Zach stiffened next to her, though she doubted the other man knew it. “Yep. Like every day.” He didn’t bother to give the man the satisfaction of arguing.
Even though she’d known Zach for only a few hours, she already surmised he was a hard worker with abundant energy. She set her hand on his thigh under the table and squeezed.
The blond man set his palm on their table and leaned too close to her. “New girlfriend?” he asked without taking his steely gaze off her.
She shivered. Nope. She didn’t like this guy any more than Zach appeared to. Thank God he wasn’t their third. He also wasn’t lupine. Not that it mattered. Plenty of wolves mated with humans. Just not this one. He gave her the creeps.
“What did you need, Brock?” Zach didn’t bother answering the man’s question.
“Nothing. I just wanted to come over and say ‘hi.’” He kept his gaze on Laurie. “I’m Brock. You are…?”
Laurie stared at his eyes for a moment, the ones ogling her chest. Finally, she managed to pull together enough civility to respond. “Like you said, I’m the new girlfriend.” She didn’t flinch as she spoke. Hopefully, Zach wouldn’t care about her response.
Apparently not. He chuckled and covered her hand with his on his thigh.
Brock laughed. “Fine. I gotta run. I’ll see you later. Maybe you’ll help out on the slopes this afternoon, Masters?”
“Nope. But I bet you’ll find Logan out there if you need someone else to harass.” Zach released her hand and tugged the tray of food closer. He didn’t lift his gaze back to meet Brock’s as he opened more containers and revealed onion rings, chili, another burger, and nachos. Way too much food.
Brock turned and left them finally.
“I see what you mean. Nice guy,” she said sarcastically.
“Oh yeah. He’s a bundle of fun times.” Zach stuffed a fry in his mouth and grabbed the catsup from the table. “Unfortunately, he’s also an amazing instructor and incredibly calm under tense situations when someone is injured on the slopes. It’s tough to hire enough guys with those skills. Otherwise, I’d fire his cocky ass in a minute.”
“Bummer.”
“Yeah. This isn’t Colorado. We’re in Montana. Good ski instructors living in the area or willing to come out here each season are rare.”
Laurie picked up her cheeseburger and took a huge bite, moaning around the taste.
Zach laughed.
“What?” she asked around her full mouth, covering her lips with her hand.
“You must be starving, because I know the burger isn’t that good.”
He was right. She was indeed famished. And she had a feeling she would need fuel for whatever crazy ski slope he intended to take her on next.
Chapter Four
“You sure about this?” Laurie asked as she pulled her gloves on and stared down the mountain at the hill Zach was intent on taking. They were significantly higher up the mountain this time, and on the west side.
“You’ll be fine. You’re practically a pro by now.”
Laurie wasn’t nearly as confident as he was. And she lifted her gaze toward the sky for the third time in as many minutes.
The day had been clear until then, not a single cloud. The forecast had shown blue skies all day. But Laurie sensed unsettled weather coming in. “I think it’s going to snow.”
Zach scrunched up his face. “Really? It’s not supposed to.” He gazed at the sky.
“Can’t explain it. But my instinct tells me it’s going to storm.”
“Do you usually predict weather?” He lowered his face to hers, concern etched on his forehead. At least he wasn’t making light of her quirkiness.
“I’ve always been a bit in touch with Nature, but I will admit it has increased since I arrived here.” Kind of made her uneasy too. It had only been four days. Could she really tap into skills from her Native American half that quickly?
“I’m not going to doubt you. I’ve heard what Melinda can do. That woman is amazing.”
“Well, don’t get carried away. I’m not Melinda. And I have no idea what dormant abilities I might have, but sensing a change in the weather isn’t really an anomaly for me.”
“Hang on a sec. Don’t move.” Zach turned around and maneuvered his way back to the stand at the top of the lift. He spoke to one of the employees who looked up at the sky and shook his head.
While she watched, Zach pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few things on the screen and then held it up for the man to see. The guy’s eyes went wide. He turned back around, stepped into the stand, and picked up a walkie talkie.