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“I’ll be fine. Enjoy your Christmas.”
He lifted a hand. “Yeah, you, too.”
I nodded and turned, making my way carefully down the snowy path to the steps to the driveway. I hit my key fob, and almost instantly, the beep and sound of the doors unlocking filled the echoing silence. I guess I could have hit it a few minutes earlier and let the car warm up, but…oh, well, decision made. I could sit inside for a few minutes and let it warm up. Not like I didn’t have a pile of snow to get off of it anyway.
I stepped off the path into a drift of practically thigh high snow.
Just great.
A sentiment I echoed as I took in the sight of my vehicle half a dozen steps ahead. My windshield was completely covered, the top of the SUV smothered like something out of a gingerbread house gone wrong.
I headed over, using my arm to brush the snow off the driver’s door. Once cleared, I opened it, setting my purse inside and grabbing my brush from the back. I did a quick dusting off of the windshield and roof of the vehicle before hopping inside the cold interior and dropped the brush onto the floor of the passenger side.
I shivered on the icy cold driver’s seat and turned the key, hearing the engine sputter once or twice before finally coming back to life. The sea of snow surrounding me turned everything into shapeless blobs of glistening bright white.Not a big deal— I could get out of here and out the gate. The roads would surely have had a preliminary plow by now. After all, this was the playground of the rich and famous…
They wouldn’t be happy stuck home any longer than necessary.
Although Dean had mentioned these places were ski-in, so maybe the longer, the better?
The heater had finally warmed the space enough to make it bearable. I let out a deep breath, moved the shifter out of park into reverse, and readied myself to go, turning my music on.
Except…it didn’t budge.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I looked up to see a silhouette in one of the lights above. He stood on the patio overlooking the driveway, watching.
Just what I needed, an audience.
I took a deep breath and slipped it into reverse, going all of half an inch before it stopped. The deafening crunch of snow as I hit the snowbank with a thud echoed in the air, the impact jolting me forward slightly.
Shit.
I put it in drive, went forward the same amount, and got stopped with a jerk as the snow decided to not play fair.
I closed my eyes. Okay, it would take longer than I thought, but that was okay.
I went through the motions, forward, back, forward, back. I’d made it through Dean Martin telling me baby, it was cold outside. Tell me something I didn’t already know.
I did one final try, giving it just a little more oomph…only to get totally and completely stuck.
I give up.
I rested my head on the chilly steering wheel. All this money for a gorgeous lodge in Aspen and not enough for a damn heated driveway? Some people clearly didn’t know how to properly spend their money.
Atap, tap, tapsounded on the driver’s window, making me jump.
I went to lower the window but with the cold, it had frozen.
So I opened the door slightly. “What?” I asked softly.
“I thought you were used to driving in this.” He couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice even though he was trying, really trying, to keep from smiling as he rested his hand above the door frame, leaning in.
His breath caused a burst of condensation between us. I watched it dissipate slowly.
He was kinda gorgeous up close. Dark mesmerizing brown eyes, with some of the blackest eyelashes I’d ever seen. I could see his lips twitch as he still tried to keep that smile back.
