“This will be a first.” She flashed him a smile and pointed out an available spot for the inner tube.
He laid it in the snow. “Didn’t you take the obligatory rich-kid trip to the Alps as a teenager? There must be some sledding hills somewhere in all those mountains.”
His own teen years had been marked by his mother’s death and the emptiness it left behind. He and his brothers had worked their asses off to make something of the property that had been their legacy, the historic plantation house and land in Martinique. They’d kept a portion for living space and they’d turned the rest into an exclusive corporate retreat and private party facility. The income had helped fund his start-up.
“Any cold-weather trips we took were devoted to ski lessons.” Caroline seemed to track the progress of a young woman on a tube similar to theirs, watching as she sped down the hill and no doubt cataloging the technique. “My father considers skiing, tennis and golf the most ‘business-friendly’ sports that any upwardly mobile executive should know.”
“Right. Remind me to brush up before I meet you on the links.” It should come as no surprise that Caroline had been groomed to take over the man’s business interests from an early age, but it bugged Damon to think that Stephan Degraff couldn’t be bothered to let her have any fun as a kid.
Time to remedy that.
“Have any pointers?” She dropped down onto the tube and took a seat in the middle.
“Sure I do.” He sat down behind her and straddled her. “Be prepared to get close,” he said into her ear through the knit hat.
The feel of her curves nestled against his lap reminded him how very much he wanted to visit her bed again. And the ski pants she wore were sexy as hell. He resisted the urge to hug her hips with his thighs—if only for a moment.
“Um. Duly noted.” She reached over his knees to grip the handles on either side of the tube. “How do we get going?”
Damon already had his hands planted on the snow behind them. “When we get better at it, I’ll get a running start and hop on. But for now, we’ll just focus on getting down the hill.”
“No land speed record this trip.” She nodded. “Got it.”
“Ready?” Planting his gloved fingers deeper in the snow, he did something similar to crunches with the tube, letting the sled slide up and down on the slight incline as a warm-up. He flexed his arms and damned if he didn’t find himself hugging her hips with his thighs.
It did help him move the sled. The fact that he enjoyed it mightily was a bonus.
“Ready!” She leaned forward, her skiing skills clearly paying off as she pointed them in the right direction on the slope while Damon pushed off with one last shove.
Their combined weight helped them to gain momentum. The inner tube was the perfect choice for the soft conditions. Snow sprayed up from either side, dotting their faces and covering their legs. Caroline whooped with joy as they passed a teenager on a thin plastic sled. With her competitive nature, she clearly loved the thrill of it.
They were almost at the end of the run when they hit an icy patch and picked up speed, spinning sideways and out of control. Tipping precariously, Damon let go of the handles to hold on to Caroline so he took the brunt of the fall. They ended up in the same snowbank as the family he’d watched earlier.
A cloud of snow dusted up from their landing. His shoulder was buried deepest, with Caroline’s spine curved against his stomach. Her hips still nestled against his.
“Are you okay?” He shifted his leg off hers.
She shook gently against him.
“Caroline?” A moment of panic punched him in the chest. Had she gotten hurt?
He shouldn’t move her if she’d landed badly…
But then, she straightened up on her own, laughter wracking her slender form. Her cap was perched cock-eyed on her head, her one cheek red from being pressed in the snow. A crust of icy flakes covered her collar and the side of her hat.
Even her glasses were crooked.
“That was the best!” she managed between laughs that—in his defense—sounded a lot like sobs.
“You scared me.” He slumped back against the snowbank while a sled full of little kids tumbled out a few feet away from them.
Four of them were on their feet almost before they’d finished falling, charging back up the hill on short legs while the youngest of the group screeched at the others to wait for her.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Caroline pulled the glasses off along with the hat. “My favorite part was the out-of-control three-sixties we were doing at the end.”
“You’re a madwoman, that’s why,” he said dryly, his heartbeat only just now slowing back down after the nanosecond when he was convinced she’d broken her neck.