Page 14 of Release Me

Once again, Zoey’s hands find my hips, steadying me even though I don’t need it. It’s been a while since I’ve been on skis, and even though this is different from water skiing, I’m not totally embarrassing myself.

“Wow,” she breathes out, her breath a white puff of air in the cold night. This whole slope is still lit with floodlights, which are timed to go off around ten when most people should be off the mountain. “Maybe we should get him to do the opening of the Ski Academy when it’s ready?”

I smile. “Yeah, we could,” I say. “I’m sure he’d love that.”

Zoey smiles back at me before saying, “Okay, you wanna try something a little harder?”

Fuck.

Just that simple question has all those dirty thoughts once again popping into my head, knowing I’d definitely like to try something hard with her. God, I am so fucked here.

“Yep, let’s do it.”

Zoey chuckles, guiding me over to a slightly bigger and steeper slope. This time she follows me to the top, stopping beside me. “I’ll go down with you this time,” she says, pointing her pole at the bottom. “Remember the pizza at the bottom.”

“Got it,” I say with a nod.

She gives me a quick smile before signaling for me to go. I push off and coast down the slope, Zoey quickly falling in beside me. I know it’s only a beginner’s slope and I know I am nowhere near the league that Zoey’s in, but I can’t deny the rush I get as we glide down the hill.

The fact we are out here alone, surrounded by nothing but mountains and trees and darkness, only adds to the adrenaline now coursing through my veins.

When we reach the bottom, I manage to stop perfectly, Zoey gliding in effortlessly beside me, her hand once again moving to my hip to steady me. “That was fantastic!” she says, her smile wide, her eyes shining as she looks up at me.

“Well, I’ve got a pretty amazing teacher,” I say, smiling back at her.

She blinks, licking her lips as she stares up at me, the quietness of the night surrounding us. My gaze drops to her mouth, an intense urge to kiss her washing over me.

No one would know; no one would even see it if I did kiss her.

But would she want me to do it?

Swallowing hard, I instead tip my head toward the lodge and say, “I’m starving. You wanna grab some dinner? I’ve got an in with the chef here and can get something for us?”

Chapter6

Zoey

I’m really trying hard not to read into things, but this will now be another time we’ve spent time alone together outside of work. First coffee and then ski lessons and now he’s invited me to dinner. I keep reminding myself that he’s relatively new in town, and how does the wealthy owner of a ski resort make friends in this town?

He doesn’t because there’s no way to know if someone is in it for the money. It’s something Max and I have struggled with all our life. My memory goes back as early as age six when a girl from school begged me to invite her to my birthday party even though we’d never even been friends. She had some preconceived idea that I lived in a mansion and my birthday party would be some epic event.

Turns out my parents didn’t really spoil us like you would assume. My party was your run of the mill store bought cake and a game of pin the tail on the donkey. The girl was not impressed.

And this was exactly how the rest of mine and Max’s life has been. We’ve gotten good at weeding out the losers.

Maybe Ethan’s the same way. He knows I’m not looking to take advantage of him, and we do have the whole running a business thing in common.

“Dinner, huh?” I ask, smiling, my heartbeat kicking up a little at the idea of being alone with Ethan again. “You making this a regular thing?”

I have no idea why I say it. The words spill from my mouth before my brain can stop them. It’s presumptuous and a little flirty. I really need to stop doing this.

“I’d like to make it a regular thing,” Ethan says, his words barely audible in the open air of the mountain, but then he shakes his head, closing his eyes. I have no idea how to respond, so instead of acknowledging the obvious tension between us, I scan my lift card, starting it back up.

I ski over to the lift, waiting for the chair to come through and Ethan eventually skis over to stand next to me. I catch him out of the corner of my eye, swallowing hard, he lets out a long breath of air. The white cloud circles us, floating around and hanging in the air before he says, “I’m sorry, Zoey, that wasn’t appropriate.”

“Nah, it’s all good,” I reply as the chair comes up behind us, both of us sitting down. “I’d love to have dinner with you.”

It’s not a lie. Nothing about it is. Something inside me ignited when he said he’d like to make this a regular thing and it’s still burning hot, waiting for this to be something more.

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