Chapter Twenty-Four
Ben’s phone pinged and he paused to read it before getting out of the car. “Hold up, change of plans. We’re going sledding.”
“I’m sorry? We’re doing what?”
Again with the assumptive “we.”
He held up his phone. “Hailey just texted me, she and Neil said the manager gave them two sleds and they’re on the hill behind
the inn. She said they’re having a blast.”
I frowned. “Together?”
“I know, right? There’s something weird going on between those two. Let’s go investigate.”
As much as I didn’t want to do anything but go to my room and sulk about my trashed schedule, part of me wasn’t ready to say
goodnight to Ben yet.
“But I don’t have boots,” I protested. “My shoes will get ruined.”
“Trust me. Come on.”
We grabbed our luggage from beneath the piled-up equipment and headed inside, tiptoeing through the snow piled on the walkway.
Fifteen minutes later Ben had charmed the inn manager into giving us four powder-room trash bags and rubber bands to cover our shoes.
We looked absolutely ridiculous, but I had to hand it to him; my shoes were totally protected.
I gave the cozy fireplace in the lobby a wistful glance, pulled my cashmere hat down over my ears, and headed back into the
cold.
“There they are,” Ben said, pointing to the top of the hill.
It was the perfect sledding spot, a wide-open space between two groves of pine trees, with a gentle slope and a long runway.
Somehow the moon managed to fight through the snow clouds, casting an otherworldly glow on the area. I could hear Neil’s and
Hailey’s laughter echoing in the distance as they raced down the hill side by side.
“C’mon,” Ben said, grinning up at them like a kid. He grabbed my mittened hand and dragged me along behind him.
The drifts were already at my mid-calf, so that, combined with the makeshift snow boots, made for slow going. Ben didn’t let
go of my hand as we made our way over to where the two of them were waiting at the bottom of the hill.
“Hey there, glad you came. It’s perfect snow for sledding,” Neil said when we reached them. “I’d say we earned this fun.”
The only thing I usually earned was rest and recovery, especially lately.
Hailey handed her sled to me, and the four of us trudged up the hill together. I pretended that the long walk up counted as
part of my daily workout.
“Let’s race,” she said. “You guys against us.”
I looked down the hill, which from the top was much steeper than I’d realized. “Is it safe?”
Ben was already getting in position beside Neil, his competitive spirit engaged. “I’ll keep you safe. Get over here.”
A chill raced up my back that had nothing to do with the cold. Ben had issued an order and I felt like I had no choice but to listen.
I stared at the red plastic thing. “Should I be in the front or back?”
“My buddy Kevin was a Team USA bobsledding pilot and he told me that heaviest always rides in back, so that’s me.”
Ben dropped onto it and adjusted himself to make room for me.
I stared at him for a beat, because I was about to press myself between his legs. Not the worst place to be . . .
“Please don’t crash,” I said as I gingerly lowered myself onto the front of the sled.
“Never,” he murmured as he scooted from side to side to accommodate me. “I have precious cargo.”
If there had been a fainting couch nearby I would’ve collapsed onto it from the tenderness in his voice.
In my everyday life I would never, ever opt to go sledding in a snowstorm, but Ben kept gentling me into unexpected scenarios. It was an adjustment to shut off my
training brain and allow fun to take the wheel for a change.
“Move back,” he ordered. “We need to shift the center of gravity for maximum speed. I’m not letting those two dorks beat us.”
I took a deep breath and pushed myself backward until I was pressed up against him. He braced his legs against mine, solid
and strong, and then wrapped his arms around my waist. He gave me a squeeze.
“You hold on to the handles and I’ll hold on to you.”
I melted the moment he tightened his grip around me. I didn’t realize how hungry I was for real, welcomed physical contact
until I was embraced by it. Ben’s arms felt as trustworthy as a seat belt, vital since I couldn’t risk an injury.
Ben, for his part, seemed more focused on winning, which, no surprise. He and Neil worked out the timing of the countdown and I realized I was giggling before the sleds even moved, half from nerves and half from the sensation of being pressed against Ben’s shockingly warm body.
“Ready . . . set . . . go!”
Ben let go of me to paddle his hands through the snow to give us an advantage, then circled me in a vise grip again as we
started to descend.
And then we were flying.
I could not only hear him laughing behind me as we sped down the hill, I could feel his entire body shaking with it, which made me giggle along with him. His laugh was loud and from his belly, a full-throated,
joyful sound that magnified the magic of tearing through the snowy darkness. We careered down the hill, coming close to running
into Neil and Hailey.
She raised a fist at us as we pulled ahead.
The snow felt like little ice pellets hitting me in the face, which meant we were now dealing with a wintry mix. I forced
myself to be in the moment and not think about what it would do to our travel plans the next day.
Neil and Hailey started to catch up to us so Ben let go of me to paddle again. The sudden weight shift made us fishtail, and
when he tried to straighten us out he overcompensated, sending us flying through the air, ass over head.
We landed hard, but I’d spent my life falling on ice so the impact didn’t even register. I wound up with a face full of snow
as Neil and Hailey flew past us. The shock of the spill left me laughing and disoriented, until I realized that I was pinned
beneath him.
“Are you okay?” Ben asked. He gently swept his gloved hand over my cheeks and eyes to clear the dusting away.
He was heavy on top of me, but I welcomed the sensation. His warmth grounded me, like he was a weighted blanket. But the way he was looking down at me made me feel like we were still cartwheeling through space.
“I’m fine,” I agreed softly, even though my nerves were now humming with a need I’d been working hard to suppress.
“No injuries to report?”
His face was dangerously close to mine, scanning me with his usual ground-shifting intensity that never failed to leave me
a little breathless.
“All good,” I managed.
“I guess we lost,” he said, still focused on me.
I no longer sensed the cold, and I wondered if the snow was melting beneath our bodies.
“Doesn’t seem like it,” I murmured, feeling bold.
I’d had the chance to study him up close once before, right as he leaned in close to kiss me by the bonfire. This time around
I felt like I had the luxury of time to catalog his features, since there was little chance of a repeat performance of that
fateful first kiss thanks to our agreement. In a few seconds we’d be back to sledding buddies.
But for now I could relish drinking in the way his beautiful face looked as he stared at me.
Ben’s handsomeness was undeniable, but his real gift was his ability to mesmerize, like a sea creature that dazzled prey right
into its mouth. I felt powerless to do anything but let him lure me closer.
“You’re cold.” He gazed down at me.
“I’m not,” I insisted.
Our little puffs of icy breath air mingled between us.
“But you’re trembling.”
We both knew the real reason why. He was maintaining a boundary I now wished we’d never established.
I answered Ben with the tiniest shrug, like I was afraid if I shifted my body too much he might assume that I was trying to
get him off me.
Neil and Hailey sounded very far away. We were basically alone in the dark.
Ben was doing to me exactly what he did to every other woman he encountered, and I was falling for it. The dark eyes locked
on my face, the tiny smile that made me feel like we were sharing a private joke . . . every defense I’d built up was now
in a pile of rubble.
What was going to happen next seemed obvious to both of us. Inevitable, even.
Normally, prolonged, silent eye contact would feel weird. With Ben, it was a prologue.
“What would happen if I kissed you? Right now?” Ben finally asked me, his voice soft and ragged. “Because I really want to.”
My pulse sped to triple time.
“I think we should find out.”