The words hit like a bucket of ice.
My spine went rigid. “Excuse me? Did you think my jungle quest gave me amnesia?” I threw up my fingers in case he had trouble counting. “Two years, Grant. You’ve been a thorn in my side ever since you were supposed to pick me up from the airport for my first seminar.”
He swore under his breath, raking a hand through his soaked hair. “Like I said, stuck on repeat. There was a blizzard. The airport shut down. How was I supposed to know the random girl I met at the bar was you, and that you'd taken an earlier flight? We’d only exchanged hostile emails at that point, and you’re the one who thought it’d be fun if we didn’t trade names over cocktails.”
“Because I was trying to be cute and mysterious. Haven’t you ever seen a movie?” My voice pitched higher as the rain blurred my vision. “And don’t even get me started on your pickup line.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Pickupline?”
“It hadone-night standwritten all over it,“ I shot back, rolling my eyes.
“As if you’d ever let a guy like me get within five feet of your precious‘Soulmate Zone.’” He made air quotes around the words.
What an ass. Who uses air quotes?
I scoffed, shoving against his chest and pushing out of his lap. The warmth of his spell vanished, leaving me cold and shaky.
“But my favorite part,” I bit out, hobbling toward the trail, “was when your phone rang. You excused yourself, but I overheard you on my way to the bathroom. You said, you couldn’t pick up theMeet-Cute Ice Princess from Planet Sunbeltbecause you’d already hit the jackpot. Gross, Grant.”
He was on his feet in seconds, storming after me. “Yeah, well, the house always wins in the end, doesn’t it? Because we haven’t been able to have a civil conversation since.” His gaze raked over me. “And just so you know, you’re going the wrong way, Ice Princess. The closest resort is thirty minutes south.”
I turned on my heel, nearly wiping out, and changed directions.
“Don’t help me,” I snapped as I limped past him.
“I’d rather get mauled by a leopard,” he shot back, falling into step anyway. “But a piece of advice. If you see a giant-toothed cat, run fast.”
I growled, literally growled, and limped quicker. I couldn’t believe I’d ever considered kissing him. Twice! If the third time was supposed to be a charm, the universe had better tie me up in tinsel and leave me in a snowdrift.
Chapter 9
Grant
Ah, blessed silence. Twoyears of bickering, and all it had taken was a fall into a ravine.
I glared at Valerie’s back as she limped through the jungle. Every step she took was equal parts stubborn pride and wounded bird that hopped away if I got too close. I had to fight the urge to scoop her up and carry her the rest of the way, mostly because she’d hate it, and so I could pretend to drop her every five feet.
She was still holding a grudge from the first time we met. Figures. But then, so was I. What I’d thought might have been the spark of something real had blown up in our faces. So what if I’d used a pickup line? She’d been smart, funny, and so impossibly beautiful under the glow of those holiday lights. Some days, I was half convinced Cupid wasn’t a cherub, but the Norse god of mischief, Loki, disguised in clip-on wings and a quiver of trick arrows.
He’d fired one at us that night, and we’d been paying for it ever since.
The storm had finally let up, trading icy needles of rain for sticky air and rising steam. I’d shed the raincoat, but my clotheswere still stuck to my skin. We’d been walking for a while now, following the wooden signposts that led to the island’s couples resort. Thankfully, it was closer, because with the light dropping fast and Valerie’s ankle slowing us down, catching a shuttle back to the retreat was safer than risking the hike in the dark.
My hand throbbed from where I’d slammed it against the rock face, each pulse reminding me I’d lost more than just the bowling challenge. Chasing after Valerie meant our team was eliminated from the final round, and with the retreat ending tomorrow, so was my winning streak. I was going to hear about it. Like my grandfather had said, I wasn’t any closer to catching up with Matt. But what else was new?
This trip was supposed to be my breather before the Christmas season kicked in, my last one before responsibility, team expectations, and budget reports filled my calendar. Instead, I was limping toward the finish line with a busted hand, a bruised ego, and a woman who’d soon be part of the new cross-division team to witness my downfall up close and in person.
If the board wanted us to solve cold cases, they should start with mine, the one that’s been gathering frost for years, where everything I touch cracks like a glass ornament under pressure.
But I could barely bend my fingers anyway, and the loose signet ring I always wore suddenly felt too tight, the skin around it swelling with every step.
And Valerie? Alive and muttering under her breath like she hadn’t shaved a decade off my life until I heard her belting Christmas carols in the rain. She was the human embodiment of whiplash. One minute, I wanted to kiss the fight out of her; the next, I wanted to let the leopards take her.
“Know anything about the resort we’re headed to?” I asked, breaking the silence, if only to cut off my thought spiral before I leaned too heavily in either direction. “Think they’ll let us take a shower before riding the shuttle?”
Valerie huffed, glancing over her shoulder from beneath a riot of frizzy, jungle-mussed hair. “It’s a holistic resort for couples. Mud baths and leech body treatments.” Her gaze swept me from head to toe. “Start with the leeches; you’re already covered in mud.”
My lips twitched. “I knew you’d be an expert on leeches. Did you model your ability to suck the soul out of people after them?”
