Page 68 of Snowbound in Her Boss's Bed

Before she knew it, she was evading his capture on the ice, skating and laughing like they were a couple of kids.

“If I catch you, it means I get a kiss,” he said as she narrowly escaped him yet again, laughing and breathing hard as she did.

Gliding safely out of his reach, she was cocky. “Tell you what. You catch me, you can have it all. I’m that sure you don’t have a chance.”

Triumph lit his eyes, and she only had an instant to contemplate if she had made a mistake before she was forced to dart away from his grasp as his own skating seemed suddenly in overdrive.

He had not been so fast even moments before, but breathless and laughing as she did her best to elude him, she liked that he had been holding back until he had something worth going full tilt for.

Mere heartbeats later, he caught her, twirling her into the circle of his arms before spinning the both of them around in the center of the rink.

Their eyes remained locked as they spun, saved from dizziness by being each other’s anchor—the steady spot to return to.

Their breathing synced even as the momentum of their turn slowed, finally coming to a stop while they stared into each other’s eyes.

He held her hand, had taken it sometime in their spinning, and her breasts were pressed against his chest.

Below them, the ground radiated a chill, but she was far from being cold.

But neither did that mean she was ready to strip and lie down on the ice. “You have to take me somewhere warmer to collect your prize,” she said, breathless.

“No, I don’t,” he countered, angling her head to kiss her once more. This time, however, his kiss held notes that had not been there before. Sweet and tender, they gentled his passion. He kissed her this time as if she were a special treasure, something delicate and precious, like ice-skating alone in the world.

She sighed into him, her arms wrapped around his neck, fire and ice all around them. Her unexpected business trip to Aspen had become a beautiful daydream, even if it was one she would inevitably have to wake up from.

“Thank you for taking me skating for the first time, Benjamin.” Her voice was soft and vulnerable because she couldn’t help it.

In just under three days, he had become responsible for so many new firsts: her first private flight, her first trip to Aspen, her first meeting with Benjamin Silver, her first blizzard and her first time making love.

And he had made them all luxurious and memorable, fully prepared and equipped to ensure that all her needs were met, even those she had no idea to anticipate.

He was more than equipped to feed and clothe and care for her, with everything at his fingertips in his palatial forest estate—from spare clothing to protection.

Enclosed in the circle of his arms, she was tempted to tell him, but she knew the words would only tangle on their way out. Some things resisted words.

But she was grateful, and she really didn’t want it to end.

With their agreements, spoken and not, creating a bubble around them, any reservations that Benjamin had been able to hold on to had quickly dissipated, leaving him with only a sense of urgency to experience Miri in every way he could in the limited time they had.

He had only as long as the storm to build the kind of catalog of images of her that was supposed to last him a lifetime.

He had never resented the foundation before this.

The foundation was the reason he had found Miri—and it was also the reason he could not have her.

With each passing moment in her company, it seemed he wanted her more.

The way she looked up at him, flushed and glowing from skating, however, was an image worth preserving.

As was her laughter as they removed their skates, sitting together on a long cushioned bench.

“You were a competitive figure skater?” she asked incredulously.

He liked her incredulous. He liked her in each iteration he had encountered her, in fact.

“Only until I turned thirteen,” he said, smiling in the face of her shock. “My mom grew up in the Midwest, skating all winter, and she wanted that for me, but the culture was different in LA, so instead of hockey, I did death-defying spins.”

Miri snorted. “Death-defying?”

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