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“Uh-huh, well, this one is fierce.” He smiled at her, pleased she was as physically affected by him as he was by her. “You need whiskers and red circles on your face, too.”
She sat and turned her face up to him with a smile. “Is applying makeup your hidden talent?”
“No,” he said with a low voice that was slightly gravelly from the passion building in his core.
Gracie’s chest rose and fell with her labored breathing, and he scented her desire burning. She stared into his eyes, and he was frozen by her gaze for a moment before he managed to shake himself free from the trance. He whispered, “What you do to me, Gracie.”
Her pretty lips parted before she squeezed her eyes shut as she smiled in what Leo believed was embarrassment. “Whiskers.”
“Right. Whiskers,” he said, and he swiped the makeup pencil over her face.
When he was finishing up the lipstick circles on Gracie’s cheeks, Tracy walked into the locker room dressed as Mrs. Claus. “Costumes, people! You’ve got ten minutes.”
“I should give these back to Carla,” Leo said as he held the makeup he’d taken.
Gracie chuckled, and she looked over at the three girls who had each been trying to win his attention. Fiona was glaring at them with crossed arms as the other two whispered and darted their gazes their way. “You’d better,” she said. “Before they file a police report for theft.”
He flashed Gracie a grin before he left to return Carla’s belongings. After he changed into his costume, he sought out Gracie again, and the two grabbed their skis from the storage racks to make their way to the chairlift they’d take to the top of the beginner trail before hooking up to the sleigh.
Sugar Mountain was not set up for night skiing, and the chairlift ride was dark and cold as Leo sat next to Gracie. A gust of wind blew, and the chair swayed as he felt the wobble of the huge antlers attached to the hood he’d tugged over his helmet. “You warm enough?”
“Plenty warm,” she said. “This costume is helping.” She was holding her antlers. “These things are so awkward.”
“Yeah. Rudolph is going to be in trouble with the next gust. Think she’ll go airborne?”
Gracie laughed softly. “I hope not, because one of us big people will have to go yank her back down.”
The way she looked down at her skis made Leo think Gracie might be insecure about her size. He leaned against her. “Have I mentioned how beautiful I think you are?”
She slapped her mittened hand over her mouth and let out a tiny noise that resembled a squeak. He suspected it would have been a squeal if she hadn’t tried to suppress it. “It’s true, Gracie.”
She turned to look at him. “Thank you. I find you incredibly attractive too.”
He smiled. “Whew. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d told me I was ugly.”
“I wouldn’t!”
“Then how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
Gracie laughed softly. “You are such a tease.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No.” She lifted her chin. “I think it’scute.”
They had reached the end of their ride, and the two laughed together as they slid off the chairlift. They were the two reindeer closest to the sleigh, and the pair grabbed the two black ropes resembling reins before zig zagging with the brightly lit sled across the trail toward the bottom.
The elves in the front of the sleigh tossed out candy and hot drink vouchers to the children who ran to greet them, and Santa and Mrs. Claus posed for pictures. There were even a few photos taken of the reindeer, but Leo was grateful that Rudolph stole the show.
After the parade was over and they were back in the locker room, Bud, the head of snowmaking who had dressed up as Santa, brought in a cooler with beers for the employees to enjoy as a reward for working that night.
Leo grabbed two for himself and Gracie and led her outside to enjoy them. The wooden bench they sat on behind the locker room was cold and hard on his bottom, but Leo didn’t mind because it gave them privacy.
Cold liquid with the metallic taste of cheap beer slid down his throat as he swallowed a sip of his drink, and he pondered how to tell her she was half werebear. He didn’t think it was fair to go much further with their relationship without her knowing the truth of why he’d come to Sugar Mountain. But the timing was delicate, because if she wasn’t all-in with him, she wasn’t going to believe a word he told her. He asked, “Do you like working here?”
“I do.” She twirled her can of beer between her hands. “Tracy’s mentoring me to join the management team. One day, I’d like to be the head of a department.” She chuckled. “It sounds lofty, I know, but I’m going to get there.”
“Not at all, but Gracie, you are meant for much greater things,” Leo said. “What if I told you that you have incredible power lying dormant in your genes? That the life you lead right now is like seeing things through a dirty window. That life with me— Well, it will be amazing.”
