Page 66 of Protecting Mr. Fine

“When you go before you ever hit the slopes, it’s probably called avant.”

“This isn’t downhill,” I reminded him. “It’s very different.”

Zane’s phone dinged with a notification, and he grabbed it off the counter and unlocked it. “Yes,” he said distractedly. “Much more like running… which isn’t my favorite.”

I took his phone from his hand and turned him back toward the mirror to finish getting ready. “Youlove running.”

He pulled a face. “I lovehavingrun. Not the same thing.”

“Imagine how beautiful it will be. The sun is shining, and the sky is an impossible blue…”

Zane’s semi-bare body was a thousand percent more beautiful, though, and if I stayed here drooling over it, we’d never get out the door. “Dress warmly and meet me in the kitchen. I’ll fix your coffee.”

I walked out of the bathroom…

And only then did I look down at Zane’s phone.

I instantly recognized that the new email had come from the same dummy account as the last creepy message Zane had received, and the subject line?Missed You.

Skin crawling, I clicked into it.

To Zee,

I waited for you in New York. Are you scared? If you’re thinking you’re safe with him, you’re wrong. He’s not meant to protect you. You’ll be in my sights again soon enough.

See you soon.

Semper in scopum.

I cast a glance at the bathroom, where Zane had begun humming happily as he resumed shaving, and my stomach churned.

I should tell him about the email… probably. He had a right to know, definitely.

But damn it, the man also had a right to a few days of rest and relaxation. A few days when the world would stop stealing fragments of his peace. A few days without someone using him as a pawn in their schemes.

If I told him about this now, his nightmares would almost definitely return, and his quiet slumber would be a thing of the past.

That thought was enough to make me act. I quickly forwarded the email to Violet with a note asking her to send it on to our cyber people, then moved it into the folder with the Stamper’s last message. Without hesitating, I set up a filter that would move any new emailsfrom that address directly into the folder and also forward them to Violet and to me.

I would eventually tell Zane about the emails. Of course I would. But in the meantime, I’d protect his peace and his sweet heart as passionately as I protected his body.

“If you loved me, you’d have brought the coffee in here and delivered it with the bad news about the skiing!” Zane called from the bathroom.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clicked his phone off.If only you knew, I thought.

“If you loved me, you’d be excited to try my favorite sport,” I called back instead.

“I don’t love you,” Zane grumbled an hour later.

The soft sound of snow sliding under our skis accompanied us as we moved down the trail past several chalets with gingerbread trim and fresh-painted shutters tucked back in the trees. It was a dreamland covered in new powder and set off by the sun and deep blue sky.

I was having an amazing time. My body felt warm and invigorated by the exercise—it had been about a year since I’d been on skis, and I’d missed it. It was a gorgeous day to be out. And I loved that I got to share this with Zane.

Zane had been enjoying it, too… until the poor man had sunk knee-deep in powder after stepping off the trail to take a piss and falling into a low spot. The thermal exercise tights that lovingly cradled his ass were now coated with snow. Wisps of brown hair escaped his yellow wool beanie and tangled in the arms of his sunglasses, and his cheeks were red from cold and exertion.

Zane was always bright and magnetic, but seeing him like this, beautiful and fit, while experiencing one of my favorite things was pretty damned satisfying. He looked disgruntled… and adorable.

It was practically impossible to keep from grinning, but I managed it. “I tried to warn you to use your pole to test before taking a step. You never know what the ground is like off the trail.”

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