"Everything’s great," he finally said. And it was.
Because he was with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Their progress down the mountain wasn’t fast, but it was steady. Noah skied backward so that he could watch her, and she shook her head at him. "Show-off."
When he grinned and replied, "I’m a man of many skills," she got so flustered that she toppled over again. Of course, he didn’t mind one bit having to pull her into his arms so that he could help her up out of the snow. She was much faster to get going again this time, and he realized that the only problem with teaching her to ski better was that he would spend more time next to her on his skis, and less time holding her in his arms in the snow.
But it was all worth it to see how triumphant she looked when they got to the bottom.
"I did it!"
He would have kissed her then if he didn’t think it would undo all the progress he’d just made in getting her to trust him. "Nice work. Ready to do it again?"
She slid her gaze over to the chair lift and paused for a long moment before saying, "Okay."
It wasn’t the most enthusiastic answer in the world, but he’d take what he could get at this point. As they waited in line, she said, "I’ve never seen anyone ski backward before. When did you learn to ski?"
"I was probably the same age as that little girl you were trying to save earlier. My family used to rent the same cottage every winter." They slid onto the lift as it came around for them and he looked around at the mountains, the trees, the sparkling blue lake. "I’ve always loved it out here. What about you?"
"As you can probably guess, my family wasn’t much for skiing. I’m much better at snowball fights," she said with another one of those cute grins that rocked his world. "Once a year, my friends and I meet up for a vacation together, and this year the slopes won out over sand and sun." She shrugged. "I’ve been skiing a few other times as an adult, but I sort of have a thing about heights, too, so these lifts aren’t exactly fun for me."
He looked down at the ground a hundred feet below them, then back up at her. "But you’re doing great up here."
"I guess," she said slowly, as if she was as surprised as him, "I forgot to be afraid."
He didn’t think this time, just reached for her hand. "I’m glad."
* * *
By the time Colbie fell for what had to be the twentieth time, she didn’t even have the strength to laugh at herself anymore. Noah plopped down into the snow and lay back beside her. When he turned to smile at her, her stomach did flip-flops.
"Let’s make snow angels."
She’d seen people do it in movies, but had never done it herself. Noah went first, moving his arms and legs up and down, back and forth, until she couldn’t resist doing the same. A private plane flew overhead and when the pilot saw what they were doing, he tipped his wings at them.
Noah stood up, then pulled her to her feet so that they could admire their snow angels. "They’re beautiful," she whispered.
It had been an unexpectedly perfect day. Better than any she’d had in a very long time. And she had Noah to thank for it.
"You did great today, Colbie."
She was never going to be a pro, but he had been patient and encouraging...and she’d had fun. She’d even forgotten to be afraid of heights on the chair lift with him. He was funny and charming and sweet. He loved to ski—not to show off his moves or the latest gear, but because the snowy mountains were beautiful and feeling the wind on your face as the trees whizzed by was incredibly exhilarating.
"What do you say we go find a fire and a vat of hot chocolate?" he suggested.
She could so easily see them cuddling together in front of a fire under a thick blanket, her hands in his, her head on his shoulder as they watched the flames dance. A perfect day, followed by what would likely be a perfect night.
Colbie teetered on the edge of saying yes. But even with the word right there on her tongue, and despite the fact that she’d had a fantastic day with him, she knew that nothing else about her situation had changed.
One perfect day with Noah didn’t mean she was ready for a new relationship. And she certainly wasn’t ready for a one-night stand. Especially not with a man who out-talled, out-darked, and out-handsomed every guy she’d ever met by miles.
Sure, sex with Noah would probably be great. Mind-blowing, even. And if she cuddled up with him by a fire, she was one hundred and ten percent sure that she wouldn’t be able to resist getting even closer for a kiss that would surely lead to more.
But, as she knew from painful experience, after the orgasms faded, the broken heart lingered.
For way too long.
She’d braved the challenge of spending a day with Noah and letting him try to teach her to ski. And she was glad that she had. But there was a difference between bravery and stupidity.
She couldn’t risk getting hurt again so soon. Not when the pain was still resonating from the mistakes she’d made in her last relationship.
She picked up her skis and slid them back into place on her boots. When she reached for her poles, Noah grabbed her hands instead. Even touching him through their thick gloves sent a shock of awareness through her.
"Colbie, what’s wrong?"
Maybe if she had met him a few weeks from now when she didn’t feel quite so raw, so vulnerable, she could have taken the risk. But with where her heart was right now, one day on skis was all she could handle.
She didn’t want to hurt him, didn’t want to do anything to ruin the gift of this day he’d given her, so she quickly said, "My friends are probably wondering where I am."
"Call them." He pulled out his cell phone. "Tell them you’re with me. Give them my name and phone number so they’ll be able to track both of us down if they need to."
Again, she was tempted. So very tempted. But more than that, she was afraid of what she was feeling for Noah after meeting him only hours ago.
It was too much, too fast. Way too much.
"Thank you again, Noah. I had a really good time with you today. Better than you know." She risked one more look into his dark eyes. "But I’ve got to go now."
Digging her poles into the soft snow, she pushed away from him and went flying down the hill faster than she ever had. And wouldn’t you know it, the miracle of all miracles happened: She made it down to the bottom in one piece.
See, that’s proof, she told herself. You did the right thing by turning down a night with the hottest guy on the planet.
Only, even after she was finally safely inside her cabin with the door locked behind her, her ski clothes in a heap on the floor, fresh from a scalding hot shower, with her plans for her new store spread out all around her as she waited for her friends to return from their day on the slopes, she still wasn’t sure she believed it.
Chapter Four
Seattle, Washington
One week later…
Noah Bryant threw the basketball toward the hoop and when it barely caught the rim, he turned to his friend and said, "I met a woman in Lake Tahoe last weekend and I can’t get her out of my head."
Rafe Sullivan caught the basketball as it fell. "Is that what you’re blaming for your performance today?"
It wasn’t like Noah to let a woman who captured his interest go without getting her number—or, at the very least, her last name so that he could look her up. But the beautiful, lushly rounded woman on the ski slopes had rattled his brain. And not just because they’d gone tumbling down the hill together and then spent several great hours together while he taught her to ski.
No, his brain had stopped functioning right from that first moment he’d put his hands on her and had breathed in her soft floral scent. And then she’d pressed herself against him and he’d lost his balance, an ex–ski instructor who couldn’t keep his skis in line for the life of him.
But falling had been worth it. More than worth it. Because it had meant he’d been able to hold her. Talk to her. Laugh with her. And drink in her incredible beauty. Unfortunately, hours later she’d left him all alone at the top of the mountain. Wanting to kiss her, and laugh with her both in and out of bed, and find out everything about her, but knowing it couldn’t ever become a reality.
Because he didn’t have the first clue how to find her.
He’d been useless at work today, so he thought he’d play a game of pick-up basketball with his friend Rafe. Turned out he was useless at basketball, too.
Noah and Rafe had gone to college together at the University of Washington and over the past few years, Maverick International, the company Noah worked for as VP of Legal Affairs, had hired Rafe several times. Rafe was the best private investigator in Seattle, and had come through for them in spades each time they’d needed his services.
Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier? "I need you to find her."
Rafe’s eyebrows went up. "You don’t have the girl’s number?"
"Actually," Noah admitted, "I don’t know her full name, either."
He couldn’t blame his buddy for laughing at him as he asked, "How long was this meeting you had with her, exactly?"
Noah gave his friend the quick nuts and bolts of pulling her up out of the snow and tumbling partway down the mountain with her in his arms before teaching her to ski. "All I know is that her name is Colbie and she was at Heavenly Ski Resort last weekend."
Rafe gave him a strange look. "Wait a minute—what did you say her name was?"
"Colbie."
His friend looked like he was thinking about something. "Helps that it’s a pretty rare name. Can’t be a lot of Colbies out there. I take it you’ve already called the ski resort to see if they could give you any information about her?"
"I did. They told me they couldn’t give out the name of one of their guests. Then again," Noah added, "I probably didn’t ask the right questions of the right people." He paused. "I need you to do this for me, Rafe. I need you to find her."
But instead of agreeing readily, Rafe said, "I can’t help thinking, what if this were my sister some guy was trying to find? And what if she didn’t want to be found?"
"Then I’ll leave her alone," Noah promised. "But there was something there, damn it, and I need at least one more chance to prove it to her."
"Okay." Rafe pulled his phone out of his gym bag to take some notes. "Tell me what she looks like and the exact date and time that you ran into her, and I’ll see what I can do."
* * *
Meanwhile, across town...
Mia Sullivan opened up one of the last remaining boxes of Colbie’s initial stock, and when she unwrapped a gorgeous set of French lace and silk panties, she made a purely female sound of pleasure that Colbie knew most guys would give their left arm to hear her friend make for them.
"These are going to fly off the shelves," Mia said as she lovingly caressed the super-soft silk. "I’m going to have to hide a pair so I can buy them for myself."
"Take them home with you tonight," Colbie said as she perched atop a stepladder to finish hanging the curtain in front of her dressing room. "Consider them a small thank-you for all you’ve done to help me get the store ready."
She was amazed by how quickly everything was coming together. Then again, Colbie had been dreaming about opening Indulgence for so long that she’d known exactly what she’d wanted to sell and how the interior should look. She was on the verge of opening her doors tomorrow, which happened to be Valentine’s Day. She hoped that it would be just in time for all the men in Seattle to buy her out getting last-minute gifts for the women in their lives.
But she liked the significance of the day for another reason, as well. This store was her gift to herself...and was proof positive that she didn’t need a man in her life to make her happy. She could make herself happy, damn it.