When she entered the guest room and closed the door behind her, the message was clear—she wanted to be alone. Was is because she sensed him altering the truth?
He stared at the closed door and all the longing from earlier funneled within like a tornado. He wanted her, needed her.
Damon stepped over to her door. He raised his hand, ready to knock, but forced himself to lower it. She hadn’t left the door even slightly ajar—she’d closed it.
Still, it took at least two dozen heartbeats echoing in his ear before he summoned the strength to walk away.
Sophie
Although Sophie was still bothered by the sense that Damon was hiding something, her mood improved the next morning.
Questions had tormented her throughout Monday morning while she’d worked on some graphic designs for her company, crawling beneath her skin and rubbing at her bones.
Her boss had grumbled about her not coming into the office, but had relented when she told him how she’d be in New Hampshire for the rest of the week. Besides, he was being ridiculous. With her MacBook and an Internet connection, she could work on her projects anywhere. After connecting her phone to the speakers, she played an easy listening playlist to have some background music. The sound of Chris Isaac singing Wicked Game filled the quiet room.
She’d set herself up to work at the table where she could have the mountain view. Snowflakes had started to fall, which would delight all the skiers, who’d accept it as an invitation from the ski gods.
Her gaze often drifted to the hot tub where she had kissed Damon and done so much more. She peered out into the woods. What was out there that had spooked him?
She’d had no more luck this morning than she had last night. Something about his tone and the way his face turned stony when he’d tried explaining to her that there was nothing to worry about triggered her bullshit alarm. He was keeping something from her. But what and why?
Since he didn’t want to tell her, she had to put it out of her mind. No point in getting into an argument over something that was none of her business. After all, she was only here for the week. Besides, they only had a couple of hours break to ski together before they had to return to work.
When Damon entered the cabin at lunchtime, he stopped by and kissed her on the top of the head. “What are you working on?”
“A flyer for an open house.”
He peered over her shoulder. “Is this what you typically do for work?”
“Sure. I do all kinds of marketing projects for the company. These are pretty standard, but I like being able to be more creative.” She showed him some of the illustrations she’d designed.
“You’re talented. Have you ever thought about going out on your own?”
“Freelancing?” She arched her brows.
“Sure.”
“Yeah, sure. But doing so means my income isn’t steady. I’d need to find clients, get my own health insurance, and so on.”
He shrugged. “Maybe one day.” As he pointed out the window, he noted, “It’s a perfect bluebird day with fresh snow. We shouldn’t miss a minute of it.”
It was indeed, without a single cloud marring the sky. The breeze was gentle and the conditions almost spring-like.
“True,” she agreed. “But I have limited time and will need to get back to work. I have to finish a brochure to meet a deadline.”
“Too bad. This might be the best day this week.”
There were some nuts who would go out in any weather, not sleet nor wind nor ice would stop them. She had no desire to ski near any ice patches any time soon after losing control on one.
She sent off her brochure for reviews and noted she’d incorporate feedback that afternoon. After they had a quick lunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, they headed out to the lifts. The lines were down while everyone had gone inside, so they didn’t wait too long to sit.
Halfway up the mountain, she glanced at the double black diamond trail where’s she’d lost control.
“You will not see me out there today,” she declared with a short laugh.
“I don’t blame you. But one day, you will feel confident enough to tackle it again.” With his free hand, Damon wrapped his arm around her. Although it was somewhat clunky with all their winter gear, she leaned into the warmth of his large chest, finding comfort in his embrace.
“Only if I’m with ski patrol,” she teased and gave him a saucy grin.
“I’ll go with you wherever you’d like, Sophie.” His tone lowered, sounding like a promise.
Damon was such an intriguing mystery—devilishly attractive, extraordinarily considerate, and packaged with more explosive sensuality than she’d ever thought possible. In comparison to her exes, her feelings toward them were more lackluster and sexless. He had this raw, primitive aspect to him, as wild as the nature that surrounded him, which was too compelling to resist.
But then he had this other side where she sensed he harbored a secret.
Who could resist a mystery? Would she ever find out what it was?
They approached the top of the mountain. “Can we start with the green? I need to go easy to break back into it again.”
“Sure.”
As the chairlift approached the peak, he lifted the bar. Seconds later, she scooted off the chair and navigated down the bump, veering to the right to the easier trails. Several trails branched off the head and she leaned toward one of the greens that hugged a wide curve down the side of the mountain.
The pitch wasn’t steep but smooth. She pointed her skis downhill and descended with long curves. This was a great wide trail with no obstacles and few others on it at this time, as to which she was grateful. After she skied around a family of four, parents guiding their school-age kids on proper form, Sophie relaxed into the mountain.
It was a cruiser, one of those easy trails that she
