Page 50 of The Runaway Bride of Blitzen Bay (Blitzen Bay)

Chapter Twenty-Three

NASH

December 23

Blitzen Bay, California

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with me for this one?”

We’ve been sledding for about an hour—down all the hills around my house except the monster hill that goes right into the lake.

“These are one-person sleds.” Her voice shakes a little bit. “I wouldn’t fit on there with you.”

“Well, we don’t have to do this hill if you don’t want to.”

“I want to,” she says. “I think I can do it. Just turn left after that little tree, right?”

“Yeah, or you’re going to go into the lake.” She’s scrunching her face up, trying to concentrate. “Elle, let’s just skip this one—”

“Nope!” She suddenly puts her feet on her sled and pushes off. “I’ve got this!”

She goes flying down the hill. I take off after her. I can tell by the way she’s leaning severely backward that she’s lost control of the sled. I lean into my sled to try to catch up to her. I get closer but not close enough to pull her off. She soars past the little tree. I don’t think she has the strength to turn the sled. She’s about thirty feet from the lake.

As I’m about to dive for her, she lets go of the front of the sled and flies backward. I jerk my sled to the side just in time to see her hit the snow hard and start rolling down the hill. I jump up and run after her. She finally comes to a stop—face down in the snow.

“Elle!” I slide into the snow next to her and roll her over.

“Oh my God!” she says through her snow-packed face. “I totally panicked!”

“Yeah,” I say, wiping the snow off her cheeks. “No kidding. Are you okay?”

“I think so, but I have snow everywhere. I mean everywhere.”

I pull her up slowly. “You could have hurt yourself.”

I start brushing snow out of her hair. She’s laughing, so she must be okay.

“That was so much fun.” She shakes her body and snow falls from underneath her coat.

“You’re soaked. C’mon, let’s go to my house and dry you off.”

She picks up her drenched mittens out of the snow. “You know I heard somewhere that dry, cold skin is better than wet, cold skin.”

“You must have heard that from an Army Ranger or something. I think that’s the first thing they learn in their training.”

I pick up both of our sleds and push her up the hill in front of me. As she walks, snow keeps falling out of her coat. By the time, we reach my back porch, she’s shaking pretty hard. I guide her inside my house and help her take off her coat. More snow falls out. She shivers again.

“Damn, you really did an excellent job of getting wet.” I drape my coat around her as I take off her boots. “Let’s get you some dry clothes.”

When we walk into my bedroom, I kick the dirty clothes on my floor to the corner. “Sorry, my house is kind of a mess right now. All the clothes in the closet are clean though. Help yourself to anything. The dryer’s over there if you want to put your stuff in.”

I leave quickly without looking back at her. After a few minutes, she walks out wearing one of my flannel shirts. It comes about midway down her thighs. She has a pair of my wool socks pulled up to her knees. Her face is still a little bit flush from the cold—a gentle pink glow against her ivory skin. She’s taken her hair out of the braid. It’s flowing wildly over her shoulders and down her back. She’s the sexiest woman I have ever seen. I know I’m staring, but I can’t look away.

“Do you not want me to wear this shirt?” She pulls at it a little bit exposing more of her thighs. I shake my head to try to break my stare.

“No, no. It’s fine. Help yourself to anything.” I look away from her and busy myself making a pot of coffee. “Hey, are you hungry? I can run into Izzy’s and get us lunch.”

“I’m not hungry now but I could eat a salad or something later. I’m just really tired. Do you mind if I take a nap while I’m waiting for my clothes to dry?”

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