Definitely Christy.
She was always flirting with Tyler.
Brenna wasn’t good at flirting. And anyway, how did you flirt with someone you’d known all your life? Tyler had seen her soaked to the skin and exhausted after a day in the mountains. He’d dragged her out of ditches and picked her up when she’d wiped out on her skis. He knew everything about her. They had no secrets. She could imagine his reaction if she’d fluttered her eyelashes or made a sexual comment. He’d either laugh or run for the hills.
The reason they were able to be friends was because he didn’t think of her like that.
Women came and went from his life, but their friendship was constant.
And Brenna realized the reason the past year had been so blissful, the reason she’d been able to enjoy his company and his friendship, was because he’d been focusing on Jess. For once in his life he’d mastered his short attention span and put aside his urge to sample the charms of every female who crossed his path. The only woman who’d had his attention was his daughter. He’d put his own needs on hold.
Knowing what he was like, how physical and sexual he was, Brenna had often wondered if he was seeing someone discreetly, but she’d never asked. Instead she’d made the most of her time with him and occasionally, when they’d been out on the mountain guiding or teaching, it had almost felt like being kids again.
Their friendship was stronger than ever.
Was that about to change?
If Jess was actively encouraging him to date then no doubt it would.
And Brenna knew it would take Tyler O’Neil less than thirty seconds in the company of a woman to resurrect his sex life.
How was she going to feel about that?
CHAPTER THREE
TRYING TO DELETE the image of Brenna with her snow-soaked sweater plastered to her breasts from his memory, Tyler strolled up the snowy path to the main house.
In no hurry to face the overwhelming reality of family night, he paused and breathed in the freezing air, watching the forest transform before his eyes. Snow layered on snow until all traces of green vanished and the trees were draped in a mantle of white. As a child it had been his favorite sight. He’d kneel in his bedroom window and watch the first of the flakes fall, hoping it would continue until the snow was up to his waist. The first winter snowfall had been the cause of great excitement in the O’Neil household.
The mountains had been his playground; the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing his drug of choice.
Now he greeted snow with mixed feelings.
It was good for business, and he knew how badly Snow Crystal needed that.
He was enjoying the silence when his phone rang.
Irritated by the disturbance, he dragged it out of his pocket intending to switch the ringer off and then saw the name.
Burying his emotions deep, he lifted the phone to his ear. “Chas? How’s it going?”
He didn’t ask where his friend was. He didn’t have to. Chas was one of the finest ski techs in the racing world. The fact that Tyler was no longer racing meant that Chas was available for another member of the U.S. Ski Team, which meant right now he had to be in Val Gardena, Italy, on the World Cup circuit.
If it hadn’t been for the accident, Tyler would have bee
n there, too.
They would have been discussing strategy, the course, the snow conditions, in an effort to come up with the perfect plan. Chas’s job had been to use his skill and experience to make Tyler the fastest skier down the mountain. Over the years they’d shared beers, hotel rooms, victory and defeat. Chas had been more than just another member of the machine behind the ski team. He’d been Tyler’s wingman and close friend.
Along with his brother Sean, Chas had been the first person he’d seen after his accident.
Tyler tightened his hand on the phone and stared blindly at the trees and mountains.
“How was today?”
“Didn’t you watch?”
“Things are busy around here.” He didn’t say that he hadn’t watched skiing since his accident. Instead he listened while Chas outlined the U.S. triumph in the giant slalom.