Page 31 of Mountain Trial

The thought made her light-headed.

She was used to scratching her own itches―that’s what her trusty vibrator was for. The last time she’d slept with a man had been a couple years earlier, and that man had been carefully chosen on the basis of several things: first, he’d worn no ring, nor had she seen the shadow of one. Second, he’d been tall and good-looking. Last, and most important, he’d been in town for two days only, for a real estate conference. Sex with him had been safe, polite, and just okay.

Which was the way she preferred it.

The danger―and the reason red lights were flashing in front of her eyes now―lay in sleeping with a man like Luc. Somebody who could make her hope for more.

Kat clamped down on those thoughts. Luc was by the door, holding it open for her and staring at her like he could read her mind.

Together, they made their way outside. It’d gotten much colder while they were having dinner. She looked up at the mountain, wondering what the temperature was like up on the slopes, and whether the snow would freeze.

The thought struck her that Luc had a competition tomorrow. He’d probably meant to have a good night’s sleep―before she’d thrown herself at him.

“What are you thinking, Kat? I can see so many wheels turning.”

“I’m wondering … I’m wondering if tonight’s the best night to do this.”

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said softly. “We can say goodnight here. Tonight and every night.”

She shook her head quickly. She was once again making a mess of things. He was going to end up thinking she was a flake. “No. I want to come to your place. I just … you have an event tomorrow, and you probably need to be on your own.”

He cocked his head at her. “What, you think I’m going to head up to the slopes in the dark for some last-minute practice? Come home with me, Kat,” he said, taking her hand in his larger one. Although he wasn’t wearing gloves, his palm was warm.

Kat looked at him, still undecided.

“Fuck the event,” he said. “There was only one person I wanted to impress today.”

Warmth pooled inside her. “You certainly impressed me. If you’re sure ... then I’m sure too. Lead the way.”

He let go of her hand. Although she realized he needed that hand in order to go anywhere, she missed the contact. She started walking at her usual pace―she didn’t want to treat him any different from the way she would treat any other man. She needn’t have worried. He kept pace with her, his powerful arms propelling his chair in a seemingly effortless way.

An hour earlier, the street would have been packed. But now, it was that time in the evening when locals had all gone home to their families, and visitors were all inside eating and drinking establishments, so the streets were deserted.

It surprised Kat that the silence could feel so comfortable. She’d only ever experienced this with her team, and maybe with Tess and Isolde.

“Here we are,” Luc said, pushing his way up the small, steep ramp to his front door. He opened it and rolled himself out of the way to let her in first. The warmth from inside tickled her face, making her shiver. As much as she loved snow, there was nothing better than walking into a warm house.

“I like your place,” she said. “I don’t know if I told you last time.”

He took off his coat and placed it on a hook at wheelchair height. He pointed to a hook right above that, and she hung her coat there as well. When she looked back, Luc was staring at her with a strange expression on his face.

“What?” she asked.

He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “That sweater you’re wearing should be illegal. It makes me wish I could still stand, so I could look down into your cleavage,” he said honestly.

Kat laughed. “We can maybe do something about that,” she said, leaning forward suggestively while pulling lightly on the sweater. She looked down at the front of his pants. There was a definite bulge there that hadn’t been there earlier, but she didn’t want to assume.

“Would you like a dr―”

“We should talk about what the sex is going to be like,” she said.

Luc’s eyes creased into a smile.

“Are you always this direct?” he asked.

Luc

She’d asked, so she was clearly interested. Luc took a time to arrange his thoughts into some semblance of order. He knew, intuitively, that how he dealt with the next few minutes might change the course of the night―but it felt like a lot more than that.