Page 14 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

Dumb move, Lord.

He stared at the snow-covered pines—and took several long deep breaths of the frigid air, while willing the heat to take a hike.

What the hell had he been thinking? Or rather not thinking.

‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured. ‘I should not have let you provoke me into the snowball fight,’ she added. ‘It was totally inappropriate given our circumstances.’

Annoyance—mostly with himself—kicked him in the gut.

Why was she taking the blame when he was the one who had started the snowball fight...and initiated their almost kiss?

He let out a gruff chuckle—although he wasn’t at all amused—to release the knot of tension, and the weird regret.

Playing rough and tumble with her had been a schoolboy error. But seeing her lose her usual reserve had also been fascinating—so he refused to beat himself up about it too much, even though the ache in his groin was even more pronounced than the one in his cruciate ligament now.

He turned his head, to find her lying beside him staring back, a confused, questioning look on her face.

‘No apology required. The snowball fight was my idea, Belle,’ he said gruffly, to get that straight at least.

He rolled away from her to stand, then leant down to offer her his hand.

‘Come on. Let’s head to Sariyelva,’ he said.

She clasped his hand. Even through her glove, he could imagine her skin so soft against his own as he tugged her onto her feet.Terrific.

She really was a petite little thing, he realised as he waited for her to brush the snow off her suit. When exactly had that become a major turn-on, too?

She lifted her hair, tied it into a knot, her expression closed, her movements cautious.

Shame, he thought. But he held back the urge to tell her how much he liked her hair down.

She’s not yours, Lord.

‘How long to the end of the trail from here?’ he asked, to get his mind back on business.

‘Sariyelva is nestled in the valley below. It shouldn’t take us more than an hour to ski down to it through the forest.’ She began to talk in that clipped rushed tone, which he had figured out from their first meeting was a sign of her nerves. He relaxed a bit. At least he wasn’t the only one affected by their horseplay.

‘The PR team have let some local reporters know I’ll be there this afternoon with you—incognito.’ She continued to talk too much.

‘Cool, so I guess we better make sure we put on a convincing show. To clue your subjects in to our torrid love affair.’

Her gaze snapped to his, the blush firing across her cheeks.

Damn, but teasing her was irresistible—however dumb.

‘Um...well, yes...’ she murmured, her expression an engaging mix of panic and awareness.

She couldn’t possibly bethatsheltered—she’d been the monarch of a major Alpine country for most of her life. But even if the strange innocence that clung to her wasn’t real, it wasn’t helping him get the heat under control either...

He headed to the board, fitted his feet back into the bindings. ‘It’s your call, Belle,’ he said, and tried to mean it.

Giving in to the temptation to kiss her would not be smart. But as they headed through the forest trails towards their rendezvous with her security team and the local paparazzi the urge to get his mouth on hers again resolutely refused to take a hike, along with the desire to tempt the reckless girl back out of hiding.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘BYTHEWAY,Mr Lord, I’d like to thank you for signing all the paperwork so promptly,’ Isabelle announced as she stood beside Travis Lord, staring at the huddle of historic buildings below them that made up Sariyelva—the town’s fairy lights already twinkling in the gathering dusk.

The journey here had taken them over an hour and during that time they’d barely exchanged a word. Perhaps because they were both mindful of the barriers that had been lowered far too readily with their race and the snowball fight. Barriers that she had been determined to rebuild.

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