Page 67 of The Relationship Clause

“Eww, Mommy, they’re kissing!”

The squeaky little voice brings us both back to reality. I break the seal on our mouths and lift my head to find a tiny human dressed in a bright-pink snowsuit similar to Junie’s. She’s pointing a gloved finger at us. The woman beside her frowns and turns her daughter away from us. Even though I can’t see the woman’s eyes, I know she’s glaring at us like we were about to do something X-rated.

“Come on, honey. Let’s go find daddy,” the woman says, ushering her child away.

As their footsteps crunch away, Junie and I look at each other, and then we burst out laughing. We lie there laughing so much, I get a stitch in my side, and we get a few more glares from parents.

Eventually, we pull ourselves up, untangling our legs and skis and finding our forgotten goggles. “Well,” I say with a glance at the sun’s position in the sky, “I think we’ve got time for a little more skiing before dinner. Unless, of course, you’d rather retire to our room for a little R&R?”

Junie’s lips twitch into a smirk. “I think any R&R with you would be dangerous.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?” I say, grinning.

“No, I certainly can’t. Come on. I’m ready to try something other than the bunny hill.”

“Oh? Does that mean you might actually like skiing? You’re admitting defeat?”

She pauses for a long moment, then nods slowly, her eyes conveying something more than the surface of her words. “Yes, Owen Ferguson. I’m admitting defeat.”

CHAPTER 21

JUNIE

“I’ve changed my mind,” I call out, voice a little on the whiney side. Okay, a lot on the whiney side. “I hate skiing. It’s the worst thing ever, and I’m never doing it again.”

I’m lying spread-eagle on my bed, which is pretty much where I’ve been since waking up this morning. Every muscle in my body aches like I attempted a triathlon yesterday with zero preparation. It’s all skiing’s fault. I will never forgive the stupid sport. I may never forgive Owen either, but he’s doing a pretty good job of trying to make up for it, despite all his chuckling and teasing.

“Never’s an awfully long time,” he calls from the hallway.

“Yeah, well, I mean it. Nothing is worth feeling like this.”

“Nothing?” His voice is closer, and then he’s in my room, carrying a tray between his hands and a devilish look in his eyes that makes me blush.

I clear my throat, remembering the kisses we shared yesterday in the snow. Now that’s a sport I could participate in every day and never get tired of.

“Um, whatcha got there?” I say, groaning a little as I pull myself into a seated position.

“See for yourself.” He brings the tray over, revealing a mountain of Bananas Foster French toast, a pile of bacon, fresh fruit, and a tall glass of orange juice.

My jaw drops. “These are all my favorite things.”

“I know,” Owen says, looking a little embarrassed. “I may or may not have gotten a list of your favorite breakfast foods from my sister and then ordered them from room service.”

Warmth fills my chest, and I lift myself up enough to brush a kiss against his lips. He looks momentarily stunned, and I gotta say, it’s adorable on him.

“What was that for?” he asks.

I shrug. “Because I wanted to.”

He smiles, slowly at first, as if he can’t quite believe it. I almost can’t myself. It’s like this place has put a spell on me. It doesn’t matter what was going on in our lives before we came to Vail or what will happen after. All that matters is now. And the more I lean into that, the more my usual fears seem like distant, trivial things.

It’ll all end after the flight home though.

I shove the errant thought to the back of my mind where I can almost forget it exists. No way am I letting doubts ruin today.

And who says those doubts are right anyway? Maybe I never settled down before because I never found the right guy. Owen could be the right guy.

“Mind if I join you?” he asks a few minutes later. He’s got his own identical tray, and he nods to the vacant spot beside me on the bed. Heat fills my belly, but I nod because I’m a big girl and I can totally handle sitting on a bed with Owen. We’re going to be eating breakfast. There will be no shenanigans, so there’s no reason to get all flustered and weird.

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