Page 20 of Choosing You

“Seriously? That whole story does not flatter me or make me sound good in any way, shape, or form. And to know that you were looking for me too? That just makes it even worse!”

They reached the ski lift platform but didn’t step up. “Okay, I’m not gonna lie—I felt like an idiot too. I mean, it was mainly my own doing because I let everyone know about you kissing me and running off. I’m sort of like the village idiot where this whole thing is concerned because now the whole town’s watching.”

“I’m so sorry, Will. I…I guess I wasn’t…I mean, I know I wasn’t thinking about you. Only me. And I don’t know how I can make up for that.”

Silently, he looked up and watched the ski benches coming and going.

“Will?”

“Hmm?”

“Say something.”

Luckily, he didn’t go for humor this time as he faced her. “Sloane, you don’t have to make anything up to me. The truth of the matter is that I messed up too. Every time you walked away, I screwed up as I tried to go after you.” He paused. “And let’s be honest, I could have done more to convince you to hang out and give me a minute to come out of the booth. I’m not normally so clueless or such a klutz, but where you were concerned, I couldn’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

She laughed softly. “I think the tidal wave of candy hearts was my favorite.”

Beside her, Will laughed. “I think it was rather prophetic, myself. I don’t think the good people of Sweetbriar Ridge saw it that way, though. I got a lot of shit from people for knocking over that display. People paid good money to have those personalized candies made.” He chuckled again. “That was the only mishap that cost me money.”

“No!” she said, unable to hide her mirth.

Will nodded. “I felt bad and paid to replace them—obviously not in time for Valentine’s Day, but a week later, everyone had their candy.”

“You’re a good man,” Sloane said seriously. “I’m sorry I made you do that.”

“Two left feet made me do that,” he corrected and slid her a sexy grin. “That only seems to happen when you’re around. Why do you think that is?”

Sloane’s heart beat madly in her chest and it was pointless to be coy. This may be the first time they’d actually spoken to each other, but she felt that on so many other levels, they knew each other—like, genuinely knew each other. “I think because I make you just as nervous as you make me. And I don’t know how it’s possible.”

“I make you nervous too, huh?”

She nodded.

“Then I think we’re going to have to rectify that.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “I think so too.”

“Then how about we start by getting on this ski lift and continuing our conversation?” he suggested. “It’s kind of a long, slow ride that you literally can’t get off of. Are you sure you’re ready for that? There’s no way you can run away.”

It would be silly to take offense, so she simply shook her head. “I’m good if you are?”

There were a few people ahead of them, and she was watching how they got on the seats and hoped she could do it without being clumsy or making a fool out of herself.

“Do heights bother you? This goes pretty high and sometimes it stops for a minute and you’re just sort of…you know…dangling.”

Now there was a slightly terrifying visual. “I’ll be fine. I enjoy thrill rides—roller coasters, free-falling, that sort of thing. Besides, this looks like it goes fairly slow.”

“Do you ski?”

That made her laugh. “I’ve lived in Florida my entire life. I think I’ve only seen snow once, so…”

“So that’s a no,” he said as they stepped up for their turn. “Come on. This is going to be fun.”

And the thing was, she knew it would be. Hailey had told her about riding on it with Max right after she found out she was pregnant, so Sloane was fully prepared for the whole slow climb and dangling thing.

Although…once they started the steep climb, she remembered all too well everything her sister had warned her about—how the seat swung and creaked as if it wasn’t quite as sturdy as it should be. It took a minute for her to breathe normally and focus on the man beside her and not on how narrow the seat was or how she would need to sit almost perfectly still for the entire ride.

However long that happened to be.

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