The Dead of Winter (Seasons of Jefferson: Book 2) (36 page)

ONCE WE’RE THROUGH THE DOORS
, Tyler and Jessie May don’t take long to disappear. Their instant connection is obvious, and we’re both amused by how quickly Tyler has won her over. Tangles peeks through the crowd, watching the back of Jessie May’s little black dress vanish onto the dance floor. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing them the rest of the night.”

“It’s okay. They look like they’re going to be just fine without us.” I point as Tyler picks her up at arm’s length and spins her in a circle.

“Oh, I have no doubts Jessie May is going to have a blast with that one. But are you going to be okay without
your
sidekick?”

Trust me, beautiful. Tyler is not the reason I’m here tonight.
“Awww, he was just a temp til I found a much better one.” I hold my hand out to Tangles. “Shall we?” She looks down at my raised palm, hesitates for the slightest moment, and gives a quick nod. When she finally lays her hand in mine, I forget to breathe. With the gentle curl of each dainty finger around the side of my hand, a shock wave makes its way to my stomach.
How can the touch of one little finger do that to a person?
I wonder if she feels it too.
I give her hand a slight squeeze, hoping for any sign that she’s okay with this.

My hand warms as I guide her up the stairs to the party. The silence between us has me on edge.
Should I let go? Maybe she’s not the touchy feely kind of girl. She does seem pretty feisty.
I look down to get a better read on her. She’s watching our hands. Grinning.
She likes it.
Before she knows I’ve seen her smile, I slide my fingers and lace them through hers.
She’s not pulling away.
I watch her tug her bottom lip into her teeth. I hear her breath hitch. The sound causes my chest to tighten. It’s a proud moment, the moment I realize that I’m not the only one who’s nervous.

As we reach the top of the stairs, I give her hand one more tiny squeeze. I want her to know how much I enjoyed our first touch before I release her to take her jacket. Slowly, I set my hand on the small of her back to steady her last step. I feel her movement freeze beneath my touch. “Sorry,” I whisper into the top of her head. “The last step can be tricky.” I chuckle. “No rail, you know.”

“It’s all good. But remember,” she whispers, “you’re the clumsy one.”

I shake my head. “Where’d you get that idea?”

My eyes grow wide as Tangles unbuttons her peacoat, revealing her little, ivory dress.
Damn. How did I find this girl?
“Can I hang that up for you?”

She dangles the coat in front of her. I can’t help but look past the black jacket. I’m mesmerized by the frilly, lace skirt that hits her just above the knees. My eyes follow the tight bodice up to her skin
. Tan skin. Lots of it. Do those qualify as straps?
She’s magnetic. Every part of me is drawn to her. The crook of her neck. Her smell. I can feel myself leaning too far into her, but I can’t stop. I’m so entranced by her vanilla scent and the sight of the boots and lace in front of me, that when I step forward to take the jacket, I trip over my own feet.

She giggles, as she catches me and helps me find my balance. “Now you know.”

“What?”

“Where I got that idea.”

“What idea?”

She shakes her head. “Never mind. Let’s see if you can dance with those feet?”

“Oh, I can dance … and I plan to. All night.”

I take her by the hand. This time, I pull her into me. Again, my nerves light up at her touch. I feel every minuscule point of contact. Side by side, we make our way through the crowd and back toward the dimly lit dance floor. I look around, taking in the view. The ski park has gone all out this year. On top of hiring the band, Tapwater, to play us through the night, the atmosphere is magical. My senses are on high alert. Everything seems bigger, brighter, louder, larger than life. The music. The twinkling lights. The disco ball. The torches. Oh, and the mistletoe. It’s everywhere.
Perfect
.

A slow song is starting.
Time to take her onto the dance floor and tell her how beautiful she looks in that dress.
I look down at her and smile, “You ready to dance?”

“Are you?”

“Oh, I’m ready.” I chomp down on my gum and smile. I’m so excited for our first dance that I practically drag her to the floor. Our arms dangle between us, connected only by our tightly held hands. Instantly, the small gap between us has me feeling incomplete. I need her closer. I want her in my arms, tucked in next to me, but something tells me I need to take it slow. It takes everything in me to fight the urge to scoop her up and carry her off to somewhere private.

As soon as we find an open space, I give her hand a gentle tug, slowly rolling her back into me. I carefully release her and glide my hands down to her waist. I stand still, looking down at her, taking in every bouncing curl. Every perfect eyelash. The soft curve of her rounded nose. Her pink lips. I take it all in. I want our first dance to be perfect. I don’t want to make a mistake. All I want is a beautiful memory.

Give her time. Let her set the pace.
I give her a moment to adjust to me holding her like this. Carefully, I feel her arms come up around my neck. She leans in. Closer than I expected she might. “You, okay?” she whispers into my ear. “Your arm, I mean. I’m not hurting you am I?”

I hadn’t even thought about it. Nobody’s really held me since the accident. My arm is still a bit sensitive, but no, this does not hurt.
She
does not hurt.
She
feels amazing. “Actually,” I whisper into her head, “I was just thinking I wouldn’t mind if you held on a little tighter.” I smile, knowing I’ve just sent the ball soaring into her court.

She pulls me in closer. We begin to sway back and forth, our feet glued to the floor beneath us. For the first time, I feel her heart beating against mine. It’s fast. Funny, our hearts have taken over where our words have left off. Like most of our conversations, they challenge one another. Hers beats and then mine. Back and forth like a ping pong match. Finally, the floor releases our feet, and we begin to move with the rhythm of the music. She looks up at me. When our eyes meet, I can’t help but feel bad. I’m sure it shows on my face. “Sorry I haven’t told you yet.”

A worried look crosses her face. “Told me what?”

I can’t take my eyes off of her. “That you are absolutely breathtaking.”

She crinkles her eyes and nose, “me?”

Her genuine reaction says a lot about her.
She really has no idea how beautiful she is.
“Yes, you. I haven’t been able to breathe since I caught sight of you tonight. And it’s not just because of the rib cracking hold you have on me,” I joke.

I can see that she doesn’t know how to respond. She’s not used to being told she’s beautiful.
Where has this girl been hiding?
I have to let her off the hook. “I’m sure you hear that from all the guys … that you’re beautiful.”

There’s a long pause before she finally responds. “No. Not really.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“Believe it.”

“The boys down here must be blind.”

“The boys down here don’t know me.”

“Why’s that?”

“They’re not you.”

Whoa. They’re not me? What does that mean? I don’t know, but it almost sounded like a compliment. From Tangles?
My brain fumbles for a response, but words fail me. All I can do is smile down at her and pull her in closer. This time, something is different. I feel her begin to relax. She lays her head against my chest. We sway to the music until one song melts into another and another. She fits me perfectly. Our rhythm, our movement, our banter, even the way her head fits into the crook of my neck, is flawless.

Before I realize that three hours have passed, there’s an announcement by the MC. “To all of our honored guests. We’re opening the lift for the last few rides of the year. If any of you would like to go on up to the top, they’ve got a bonfire and food waiting for you.”

“You want to go?”

How could I not want to go when those lips are asking?
“Are you okay in that dress? It’s pretty chilly up there.”

“I’m sure we can figure out a way to stay warm.” Tangles pulls a trick from my bag and does the ole double tongue click and wink.

Again. How does she do that? Using my own moves against me?
I don’t know how she’s managed to twist my stomach into knots with every touch, and every word out of her mouth tonight, but something tells me she hasn’t finished with me yet. She grabs my hand and pulls me off the dance floor. “What’re you doing just standing there, turtle boy? The line’s not getting any shorter. Follow me.”

After a quick search, we hook up with Tyler and Jessie May, and head down to the truck. It’s a good thing I came to the mountain with a true outdoorsman tonight, because we return to the lift line with extra jackets and blankets. “Looks like we’ve got a bit of a wait,” Tyler grimaces. “Here. Why don’t you girls cover up in these?” I take one of the blankets from his hands and wrap Tangles inside.

When I’m finished, I realize the circumstances have changed. I’m not steadying her step, leading her anywhere, or dancing with her.
Is it still okay to touch her? Lord knows I want to.
I’m not sure what to do with my free hands, once I’ve finished wrapping her inside the blanket. I start to reach out, but decide to draw back before she notices. I convince my hands to stay put by shoving them into my pockets. Rocking back and forth seems to distract them a bit, but not for long. All I want to do is snuggle up behind her and wrap her in my arms.
Is that still okay?

I decide to go for my “accidental proximity” move. I position myself as close to her as possible and begin telling stories with Ty. Each time I laugh, I try to accidentally brush against her, hoping against hope that one of these times she’ll just decide to lean into me. A few laughs in, we are close. So close I can feel the magnetic connection between us. The nervous energy has me on edge. I can’t take it anymore. I decide to take a chance and snuggle up behind her. Hands still securely tucked in my pockets, I lean over her shoulder and whisper into her ear, “You doing okay? Keeping warm?”

Unexpectedly, she lays her head back against my shoulder. “Now that you mention it, I could use a little help.” She opens her blanket and motions me in. I literally feel the blood coursing through my veins as I slip in behind her. If I was cold before, I certainly can’t remember it now. Little hormonal fireballs chase each other in and out every system of my body, leaving a sea of flames, and lighting my skin on fire.

Fastened by the tight hold Tangles has on the blanket, we move forward in the line, shuffling through the fresh layer of powder. There have been plenty of stories of ski team hijinks and capers exchanged between the four of us, each laugh giving me another opportunity to snuggle in tighter. By the time we get to the lift, it’s an oven inside our blanket.

I look up to see only one more couple in front of us.
We can’t ride like this.
Gently, I slip out and replace it around Avery’s shoulders. The frigid night air hits me like a block of ice. I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly unable to speak. I don’t like the sudden separation. It’s leaving me with an empty feeling.

“You look miserable,” Tangles laughs. “Why’d you leave?”

I snap my head toward the lift. “Wweee have to get on.”

“So?”

“Ssoo wwee ccan’t bbee wwrapped ttooggether.”

“Yes we can. We’re not on skis. Get in here.” She opens the blanket back up to me.

“Hhhoww?”

“It’s not rocket science. You let the chair come up behind you and sit down. Here. I’ll hold your hand and show you how.”

I can’t help but laugh, as she takes my hand and pulls me up to the line.

“Now I can really see why you’re just a flag boy,” she jokes. “You don’t even know how to ride a chair lift.”

She can’t tell me I don’t know how to ride a chairlift. I grew up on this mountain. I’ve been skiing this thing since I was three years old.
“Oh, I know how to ride a chairlift alright. In fact, I wrote the book on the proper way to ride a chairlift.”

“Something tells me I’m about to be treated to an excerpt from your instruction manual.”

“Only if you’re lucky.”

“Look, up there!” Tangles points up toward the night sky.

“What is it?”

“A shooting star. Guess what that means?”

I shake my head.

“It’s my lucky night. Sit down!” She pulls me onto the chair. “Put your money where your mouth is, big guy. You’ve got some teaching to do.”

Why am I intrigued by, yet scared of, this girl all at the same time?
I honestly don’t know how to take her.
Is she joking right now?
Something tells me I’m about to find out.