I closed my eyes and raised my head to the sky. I took a deep breath, exhaled loudly, relaxed my shoulders. I looked back at him and answered, “No. Honestly, I’d forgotten about him. It’s just… it’s just the holidays. That’s all.”
“I get that you may not want to talk about your past. You’ve been buttoned up since you got here. But people care about you, Liz. You can consider us friends.” He shifted his weight and leaned into his poles. “I hope you consider me a friend.”
“Thank you, Thomas. I do. And I appreciate you worrying about me.” I know that wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t give him any more than that. “I really do.”
He sighed. After a few more moments of contemplation and assessing my state of mind, he jerked his head to the end of the slope. “C’mon. Let’s finish this run and I’ll buy you that beer.”
I pushed forward on my skis to get around him. “Deal.”
We finished our run of the hill, checked in with the gondola operator, and made our way back to the patrol room to change.
I changed out of my ski pants and sweater into a black turtleneck, black leggings, and black knee-high snow boots. After I traded my patrol jacket for a white, hooded puffer jacket, I followed Thomas in his beat-up Bronco to the local bar just a mile down the road from the resort.
Music drifted into the parking lot. Thomas waited for me at the door, holding it open when I reached him. “After you.” He smiled; his brown eyes crinkled at the corners.
Glittering Christmas ball ornaments dangled from the top of the bar, while heat lamps glowed on the outdoor patio.
We made our way through the bar to a group of patrollers. Judging by their glassy eyes, they’d been drinking since their shift ended hours ago.
“Elizabeth!” A junior female patroller slurred from the other side of the table. “When I grow up, I want to be just like you.”
Thomas pulled a chair out for me. He asked her, “A doctor?”
She leaned her head on her friend’s shoulder. “No. A goddess. I want men to drop at my feet and declare their love.” She sighed. “It’s like a dream.”
Her friend pulled on one of her blonde braids. “You’re drunk, Margo. Don’t be dumb.”
She jerked back. “Ow!”
I looked at Thomas as I sat down. He took the chair next to me. “Does everyone know?”
“Apparently,” he chuckled.
I leaned towards Margo. “Don’t be charmed by it. It was a silly prank, and there was nothing romantic about it.”
She continued going on about love and romance while I focused on the menu, starving for something other than a burger.
A whispering murmur rose around our table of ten. When I looked up, there he was. Across the room, shooting pool like he didn’t have a care in the world. Brett, the golden-eyed warrior.
Chapter 2
The walls ofthe bar seemed to close in around me. There was nowhere for me to hide. Instead, I raised my glass of water in a cheer. His eyebrows rose and he smiled as he tipped his beer bottle to me and tilted his head in a nod.
Margo turned her head to look in the direction of my gaze. “Oh, my god, yum!” She turned back to me and said in a low voice, “Seriously, if you don’t want one of those, I’ll take ‘em.”
Inwardly, I cringed. Outwardly, I lowered my brow at her.
His friends followed the direction of his gaze. There was a girl with them this time. A curly headed blonde that could have been the twin to one of the men I’d seen earlier. She smiled at me and waved. That was unexpected.
My cheeks warmed. I looked down at my menu and asked Thomas what he was going to order. He leaned towards me, setting his arm on the back of my chair.
I lifted my eyes, giving a quick glance back at Brett. He was leaning against a cocktail table, his hands resting on the pool cue between his legs. His eyes were on me. He looked amused.
Thomas asked me, “Do you want to leave?”
“No. I’m fine.” I stared back at the menu without actually reading it.
When the waitress came to take our order, I settled for a burger and a beer, not having the capacity to actually read and order anything different.