Cooped Up for Christmas - Sabrina York Page 0,13

be trouble too, I could feel it in my bones. The third member of Farley’s posse was a young man with very artistic eye makeup and a dramatic personality, named Jaxon. Then, there was Farley’s (gluten-free) little sister, Tania. And finally, Eliza.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Eliza, Farley’s cousin, who appeared to be cast as Cinderella in this fairy-tale fantasy, judging from her ordinary appearance and the undeniable fact that she was carrying Farley’s purse and soda. And her Chihuahua. Not to mention, she had that ubiquitous smudge on her cheek. Cinderellas always have smudges on their cheeks, don’t they? I think it’s required.

When I counted them up, there were nine young adults in the party. Was it only nine? It seemed like more. Point being, there were a lot of teens. A lot.

None of them wanted to hear what I had to say, so I turned back to Whit. “Please let me introduce our leadership team. This is our chef, Noel Matisse.” I waited as they all oohed and awed over the fact that he was French—and while he enjoyed the adulation. “This is Ken Nora, your activities director. He’s handling the shopping, outings, and the Fairy Ball. And this is Cameron Cooper.” I leaned in and whispered, “He likes when you call him Rocky. He’s a former Navy SEAL and our high adventure contractor.” I shot Coop a smile. “Still, as always, chasing the rush.”

I guess he missed the dig completely, considering he winked at me as he stepped forward to shake hands.

“You’re not the Cameron Cooper? The stuntman? From the movies?” Gosh, Tommy Astro really knew his movie stuntmen. Also, Coop was a stuntman?

“The very one.”

“Oh my God. This is great! We have a real stuntman teaching us to mountain surf.”

“Right.” Coop nodded. “We have three adventures planned. Tomorrow, we’re taking the helicopters to the mountains to do some snow surfing. Then, on the 24th, we’ll have some black diamond skiing. We also have snowmobiles coming in. There are some great runs around here.”

“That sounds awesome.” And yeah. Tommy had yet to release Coop’s hand.

“We hope you enjoy it,” he said, wiggling his fingers a little.

“And anything you want or need,” I added, before I tore Coop away from his new-found-fan, “do not hesitate to ask. The staff will bring up your luggage straight away.”

With a nod to my minions, they all flowed back to their stations. Those who were heading to the staff lodge melted into the scenery and slipped out the back door. It was a ballet of subtle perfection.

I was, in that moment, so proud.

Jed, however, seemed to have forgotten what to do and kind of just stood there.

I thought about it for a minute and realized having someone just standing there—ostensibly awaiting a command—wasn’t such a bad idea. It’s a wonder I’d never thought of it before. So, when Coop and I made our way into the scenery as well, I just left him there.

Eventually, he’d realize he was responsible for the luggage.

“Thanks for saving me,” Coop said, as we walked through the dark guest kitchen. Noel had shut down hours ago.

“Your fault,” I snorted, “for being an almost movie star.”

“Almost?”

I grinned at his outrage. “Don’t hate me, hate the system.”

The wind stole my breath when I opened the outer door. But I loved the way it whipped through my hair. Like a child, I closed my eyes and twirled, catching snowflakes with my tongue. If course, I fell butt first into a drift, but I didn’t care. I laughed.

Coop smiled as he reached down to help me up, but I could tell, there was a chuckle pent up in there too. He heaved me up with a tremendous groan, which I did not appreciate.

As soon as I was on my feet, I whirled to face him. “Don’t.”

“What?” he asked.

I cleared my throat of bile. “Please don’t make fun of me.”

He winced. His shoulders dropped. His expression shrank. “Make fun of you, Vic? I wouldn’t. It would break my heart if you thought that.”

“You made a very loud noise when you helped me up.” I made sure to enunciate those three words.

“I was just joking.” He moved to hug me, then stopped. He paled. Scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I— That is not what I meant.”

Damn. I hated seeing moisture clinging to his lashes. But I had to speak my truth. I’d come too far on my personal journey to stop now. Neither of us would