“But you’re trembling.”
We both knew the real reason why. He was maintaining a boundary I now wished we’d never established.
I answered Ben with the tiniest shrug, like I was afraid if I shifted my body too much he might assume that I was trying to get him off me.
Neil and Hailey sounded very far away. We were basically alone in the dark.
Ben was doing to me exactly what he did to every other woman he encountered, and I was falling for it. The dark eyes locked on my face, the tiny smile that made me feel like we were sharing a private joke... every defense I’d built up was now in a pile of rubble.
What was going to happen next seemed obvious to both of us. Inevitable, even.
Normally, prolonged, silent eye contact would feel weird. With Ben, it was a prologue.
“What would happen if I kissed you? Right now?” Ben finally asked me, his voice soft and ragged. “Because I really want to.”
My pulse sped to triple time.
“I think we should find out.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
He paused to scan my face again, like he wanted to confirm what I’d said, while every molecule in my body screamedDO IT.
It was a mistake, we both knew it, but the magnetic pull between our bodies was canceling out logic. I knew I’d regret kissing him, or letting myself be kissed by him, but I wasn’t about to stop it from happening.
He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I need you to know that I’ve been hoping for the chance to do this again for the past four years.”
I couldn’t blame my goose bumps on the snow.
“I don’t believe you,” I whispered back.
The moment stretched on while we both seemed to weigh what a kiss could mean.
After a lifetime on the ice the two of us were nearly immune to the cold, so it made sense that we could lay in snowdrifts like it was a day at the beach. My pulse thrummed in my ears as I waited for what was to come next. As much as I wanted to wriggle my body so that I could drape my legs over the back of his and lock my hands behind his neck, I was afraid to do anything that might break the spell.
“Are you guys dead?”
We’d been too wrapped up in each other to hear the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunching on snow. Neil’s voice startled me enough that I somehow summoned the strength to push Ben off me with enough force that he landed beside me with a thud. I sat up and tried to pretend that I was a normal, functioning human and not someone dealing with near-kiss aftershocks.
“We crashed,” Ben answered as he sat up next to me, totally unfazed.
“Clearly,” Hailey replied. “Any injuries to report? Because we’re not going to get an ambulance out here thanks to the weather, but I can be a field medic.”
“I think Ben was doing a full body scan on Quinn when we walked over.” Neil cocked an eyebrow at us. “Is she going to make it, doctor?”
It took all my strength not to make a crack about how cozy the two of them seemed.
“Not sure. Quinn, you good?” Ben asked me.
We both went quiet for a beat, because neither of us was okay after what almost happened.
“Still in once piece.”
“Another run, then?” Neil asked.
Ben looked at me, hopeful, but I shook my head. I didn’t trust myself enough to sit between Ben’s thighs again.
“No, I’m done, you guys take our sled.”
