Page 22 of Always Be Mine

Just like that, the fear vanished as she sucked in a breath. “Wow.”

“Right?”

Lucy nodded. “It’s…”

“Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?”

It really was. It was a perfect day, with a bright-blue sky stretching out in front of her. They were on the top of the mountain with a view of the town below and another mountain range just beyond. Lucy had never seen anything quite like it.

“See? Skiing isn’t all that bad, is it? And honestly, you’re lucky to have such great snow this late in April.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that I was lucky to have snow in April.” Lucy looked at her instructor, whose broad grin was impossible to resist. She found herself smiling and agreeing with him. “But you’re right,” she said somewhat truthfully. “It is beautiful.”

“Let’s get down this, and I’ll buy you a drink to celebrate.” Kane winked at her.

Despite the chill in the air, Lucy felt a rush of warmth, but she didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that he may or may not have been flirting with her. Because a moment later, Kane was prompting her topush offandpizza pie.

She did as she was told and much to her surprise, started sliding down the hill, just the way she had earlier on the beginner slope.

Lucy made a few easy turns before Kane declared her advanced enough to tryFrench fries.

Dutifully, she followed the tracks he made ahead of her and did her best to turn where he did. She only fell twice, and neither wipeout was as dramatic as she feared.

“I told you you could do it.” Kane held up a gloved hand for a high five when they reached the bottom.

Lucy looked behind her at the hill she’d just skied down and back to Kane, who’d taken his helmet off. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

“And you did it really well.” His smile was warm.

Was it a little warmer than before?

“Now, how about that drink?”

Hewasflirting with her.

And really, was that so bad? What did they say about the best way to get over someone?

But getting over Ross was more complicated than that, because it wasn’t just the end of the relationship that Lucy had to come to grips with. It was who she’d become. Who he’d turned her into that she was struggling with.

The smile fell from her face, and she shook her head a little. “I’d love to, Kane.”

“But?” He tipped his head and raised his eyebrows.

He really was good-looking…

“But…I just got to town, and I start a new job on Monday.” It might be an excuse, but it was the truth. “And I really need to get everything ready for my first day. Maybe another time?”

“I’m going to take you up on that.”

His bright smile was back, and Lucy couldn’t help but smile, too. Kane seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and she definitely needed a little more of that in her life.

They said their goodbyes, making promises to see each other again.

It wasn’t until after Lucy was back in her apartment, Garfield purring on her lap, that she pulled out her phone and pulled up her social media account. Normally, she would post a photo of herself on the ski hill with a hashtag like: #learningnewthings #skibunny #mountainlife

But she couldn’t bring herself to type the words. Instead, she navigated almost by habit tohisprofile and that photo that had confirmed she’d made the right choice by leaving town—and him—behind.

Lucy met Ross when she’d accepted the job as manager of his restaurant in downtown Vancouver. Her first impression of him was that he was handsome, smart, and successful. And her boss. Which meant he was off-limits. There’d been no flirting or anything inappropriate for months but as they worked closely together, the glances and lingering touches seemed to increase in frequency, until finally one night as Lucy was finishing up her closing duties in the back office, Ross leaned over the table where she was adding up the receipts from the evening and kissed her.

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