A Blazing Little Christmas(42)

He knew he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed this. That first night at the outdoor bar, he’d seen the way her girlfriends listened to what she had to say, the way she was always at the center of the group and still managed to be the first to reel in an outsider. The bartender looked to her for the group order. The bouncer flirted with her first. The band sent out a tune to her. And judging by how fast her cabin phone rang earlier, Jared guessed her family relied on her. She’d admitted her half sister had been on the other end but then she’d clammed up about the call, including a mystery wedding in the family.

Hell, he hoped it hadn’t been hers she skipped out on this weekend. Maybe she’d just had a spat with a family member Bridezilla or something.

“What do you think?” Heather appeared in front of him suddenly as he heard the jingle of the store door chime while it closed.

She wore a sky-blue knit cap with a snowflake stitched on the front and gloves that matched. She’d taken her hair down from the ribbon that held it earlier, so the mass of chestnut waves spilled haphazardly over the shoulders of her dark wool coat.

“All you need are some ski poles and the locals would never know you’re not a genuine snow bunny.”

“I’m not even going to ask about snow rabbits or why I resemble one.” She looped her hand through his arm and his insides contracted at the ease with which they moved together.

The kiss they’d shared earlier had never been far from his thoughts. Of course, fantasizing about what that kiss might have led to only hurt his cause to make Heather look at him as a man with more to offer than being able to last all night long. Damn it, he needed to make things right between them if he ever hoped to expel the memories of one crap Christmas after another. Even last year—when he’d first come home from overseas—he’d spent the holiday holed up in a stripped-down cabin to work on renovations in the hope of blasting away bad memories.

This weekend, he’d be making some new memories to replace those and who better to supplant all those dark thoughts than a woman who could light up the whole freaking village with one sexy grin?

“Ski bunnies are the visitors who are new to the slopes.” He steered her past a couple of antique shops and a street vendor selling hot chestnuts. “They usually dress better than the pros who wear their gear every day.”

“Kind of like the northern golfers who show up on Hilton Head with spiffy new clubs and no idea what they’re doing?”

“Bingo.” He tossed his pocket change into a bucket for a bell-ringing Santa, then stopped by the wooden toboggan run erected over the frozen lake.

“So you’ve just insulted me and my new snowflake hat.” She peered up at the weatherworn contraption where kids climbed a winding set of stairs to the top with sleds of every color. “No wonder tourism is so much bigger down South where we are gracious and welcoming to our guests.”

“You realize we only show up in the South so we can make fun of your accents, right?” He could listen to her talk all day long, and he had the feeling if he ribbed her about that sweet Southern drawl she’d only pour it on thicker.

“We just like to speak s-l-o-w-l-y to y’all as a subliminal cue to take a deep breath and relax once in a while before y’all keel over from the self-importance of your frantic pace.” She smiled sweetly and pointed to the toboggan run. “Now, if you’re done trying to make me out to be Ellie Mae in mittens, could you tell me what that is?”

She craned her neck to see where the network of wooden tunnels and archways ended but trees hid the outlet over the water.

“It’s a sled run that shoots you out onto the ice.” He figured they’d be better off out in the snow than in the all-too-heated atmosphere of her cabin back at the lodge, so he planned to push outdoor fun to the limit tonight. “Want to try it?”

She was already picking up a toboggan at the foot of the platform.

Jared paid for the rental and the ride and followed her up the stairs to the chute, taking the toboggan from her. At nearly six feet long, the wooden sleds were awkward but fast as hell.

They moved through the line quickly since the families were beginning to disperse now that it was almost nine o’clock. The sled run was lit all the way down to the ice, the snow shimmering in the reflected glow as they reached the top.

“Oh, my God.” Heather watched as the kids in front of them fell off to one side on their way down the shoot. “Is this dangerous?”

“It’s one hundred and sixty-six feet of fun, babe.” He plunked the sled down at the top and waited for her to get on. “But just in case, you’d better sit in front.”