Tyler ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Or if you want to ski something challenging once it’s dark. She asked me if we could do it together.”
Brenna looked at him. “And?”
Tyler was white-faced. “I said no.”
JESS STOOD ON the top of Devil’s Gully staring at the reflection of lights on the snow.
It was steep. And it looked worse with the dark all around and no people. There were still people skiing on the easier runs that led to the village, but this run was hard-core. Punishingly difficult. She remembered Gramps and her father talking about it.
Fall on that one and you’ll fall all the way to the bottom.
For a stomach-lurching moment she wondered if she’d made a mistake. It had seemed like the perfect way to prove herself, but it seemed different with the dark pressing in on her and the eerie silence. And what was the point of proving herself when there was no one here to see it?
Her teeth chattered, and she wished she were back in her bedroom, looking at her scrapbooks.
“No different in the dark than in daylight.” Tyler’s voice came from behind her. “Either way it’s still a hell of a drop.”
He’d come looking for her.
Jess felt her heart lift and then plummet.
All that proved was that she was a responsibility he didn’t need.
She felt something burn in her throat. Great. Here she was, proving how tough she was, and she was about to cry like a baby. “It’s easy.”
“It’s not easy. It’s for experts.” Tyler stabbed his poles into the snow and reached across to fasten her helmet. “Good job you’re one of those.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in, and when they did, the stinging in her throat turned to a lump.
“You’re not going to make me go down on the lift?”
“You can go down on the lift if you like. No shame in that. Tell people I forced you if it makes it easier.” Tyler adjusted his boots. “Or we can ski this bastard and see how that turns out.”
“Ski it?” Jess stared at him. Tyler O’Neil, skiing legend. The man they called The Bullet because he reached such incredible speeds in the downhill. Her dad. “You mean—together?”
“Sure I mean together. You wouldn’t leave me to ski this on my own, would you?” Tyler stooped and checked the bindings on her skis. “You want to go first or follow?”
Jess tried to work out which would make him love her more and decided she didn’t want to die just when she’d finally got her dream to live with him.
“I guess you could go first.”
“Right. So count to five and then follow me. I’ll meet you at the bottom. Then we’ll get Grams to make us hot chocolate. How does that sound?”
It sounded good. Better than good.
“I want to ski like you.” She blurted the words out, unable to stop herself. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I want to make you proud of me. I don’t want to hold you back.”
Tyler’s eyes glittered as he looked at the steep gradient that lay beneath their feet. “Does it look like you’re holding me back?”
“I might slow you down.”
“Are we still talking about the skiing here?” His voice rough, he reached out and zipped her jacket to the neck. “Because if we’re talking about other things, I’d rather you said it straight-out. I’m not good at digging for meaning behind what people are saying. If a man’s got something to say, I prefer he just says it. That goes for women, too, by the way. Not that I’ve ever met one that does it, except maybe Brenna, and she doesn’t count.”
“Having me here must be difficult for you.”
One minute she was standing there drowning in her own insecurities, the next she was being hugged by her dad, and he held her so tightly it was the best feeling in the world.
“Having you here is easy. Having you here is the best thing that’s happened for a long time.” His voice was thickened. “Not having you here was difficult for me. Maybe we should talk about that sometime when we’re not both about to get frostbite.”
The burn in her throat was back, but this time it was mingled with relief and a happiness she hadn’t known existed.
Not having you here was difficult for me.
“I won’t be a nuisance—” The words were muffled by his jacket. “I won’t stop you doing anything or hold you back. You can just live your life and ignore the fact I’m here. I’m okay with that. Whatever rules you make I’ll stick to them, I promise. Just don’t send me to boarding school.”
“Boarding school? Who the hell ever mentioned boarding school?”
“Mom. She said that’s where I’d go when you’d had enough of living with me.” She felt his arms tighten around her.
“That’s not going to happen, Jess. I’ll live my life, that’s true enough, but that life’s got you in it now. You’ll go to school in the village like the three of us did, and as for rules, I’ve only got the one—” Tyler gave her a squeeze and then released her and glided smoothly to the top of the slope. “Next time you’re planning on locking your bedroom door and sneaking out the window, tell me where you’re going so I can come, too. Now let’s nail this. And if you fall, don’t take me with you.”
KAYLA LAY ON her face, inhaling snow for what felt like the fortieth time that morning, and heard a whooshing sound as Jackson arrived by her side.
“That was better.”
Better?
She lifted her head. Spat out snow. “Which bit was better? The bit where I turned into a windmill or the bit where I hit the ground with my face?”
He hauled her to her feet in an easy movement. “Your weight was wrong. You leaned back. It’s a natural response to a slope but you have to have the weight forward in your boot. Want to try again?”
“Why not? I think there might be a centimeter of my body that isn’t bruised, and if I’m going to be black-and-blue I’d prefer to be black-and-blue all over. I like a uniform look. Matching black eyes is bang on trend, haven’t you heard?”
He wasn’t even bothering to hide the smile. “You need to trust your skis.”
“I only met them a few hours ago. I never trust anyone on such a short acquaintance.”
“Your ski is designed to turn.” He skied down ahead of her and then paused and called up to her. “Try it again.”
She tried not to think about the fact he made it look easy. “Fine, but make sure you send Brett the bill for medical expenses.”
“If you break anything, my brother Sean will fix you for free.”
Baring her teeth at him in a mock smile, Kayla let her skis run across the slope and then transferred her weight as he’d taught her.
“Put pressure