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Sam looked at Maya as she drove the mountain pass, the mischievous expression on her face making him feel like he was on fire. “What?”
She smiled. “That’s not a guess. It’s a question.”
He laughed. “You need to give me a clue so I’m guessing in the right ballpark of all the possible contexts in the known universe.”
Pausing, she pursed her lips. “Good point. It’s to do with the sled race prize list.”
“But we sorted that already,” he said, grinning. “We’re the A team, remember?”
“True. But I reckon I’ve thought of a way to enhance it further.”
“In addition to Arran’s prize?”
“Yes.”
Sam studied her as she drove, trying to work her out. There was a smile playing on her face. “An extra prize?”
Raising her eyebrows, she shot him a side glance. “Yep.”
“Intriguing. What is it?”
“I can’t tell you yet.”
He burst out laughing. “All that buildup, and you can’t tell me?”
Maya bit her lip, and it did unspeakable things to his body. “I need to make a phone call tonight. Then I’ll tell you tomorrow, if it comes off.”
“I’m going to be on tenterhooks all night.”
“Argh. Sorry.” She winced. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He leaned his elbow onto the door, resting his head on his hand to study her. “That’s okay. It’ll give me something to look forward to.”
They arrived in town and Maya parked. “Do you want to come with me?”
Sam was tempted. He loved a browse in a ski shop—what skier didn’t? But he realized that he had some sort of conflict of interest where Brodie was concerned, and he didn’t trust himself to be around if Maya wanted to ask the guy out or something. The idea of that left a cold heaviness in his stomach. However, ignoring that and not letting it affect his actions and spoil anything for Maya was the right thing to do.
“That’s okay. I want to have a nosy in the deli across the street.” Sam gave her a wave as he headed across the road and into the store. He wanted to choose something for his mum’s Christmas present. Searching around, he decided to get her an artisan hamper made up.
The shop assistant helped him select an order, and he paid a deposit for it, with a plan to come collect it at a later date. As he left the shop, it occurred to him that he’d have his own car by then. At least that meant no more scoring lifts and feeling guilty about it. Although he’d stopped feeling guilty pretty quickly about Maya’s lift to the butler gig last weekend, because he’d enjoyed it so much and could tell she had too.
Smiling, he glanced up. Maya was standing in the doorway of the ski shop, holding a bag. She must’ve gotten her jacket. He was about to wave, when Brodie appeared next to her and gestured above their heads.
They were standing under mistletoe.
Sam’s heart sank as Maya smiled and leaned over to give Brodie a kiss on the lips, and Sam felt as if it would never rise back into his chest again.
Pushing his food around on his plate, Sam inadvertently made a screeching noise with his fork. He snapped up his gaze to meet Cat’s disapproving expression. “Sorry.”
She shook her head and went back to her dinner. “How was work?”
“Okay. We’re on a better track with the sled race.”
“That’s good.”
Her tone indicated she wasn’t really listening to the answer, and he wondered why she kept asking him the same questions of an evening. He knew what was coming next.
“Did you talk to Maya?”
