Page 9 of Caution

I sighed, lifted my own goggles up before pulling down my neck and face warmer. “Coming here on a solo trip and booking a suite at the resort for… twelve more days when I don’t have a clue how to do any of this.”

Forrest grinned at me, which I thought was the strangest reaction to the regret I’d just admitted to feeling. “That’s interesting. I’m here for two weeks on a solo trip as well. Lucky for you, I know how to do all of this.”

I cocked a brow. “Lucky for me?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll teach you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’ll ruin your trip.”

His eyes searched my face for a long time. “Daisy, I think teaching you how to do this will be quite the opposite. In fact, I’m convinced it’ll be the highlight of my trip.”

“Maybe I should warn you then.”

“About what?”

I licked my lips, glanced at the top of the mountain where we were heading, and returned my attention to him. “I suck at getting off the lift. I fall every single time.”

Forrest scooted closer to me on the seat. “You won’t fall this time.”

Suddenly, I could smell him. How that was possible all the way up in the air while he was wearing his layers was beyond me, but I could. And he smelled incredible.

“If you say so.”

He held my gaze for a moment, a smile spreading across his face. “Trust me.”

After all that I’d gone through two months ago, it was probably the worst thing I could have ever done, but I knew what would happen if I didn’t trust him. I’d certainly fall. So, I figured this was minor enough that I could go out on a limb and trust him.

We rode the rest of the lift in silence, and when we made it to the top, he scooted closer and said, “Just do what I tell you.”

I took another deep breath and nodded.

A moment later, he ordered, “Stand up.”

That’s what I did.

And the next thing I knew, I’d successfully gotten off the lift without falling. Granted, Forrest might have been the one to make that so, but there was no way to explain just how exhilarated I felt.

“I did it!” I exclaimed, a wide smile taking up my face.

He beamed at me. “I told you.”

“Wow. How did you do that?” I asked.

Forrest laughed. “Stick with me, Daisy. We’re going to have a lot of fun these next two weeks.”

Maybe it was crazy, but I desperately wanted a little bit of fun in my life. I needed it.

I didn’t think anything worse than had already happened to me could happen, so I bubbled, “I can’t wait.”

TWO

Daisy

Things were looking up.

After getting stuck on that trail yesterday and nearly falling off the chairlift, I had been prepared to call it quits. There’d been far more days recently when I’d felt so defeated and frustrated with things, and I hated that something meant to be fun and exciting was turning out to be anything but.

Then, I met him.

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