babe,” Archie said with a shake of his head. “You might not think you were flirting, but you were flirting.”
“And Josh was definitely fucking flirting.” Coop was almost scathing. What the hell?
“That, and he was looking at your ass,” Jake continued, glaring after Josh, even if the instructor was gone.
“Wow, so I shouldn’t be nice or polite?”
They all looked at me like I’d missed the point, and I threw my hands up.
“You know what? Let’s ski.” Because that had to be easier. I was having fun, and I refused to have a fight.
They grumbled, but some of the pissiness seemed to evaporate by the time we reached the ski lift. A new thrill bubbled up through me.
“Dibs,” Archie said cutting ahead to join me. “Okay, the easiest way to get on the chair is to get ahead of it and then just relax and sit down. We’ll be in position before it gets here, but I’ve got you.”
The nerves were back. I hated heights. But I would gladly stab myself in the foot before I admitted it. Especially right now. Archie took my elbow as we got in position, and then we were seated and he pulled the safety bar down and we were off. Whoops from behind us had me twisting to see Jake and Coop taking the next one. Then Ian was on his own.
I needed to ride up with Ian next.
“Having fun?” Archie asked. He had both of his ski poles in one hand and slid his arm around me. There were way too many layers to really enjoy the contact, but I liked it anyway.
“Yes,” I told him and grinned. I’d put the goggles up on my head, and I kind of wished I had sunglasses. At least the goggles had tint so it helped to shade my eyes. “This is awesome, and if I haven’t said thank you for kidnapping me for Christmas, thank you.”
His eyes warmed. “My pleasure.”
“It’s certainly been mine,” I teased, and he threw his head back as he laughed.
The views from up here were breathtaking. My stomach dropped when I found myself looking down at these huge pine trees, but Archie gave me a squeeze.
“It’s totally safe,” he said.
“Yes, I know. Only about thirteen people have died from ski lift malfunctions since the early seventies.”
Archie loved me. He didn’t say a word about the fact that I’d researched that. He just hummed an agreement.
“And it’s beautiful up here,” I admitted. I kind of wanted to dig my phone out and take some pictures. I also didn’t want to rock the ski lift chair and end up falling out. Was falling out really a threat? Probably not. Still, better safe than sorry.
“It really is,” Archie said, and I caught him staring at me.
Laughing, I elbowed him gently. “I’m all bundled up like a bank robber in bubble wrap. Don’t make those eyes at me.”
“Maybe,” he murmured, and rubbed his nose against my temple just below the knit cap. His skin probably should have been cold, but it was warm to me. “But you’re still beautiful, and there’s this lovely idea of unwrapping you like a present.”
A shiver of want went through me, and I sighed. “That’s dramatically unfair.”
“So is the boner I’ve had since you shimmied your ass into those pants this morning,” he said with a grin. “But I’m managing.”
“Is that why you were growling at Josh and didn’t want him giving me a lesson?” I arched my brows.
He scowled, but the expression didn’t touch his eyes as he shook his head at me. “He was flirting with you, babe.”
“The girl at the ski shop was flirting with you,” I pointed out. “I didn’t get all growly and snarl.”
Archie chuckled. “You feel free to stake your claim on me whenever you want. They can flirt, but I won’t be touching any of them.”
I leaned toward him. “Exactly. Besides, apparently, I’m very dense when it comes to flirting.”
His whole body shook with laughter, and it colored his words as we were almost near the top. “See how they are leaning forward? Just as you get to the end, you’re going to push off from the chair and ski away from it, using the momentum because the lift doesn’t stop. Then we’ll swing out to the side and slow and wait for the guys. Got it?”
It was almost our turn. I should be way more nervous, but I just laughed. “Got it.”
I could feel his stare for the longest moment, and then we