I glanced down at his sled. If I sat in the front, I'd have a better view of our trip down the hill. But if I sat in the rear, I'd get to grip Cole around the waist and discover if his abs felt as hard as they'd looked on that day I'd spotted him at his mailbox.
So many decisions, so little time.
I asked, "Doyouhave a preference?"
"Yeah," he laughed. "Both." And then, at my puzzled expression, he added, "If you're game, I figure we'll do this more than once."
Oh, I was game, alright.I gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah, definitely." I glanced down the hill. "This time, I'll take the front."
He flicked his head toward the sled. "Ladies first."
With growing anticipation, I lowered myself onto the sled and tucked my booted feet under the curve of the sled's front end as Cole settled himself behind me and wrapped a protective arm around my waist.
I liked the way he felt, safe and just a little bit dangerous – safe because somehow I just knew that he wasn't the kind of guy who would let go if the ride got bumpy – and dangerous because I liked the feel of him far too much.
His breath tickled my ear as he asked, "Ready?"
Boy, was I ever."Oh, yeah."
His grip tightened, and he must've pushed off with his free hand because soon we were hurtling down the hill. I felt the wind in my face and the warmth of Cole's body at my back as we raced downward with a surprising amount of speed.
I gave a happy squeal when we reached the bottom and the sled kept on going. Finally, we came to a slow, easy stop in the packed snow beyond the foot of the hill.
The ride was officially over.But I didn't move. And neither did Cole.
Instead, we stayed that way for a long moment, with his arms wrapped around my waist and me leaning backward against him, as if he were arealboyfriend and not some monster I'd been hating on for months.
But I didn't want to think about that now.So instead, I turned toward him and said with a smile. "Nice sled."
His gaze warmed in the cold winter air. "Nice sledder."
"Who?" I laughed. "You or me?"
With a shameless grin, he replied, "Me."
I sputtered, "What?"
He was still grinning. "Hey, I've gotta saysomethingto make you go again."
I gave him the squinty-eye. "Oh, really?"
But then, his voice softened into something that might've been a caress. "I meantyou. And you knew that already."
He was right.Ididknow, just like I knew that I was treading on some very dangerous ground – because one thing had become totally obvious.This was most definitely a date.
And even if it weren't, I would surely want it to be.
Chapter 13
Cole
I liked how she felt pressed against me and the way her eyes lit up when I suggested another go – and then another after that.
We were getting ready for maybe our tenth trip down the hill when a group of kids – three of them, maybe ten or twelve years old – positioned their sled a few paces away.
The smallest kid – a boy in a black snowmobile suit – called out, "Race you to the bottom!"
Their sled was a lot like ours – long and old-fashioned, made of wood, not plastic. From the look on the kid's face, he was liking his odds of winning.
