Page 13 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty (Delectable Protectors #5)

MIA

I clap my hands together, looking at the children gathered around me, their warm breath coming out in little bursts, their brightly colored helmets making them look top-heavy. “All right, everybody, that’s today’s lesson. I’ll see you all back here tomorrow. We’ll be going down the bunny hill!”

The kids all cheer, sliding over to their parents and chattering away to them without a care in the world. I smile and shake my head, grabbing my skis, swapping my boots, and waiting until the last child is picked up before heading out to the search and rescue tower.

It’s only been a day since we’ve been back, and I’ve been itching to spend more time with Aiden.

I don’t know what changed between us in the cabin, but there was a big shift. Something felt like an avalanche. One thing gave way, and it was enough to change everything for me.

And I think for him.

The fresh air steals my breath away, but the sun is warm and bright. I turn my face to it, letting the wind blow my hair around. After taking a deep breath, I keep heading up the path to the gondolas.

I step off the gondola a short time later, following the footsteps that lead in the direction of the search and rescue tower.

Eventually, the tower comes into view, and Aiden is sitting at the base of it, throwing a bright orange ball for Honey. He tosses it again before his gaze locks on mine, and instead of the dozen or so feet between us, it feels like there’s no distance at all.

My palms are sweaty and my heart pounds against my ribs. This doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever experienced, and something about that excites me more than I want to admit.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, a slow smile spreading across his face as Honey yips and runs over to me, her entire body wiggling. “I’m beginning to think my dog doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Well, maybe she just has good taste.” I put my skis in the snow and crouch down to love on Honey like she deserves. “I wanted to come and see when you were going to be done with your shift. Thought you might want to go skiing with me.”

“One day back and you’re already missing me?” He smirks, the lip ring catching the glint of the sun.

“Funny. I thought you could use a friend, but if you want to be alone, I could leave. Maybe take Honey with me since she doesn’t seem like she’s having such a great time with you.”

He laughs and stands with his hands in his pockets. “She’d probably go with you too. The dog is a traitor.”

Honey looks up at him, grinning her little doggy smile.

I stand up and look at him, not sure whether to kiss him or not. There’s part of me that wants to, but the other part tells me to stand back. To not push him too hard, too fast.

Aiden has already proven that he likes to pull away the second people get close to him. If this new friendship — and maybe something more — is going to work, then I’m going to have to match his pace.

He steps closer to me, looking like he’s as torn as I am over what to do next. “What do you think about going for a hike where we don’t get lost?”

“Were you ever lost?” I tuck my hands in my pockets, my cheeks warming.

“Not when I was looking for you. Or ever. But I think one day I might be able to.” He gives me a crooked little smile and checks the time on his watch. “I’m off in twenty minutes, but it’ll probably be closer to ten. Carter is the one taking me off shift today, and he makes a point of being early.”

I nod and hustle across the packed snow to drop down in one of the chairs. “I hope that this hike isn’t going to be too long. My ankle is okay, but after teaching the last class, it’s a little sore.”

He smirks and takes a set of keys out of his pocket, tossing them to me. “Ever drive a snowmobile?”

“You’re going to let me?” I grin and hold the keys like they’re my new prized possession.

“Well, there’re four in storage, and if I take a spare radio, Carter is going to be fine with me taking it. But you can’t tell the others. They’d be pissed if they knew about the appropriation of resort equipment they’re not allowed to borrow.”

“Oh no, Aiden, are you about to tell me that you like breaking the rules?” I ask, tone teasing as I stretch out my legs and lean back in the chair. “Because I didn’t think you were the type.”

He twists the lip ring with his tongue. “Where do you think this came from?”

“Now you’re going to have to tell me the story.” I unzip my ski jacket partway, the sun baking me in my suit. “And we both know how much you love sharing.”

Aiden drops down into the seat beside me and picks up the ball when Honey brings it back again.

He lobs it through the snow and glances at me.

“I told you about growing up in foster homes. Well, I had this one foster mother. Real piece of work. She tried to control every aspect of my life when I was fourteen, and being a teenager, you can imagine how well I took to that.”

“You? Liking being told what to do?” I scoff and turn to face him, tucking one leg up on the seat. “I couldn’t imagine you hating that at all.”

He toys with the lip ring again, the look in his eyes distant. “We got in a fight about something — I don’t even remember what anymore — and I decided that I was going to do something I knew was going to piss her off, so I got my lip pierced.”

“How did that go for you?”

“She lost her mind. Nearly kicked me out of the house then and there. She told me that I was going to ruin the image she had among her friends. And then she had me sent away.”

I reach out and take his hand, and for a moment he doesn’t react. Then, his hand turns over and he laces his gloved fingers with mine, holding it tight like he needs me right now.

I can’t remember the last time I was needed. Probably before Mom died. Back when it was just the two of us taking on the world together. That was the last time I felt like I knew what I was doing with my life too.

Aiden’s thumb runs over the back of my hand. And though I can’t feel the warm touch through the layers that separate us, there’s a tingling that runs through me.

Carter shows up a few minutes later, looking between the two of us, a lazy grin spreading across his face. “I heard the rumors around the resort, but I didn’t think they were true.”

“Dunno what you heard,” Aiden says as he gets to his feet, tugging me up with him. “Carter, Mia. Mia, this is Carter. He’s been working here for an eternity.”

Carter rolls his eyes and offers me a smile. “He makes it sound like I’m ancient, but I’m really not.”

“Mind if we take one of the snowmobiles and a radio?” Aiden hands him one radio and heads up the stairs to the tower.

“Go for it.”

Aiden disappears into the watchtower before coming back out with another radio. He nods to me and leads the way to a shed around back. “Ready to drive?”

“Yeah, but is it okay to leave my skis here?” I glance at them and my helmet. “I don’t want Carter hating me because I left things in his way.”

He shakes his head. “They’re fine where they are. You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

Aiden turns on the lights and grabs a helmet off the wall, handing it to me. I flip up the visor and pull it on, buckling it beneath my chin and tightening the strap. He grabs one of his own, pulling it on and sitting down on the back of the seat, patting the space in front of him.

I climb on in front of him, and he goes through the motions, showing me how to turn it on and get it moving, doing a quick lesson on braking.

We set out with Honey running along behind us.

I keep the pace slow enough for her to tag along, enjoying the time beneath the sun with the fat flakes of snow starting to drift down around us.

A couple of white clouds pass through the sky, and the trees get thinner as we climb higher up the mountain.

Then, the trees fade altogether and a little cabin sits there, waiting for us.

“Now,” Aiden says as we get off the snowmobile and take off our helmets. “This one only has a wood stove and a bed. Using the toilet involves digging a hole in the woods, so unless you want to freeze your ass?—”

I burst out laughing and hold up a hand. “Wait. Did you just tell me that I was going to freeze my ass ?”

He gives me a wicked smile, the look in his eyes teasing. “Why?”

I grab a big ball of snow and pack it tight, throwing it at him. Honey races after the ball, jumping against Aiden and knocking him into the powdery snow. He laughs and tries to keep her from smothering him in kisses.

When he finally gets to his feet, there’s a dangerous look in his eyes. I turn and run, ignoring the complaint in my ankle as I race away from him. He catches me around the waist only a couple moments later, hauling me back against him.

Laughing, I wriggle around, trying to get free. Aiden’s laughing as he wrestles me to the ground and climbs on top of me, holding a fistful of snow high above my head. He arches an eyebrow and looks down at me.

I hold up my hands, blocking my face. “Okay, so maybe I regret starting a snow war.”

Honey comes flying in, knocking Aiden off of me and smothering him with another round of kisses. I laugh and get to my feet, brushing off the snow and straightening up, the ache back in my foot.

Aiden stops in front of me, staring down like he’s trying to figure something out. “You’re hurting.”

“Well, I did try to become one with the rocks, but it’s fine. A couple more days and everything is going to be fine, and then you can stop looking at me like I’m going to break.”

He presses his lips together in a thin line. “I’ve heard that snacks fix everything. What do you think about having snacks?”

My stomach growls in response, and he laughs, disappearing into the little cabin and then coming back out with a bag of chips and a pack of cookies. He’s got two folding chairs slung over his shoulders, and he sets them up before dropping down into one.