Page 26 of Mountain Challenge

“Don’t worry about it. The owner owed me a favor.”

Deep lines appeared on her forehead. “I can’t let you pay for my new tires.”

“It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not. I pay for my own things. Always.”Fair enough. Her expression softened. “But we can talk about it tomorrow,” she said.

“Thank you. Would you let me take you out to dinner? I need to eat something,” he said. He needed food, but he was also about ready to fall asleep on his feet.

She pointed to her dining table, which sat between the living area and the kitchen corner. “Sit down. We can order a burger.”

Isla

She smiled at the way his eyes lit up at the mention of the burger.

“The corner restaurant makes a mean burger. They’ll deliver in less than fifteen minutes. Cheese and bacon? You’re not vegetarian, are you?”

“Are you kidding? I’m Australian. I eat anything that moves.” Ry eyed the wine bottle and the single, half-empty glass.

Isla laughed. “I prefer my food dead, thank you very much. Sit down while I make the call.” He looked dead on his feet. She dialed the number, ordering two burgers and a side order of sweet potato fries. Yet another weakness of hers.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” she asked, eying her own.

“Probably best not,” he answered ruefully. “They gave me some painkillers at the hospital, and I might take some more tonight.”

She liked that, a man who wasn’t afraid of admitting to being in pain, or unwilling to sort it out. She picked up the wine bottle and glass and brought them to the kitchen counter, then made her way to the fridge, finding an open carton of apple juice and a bottle of sparkling water.

“Apfelschorle?”

“Sounds great, thank you.”

She poured a glass for each of them and sat down across from him. There was a bleak look in his green eyes that hadn’t been there the first two times she’d seen him. It certainly hadn’t been there the previous night, when he’d grabbed her and?—

Her nipples tightened further, and she crossed her arms over her chest to hide them.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

He pointed at the sling with his free hand. “This? It’s fine. Just strained my rotator cuff.”

“Not the shoulder. I mean … you look … you look like you saw something today.”

He nodded. “That seems like a good way of describing it. But I don’t want to go into it. I’d rather …” He took a deep breath. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“Myself? There isn’t much to tell …”

“You’re Belgian, right?”

She looked up in surprise. Most foreigners weren’t able to tell the difference between French and Belgian accents. But apparently, Ry could. “From Brussels, yes. I moved to Chamonix six months ago to take over the tattoo studio after the previous owner retired.” She clamped her jaw shut to stop herself from talking about her divorce. She wasn’t going there. No way.Not now, not ever. “I wanted to be close to the mountains,” she continued, instead.

Ry perked up at her words. “I also moved here to be close to the mountains.”

She could feel her voice gaining strength.Thiswas something she could share with him. “I was sixteen the first time I got on a snowboard, and from day one, it was the most incredible feeling. The closest to flying without actually buying a plane ticket. Since then, I went out to the mountains every chance I had, which wasn’t often, living in Brussels.”Or when you have a husband who hates the cold. But she wasn’t going to talk about Roland. “Do you snowboard?”

“I’m a skier through and through,” Ry laughed. “I value my tailbone too much to take up snowboarding at my age.”

Isla cocked her head to one side. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-two,” he replied, immediately.

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