“Dude, where the hell is your phone?” he asked as soon as I answered. “I’ve been trying you all morning.”
“It’s charging, what’s up?”
“We can hit the blacks and the bowl on the backside this afternoon, bring the lift key. Meet up at one outside the Inn.”
“Thank god,” I said. The sky was clear, I could see from my window, but the temperature and wind up top still kept the lifts shut down on the front side of the mountain.If the skipatrol had cleared the back part of the mountain, we could run the lifts back there; we just had to get up the mountain ourselves to do so.
There wasn’t much I put into my life and called a luxury, that I used my last name or money to grant me access to. The one big exception to that was days like this when my brothers and I could ski the mountain, or part of it, alone. No lift lines, no crowds. Just us.
“Jack?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah?”
“Better bring P,” he said.
I knew Quinn would round up the rest of my brothers, so I tried not to see the relief in my assistant’s eyes when I left the office to find Perrin. She hated when Ibecameworked up like this, and she knew I would be ten times more efficient the rest of the week after an afternoon on the slopes.
Before I could think about it too much, I found myself outside Perrin’s door, hoping he was actually there. But, it’s not like I hadthe guy’s number, so knocking on his door at the Innwasliterally the best and only option to find him, I toldmyself. Sure, I knewhis roomnumber and could just call it, but for some reason my feet carried me right to his door.
I knocked and then said, “Perrin? It’s Jack.”
Suddenly, like a ray of sunshine, a blond head peeked around the door, just this side of dripping wet.
Fuck me.
“Jack! Come in, I’ll get decent,” he said and I notice he had a towel on his waist and another rubbing in his hair.
Indecentdidn’t come close to how wet, freshly showered Perrin Thayer looks in nothing but a towel.
My brain was long gone, but my eyes were feasting like theywerestarved.
His back was ripped with deeply formed muscles that ware defined and long, and he even had lines cut into each hip showing off the muscles of his abs, not to mention the blond trail leading into the towel. As he moved, the muscles roll under his skin, and I hadto pull my jaw off the ground. Almost literally— it was damned close.
I reminded myself it was nothing but straight goddamned lust. And itwasn’t being kind,it’sslamming into me as I takein miles of golden skin, glistening with still clinging droplets of water.
I watched his long hands pull a t-shirt over that skin, to the edge of the towel, and I try to pull my eyes away, but they only go to his eyes instead, and then his lips. He quirked a brow and then dropped his eyes to my lips, too. I felt heat roll through me as his gaze cameback up to my eyes.
I wanted to offer up myself for whatever it was he wanted from me, lethimfigure it out and I would still thank him for whatever he decided.
He had more muscles than I had imagined, harder and stronger than his long body might suggest, and that was pushing every button I had. Hewasfeline like a cat, a jungle cat, his every smooth movement showed that.
“So, some of us are going to go ski the backside bowl and a few other blacks if you want to go this afternoon,” I offered, finding my voice. “I didn’t mean . . . to . . . tointrude, I just wanted to let you know - to invite you,” I said quickly, biting my lip to stop talking. The sight of all that skin made me want to fill the air with words to cover my attraction.
Jesus, it is like I’m a teenager seeing my first partially naked man, not an experienced thirty-four year old.
Perrin smiled again, lighting up his face, and the gold flecks in his eyes caughtthe light and the slightest smirk played on his features. It wasa little sexy and a little pouty. I had a moment of recognition that somehow this man knew what I was thinking, whether I babbled or didn’t.
“Without the lifts running?” he asked, and I knew he must have already checked the operations that day.
“Mann Properties,” I reminded him. “Ski patrol says it’s safe to run the lifts back there, just not the one to the top, so we will have the backside of the mountain, and the bowl, to ourselves, if you are game. We will meet downstairs about one.”
His whole face filled with surprise and excitement, his features so beautiful I felt my breath catch. I would do some serious calling in of favors to get that look on his face and I knew it.
“Are you serious, Jack?” he breathed.
My name on his lips, damn.
The fact that I liked that as much as I did should have given me a clue about my ridiculous level of attraction for him.
