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She stood and gave him a smile, but it still had some spice in it. “And nobody currently has the closet full of manly clothes that smell good?”
She thought he smelled good?
“Empty closets.”
But unfortunately, an empty fridge as well. He’d seen something in her eyes when he said the fridge was fully stocked. Did she have money for food? He wanted to run to the grocery store for her breakfast and lunch foods and take her out to dinner. Would that be overstepping?
“Thank you.” Her smile grew and that fresh, open, happy light he’d first seen in the entry of his ski lodge was back. He thought for a moment she might throw her arms around his neck.
Sadly, she just smiled at him and then turned and started toward the door.
He hurried after her. He cupped his hand around her elbow as they reached the porch. She darted a gaze up at him. Dang, her eyes were the most beautiful blue he’d ever seen, especially when they were warm and focused on him. Her lashes framed them softly, and he was lost.
“Are you worried I’ll sprawl face-first into the snow again?”
“I was a bit concerned about that.”
She smiled, and he was so happy. Could they connect again? He found his hand sliding from her elbow and around her waist. It was so natural. So perfect. He had a connection to Ayla he never thought he’d find, and he hardly knew her.
Her eyes widened, but surprisingly she said nothing. Her mouth softened, and he’d never seen more kissable lips. He’d thought ten years ago when he’d met and rashly married Iluminada that her exotic Spanish beauty was his type. He could see now the perfect woman for him was a blue-eyed blonde with just the right amount of sass and an enthusiasm for life he wanted to restore. How was he supposed to resist her? All the red flags waving in his face didn’t matter at all when she smiled at him.
She didn’t protest about his arm around her waist, but sadly she didn’t lean up to kiss him either. She started walking forward. He hurried to keep up, supporting her with his arm around her trim waist. The walk to the car was far too short. She did lean into his side and he got the opportunity to hold her up as her silly boots slipped on the snow repeatedly.
“Sorry, I’m a mess in these stupid boots,” she said.
“Do you have any other boots?” he asked.
They reached the sport utility, but he didn’t open her door. Yet.
“No.” She looked away. “I found everything warm I could at the thrift store. I was lucky because I found this coat and a rain jacket I thought I could layer with sweatshirts for skiing. They didn’t have any other boots my size.”
At the thrift store? She’d found a rain jacket, this dressy white coat, and the high-heeled boots to dress warm for a ski trip to Colorado in a California thrift store? There was no way she’d survive a day on the slopes with some rain jacket, no matter how many layers she put underneath. Did she even have ski pants, gloves, a face mask, high-quality under layers designed to trap the heat of her body yet not make her a sweaty mess, and wool socks?
“Oh. Okay,” was all he said in a dubious tone, but his mind spun, thinking through their lost and found room at the resort. They also had a few lines of ski gear in the rental shop to buy, but he didn’t think Ayla would appreciate him buying her new gear.
“I’ll be fine.” She tilted her chin up.
Man, he liked her toughness.
She turned and put her hand on the car door, lifting the handle. Jace swung it open and helped her in. He liked any opportunity to touch her as much as he liked her toughness.
Staring up at him, she smiled softly, all traces of sass gone. “Thank you,” she said in a breathless tone that he thought was a good sign for him.
He lingered, maybe a little longer than he should have. She didn’t tell him to go get in the driver’s seat or that he was overstepping bounds again, but he wasn’t about to push his luck. He stepped back and shut the door, then strode around to the driver’s seat. Climbing in, he started the car and immediately she put her hands up to the heat vents.
“Still warm,” she chirped.
Jace backed the car up and looked over, realizing she didn’t have any kind of gloves on. He only wore gloves when he was working outside or skiing but most women he knew, especially women from somewhere warm, would need at least a thin pair of gloves any time they stepped outside in weather like this. “Do you have gloves for skiing?”
She looked out the window instead of looking at him. “I, um … couldn’t find any ski gloves. I have some running gloves.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” He drove slowly toward the main road. She looked over at him. “I’ll have some warm gear brought to you. We have lots of lost and found. People leave stuff like you can’t believe, so we launder it and we now have a storage room stuffed full of snow gear. You can keep it as a souvenir or leave it when you head home.” He didn’t want her to head home, ever, but that was a completely different irrational conversation they’d most likely never have.
“Oh, Jace, are you serious? You have a room full of warm, snow gear and you’ll bring it to me? You’re like Santa for frozen, adult women.” She clapped her hands together and she was back to that adorable woman he had first met.
Jace loved the grateful, full of wonder look on her face. Santa? He was far more fit and young than Santa, but he wanted to rescue and gift her with anything she needed.
“I’m dead serious,” he answered her first question. “As serious as a heart attack and a car crash combined.” He smiled, but for some reason his silly quip wiped the smile right off her face and the light right out of her blue eyes.
