“Besides learning to risk, I’d like to eventually find a place where I belong.”
“Good one? Anything else?”
Eyes still closed, she turned her face toward the late-afternoon sun, and the last of the questionable warmth of the day. The wind played with her hair and pinkened her cheeks. “Actually…” She squirmed a little. “Something new has recently come to me.”
“Spill.”
More squirming, and a visible wince to boot, which piqued his interest. “It’s private,” she finally said. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost.” She was gnawing on her lower lip, which he had the most insane urge to take over for her. “How private?”
“Very private.”
“Can I guess?”
“No.” She opened her eyes. “No guessing.” She took a peek around her and squeaked, “Oh my God.”
Reaching out, he put a finger beneath her chin and turned her gaze back to him, off the view and the drop. “A one-night stand?”
She covered her very red cheeks. “I said no guessing.”
He grinned. “Really? I’m right?”
“Close.”
“How close?”
“Great sex, okay? I wanted great sex.”
He knew she was waiting for a response, but he had nothing. He had shit-for-brains-nothing because all he could think was…I could give her great sex.
She blew out a breath and slapped her hands over her eyes, her face even redder. “You know what? I really don’t want to discuss this anymore.”
“Too late.” Charmed by her embarrassment, and also by her sheer, utter honesty, he leaned in and removed her hands from her face. “Great sex isn’t all that hard to come by.”
“Tell that to the guys in Los Angeles.”
“The guys in Los Angeles must be idiots. And you should know, I’m no better than those Los Angeles ass**les.”
“So you don’t get great sex either?”
Christ, she was killing him.
Killing.
Him.
“Listen to me.” He took both her hands in his. “I want you. Make no mistake about that. And I know how to make it good, make no mistake about that either. But-”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He winced. “And that sounded like I was bragging. I wasn’t, I was just-”
“No, I mean, Ohmigod, the lift!” Looking panicked, she turned to him, clutching his arms. “It’s ending!”
“You can do it.” They both could. “You just glide off and-”
“I should have mentioned…” Her eyes were huge. “I’m not good at this part either.”
“No problem. When I say now, just stand up and I’ll give you a little nudge, and you just ski forward and out of the way. Now.”
She glided off, he gave her a little nudge to the small of her back, just as planned. What wasn’t planned was the pole she planted, then ran over with one of her skis, which rudely yanked her to the side and then down to the ground.
Screaming the whole time.
Once again Cam fisted his hand in the back of her jacket and hauled her upright, just as the skiers behind them dismounted their chair and nearly ran her over. Moving them both to the side, Cam waited for her to catch her breath. She was gripping the front of his jacket as if her legs weren’t quite steady.
He knew the feeling.
Her ski cap had slid down over one eye, her glasses were askance, but she looked up at him and shot him a wry smile.
And absolutely melted his heart.
“I promise, I’m better at the rest,” she said, and blew a strand of hair from her face.
There wasn’t a woman he knew who could make the best of every situation and keep a positive attitude, including Annie, whom he’d loved since the beginning of time. Quite simply, he’d never met a woman like Katie. Ever. “You okay?”
“Physically, yes. Mentally? The jury’s still out.” She straightened her cap. “Okay, let’s do this. Let’s see this run you’ve got in mind.”
“Mt. Easy.”
“Mt. Easy?” she repeated.
“It’s the bunny slope.”
“You don’t think I can do this.”
“Listen, Mt. Easy is a very nice run, and-”
“You really don’t think I can do this.”
“Okay, let’s just say I want to be sure.” For both of them.
She lifted her chin. “You know what? Bring it on, hotshot. I’m going to show you what I’ve got.” She turned herself and started poling toward the face of the mountain, which happened to be an expert-only run. He should know, the trail was named after him.
“Katie.”
“No, I’ve got this. I’m going to show you what I’m made out of, Cameron Wilder, holder of all the world titles, I-”
“Katie.”
“I really can do this, you know, I-” Her breath left her in a whoosh when she got close enough to look down at the 2,000-foot steep, moguls-as-high-as-a-house run.
“That’s a double diamond,” he told her. “It’s called Wilder Way.”
She stopped so fast her cap slid into her eyes again. “Okay, you know what? Maybe you should lead.”
Katie survived skiing in no small part thanks to Cam, who looked like poetry in motion on his board. She could have watched that long, lean, tough body move all damn day, but that wasn’t conducive to staying upright on her skis. He encouraged her to make the best of the slopes, correcting her dubious technique when she asked, but he let her have her adrenaline rush, which she did in spades. Hitting the hills with the wind in her face and some questionable speed beneath her skis turned out to be the most exhilarating thing she’d done in a long time.