“All right, here we?—”
Copper bolted sideways, making the sleigh lurch off-kilter in the snow. Jack shouted, Cindy shrieked and grabbed him, both of them nearly sliding out as the whole apparatus tipped dangerously close to its side.
Jack was completely pressed against her, his face an inch from hers, the pressure and warmth pinning her in place.
Moving meant risking tipping the sleigh completely, but they couldn’t stay like this forever…or could they?
“This horse,” he said softly into her ear, “has officially gotten the better of us.”
“Just pray he doesn’t take off, ’cause we’d be dead.”
His eyes shuttered as he let his cheek touch hers. “Not a bad way to go, Cinnie.”
The old nickname whispered so intimately had her as off kilter as the sleigh. “Jack.”
“Yeah.”
“We gotta get out of this sleigh.”
“Or we could…”
He didn’t finish, but held her gaze, so close she could see the flecks of gold in his dark chocolate eyes. She could even count his lashes, which were still thick and long and one of the many beautiful things about his face.
Wait a second. What was she doing? Falling for Jack Kessler? He’d been here two days and they were hanging off the side of the sleigh, about to kiss?
This had to?—
“I can’t watch this anymore.” Nicole burst out the front door of the ski shed. “You two are killing me.”
They laughed and moved enough for Jack to lift his weight and free Cindy. Nicole marched over and pushed the sleigh back into position, giving them a strange look.
“What are you guys trying to do?”
Good question, Cindy thought. Whatwerethey trying to do? Rekindle a long-dead romance?
Just so she could wave goodbye to Jack yet again when he jetted off for Vermont?
No. No.No.
She managed to climb out of the sleigh and brush off her jacket and jeans, rooting for dignity.
“That horse is…not going to do the job,” she said. “Should I go start researching one we could board for the month of December?”
“No,” Nicole and Jack said the word at exactly the same time in their same tone of relentless determination.
“We’ll train him,” Jack said.
“I’ll work with him,” Nicole added. “The fact that you got him this far is huge.”
“And then we can take that ride, Cin,” Jack added.
Cindy took a step back, holding up her hands. “I’ve had enough brushes with, um, danger for one day. I’ll go back to the safety of my spreadsheets. Good luck, you two.”
With a quick smile and an awkward wave, she stepped away, trying not to rush into the sanctuary of her office. There, she could breathe again and talk herself out of these…feelings.
Jack was her weakness, and she couldn’t let herself get hurt again. That would just be foolish.
Copper snorted so hard his bridle jingled.
