Page 33 of Worth the Rush
My eyes go wide. “What?” I ask, not sure if I heard him correctly.
“You need to slide up onto your knees so you can stand,” he tells me.Oh.“What did you think I meant, princess? Was there something else on your mind?” I want to smash his perfect dimpled smile into the snow.
“If I was, it’s because you put the thought there on purpose,” I blurt.
“Ah, so it’s my fault. I’m the reason you can’t help but objectify me? Victim blaming is not nice, Ivy,” he taunts.
“I’m not nice,” I state, and he cocks his head to the side.
“I would have to disagree with you, but I don’t have time to argue today. We have a lot to get through before the mountain is covered with people, so up you go,” he says while grabbing my shoulders and lifting me like I’m nothing. I’m not all about being dainty and petite, but damn, there’s something about being made to feel delicate that gets me going. There’s a lot about Alder that gets me going. This is going to be a long morning.
After a few more hours of going over the basics, I successfullymade it down a bunny hill by myself—with Alder. He didn’t have to help me up once though. Unlike the three times before. It hasn’t been an overabundance of touching, just enough to keep my blood at a simmer and my cheeks perpetually flushed.
“Okay, I think I have one more run in me,” I say.
“Hell yeah, you do,” Alder encourages me. “I think she’s getting a real taste for this,” he comments, and I turn my head so he can’t see the smile I’m fighting. “I don’t mean to brag, but damn, I am such a good teacher,” he boasts, shaking his head like not even he can believe how good he is.
“Oh my god, you are insufferable,” I moan, making my way back up the hill. Actually, Alder is the most not-insufferable man I think I’ve ever met, but his ego doesn’t need that boost—and I don’t mean that in ait’s already so bigway. He doesn’t need his ego stroked because he’s extremely self-assured. It’s annoyingly sexy.
“Keep telling yourself that, Stormcloud,” he tuts, sliding by me, so I’m now following him up. Once I reach the top, I find him waiting for me.
“I’ll follow you. Lead the way,” he instructs. I nod, determined.
“Sure,” I agree and start down the hill. I’m really doing it. A smile breaks over my face, and I feel like I'm flying. I’m picking up more speed than I have before, but along with the speed, my confidence is growing as well. Until I get my body too far forward and the nose digs into the snow a bit too much, sending me forward until I narrowly miss face-planting, but throwing myself backward was a severe overcorrection. I hit the ground with a small thud and slide on my back a few feet. Alder’s at my side in seconds.
“Ivy?Shit.Are you okay?” His concern is evident. At this, I smile and then replay the fall in my head. A surprised laugh escapes me at the image I’ve conjured. A loud laugh. Completely uninhibited. I’m laughing in earnest when I feel his body flop on the ground next to mine. I have tears running down my face, and my goggles are starting to fog up, so I slide them up onto my head.
“You were really moving there for a minute,” Alder says from beside me. I turn my head to look at him and find his eyes fixed on me. “Are you sure you aren’t hurt?” he asks.
“My pride took the biggest hit there. My body may be sore, but I’ll make it, hotshot,” I say, unable to keep the smile from my face. This is fun. Maybe the most real fun I’ve had in years. He laughs with me. Not at me. It sends warm fuzzies from the top of my head to my toes. “You’re supposed to tell me it wasn’t that bad,” I chide.
“I’m not a liar, Ivy.” He smiles, and then it falters for only a moment before he speaks again. “This is going to be a really great story for the grandchildren one day.” He sighs like he’s imagining it.
“Grandchildren?” I almost yell. “Who said anything about kids? You’re myfakeboyfriend, Alder. You’d at least have to be my fake fiancé before I was ready for that,” I tease.
“Who said I was talking about our grandchildren, Ms. Rutherford?” He tsks at me, and I roll my eyes. “You’ve given yourself away again. You are so into me.” He flashes me a self-satisfied grin.
“Keep dreaming, Search and Rescue,” I mutter.
“You couldn’t stop me if you tried,” he says with a wink.
I turn my head from him again and think about that for a minute. I wouldn’t stop him.
It’s Saturday and just over a week until Christmas. I’m walking downtown Silverthorne, and it feels like I’ve been transported into a Hallmark movie. One of the many that starts with a failing bed and breakfast owned by the sweetest woman in town’s family and ends with the big shot CEO from New York swooping in to save it and her from a life without love. I may have seen that one actually. The twinkle lights over the street and the Christmas trees on every corner have a smile curling my lips without permission.
It smells like citrus and spices. A memory pulls at the corner of my brain, but I bat it away. It’s better I don’t let it linger. I look to the center of the town square and see the big tree. It has to be at least twenty-five-foot tall. It’s adorned simply but beautifully. Mix-matched red and gold ornaments are paired with velvet bows. I’m assuming it’s not lit yet because this is a tree-lighting ceremony. I’ve never been to a community event. Holiday parties and galas, yes. But there’s no trace of personal touches at those kinds of things.
It’s stuffy suits and gorgeous gowns. Too much champagne and entitled men. Unhappy wives and husbands who don’t care. I’ve been that unhappy wife, drinking too much champagne in a gorgeous gown. They’re not memories I like to relive. Noah had to be at one every weekend in December. Which meant, for five years, so did I. That’s roughly twenty-five evenings that I cried myself to sleep, hoping that in the morning, I would figure out a way to leave. I shiver, and it has nothing to do with the chilly early December night.
“Are you cold, princess?”Alder.His teasing gets under my skin. After our snowboarding lesson, I’ve warmed a little more toward him. If I’m being honest, I feel a little too warm when I’m around him. I turn to glare at him, but I come up short when I see a little girl in his arms. She’s laying her head against his shoulder, and her tiny fists are wrapped around a tiny to-go coffee cup. It’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. She is adorable. Wait. He has a kid? No, he definitely would have mentioned that. I smile at the little girl.
“No. I’m fine,” I tell Alder then speak to the child in his arms. “Hi,” I say as gently as I can. For some unknown reason I want her to like me. She smiles, and I see a familiar dimple. So she is his.
“Hi,” she greets me with a little wave, almost dropping her tiny cup. Alder rights it easily. I melt.
“Ivy, this is Hazel. Hazey, this is Ivy. She works with me,” he introduces us.
“It’s nice to meet you, Hazel. What a lovely name,” I tell her, and the small grin grows. Alder snuggles her closer and kisses her head, making eye contact before speaking to her.
