Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“That’s why it isn’t just a ski lodge, it’s a ski resort,” he clarified with a flourished, fake British accent. “The managers made sure to tell us that many times when we were booking the wedding.”
“I know you’ve toured the place before, but did you look at these elevator bays?” I asked, marveling at the sight. “There are these little mountain ranges carved into the gold around each elevator. Holy shit, Chase, these aren’t made of actual gold, are they?”
He laughed. “I think that would be wild even for Snowcock.”
I took a deep breath, glancing back down at my brother on the phone. “I can’t believe I’m here. I don’t feel like I deserve it, to be honest.”
“You deserve it more than any of us,” he said. “How did Mom do, getting to her room?”
“She was a champ,” I said. “She said her injuries aren’t acting up too much in the cold, and I think she’ll hold out okay.”
I’d flown in with our mom, who had been a dance and gymnastics teacher her whole life until an accident landed her with debilitating injuries years ago. It was the first time she’d traveled in years, and she had her own cozy, well-accommodated room on the first floor.
Chase gave me a warm smile, only a little hard to see past the scratched-up screen of my tiny, six-year-old smartphone. “I’ve got a gazillion things to do this wedding week, but even with hating the cold and taking care of Mom, try to enjoy yourself this week, Jamie. You deserve it.”
I knew what he was really thinking: Jamie, you’re off-duty for the first time in way too long, so for the love of God, loosen the hell up. Something close to that, at least.
I looked out the tall window at the end of the long hall. Sloping hills, spruce trees, and shrubs, all covered in a blanket of white. Winter Wonderland.
I felt like I was in another world.
“I’ll try,” I told Chase. “I love you. Mom wanted to relax and do her own thing tonight, but I’m sure she’ll hang out with us tomorrow.”
I mashed the down button near the elevator.
“Good.”
I caught a hint of my reflection in the shiny gold elevator doors. “And fine—maybe this jacket makes my blue eyes pop. But you know what else makes them pop? The ocean. In California. Where it’s not as cold as the deep-freeze. The beach is the only place I belong.”
He laughed. “You’re rocking the marshmallow look, Jamie.”
“If I have to look like a marshmallow, please at least tell me I look like a hot one?” I asked him.
The elevator finally dinged, its door swinging open right as Chase spoke.
I noticed too late that there was a man in the elevator, about to get an earful of my brother’s words over the phone.
“You are one hot fucking marshmallow, Jamie Blau,” he said, his voice loud and clear. “You got this.”
The man standing in the elevator looked up at me. I stared straight into the eyes of an immaculately dressed man who was leaning against the back wall of the elevator, and had definitely heard every word.
A tall, very attractive man.
“Thank you,” I said into the phone. My cheeks were growing hot, and blushing had never been something I could control. “I’ll call you back later.”
I hung up, Chase’s smiling face disappearing on my phone.
“Down?” the tall man in the elevator said, in a voice that was deep and calm.
“Oh. Well, it’s fake down. Synthetic,” I said, brushing my fingertips over the marshmallow coat. “Real feather-down coats an arm and a leg. And—oh, God, you’re talking about the elevator, not the coat. Shit. Sorry. You… are definitely just talking about the elevator.”
He gave me one calm nod, keeping his honey-brown eyes on me, then stuck his arm out to block the elevator doors from automatically closing.
I let out a long breath, nodding back at him and stepping inside. As the doors slid shut, I suddenly felt about twenty degrees hotter all over my body, and the synthetic down coat sure wasn’t helping with that.
I kept glancing over at him in a way that was hard to avoid when stepping into a small elevator with someone that handsome. He could have stepped right off the set of an old classic movie. His hair was a dark, chestnut brown, glinting in the overhead light of the elevator. He was wearing a long, natural tan-colored coat, a tasteful checkered scarf that looked so soft you could sleep in it, and leather shoes with just the right amount of shine.
“Sorry,” I said. “I, uh, babble when I’m tired, or out of place, or nervous, and I guess I’m all three right now.”
He glanced my way, briefly biting his lower lip. “You here for the wedding, too?”
I nodded. “Yes. You are, too?”