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“You’re enjoying this?”

Sophie laughed. “Aren’t you?” She let go of the steering strap and threw her arms up into the air, leaning first one way and then the other.

“Sophie, hold on,” Cole bit out.

His barked, serious-sounding command surprised her.

“I used to stand up when I got close to the bottom,” she teased. It had actually only happened once, but that counted, right?

“Don’t do that this time.”

He was right. Hadn’t Isabelle just reminded her of why she shouldn’t?

Sophie put her arms down, realized he’d tightened his hold around her. Even if she’d attempted to stand, he’d have stopped her.

He’d been concerned for her. Him. A big, tough former Marine. She’d scared him by letting go.

She smiled. He really was a protector. And she really wanted her protector to relax and have a good time.

Chapter Nine

Riding a sled down a snow-covered hill was nothing scary or shocking in the grand scheme of things Cole had done during his lifetime. It was just new.

New didn’t bother him. Sophie possibly getting hurt, however, did.

Not that she’d seemed in the slightest concerned, unlike when she’d been stuck in the tree. No, his sweet, talkative, impulsive Sophie had a bit of a daredevil spirit. She enjoyed the adrenaline rush of flying down the hill.

Cole liked that unexpected side of her personality more than he should. At the same time, that side terrified him as he didn’t want her taking unnecessary risks.

When their sled came to a stop, he got off quickly and extended his hand.

Rosy-cheeked, eyes twinkling, she smiled up at him as she placed her gloved hand into his. “What’d ya think? Wasn’t it wonderful?”

She was what was wonderful. What was beautiful inside and out.

God help him. He shouldn’t get emotionally entangled with any woman, but especially not Sophie.

Step away, Cole. Just step away and keep your distance, he ordered himself.

“I might have to go again to be sure,” was what he said out loud, though, stunning himself as much as her.

She squeezed his gloved hand with excitement. “Really? You want to sled again?”

Her excitement was palpable, making her look like a little kid begging for a favored treat. Only, Sophie was no child. She was a grown woman.

An enchanting woman who knew about his past and looked on with friendliness all the same.

Pity, he corrected himself. That’s what Sophie looked at him with.

The cold apparently had frozen his good sense, though, because he pulled his hand free and shrugged. “If you want to sled again. Now that I know what to expect, I’ll enjoy it more.”

He’d enjoyed it the first time around, except for when Sophie had let go.

“Then what are we waiting for?” She p

ractically bounced. “Let’s get back to the top of the hill.”

Cole turned to grab hold of the sled’s strap so he could pull it over to where the four-wheelers were waiting to haul them up the hill. When he turned back toward Sophie, a snowball hit him square in the chest.