“Good.” He leaned over for a quick kiss since we were more than halfway up the hill.
Scratch that. Kissing Parker was my new favorite pastime.
“So, is it on?” I asked.
“Like Donkey Kong.”
Laughing, I nearly stumbled dismounting, but Parker caught me. I couldn’t really feel his hand through the glove and snow jacket, but the fact that he was touching me did something to my insides. Like his kisses, it was as if the cold couldn’t get to me. Usually by now I’d have been begging to go into the lodge to warm up, but with Parker by my side, I wanted to ride this lift all day.
“Whispering Pines?”
“Sure,” I said. “Wait, does it have moguls?”
“Nope.”
Sure enough, I was worried for nothing. Parker stayed with me the entire time, but Whispering Pines wasn’t all that much more challenging than the hardest beginner run.
When we got to the bottom, though, there was something about Parker’s expression that gave me pause.
“What is it?” I asked, certain he was up to something.
“Hate to say it, cupcake, but I have to hit the little boy’s room. Quick break in the lodge?”
“Oh, you stinker. Way to get out of your end of the bet.”
“Not at all,” he said as we skied toward the lodge. “We’re not done skiing yet.”
And so it was, for the first time in my life, I was less looking forward to sitting by the fire inside the lodge, drink in hand, than I was getting back on that lift and hearing what Parker had to say.
It wasn’t until our coats and hats were off and Parker and I cozied up to the bar in the adult section of the lodge, not too far from the fire, that I realized something.
I hadn’t thought of the hurt Makis had doled out to me all morning. My chest hadn’t felt heavy. My thoughts were not jumbled with confusion. It had simply been a pleasurable—more than pleasurable—day so far.
And best yet?
It wasn’t over.
20
PARKER
It was just lunch.
Sandwiches. Homemade chips. Drinks.
There was nothing remarkable about the lodge bar, or the meal. Except…
I couldn’t remember a day like this one. A meal like this one. Ever.
Sure, my senses were heightened after that last run. Kissing Delaney, knowing she was as into me as I was her. Of course it would be a rush; the unparalleled excitement of getting to know someone for the first time always was. But not quite like this.
I hadn’t lived thirty-one years without being able to sense a difference between other women and the one that was currently putting on her hat beside me. We talked about our families, comparing notes about brothers and sharing the kinds of things people do when they are learning about each other.
I managed to keep my hands off her the entire meal; not because I didn’t want to touch her. The exact opposite, actually. I wanted to hold her hand, kiss those soft, full lips, so damn much that Delaney might think it was all I cared about.
Did I want to be with her?
Yes. So fucking much it was almost painful.
