"Adjust your weight so that you’re standing evenly on both skis." When she wobbled a little on her skis and stiffened, he said, "Don’t worry, I’ve got you and I’m not going to let you fall." Again, he let his promise settle into her before continuing. "I want you to get comfortable, to feel like you’re standing as normally as possible, even though you’re in boots and skis. That’s why I asked you to close your eyes, so that you’re not depending on anything but what you’re feeling."
As she adjusted her weight from one foot to the other with her eyes closed, he took the opportunity to stare at her. She had long, dark eyelashes and her features were beautifully defined, her cheekbones high, her mouth lush and kissable. Her eyes had been as blue as the lake and her long, dark hair fell in waves down her shoulders, falling to cover the swell of her br**sts. If she was this beautiful in a ski jacket and pants, he couldn’t imagine how gorgeous she’d be with nothing on at all, her hair like silk over creamy skin, her big blue eyes blurry with desire as she looked up at him from his bed.
When she stopped gripping his hands so tightly, he asked, "Are you feeling steadier now?"
He could see the surprise on her face as she nodded and said, "Actually, I am."
"Good." After he talked her through what he called the lift-and-tilt technique and she picked it up just fine, he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "You’re ready."
She shivered at his warm breath on her earlobe, before taking a deep breath and pushing back her shoulders. When she opened her eyes again, he thought he could already see that desire he’d been fantasizing about in them.
"Okay, hand me those poles," she said with a sudden grin, "and let’s do this thing."
One sassy little smile was all it took to stop Noah completely in his tracks. My God, he’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
She simply lit up the entire mountain.
When he didn’t hand her the poles, she looked down at them and then back at him in confusion. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything’s great," he finally said. And it was.
Because he was with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Their progress down the mountain wasn’t fast, but it was steady. Noah skied backward so that he could watch her, and she shook her head at him. "Show-off."
When he grinned and replied, "I’m a man of many skills," she got so flustered that she toppled over again. Of course, he didn’t mind one bit having to pull her into his arms so that he could help her up out of the snow. She was much faster to get going again this time, and he realized that the only problem with teaching her to ski better was that he would spend more time next to her on his skis, and less time holding her in his arms in the snow.
But it was all worth it to see how triumphant she looked when they got to the bottom.
"I did it!"
He would have kissed her then if he didn’t think it would undo all the progress he’d just made in getting her to trust him. "Nice work. Ready to do it again?"
She slid her gaze over to the chair lift and paused for a long moment before saying, "Okay."
It wasn’t the most enthusiastic answer in the world, but he’d take what he could get at this point. As they waited in line, she said, "I’ve never seen anyone ski backward before. When did you learn to ski?"
"I was probably the same age as that little girl you were trying to save earlier. My family used to rent the same cottage every winter." They slid onto the lift as it came around for them and he looked around at the mountains, the trees, the sparkling blue lake. "I’ve always loved it out here. What about you?"
"As you can probably guess, my family wasn’t much for skiing. I’m much better at snowball fights," she said with another one of those cute grins that rocked his world. "Once a year, my friends and I meet up for a vacation together, and this year the slopes won out over sand and sun." She shrugged. "I’ve been skiing a few other times as an adult, but I sort of have a thing about heights, too, so these lifts aren’t exactly fun for me."
He looked down at the ground a hundred feet below them, then back up at her. "But you’re doing great up here."
"I guess," she said slowly, as if she was as surprised as him, "I forgot to be afraid."
He didn’t think this time, just reached for her hand. "I’m glad."
* * *
By the time Colbie fell for what had to be the twentieth time, she didn’t even have the strength to laugh at herself anymore. Noah plopped down into the snow and lay back beside her. When he turned to smile at her, her stomach did flip-flops.
"Let’s make snow angels."
She’d seen people do it in movies, but had never done it herself. Noah went first, moving his arms and legs up and down, back and forth, until she couldn’t resist doing the same. A private plane flew overhead and when the pilot saw what they were doing, he tipped his wings at them.
Noah stood up, then pulled her to her feet so that they could admire their snow angels. "They’re beautiful," she whispered.
It had been an unexpectedly perfect day. Better than any she’d had in a very long time. And she had Noah to thank for it.