CHAPTER 13
The door opened and Tim sauntered in, his bright smile lighting the room as much as the sun. He had a food cart in front of him and a bag over one shoulder. “Hey, lazy bones. Haul ass.”
Erin grabbed the comforter and pulled it to her chin, ignoring the scent of coffee that had followed him into the room. “I’m on holidays,” she complained. “Go away.”
“Ha.” He tossed the bag to the floor, then took a flying leap and landed on the bed beside her. The mattress bounced her upward, and before she could react, he had her trapped.
She stared up as he hovered over her, his hands closing around her wrists. He pinned them on either side of her head, and with that one motion he turned her inside out. She couldn’t move, couldn’t escape—
Didn’t want to, either.
“I missed your usual enthusiastic wake-up call.” No matter how firmly she attempted to say the words, they came out breathless and lust-filled.
He leaned in and kissed her. So soft and gentle it was hard to remember that he held her restrained. The contrast between her power and his made her insides turn to jelly.
Tim sat back and pulled her upright. “All sex and no play makes for a holiday you can’t brag about to your friends. Matt had a brilliant idea.”
“He’s home?”
“He is. He’s suggested loaning us some winter gear—if you’d like to go skiing?”
“Serious?”
“Hell, yeah. He’s got some nice hills right in the area, and a snowcat to take us up. Jason will drive.”
“Sounds great, if Matt’s got the equipment to handle all of us.”
Tim raised a brow. “You making a dirty reference to Matt’s equipment? I like how your brain works.”
“Jeez. That was a perfectly ordinary comment.”
He waggled his brows and pulled a laugh from her. Then he proved he was practically perfect by pouring her a coffee.
Moments later they sat in the overstuffed chairs in front of the window, staring over the wintery Hallmark-worthy scene as they consumed fresh-baked muffins and delicate slices of fruit served in crystal goblets.
Erin wasn’t sure if she’d really woken up. “Remind me to be nicer to the people we rescue from now on. Tim, this is not the real world.”
“It is for some people, obviously.” He added another scoop of whipped cream to his fruit, his grin widening. “And there’s nothing wrong with us stepping into their reality for a short while.”
“No, I guess not.”
The muffin was still hot enough to melt the butter, little pools of decadence forming in the second before she put her teeth to it.
“Oh. My. God.”
Tim leaned forward, his gaze intent on her instead of out the window. “Damn, you keep making those kind of noises, and we’ll be late for skiing.”
Erin drew out another long moan, deliberately licking her fingers one by one.
His gaze was hot enough to burn. “Stop now, or face the consequences.”
She mock-pouted. “But I want to go skiing.”
His laughter eased over her as he put another muffin on her plate. “Eat. Make sex noises. I’m enjoying this very much.”
They exchanged smiles, then Erin sighed, deep relaxation sinking in.
“I needed this. Hey, anything I need to know about our host?” Erin asked.
“Matt?” Tim considered for a moment. “He’s probably younger than you’re expecting. The heart attack I mentioned was caused by a preexisting defect he didn’t know about, not age or abuse. Old money. The rest of his family still lives in Alberta. I’ve gone backpacking with him as well as gambling.”
“Nice. So he’s not just all this.” Erin gestured to the formal decor festooning the walls.
The place was a touch on the gaudy side for Tim’s tastes. “I have a feeling someone else decorated this, not Matt. But we can ask him later. He’s a straight shooter. As impressive as the house and the location are, you don’t have to mind your manners around him. He’s just a guy.”
“A guy with money.”
Tim grinned. “Lots of money.”
They eventually made their way to the walk-out basement, Jason guiding them into the room before abandoning them. “Matt will be here in a moment.”
Tim opened a set of storage doors and whistled. “Hot damn, he’s got snowboards as well.”
A new voice broke in. “Of course. Knew you’d be joining me someday.”
Erin faced the entrance and was surprised all over again. The man who walked through the door was not only a lot younger than she’d have expected if not for Tim’s earlier warning, Matt was drop-dead gorgeous. If Tim had the scruffy, dark scoundrel looks she loved, Matt was an angel with dirty eyes. Blond hair long enough it stood upright as if he’d been dragging his hands through it, silvery grey eyes that took in the room quickly. He was in his late thirties, or early forties at the latest, his well-cut ski clothing covering a trim body.
This holiday got better and better all the time. Erin had no objections to having lovely eye candy to enjoy.
Tim stopped his exploration of the room and strode toward his friend. “If you didn’t hide in the bush, you’d get more visitors.”
“This way only the good ones stop by,” Matt offered. He thumped Tim on the shoulder. Then he pulled back and examined Erin with a growing smile. “And now the good gets even better. Tim, why did you let me waste time talking to you when there’s a goddess in my house?”
Tim slipped his arm around Erin’s waist. “Erin, this is my good friend Matt. Matt, meet Erin Tate. She’s the chopper pilot for the SAR team I’m with.”
Matt’s brows rose as he took her hand in his, the heat of his fingers rolling up her arm in an alarming manner. “Pilot. Well, now. Beautiful and talented. Welcome, Erin. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
“You’ve been very generous letting us drop in out of the blue. Thank you.”
He tossed his hands in the air. “Not like I don’t have the room to put you up, right?”
She smiled. “It is rather spacious.”
His eyes sparkled briefly before he turned toward the storage cupboards. “Let’s get our gear and hit the slopes. We’ve got perfect conditions, and I don’t want to waste a moment.”
* * *
A fountain of snow flew skyward before slowly settling to the ground, not nearly disguising the deep hole Tim had made when he fell.
Matt’s laughter rang out, bouncing back from the hillside to dance around them. Erin grinned as well once Tim’s sheepish smile appeared over the edge.
He pulled himself to vertical. “Laugh it up. You now have the marker to beat for the best fall of the day.”
“We don’t try to one-up disasters,” Erin mocked.
“Sure we do,” Matt interrupted. “During drinks, after the skiing is over.”
Erin waited for Tim to extract himself, taking the time to look over the terrain with a rising sense of satisfaction and wonder. Tall trees displayed snow-capped limbs against the pale-blue sky. Around them endless powder lay undisturbed except for the traces of trails to the north where they’d done a run earlier. Not a single soul but for the three of them, with Jason waiting at the bottom to run them up the mountain again when they were done. “You’ve got a piece of heaven here, Matt. Absolutely amazing.”
“I figured it was worth the cost.” Matt leaned on his ski poles as Tim joined them, doing the weird hop-hop motion his snowboard forced upon him. “After Tim here saved my life, it didn’t seem right to spend the rest of it in an office fighting tooth and nail just to make more money.”
Tim connected his free foot, then brushed the snow from his sleeves. “I was in the right place at the right time, that’s all. And you’re still making plenty of money.”
“True. But I’m spending it on things that make me happy now rather than worrying about increasing my net value and rising in the ranks of the Fortune Five Hundred.”
“Good for you.” Erin took a deep breath and enjoyed the icy bite in her lungs. “You’re in good health now, it seems.”
“Better than before. Surgery to fix the problem, and then I got in shape.” Matt casually adjusted his stance. “Better shape than you two—race you to the bottom.”
He was gone, a war cry echoing into the air, his skis aimed straight down the hill.
Tim caught her arm before she could take up the challenge, dragging her against him for a heated kiss. Their helmets knocked briefly before they lined up properly, but by that time she was laughing too hard to kiss him without her amusement getting in the way.
He smiled against her lips. “You having fun?”
“Uh-huh.” She slipped one arm free, planting it carefully on his chest. “You?”
“Absolutely.” Tim eased back slightly. “So, what do you think?”
She pushed as hard as she could, and he went sprawling for a second time. His expression was wide with shock as she quickly stepped out of reach and poled down the hill. “I think I’ll meet you at the bottom,” she shouted.
He was already rising to his feet, so she focused on the hill before her. Matt’s tracks wove through the trees in as close to a straight line as possible, and she followed them, turning aside to enter a gully that opened into clear territory.
Matt was visible ahead of her, leaving wide, controlled tracks. He was obviously not racing now so much as having a good time, and Erin joined in, turning in opposition to his marks. The snow rose around her boots, leaving a perfect record of her passage, and together their trails formed one perfect figure eight after another.
It was exhilarating to be in the mountains under her own power. So often she brought the team into remote places and stayed with the chopper, which was her role. But it was good to be on foot this time. Far into nature, and right smack-dab in the action. She needed to do this more often.
Her cheeks were slightly numb from the icy air rushing past by the time she approached where Matt had pulled to the side, waiting for them to regroup before reentering the trees. His contented expression had to match her own.
“Nice. I like the artistic touch on the hillside.” He pointed at the tracks they’d laid.
“Now we need to see what Tim does,” Erin warned. “I can see the showoff driving a straight line through the middle.”
“You could be right,” Matt admitted.
She soaked in the scenery, admiring the low foothills rolling off into the distance, clouds covering their feet where they met the coastline. Behind her and Matt, the mountainside was one massive bump completely filling sky and horizon.
“Or”—Matt grabbed her arm and pointed above them—“he could be taking the elevator down.”
Far above to the right was the near-level surface that she would have skied if not for selecting the gully. There she’d had a slope gradually descending her to the level where they now stood.
Tim had missed the turn. Deliberately or not, she wasn’t sure, but he was in the clearing on the very edge of the precipice, headed for the cliff.
“Is he serious?” Her heart gave one giant pound, then seemed to freeze in her throat as Tim made a couple of casual turns but didn’t change paths.
“Landing could be interesting.”
She jerked her eyes off Tim for one second to gape at Matt. “Interesting? That’s a . . . what? Sixty-foot drop?”
“Tim can do it. He’s got a fantastic line to follow, and enough of a run out. If he lands it.”
The absolute calm Matt projected helped, but didn’t erase her fears. She snapped her gaze back up to Tim with dread weighing her down. “Thank you for that, Mr. Warren Miller.”
It wasn’t her imagination. Tim was going off the edge.
He had built up a lot of speed before he left the mountain ledge, body in a controlled position. Then instead of falling as she’d expected, the asshole added to her heart attack.
His snowboard spun skyward, his body straightening until his head was down, feet up. The rotation continued slowly, seeming to pause when he was belly down and rapidly descending toward the earth.
She would have sworn, but all available air was stuck in her chest behind a closed throat. He tucked in his knees and finished the rotation, the smooth surface of his snowboard making contact with the snow. He coasted. Arms stretched wide, snow flying everywhere as he moved rapidly forward until the deep powder pulled him to a stop a short distance below them.
A long loud shout of delight broke free as Tim threw his fists in the air and shook them in triumph before spinning toward them, his sheer enthusiasm visible even at this distance.
“You still planning on killing him?” Matt asked.
“Making him hurt, oh hell yeah. Death, I’ll give him a reprieve—looks like he’s cheated it twice today.”
They grinned at each other, then added their cheers as they headed to Tim’s side to finish their trip down the mountain.
One thing was for certain. Tim had a far broader definition of what constituted a good time than she did.