so captivating? He handed her the camera, and she chased away the awkward oh please kiss me feeling with a smile.
“My turn,” she said as she raised the camera. He grabbed the sled and slipped down the hill, his broad shoulders making the orange gadget appear smaller. Her nerves stretched and quivered as she watched him.
Reagan sucked at relationships. Kyle dreamed of being police chief one day and was a safe anchor as they both focused on their careers. But he’d been a selfish lover. That must explain her knee-jerk reaction to Garret.
Kyle’s affair no longer bothered her once she realized she wasn’t in love with him, but she wouldn’t mind proving she was not only able to turn on a man, but to fulfill that desire as well.
Garret came to mind as a possible candidate for her experiment. She snapped pictures of him, the unexpected flash like a lightning bolt warning of a bad decision. He was her next door neighbor and she didn’t want things to get awkward. When it didn’t work out — and it wouldn’t — they would resort to avoiding each other. She didn’t want a reason to leave.
A relationship was not on her agenda for this trip. Sex, maybe. Definitely. Eventually, if she got up the nerve. But a relationship?
She took another picture as Garret sideswiped a tree and almost hit another dead on, stopping in the middle of the two. She ran down the hill after him, practically tripping and
Similar Books
