Page 9 of The Duke's Brother

She appraised him, and he stood taller under her look of approval.

“It might be too late.” He assumed it was, but standing next to Jenneca he filled with a wild sense of hope that he could make up for lost time. The enticing danglingwhat ifcalled to him.

She grinned. “Charlie should join us. Ours, a sordid group: The what ifs, the has been and the never could.”

“What!” Then he shrugged. “I suppose I can be the never could.” He pulled his goggles back down over his eyes. “But you should see me out on the water.”

They turned to face the ridge, the part where they would need to fully concentrate, because it was narrow, one side a cliff face and the other a sheer cliff. Fifty yards of pure thrill if Tripp were by himself. But now he worried for the others, for Jenneca. He indicated they go first.

Charlie whooped and leapt out over the ridge. He landed just right and Jenneca’s shoulders relaxed. She took her turn with precision, and it was Tripp’s turn to relax that she was so in control. Once she was bouncing through her turns about halfway down the ridge, he studied where he would land. To start the decline, he must drop about ten feet. Calculating which direction he wanted to start his first turn, he slipped over the edge and dropped to the snow below.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. No more avalanches and plenty of amazing snow. He had never partnered in skiing with a more compatible woman. He was keeping things less reckless because she was here. He felt that he and Charlie would be more daring in their jumps and might try to outdo each other more, but Jenneca far out passed him in form. She was beautiful, her graceful arcs and quick cuts, her skis hugging each other as if they were one.

“Oh! Watch this!” Her voice carried over the snow in a laughing energy that surged through him.

Charlie and Tripp turned to stop while Jenneca picked up speed down the steep incline to their front. She hugged her body and tucked her arms and headed straight for a wall of snow.

“What’s she doing?”

At the last minute, she adjusted her angle and hit the snow wall with enough speed she travelled straight up and then she used the momentum to flip in the air, coming down on her skis with a graceful turn and then holding out her arms as though she’d finished her first Olympic run.

Tripp was amazed. He’d never tried such a thing. But that was about to change. He tore down the steep decline and hit the wall just as she had. His flip was hairy, his skis wide and barely in control, but he completed it and skidded to a stop beside her. “That was remarkable!”

She grinned. “I know! I’m impressed. It took me at least five tries to master that move. I had to wait to try again until I found the perfect embankment. Years, I worked on that.” Her face glowed with approval.

Charlie took the same flip and skidded to a stop on his side in a ball of snow, laughing. “I will get that yet!”

He dusted off the snow and took off ahead of them. “See you at the bottom!”

They were nearly finished. “I wish we could do this another five hours.” Tripp felt an odd sense of sadness.

“Me too.” Her sigh sounded wistful. “But tomorrow it’s back to training and I love that just as much.”

He scooted his skis closer to her. “I’m happy I met you, Jenneca.”

“You know, we have met before.”

“What!” He shook his head. “I would remember.”

“As children. We used to play with the whole gang outside the palace.”

He thought on it. A new realization hitting him. “Jen? Did you go by Jen back then?”

“I did. That was me.” She shrugged. “Well, should we go?” She readjusted her goggles.

But Tripp didn’t want her to leave just yet. He placed a hand on her arm. “I’ve missed you.” And he did. Every now and then he thought of his childhood best friend and wondered where she’d gone off to. “We had good times back then. I’m sorry I lost touch.” The childhood donuts and treats at the bakery had added to the fun friendship of course. He had counted himself the luckiest kid to have a friend at the bakery. He chuckled. “It pays to know the baker’s daughter.”

She laughed. “Coming from a Prince of Torren.” She shook her head, her eyes shining. “It’s good to see you again, Tripp.”

He couldn’t let her take off again. The air between them sizzled with heat. Soon they’d be with Charlie and he’d miss his chance. He felt reckless, desperate. “You know, you were my childhood crush.”

She gasped, face reddening more than ever.

He laughed. “Sorry, that’s awkward. Eat dinner with me.” Now that he’d spent a day with her, he wanted more.

Her eyes clouded and he remembered that dufus Jorge, sitting with her in the hot tub. “Unless you’re seeing someone?”

“I need to focus.”

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