Sadie groaned and leaned back in her chair dramatically. Liam chuckled under his breath at the sight of her stretched back in the chair as if she was swooning.
“Absolutely not,” she said urgently as she straightened her posture. “Sorry, I was an athlete in high school, so I’ve got a bit of a competitive streak.”
Liam’s smile faltered at her words.
“Where’d you go to high school?” he asked roughly before he could stop himself.
“Antelope Grove,” she replied in a perky voice, her face brightening. “Outside Sacramento. That’s where I’m from. Where are you from?”
He studied her face, willing her to connect the dots. Seeing nothing but expectation, he grunted and looked down at his computer screen again.
“I’m from Sacramento, too,” he said softly to his computer screen.
“Cool!” she said in an enthusiastic voice. He didn’t look up at her, and he knew was being rude—again—but what could he say? He had a lot of baggage where this particular girl was concerned.
“Um, anyway,” she said awkwardly. “You don’t have to help me. I promise I’ll be more on top of it.”
“No,” Liam said, looking up at her again, his eyes narrowing. “I’ll help. Annie’s right. This is too much for one person. Especially someone who’s new to the school. Do you mind staying late on Wednesday? I know it’s the day before Thanksgiving break … we could meet here and talk about what you’ve come up with so far?”
Sadie let out a deep sigh and grinned. “Okay,” she said. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you then … well, I’m sure I’ll see you before then, but definitely Wednesday afternoon … as well.”
She giggled nervously as she rose to her feet, walking toward where she left her bags.
Liam couldn’t help but smile at her as she made her way across the room. Seeing her so nervous and uncoordinated, it was hard to connect her with that graceful and unapproachable princess from high school.
“I’ll see you on Wednesday, Ms. Sullivan,” he said smoothly as she gave him one last smile before she left the room with a wave.
Liam stared at his computer for a few more seconds before giving up and closing his laptop.
I can do this, he told himself.I can be cool.
Looking over at his office windows, the dark sky outside and the bright lights in his office perfectly reflected his image from where he sat at his desk.
His dark hair was a little too long, and the black-framed glasses he sometimes wore slid down his nose slightly. He wasn’t as short as he’d been thirteen years ago when he’d started high school—he’d grown about eight inches during his junior year—but he wasn’t towering over anyone.
Despite how much he’d grown and changed in the years since high school, he shook his head at his reflection. In his plaid dress shirt and khaki pants, he was sure there’d never been a time in his life that he was less cool than at this very moment.
3
Sadie
Abriskwindchargedthrough the towering pine trees that surrounded the elementary school playground. Most of the pine needles clung to the narrow treetops as they swayed back and forth. But a smattering of them lost the battle against the wind, and Sadie looked up as they rained down where she and Annie stood against a chain-link fence.
The kids didn’t seem to mind the cold as they ran around in various states of coatlessness, peals of laughter and shrieks ringing out through the cold air. Sadie, however, hugged her arms tightly around her mid-section in an effort to conserve some warmth inside of her thin peacoat.
Jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, she stared up at the gray clouds lying low in the sky. The quiet chill in the air combined with the hanging clouds led Sadie to be sure there would be a snowstorm soon.
She smiled at the thought of an epic powder day. It was about time it snowed down in the basin. It had been snowing in the mountains on and off for weeks, and the ski resorts had finally all opened their slopes this week.
Last winter, Sadie had worked as a bartender at The Blue Sky, Lake Conrad’s beloved bar. She hadn’t been able to get a job teaching right away and she’d thought working at the mountain bar would be a great way to earn some money in the meantime—and maybe meet some new friends.
For a while, it had seemed too good to be true. She’d been insanely popular at the bar, making friends with coworkers and patrons alike. Spending weekend after weekend on the ski hill with her new friends, it had seemed like moving to Lake Conrad had been the best decision she’d ever made.
True, all her new friends had beenguys, including Annie’s boyfriend, Ian, and his roommate, Jake. Having only guy friends wasn’t something that had initially seemed necessarilyoffto Sadie. She’d always had male friends growing up, but she’d had girl friends, too. She’d just always had a variety of friends, so she never cared much if they were male or female.
It wasn’t until she’d been convinced that Jake was into her, and later found out in no uncertain terms that he wasnotinto her in an ugly, unbearably embarrassing way, that she realized she was in dire need of some female friendships.
If I’d had any girl friends, they would have clued me in that I was reading the Jake situation wrong, right?