“How did you sleep?” he asked, stopping a respectful distance away.
“Too good,” she admitted with a sigh. “I have a lot of ground to cover for my article, and I’ve already lost a couple of hours.” She glanced at her watch pointedly.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” His offer seemed genuine, his eyes warm despite the dark circles beneath them.
“I don’t think so.” Sorcha pulled her notepad from her pocket, flipping through the pages of her meticulously planned itinerary.
“I could be your guide,” Christopher suggested, his breath forming clouds in the cold air. “I know which roads will have been plowed…”
Sorcha studied him with concern. “Aren’t you tired? You don’t look as if you’ve slept.”
Christopher ran a hand over his face and along his stubbled jaw in a gesture that was oddly mesmerizing. Sorcha found herself tracking the movement, noticing the strength in his fingers, the small nicks, and calluses that spoke of manual work.
“I’m fine,” he replied. “And I’d like to help with your article. It’s important to me that you see the best in Bear Creek.”
Sorcha gnawed on her bottom lip, weighing her options. Her practical side won out; she couldn’t afford to get lost in unfamiliar territory or get stuck in a snowdrift.
“Well, since I am on a deadline, I would be grateful for a guide,” she conceded.
“Great.” His smile transformed his face, erasing some of the tiredness. “Let me grab my keys and a better coat. Meet you at my truck in five minutes?”
As he jogged back toward the office, Sorcha watched the way he moved confidently and sure-footed on the snow. There was something about Christopher Stiller that intrigued her, something beyond his helpful nature and good looks. He had an authenticity that was rare in her world of deadlines and superficial connections.
She shook her head, reminding herself that she was here to write an article, not daydream about a handsome cabin manager. Still, as she headed toward the parking area to wait, she couldn’t deny the flutter of anticipation in her stomach. This day was already shaping up to be more interesting than she’d planned.
Sorcha waited by the parking area, taking in the stunning winter landscape for the first time in daylight. When she’d arrived last night, darkness had shrouded everything except what fell within the glow of the cabin lights. Now, with the storm cleared and the morning sun painting the snow with golden brushstrokes, Bear Creek revealed itself in breathtaking splendor.
Pristine white blanketed everything—the roofs of the cabins, the branches of towering pines, the gentle slopes that rosetoward the mountains. And those mountains! They dominated the horizon, their jagged peaks cutting into the impossibly blue sky, their lower flanks dark with dense forest that gave way to snow-covered summits. The air was so clear that Sorcha could make out individual ridgelines and shadowed valleys despite their distance.
“Like what you see?”
Christopher’s voice startled her from her reverie. She turned to find him approaching, now wearing a proper winter coat and a knit cap that somehow made him look both more rugged and more approachable. In the bright morning light, he was—well, there was no other word for it—majestic. Tall and broad-shouldered against the backdrop of mountains, moving with that calm confidence she’d noticed earlier.
“It’s spectacular,” she admitted, her breath clouding between them.
He smiled, and something in his expression made her smile back automatically. His obvious pride in this place was infectious, warming her from the inside.
“Come on,” he said, gesturing toward a dark green pickup truck. “Let’s get you the grand tour.”
He led her to the passenger side, clearing away some remaining snow from the step before opening the door. As Sorcha moved to climb in, Christopher’s hand gently took her elbow to steady her on the slippery surface.
The contact sent an unexpected jolt through her body, a surge of awareness that made her breath catch. She’d felt something similar last night when he’d handed her the cabin key, but she’d dismissed it as exhaustion playing tricks on her senses. Now fully rested and alert, there was no mistaking the way her bodyresponded to his touch, like a current passing between them, leaving her skin tingling even through layers of winter clothing.
Once seated, Sorcha busied herself with her seat belt, trying to regain her composure. She was being ridiculous. This reaction was simply the product of too many solitary nights in hotel rooms, too many Christmas seasons spent chasing stories instead of building connections. Loneliness made people imagine things, and hers always intensified around the holidays, when every commercial, song, and storefront seemed designed to remind her of what she lacked.
Christopher walked around the front of the truck and slid into the driver’s seat. The cab was already warming up, though Sorcha suspected her flushed cheeks had little to do with the heater. She caught him looking at her, his dark eyes holding an intensity that made her stomach flutter.
For a wild moment, she acknowledged how much she would like to be sidetracked by this man, to throw her careful schedule out the window and see where this unexpected attraction might lead. But her time in Bear Creek was limited. She had just two days to gather material for her article. She couldn’t afford distractions, no matter how appealing.
Breaking eye contact, she ducked her head and studied her notebook, suddenly fascinated by her own handwriting. Christopher closed his door and settled behind the wheel, his presence filling the cab with a comforting solidity.
The windshield was already clear of snow, she noticed, wondering when he’d found time to do that between their conversation and his return. The engine rumbled to life, and warm air immediately flowed from the vents. Or perhaps it was simply his proximity that was causing the temperature to rise.
“Where to?” Christopher asked, his deep voice pulling her from her thoughts.
Sorcha looked at him for a moment, momentarily disoriented by the question. She blinked and forced herself to focus. “I read on a forum somewhere that the tree in the town square is something you have to see.”
He nodded, putting the truck in gear. “The town square it is.”
