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Then he rested a hand on her shoulder and said, “Do you smell that?”
She took a deep inhale. “What?”
“Can you smell it?”
She took another breath. “I can’t smell anything.”
“It’s the scent of a fun, carefree day.”
Realizing what he’d just done for her, she swallowed hard. He’d distracted her. She was breathing regularly, and the panic was gone. “Oh, you’re good.”
Where her ex had chosen to walk out the door when she had a panic attack, this guy soothed her anxiety with his calm and reassuring patience. In that moment she didn’t feel that her life was too much.
“That’s the Macintyre way.” The adult male confidence was sexy as hell. He bent over and plucked her glasses from the ground, shook them off and snugged it on over her nose—which brought him into twenty-twenty view—and into breathing distance. He smelled like pine and fresh snowfall. “How about that ski lesson?”
“Oh no.” She shook her head. “I’ve had enough snow for one day.”
“You didn’t even make it to the slopes.”
She looked back at the imposing mountain and shook her head. “Close enough for me.”
“Well, then can I buy you a hot cocoa?” His gaze dropped to her mouth and a vaguely sensuous lightness passed between them. “Actually, I’d like to do something else.” He stepped closer.
“Like what?” She was strangely flattered by his interest.
“You know what or you wouldn’t have been sneaking peeks at my lips for the past five minutes.”
“I didn’t have my glasses on, who knew where I was looking.” Even saying the words, she felt a hive break out on her forearm.
“Now, that’s a lie.”
“Maybe I have been sneaking peeks, but I’m a little out of practice. I haven’t been with someone in a very, very, very long time.”
This time his eyes definitely dropped to her lips, then back to meet her gaze. “How about we go to Bigfoot’s Brews and grab a hot cocoa.”
She blinked—three times. “Are you asking me out?”
He moved even closer, resting a big, manly hand on her hip. “Is that a yes, Mills?”
Before she could answer, his phone blew up with texts. One after another in rapid succession. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Dammit, I have to go. That’s my sister bugging me about tonight’s dinner.”
“Is that like telling me you have to wash your hair?”
“No. This convo is to be continued at a time when my family isn’t hounding me.”
“I get it.” Oh, she really got it. She too was the good kid and knew what it was like to give up what one wanted in order to be what others needed. Lucas’s brother was a lot like Milly’s sister, a free spirit. Just like his troublemaking playboy of a twin, her sister used to find trouble like nobody’s business. Which was why she’d always felt a connection with Lucas. “Family always comes first.”
His expression changed into something more serious. “It’s not always that easy.”
Wow. It was as if they were speaking the same language. She really got what he was saying. And that made him all the more attractive. She’d never been attracted to just the physicality; it’d always been the thing between the ears. And she was definitely attracted to that right now. Still, when he bent to pick up her poles, she couldn’t help but admire his ass. And maybe it was a combo of brains and brawn.
Chapter Two
Take Life by the Balls
Bucket list: Fill it with beer. Drink it.
Growing up, Sierra Vista Lodge had been his siblings’ own personal playground. The historic and remote adventure resort was perched atop the Sierra Nevada mountains and a destination for weekend warriors and families alike. He and his siblings had claimed, climbed, and ran across every inch of the mountain, a pack of hellions on skis. But Jax been gone a long time.
