“I don’t even have my gear. My boots, jacket, and board are in storage in Europe.”
He stomped over, reached into the pocket of his discarded jeans and pulled out a heavy ring of keys. It jingled as loudly as his billionaire ego.
“Hello? I’m the owner. I have full access to the ski shop. You can have your pick of anything, on the house.”
I crossed my arms. “That’s nice of you, but no thanks. I’d rather bake.”
“Boss’s orders. If I have to put a lock on the kitchen doors, I will.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” He crossed his arms, too.
I stared at him. He stared back. With neither of us budging, the stalemate could go on for hours.
“Look, you need a day off, Lilah. It’s Christmas.” He gave in, first to speak, stepping closer.
“It’s probably not even safe to ski out there for just the two of us today.” I attempted one last excuse.
He didn’t even blink. “I told thenonessentialstaff to go home for Christmas, but not the ski patrol. They don’t get holidays in the winter. I’m sure they’ve already been out since dawn testing the runs. I’ll radio them and see if they cleared the bunny hill and Run One. They’d be perfect for you easing back in,” he explained. “Even pros warm up on those after a storm, and Run One is as mellow as it gets. If patrol says it’s clear and can get the lift running for us, we’re golden. We can take the underground access tunnel straight to the lift from here.”
“You have an underground tunnel?”
He shrugged as if a tunnel was the most normal thing in the world. “Technically, it’s a heated access corridor with a people-mover. But yes, I built all the best conveniences into my mountain. And believe me, I may fly by the seat of my pants, figuring out how to run this resort, but out there on the mountain, I take safety seriously. I’ve been in unsafe conditions before. I wouldn’t ask you to do this with me if I didn’t think we’d be fine.”
I chewed my cheek. With his past injury snowboarding, I shouldn’t have insinuated how reckless this could be. Of coursehe’d make the proper checks before a single snowboard hit the slopes.
With a hand, he gently brushed my bedhead hair back. “Let’s enjoy today together, Frosty. Just you and me.”
The wordtogethersent a jolt through me. How nice it might be to have nothing better to do than enjoy myself in a fun way with Holden today.
I exhaled, long and dramatically, like the entire mountain needed to hear my suffering. “Fine. One day. One run down the mountain. Then I’m stress-baking gingersnaps.”
His grin was immediate, of course, because he got his way. “Deal. But you won’t stop at one run. If it’s been a while, it’ll take you at least one time to get back into it again.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet, you’re here with me, in what I’ll bet is turning into the best Christmas you’ve ever had.” He brought me in for a hug, with a brush of a kiss against my temple. “Come on. Let’s shower together and then raid my ski shop.”
After a playful smack on my ass, he grabbed my hand, fingers lacing with mine like we’d been doing that our whole lives.
“Showering together is pushing your luck.”
He winked. “It’s Christmas. I expect miracles to happen.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Snowman,” I laughed.
Suddenly I went airborne, yelping as he lifted me over his shoulders, smacked my ass again, and carried me off to the employee lounge showers.
I hated to admit it, but for the first time in a long time, Christmas didn’t feel like a holiday I had to work through or avoid, and was definitely not lonely. Forget Snowzilla. The way Holden got me to open up and let down my walls had been the true storm.
He pulled me under the spray, as if the most natural thing in the world between two people intimate for less than a day. His hands slid along my waist, my hips, my back, learning me under the warm rush of water. I pressed my forehead to his chest. He kissed the top of my head.
“Good morning again,” he murmured into my hair.
“I guess our fling for Christmas continues. Day two.”
“We haven’t expired yet,” he laughed. “I haven’t gotten my fill of you.”
