“Okay, this is fun—” The moment she said it her ski hit a bump and she lost her balance and would have crashed down again, but this time Jackson caught her. He locked his arm around her waist and steadied them both as she slammed into him.
Breathless, Kayla clung to the front of his jacket, wondering why it was that so many activities ended up with her cemented to his body. “Don’t drop me.”
“I won’t drop you, but if you could stop digging your nails into my arm that would be good.” He spoke through his teeth. “If it’s not your stilettos, it’s your nails.”
She looked at him and saw his eyes darken.
“No,” he said thickly. “Not here. I need to concentrate or we’ll end up at the bottom of the mountain.”
“I thought that was the objective.”
“Yeah, but in your case it’s best if it takes longer than twenty seconds.” He eased away from her, but still held her steady.
“How old were you when you first skied down this run. Tell me honestly.”
“Three.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I was a late starter. Tyler was two. I still remember my father yelling at him ‘Turn, turn’ and Tyler whizzing straight down like an arrow from a bow, yelling back, ‘Why?” He just didn’t see the point of turning when he could go straight down.”
Kayla laughed. “Is that true?”
“Yeah, it’s true. Along with a million other stories that would make your hair stand on end.”
“No wonder Jess thinks he’s a hero. It must be cool having him as a dad.” But coolest of all was having a dad who loved his daughter as deeply as Tyler clearly loved Jess.
She thought back to the way Tyler had handled the situation the night before.
Once they’d received confirmation from the lift attendant—a lift attendant who had been too overawed to challenge the daughter of a medal-winning downhill skier—Tyler had sent everyone home except Brenna, who had stayed at the base of the lift in case Jess had started the run before Tyler could reach her.
Jackson lifted his hand and brushed snow off her shoulder. “It was good of you to help us.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You made us all see it from Jess’s point of view.” His voice was rough. “You were right that she was worried he wouldn’t want her here. It didn’t take him long to put her right on that score.”
Kayla felt something squeeze her chest.
This time, it had just been a misunderstanding. A lack of communication.
“Looks like it’s going to be a happy Christmas in the O’Neil household.”
“Seems that way.” He didn’t release her. “So how come you know so much about the feelings of teenagers, Kayla? How old were you when your parents divorced?”
“Thirteen.”
“That must have been tough.”
She’d never talked about it with anyone. “It was hard at the time, but I guess it made me stronger. More independent. Life events shape us, don’t they?” Except in her case she’d ended up misshapen.
She stood still, feeling the cold biting into her cheeks and the solid power of his body between her and the fall of the mountain. “Should I give up? I’m not sure I have an aptitude for skiing.”
“The thing about skiing is that, even if you don’t progress much past beginner status, you’re still out in the fresh air, looking at those mountains and getting some exercise with it.”
“So you’re not big on the gym then?”
“I’ll use the gym when I have to, usually for weights. I spot Tyler a couple of times a week. He does the same for me. But as for cardio—” he shrugged “—I’ve never been one for running without a purpose. Why would I when I have this on my doorstep? There are plenty of other ways to get the heart pumping.” The glitter in his eyes made her heart pound, and she turned her head and focused on the mountains.
“I admit it’s beautiful. I even admit that for thirty whole seconds back there when I was upright, skiing felt like fun. But the rest of the time I’m face-planting in the snow and that doesn’t feel so good.”
“Keep practicing and you’ll face-plant less. Are you always this impatient when you’re learning something new?”
“Yes. If I’m not good at something immediately, I’d rather do something else.”
His eyes were on her mouth. “You got any ideas about what that something else might be? Because I might have some suggestions.”
She felt the chemistry flare, live and dangerous, and this time it wouldn’t be controlled. “Jackson—”
“Yeah, I know.” His voice was husky and hot. “Public and all that. Getting naked on the slopes is still frowned on. Not to mention giving a person hypothermia.” His phone beeped, and he dug the edges of his skis into the snow and reached into his pocket and checked his messages. “Another Christmas tree order. A family would like one by this evening in order to continue a family tradition of putting presents around it.”
“Can’t they buy it from a supermarket?”
“They could, but a tree freshly cut from the forest is the fairy tale—that’s as long as they’re not the ones cutting it.” There was wry humor in his eyes. “Come with me after lunch and you can be part of that fairy tale.”
“I’ve never been a believer in fairy tales.”
“That’s good to hear, because chopping down the tree and hauling it back through the forest when the weather is minus double digits certainly doesn’t count as one. But it’s all part of the fantasy. All part of a Snow Crystal Christmas.”
“In that case, I should be there.”
She told herself if there were one thing guaranteed to kill her libido stone-dead, it would be choosing a Christmas tree for another family.
HE TOOK HER deep into the forest.
The trail was hard-packed and well maintained, and he stopped the snowmobile at the end of a narrow track. Then he helped her fit snowshoes to her boots and they walked the rest of the way, making tracks through fresh snow. Trees reached high above them like tall, white-cloaked sentries.
The frozen air bit through clothing and sank its teeth into skin.
She shivered. “It’s cold.”
“Wicked cold. Typical Vermont winter. There are folks who spend most of it indoors. There are days when I don’t blame them. Are you warm enough?” He put his arm around her and pulled her close. For once she didn’t resist.
“Just toasty.” Her teeth were chattering. “Never been warmer.”
“Did you buy any of that thermal underwear Alice mentioned?”
“Are you asking me about my underwear?” The look she sent him sent lust slamming into him.
“Just looking out for your welfare. Don’t want to send you back to Brett frozen like the ice pack.”
“As long as I’m still able to work, Brett wouldn’t care.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Why would it bother me? He employs me to do a job for him. It’s perfectly reasonable of him to expect me to do that job.”
Jackson decided not to point out that it was also reasonable to care about the welfare of your employees.