“That should be my question to you. You find the lost boarders?”
“Cam did, actually. Apparently, wayward boarders think alike.” He flipped through the mail, then looked at her. “And before you die of curiosity, he’s still in town, talking to the police for the report.”
“Is everyone all right?”
“Uh-huh, he’s all in one piece and fine. Since that’s what you were really asking.” Looking amused, he tossed the mail back down. “So I hear you got him out on the mountain.”
She sighed. “You talked to Annie.”
“Yeah, but I already knew. Small town,” he said with a shrug. “I call it Mayberry with Attitude. Everyone knows everyone’s business and are all up in it.”
“Are you going to warn me off him too?”
“Nah, he’d try to kick my ass, and then I’d have to kick his, and then Annie would want in on it. It’d be a whole ass-kicking thing…” He set an envelope on her desk.
“What’s this?”
“We had a group come in late last night. Five brothers. I’m taking them up Sky Peak today and tomorrow. They want to hike up, then ski down the backside. That’s their deposit.”
She looked inside and saw all the zeros on the check. “Nice.”
“The roads are rough. If you go to the bank today, you’ll need the snowmobile to get there.”
She stared down at the envelope. Bad roads. Snowmobile. On the one hand, it sounded like a great adventure. On the other, it sounded like an unusual obituary. But she was going deeper…so she stuck the check in the bank bag and pulled on all her snow gear. She went outside and stared at the snow-mobile sitting so innocuously out front.
The key was in the ignition, the helmet on top of the seat. She pulled it on and straddled the beast, as she’d seen Cam do a bunch of times. “No problem.” Yeah, saying it out loud really helped. She turned the key and the engine jumped to life, along with her heart rate. Instinctively, she grabbed the handlebars and squeezed, and that’s when the beast betrayed her, leaping forward like a kicked bronco.
With a small, strangled scream, Katie let go of the handlebars. The snowmobile went one way and she went the other, flying through the air.
She landed facedown in the soft, newly fallen powder, which gave way beneath her, so that she sank in like a post. She was stuck so good that moving was all but impossible. She tried to keep it together, but it was dark inside the snow berm and she couldn’t get free, and the old panic gripped her. She gasped for air and inhaled snow.
A set of hands gripped her hips and hauled her up to her knees, tugging off her helmet so she could see.
And what she saw was Cam, eyes and mouth grim as he hunkered down before her, peering into her face.
“You’re back,” she gasped, swiping at the snow in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
“I don’t know.” Heart pounding, knees wobbling, she sank to her butt in the snow. “I couldn’t breathe, I-”
He ran his hands down her limbs, then rescued her glasses from the snow and handed them to her. “What the hell were you doing?”
“I…” She shook her head. “Need another second.”
He blew out a breath, then craned his head to take in the snowmobile, which had hit a tree.
She put on her glasses and gasped. “Oh, God.” Nope, she wasn’t okay. Spots swam in front of her eyes, as did memories of what her car had looked like after her crash, and the next thing she knew, Cam had pushed her head between her knees and was saying, “Deep breaths, that’s it. Come on, keep at it.”
“Does that mean you’re back with me?”
“I did not faint.” She lifted her head and forced herself to look at the snowmobile. “Oh, God. I did, I really killed it.”
“Yeah, well, better it than you. So let’s get to the part where you tell me what you were doing.”
“Attempting to get to the bank. Stone said I could. Hi, by the way.”
“Hi. And Stone’s an idiot. Did it ever occur to you to ask for help?”
“Sure. But I didn’t want to look like the stupid city girl.”
He stroked her damp hair from her face. “You’re that most disconcerting shade of green again.”
“Yeah, I’m sort of having a bad moment.”
“I can see that.” His calm voice was going a long way toward making her calm. Or at least calmer. “Flashback?”
“My car-” She took a quick peek at the snowmobile on its side near the tree. “It looked like a toy afterward.”
“Ah, hell,” With a rough sound of regret, he pulled her in close. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m okay,” she said softly.
“So am I. Let’s just be okay together a minute.”
She burrowed in, pressing her cold nose to his throat. “I’m sorry I killed your snowmobile. I’ll pay for the damages.”
“No, you won’t. Trust me, we’ve put it through far worse.” He slanted her a look. “On purpose.”
“Because you’re all tough badass Wilders, and when you ride crazy and crash into things, it’s on purpose, right?”
“Not every time.”
She closed her eyes, then opened them and cupped his face, feeling the stubble beneath her fingers. “Why didn’t you tell me you hadn’t been on the mountain since your accident?”
“You were nervous enough, you didn’t need to worry about me chickening out.”
“Were you close to doing that?”
He flashed a grim smile. “More than you know.” He started to get up, but she held him back.
“And how are you now?” she asked.
“How are
“I’m pretty damn fine. Now you.”
He laughed roughly. “Always with the talking.”
“Talking’s good for you.”
“Are you sure? I’d think your tongue would get tired.”
“It’s good for you
His smile faded, but his eyes remained warm as he covered her hand with his. “I’m pretty damn fine too. Skiing with you the other day was…good. You thanked me for taking you, but I should have thanked you.” He got up and strode to the snowmobile. Grabbing the handlebars, he picked up the front end, muscling the nose away from the tree. Then he turned the key, and once again the engine roared to life.
“Come here,” he said, holding the beast.
“Oh.” She swallowed hard. “Well, I-”
“Get on.”
She looked at the machine, at the man waiting on her all calm and patient.
He held out the helmet. “Let’s go.”
“You know,” she said. “When it comes to your idiosyncrasies, I’m much more gentle than you.”
He waggled the helmet.
With a sigh, she put it on, then stood still in shocked surprise when he gently tucked a strand of her hair aside, out of her way, leaving his fingers on her for far longer than necessary. “Okay,” she murmured, “that works too.”
He smiled, then leaned in and kissed her, not so gently.
“Even better,” she managed when he pulled back.
“Let’s do this, Goldilocks.”
“Yeah, okay.” What could she do but swing a leg over the snowmobile and get on?
