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“I can handle walking on my own now.” I knew she could, obviously. The rest of the group was asking how she was, and she shrugged. “I am fine. Me and the boulder met, and I don’t want to be friends. Ever. He’s a bully.”
“It’s a he?” one of the women asked.
Chloe nodded firmly. “Of course.”
I had to hold back another laugh and the urge to lift her in my arms and carry her the rest of the way. Fuck me. Chloe had reached into my heart, grabbed hold, and wasn’t going to let go. I wasn’t even sure she knew she had done it.
After we got back to the resort, I was busy for a solid hour helping the guests put away their gear and making sure everyone was in one piece. Chloe had already handed over her snowshoes and disappeared down the hallway to check in on her office. I knew I did not strictly need to check on her, but I wanted to. She was someone that I was drawn to not just physically, but emotionally too. She had injured herself today, and I needed to see for myself that she was okay.
Chapter Nineteen
Lincoln
Open doors
Chloe’s office door was open, as it pretty much always was. She was an inviting kind of person. But underneath that, she was sharp, organized, and efficient. I peered into the doorway. She was tapping away on her laptop, her messy bun a little extra messy after the snowshoe hike, most of her hair falling down around her cheeks.
“Hey, how’s your hip?” I asked as I walked in, resisting the urge to close the door behind me. Because, holy fuck, I wanted to close that door and ease her leggings down to take a look at her hip, kiss it to make it all better and then some. I kept those thoughts to myself.
“I’m fine. I’m going to be sore,” she said quickly.
“You should take some ibuprofen.”
“Now? And, I feel like an idiot. I fell!”
“Take it before the soreness sets in.” She eyed me doubtfully. “Chloe, trust me on this. I’ve fallen plenty. Also, anyone who stepped where you did would’ve slipped through the snow. It has nothing to do with experience.”
She held my gaze with her eyes narrowed long enough that I let out a sigh. “I’ll be right back.” Moments later, after fetching some ibuprofen from the medical supplies we kept in the gear room, I returned and handed it over with a water bottle. “Drink now.”
Chloe did as instructed. After she set the bottle on her desk, she eyed me. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“For inviting me to go snowshoeing. It was fun.”
“It’s definitely fun. You will be sore, though, and not just because your hip introduced itself to a boulder.”
When she giggled, my knees actually got a little weak. I opened my mouth to say something just as footsteps approached her doorway.
Asher appeared. “Hey, hey. How was snowshoeing, Chloe?”
She grinned. “It was great, but boulders are bullies.”
“Ah, did you step close to one and fall through the snow?” he prompted, guessing accurately what happened.
“Yes.”
“You’ll be fine. You should take some ibuprofen.”
“Lincoln already made me,” Chloe said.
“Oh, you made her?” Asher teased, his gaze meeting mine.
I shrugged.
Chloe chimed in, “I understand why. I still haven’t gone cross-country skiing, and that’s next on my list.”
“Lincoln, take her with you,” Asher said.
