Page 38 of Against All Odds

I stared at him, stunned. “Here?”

“And now.” He pulled me closer.

I let out a soft laugh, shaking my head. “This is nuts.”

“Maybe.” He slid his hand to the small of my back. “But you’re still going to dance with me.”

And I did.

“What’s this song?” I asked as we swayed, cheek to cheek.

“”Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out” by Bessie Smith.”

“What’s it about?” I hummed along with the music.

He pulled back slightly, just enough to look into my eyes. “It’s about how the world can turn its back on you when you’ve got nothing…but when you’ve got someone who sticks by you, that’s all that really matters.”

I let his words weave themselves into the slow rhythm of the song. “That sounds like?—”

“There’s just you and me here, Bambi,” he cut me off, his mouth close to my ear, giving me goosebumps. “So, don’t think, just feel.”

I closed my eyes and let the sway of the music and the strength of his arms around me sink in and settle deep into my bones.

As we rocked together in the empty tavern, his hand warm against my back and his lips brushing my temple, Irealized that I was going to break my heart over this man if I wasn’t careful—because if I could design the perfect man, the kind of person who would make me feel safe, seen, and wanted, it would bethisman.

CHAPTER 13

heath

The past two weeks were some of the best I’d ever lived. Being with Sable was exciting. Was she fun?Yes. Was she stimulating?Also, yes. Was she easy and drama-free?A big fat, absolutely.

Since we danced together at the Wildflower, I’d talked to Juno. She’d dismissed any idea of her feeling uncomfortable or weird that I was datingopenly. I would never have told her about a woman I was seeing in San Diego until it became serious, but that wasn’t an option in Aspen. She’d hear about it and find out anyway, as I’d discovered.

“Daddy, it’s your life, you do what you want. I like her. She seems fine. If you want us to spend time together, that’s cool with me, too.”

Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. Regardless of how much she appealed to me, I wasn’t ready to introduce Sable to my kid.

I had changed my schedule at the resort and wastaking Monday afternoons off so Sable and I could spend some time together. We were two busy professionals, with conflicting and often unpredictable schedules, and we didn’t have the luxury of spending weekends and evenings together frequently.

“When did you start hiking?” I asked as we walked along a trail through the pines, dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy.

It wasn’t a strenuous trek—Sable had promised me it would befun but not death-defying—but I could feel the steady burn in my legs as we worked our way toward the top.

“Since forever,” she admitted. “Didn’t call it hiking then.”

“What did you call it?”

“Getting away?”

She didn’t hide her roots, but she also didn’t make a big deal out of it, unlike the townsfolk.

I’d gotten an earful from Daniel and Cynthia Vikar, my former in-laws, when I went to drop off Juno at their place over the weekend.

They lived in a sprawling stone-and-timber mansion perched just above town. The driveway alone was longer than a city block, winding through manicured pines and meticulously arranged wildflowers that likely cost a small fortune to maintain. I knew because we did the same at resorts around the world—including the one here.

Daniel used to be the mayor of Aspen, and if the town had a throne, he and his wife would sit on it. When I saw them once in a while when we visited, or they came to SanDiego, we got along just fine. Even after the divorce, we did well enough. But that reprieve seemed to be coming to an end now that my relationship with Sable had become common knowledge and, according to Ellie, my assistant, a hot gossip topic.

Once Juno had gone into the kitchen with her grandma to find something to eat, Daniel asked to talk to me in his library. Yeah, it was that kind of a house. I grew up with professors; we had books everywhere, and not a library with a reading fucking nook. I doubted anyone in the Vikar house took advantage of the cozy spot with a view and couch to immerse into reading…Salman Rushdie? Midnight’s Children was set on the small table next to the reading couch. It even had an ornate bookmark tassel coming out of it. I was certain it was there for show.

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