“I am.”
“Are you…” His voice trailed off.
I reached the other ski patrollers, turned and stopped. “Am I what?”
He shoved his hands in his front pockets. He gave a quick glance at my colleagues behind me, as if asking their permission to talk to me. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to say to you. I just want to… I don’t know.” He hunched up his shoulders.
Telling the others to go ahead, I reached for his elbow and guided him to a quiet corner at the other side of the hallway. He came easily, like a little boy that knew he was being punished. “Listen…”
“Brett.” He smiled, proud of himself.
“Brett,” I repeated. He smelled really good. Like cinnamon and the outdoors. Warmth radiated from his body. I had to work to be able to concentrate. I wanted to reach out and snuggle into his wool sweater. That would be a dumb move, considering.
I continued, “I don’t have time to date. I don’t have time for nonsense. And I certainly don’t have time for someone who plays childish games to get a girl. I appreciate the compliments, but I have to respectfully decline.”
“Give me a chance. Just one drink. When you’re off work. I’ll be normal.” He made a cross over his heart.
“I’m sorry, but no.” I turned to leave.
He called after me. “What’s your name?”
“Have a good night, Brett.”
“I lied,” he called again. “You aren’t an angel. You’re an elf. A beautiful, magical elf, and you’re going to fall in love with me.”
I waved at him over my shoulder without turning around.
The sliding doors opened as I approached them. The biting cold of winter in Alaska hit me, nipping at my warm skin. I pulled my neck warmer up to cover the bottom of my face.
I’d grown up skiing in the mountains of Colorado. While the snow and cold was nothing unusual, the never-ending darkness that blanketed Alaska in the dead of winter was something I just hadn’t gotten used to. Couldn’t seem to get used to.
This was my third winter. I was finally starting to come out of the fog that had brought me here. I wasn’t sure I would return to Denver, but I did want more than my quiet, solitary life here.
Brett was attractive, in an embattled warrior kind of way. His bulky skiwear hadn’t hidden anything of the muscular body underneath. I might have considered a date with him under different circumstances. But recklessness was not something I could overlook. I’d worked too hard to protect myself from that kind of childish behavior from a man.
I made it to the ski patrol office just outside the tram. A jubilant bunch of day patrollers held the door for me on their way out for the night. Bells, attached to the door, jingled.
“Hey, Dr.Cain.” They said as a chorus.
“Hey, guys.” I said as I stepped into the warm building.
The main room bustled with people ending or starting their shifts. Someone had put a Christmas tree up, decorated with colored lights and inexpensive ornaments, like beer cans and poop-emoji key chains.
“Hey, Liz, heard you saved a life today!” Thomas, another patroller, teased as he stepped into his boots.
I sat down on the bench and stepped into mine. “And I might take another.” I teased.
Laughter filled the room. “Aw, Thomas, she schooled you,” someone hooted.
Thomas locked the last buckle. He moaned, “Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed out a laugh. “Okay, Shakespeare, enough. He was harmless. A bunch of guys on a weekend trip.”
“Your beauty…” I threw a glove at him. His eyes sparkled with good humor as he caught it against his chest. “Okay, I’ll stop. But…”
“No buts.” I stood and pointed a finger at him. “We have work to do. You can buy me a drink when the lifts close.”
I gave him a teasing smile and he responded with a cheesy one. He raised his arms as if he’d scored a touchdown. “Yes, Ma’am.”