She glanced up at him. “Nothing. Just looking forward to getting to my room and all.”
“Crazy night planned?”
“Oh yeah. Partying it up with me, myself, and I.”
“Lucky you. Sounds like a great night.”
She looked up at him, expecting to find a trace of sarcasm, but it wasn’t there. He looked down at her and their lips were mere inches apart. Her eyes dropped to his lips and back up to meet his gaze.
They had stopped walking, and the sudden traffic of the other guests flowed around them, parting like a sea.
Just when she thought he might dip his head and kiss her, Jan’s voice had them pulling apart.
“Candace, there you are, honey. Oh good. Brent is with you. When I saw the elevators were shut down, I got worried you’d have trouble getting to your room.” At Candace’s confused expression, Jan continued, “Brent told us what happened. Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
Candace blushed. Jan seemed oblivious to the fact that she almost saw her son kissing her. If that’s what was about to happen. She wasn’t sure, to be honest.
“I’m okay. I’m uncomfortable, but they gave me some pain pills to dull it.” Then she gestured to Brent. “Brent is giving me a hand right now.”
Jan patted him on the arm. “I tried to raise my boys right.”
Candace gave her a soft smile. “You did an amazing job.”
Brent raised an eyebrow at her, clearly as shocked as she was at her own comment.
Jan helped Brent with getting Candace to the top of the stairs and then she said goodnight and went into her own room. Brent walked beside Candace as she crutched down to her room and then stopped outside.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I thought we were making a little headway between us, but you seem mad at me again.”
She scanned her keycard to unlock the door and then propped it open before turning to look at Brent. She sighed.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m not upset with you. I’m just upset with this situation. Being in crutches at a ski resort in a town filled with snow isn’t exactly easy… or fun.”
Brent tilted his head. “Okay, what is it you want to do but don’t think you can? Aside from the obvious, like skiing.”
Her mind immediately flashed to the hot tub. Soaking sounded amazing, but getting back down the stairs by herself wouldn’t be easy, nor would it be easy getting into or out of the hot tub without help. Plus, with the storm going on, it wouldn’t be smart.
“I can see those wheels turning. What did you just think of?” Brent asked.
“The hot tub, but it would be crazy in the storm.”
“Why?”
She gestured down the hallway. “They just shut down the elevators because they’re worried the storm will knock out the power.”
“True, but it has to do with the wind and amount of snow coming down, which is making the lights flicker. It has nothing to do with lightning. It would still be safe to get into the hot tub as long as you don’t mind snow falling on your head… or a breeze.”
She pulled a lip between her teeth.
“Tell you what,” Brent said. “Let’s go down there. I’ll help you down the stairs and into the hot tub. If the power goes out or the weather gets too wild, we’ll come back in. They’ll close the hot tubs if there’s a safety hazard.”
He had a point, and she knew he was right.
“You’re right. It’s just a lot of work trying to get down there.”
He chuckled. “Candy, I promise you, I don’t mind helping, and it’ll be fun. What else did you plan to do all night? Sit in your room and watch sitcom reruns?”
She shrugged and laughed. “Probably.”
