“That’s fine.” Matt’s brows drew together in a frown. “To be honest, I hesitate to offer you this job because I’m afraid you’ll find a winter of patrolling slopes and dealing with idiots to be pretty damned boring. If you accept, I will expect you to stick with us through the end of the season in April.”
“That seems fair.”
“I won’t lie. We pay shit. The mornings start early. It’s cold. You’ll spend the whole day on the mountain, apart from bathroom and lunch breaks.”
As if a day on the slopes were a hardship. “Perfect.”
“There are a lot of drunk and stoned idiots on the slopes. Tourists. People who get in over their heads. It’s our job to keep everyone safe, even when they don’t follow the rules.Especiallywhen they don’t follow the rules.”
“I can handle idiots. A lot of the rescue work we do on the Team involves people who make bad choices.”
“After what happened on Everest, how do you think you’d handle an avalanche? When someone’s life is on the line, we can’t afford to have anyone fall apart.”
Conrad hadn’t expected that question. “I’ve had avalanche training. I can’t say exactly how I’d react, but I’d like to think I’d keep my shit together.”
Matt laughed. “The job is yours if you want it.”
Conrad hesitated. If he accepted, he wouldn’t be able to leave Scarlet until the end of next April—if he decided to leave Scarlet. He thought of Kenzie and Gizmo and Gabby and decided that he was in no hurry to go anywhere. “I’ve got one condition.”
“Yeah? Name it.”
“No publicity. You can put my name on your website like you would any other member of Ski Patrol, but no publicity.”
“You’ve got it.”
“Thank you. I’ll take the job.”
Chapter 15
Kenzie steppedthrough her back door with Gizmo—and was stopped dead in her tracks by the delicious aroma that filled her kitchen. She glanced around, her frustrating day forgotten. Her best dishes sat on the table, her grandmother’s silver beside them on cloth napkins. Two long white tapers burned in her old crystal candleholders at the center of the table.
She slipped out of her parka and hung it on its hook by the back door just as Harrison ducked in from the living room, Gabby behind him.
“Hey.”
She stared. “Your hair. You cut it.”
It was short the way he’d always worn it, and,damn, did he look good, a touch of gray at the temples, his cheekbones somehow more prominent, his jaw more chiseled. As if that weren’t enough, he wore jeans with a gray sports jacket, a black turtleneck beneath.
Damn.
“You look …hot.”
As in ovary-exploding hot. Knees-turning-to-jelly hot. Fuck-me-now hot.
He rubbed his head. “I figured it was time.”
She cleared her throat, tried to pull herself together. She motioned to the table. “You’ve had a busy afternoon.”
He grinned. “I got a job.”
“Harrison! Where?”
“You’re looking at the newest member of Ski Patrol at Ski Scarlet.”
She hurried over to him, wrapped her arms around him, the warm, masculine scent of him filling her head. “Congratulations!”
He held her, kissed her. “Thanks.”
