I frowned, staring at the back of his jeans, totally not immune to the shifting muscles beneath them.
It had been so long since anyone had flirted with me—that I’d noticed, anyway—that I didn’t trust myself to know if it was happening.
But…
Was it possible that Dr. Noah Grady was flirting with me?
He brooded. He smirked. He made sarcastic remarks about my best pair of sandals. He wasn’t the kind of guy to charm someone, at least not intentionally.
No, he couldn’t be flirting with me—not after my fabulous first impression I’d made on the plane.
And yet…
One of his hands shifted along the back of my thigh, and my pulse, already erratic from the cold, seemed to spike.
“You’re too quiet,” he said. “Making me nervous.” He wasn’t even winded, carrying me like it was nothing, like I was nothing more than a sack of…potatoes? Flour?
I let out a small grunt, adjusting my arms awkwardly as they hung in front of me. “That’s because,” I said, my voice slightly muffled, “hanging upside down isn’t exactly conducive to conversation.”
“Huh,” was all he said.
“I mean, do you enjoy conversing with my backside?” Honestly, I don’t know why I said that.
But his steps didn’t even falter. “Tay did say the view was good up here,” he answered in a tone so dry I almost missed the teasing edge.
I’m sure my face was beet red by now.
Because of…you know. Gravity.
“I wouldn’t know.” I bit my lip. At least I didn’t have to try hiding the goofy grin on my face.
Unable to twist around, I couldn’t see where we were going, so I was surprised when the sound of the howling wind faded away and a large glass door swung closed behind us.
The shift was instant, as the cold was immediately replaced by the comforting heat of the climate-controlled visitor center.
A few steps inside, Noah didn’t make a show of it, but just bent forward, lowering me carefully to the floor. When I swayed slightly as the blood rushed out of my head, he steadied me with a hand on my arm before stepping back.
And that’s when I noticed that every person in the vicinity was staring. Conversations had stopped, and all eyes seemed to be on me—on us?
“Uh, thanks for the lift,” I muttered, my voice small.
“My pleasure.” He looked far too pleased with himself. And then, as if the moment hadn’t been mortifying enough, he added, “Find me when you need a ride back to the bus.”
Then he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there.
Stunned, but in a good way.
It wasn’t that he’d just carried me through a blizzard, all the way from the bus, or even the fact that he’d done it so easily.
It was the way he carried himself. Confident, steady, and… Wow.
Yeah. No.
He wasn’t trying to charm me. At least, I didn’t think he was. But that only made it more confusing.
IGNORANCE AND BLISS
The Alpine Visitor Center, cozy and warm, was as much of a refuge as it was a destination. Some of the more determined travelers tried taking pictures outside, but thanks to what I’d learned was referred to as a summer blizzard, there wasn’t much to capture.
