A Blazing Little Christmas(35)

She only had eyes for the snow.

He definitely had to get his head out of the past if he wanted any chance with this woman. They’d fallen into bed together too fast last time, unsettling all the traditional rules of dating. He wouldn’t make the same mistake this weekend.

“You like it?” He took the suitcase from her as she watched a handful of new flakes land on her palm.

“It’s fluffier than I imagined.” She brushed the melting snow away and met his gaze for the first time. “Nice to see you again, Lieutenant Murphy.”

Her blue eyes remained straightforward, but he thought he heard something a bit “off” in her tone. Did she have mixed feelings about seeing him again? Or maybe she just thought he had appalling manners since she was standing in a snow squall without a hat or gloves.

“It’s Captain now, actually. And it’s good to see you, too. Let me walk you to the truck before you freeze.” He nodded toward a silver 4x4 he used around town and they made their way through a handful of other vehicles toward it. Seeing how many cars had miniature wreaths attached to their front grills next to his bare fender reminded him how little he’d celebrated the season in recent years.

Stowing her suitcase in the extended cab, he helped her into the passenger seat and figured this had to be the most awkward reunion   of his life. They were strangers who’d slept together, people from totally different walks of life. But—bottom line—he had to see her again.

“So you live up here now?” She craned her neck to see the peak of Whiteface as he pulled out of the lot and onto the main route. Holiday tunes filled the cab.

“I’m from downstate originally, but the scenery is nice up here. My uncle had a cabin in the mountains when I was a kid and I always liked it. He left it to me last year and I’ve been finding local work so I can stay.”

He still had family downstate, but he didn’t have all that much in common with his sisters who were all married with kids. He’d sort of disconnected in his years overseas. This place now felt more like him and his first investment was already paying off nicely with the demand for ski properties increasing. He’d been purchasing plots around town to build new or refurbish old cabins.

“You’re out of the military?” Her voice carried that cryptic tone again, the odd note he couldn’t identify earlier when she’d said it was good to see him.

“Yes.” He was proud of his time served, but he could definitely understand the high burn-out factor. The stuff he’d seen would stay with him his whole life. “I still fly a little. I’m on standby for a Medivac copter and I do some rescue work on the mountains.”

“So you’ve been out of the service for a while?” She kept her eyes trained out the windshield, as if mesmerized by the miles of pine trees drooping under the weight of snow. They passed a handful of houses with inflatable snowmen in the front yard and decorated trees on their porches.

“One year.” It had been strange adjusting to his life after he got out, but he didn’t plan to share the sleepless nights and a sort of survivor’s guilt he sometimes experienced. That wouldn’t exactly launch this reunion   in the right direction.

“It’s been a long time since we saw each other,” she observed lightly, folding her hands in her lap. The backs of her knuckles were red from the cold. “I was surprised to hear from you.”

Jared sensed the need to tread carefully, unsure of the emotional undercurrents he suspected were at work between them.

“No more surprised than I was that you agreed to come up here.” He still couldn’t believe she’d said yes after the way they’d parted with virtually no goodbye. All these years he’d wondered if she’d held a grudge about that, but she seemed genuinely pleased to be here if a little distant. Reserved.

“The timing turned out to be fortuitous.” She rubbed her hands together. “I only wish I brought gloves.”

He steered the truck onto the long driveway that would take them to the Timberline Lodge, a five-star property that drew guests from all over the world.

“You can pick up some clothes at the lodge, or you’re welcome to wear a pair of my gloves. I can pick you up some things at my place and bring them back here when we meet up for dinner.” He pointed out the lodge as they neared the building. “I made reservations in the dining room here, but we can go somewhere else if you’d rather.”

He didn’t want to sound presumptuous about dinner or anything else for that matter. He was determined to prove to her he wasn’t the same guy he’d been five years ago—a live wire who thrived on the thrill of the moment. He’d talked her out of her clothes long before he’d considered how wrong that was when he had to ship out forty-eight hours later.