Free Chance Encounter by Jill Shalvis Page B

she wasn’t high above the ground. Moving. “Ithought you were a wild, risk-taker kind of guy,” she said, looking resolutely ahead. “Why would you call Tim for backup when you can handle anything?”
    “Because getting on a lift without anyone knowing would be stupid, especially if something went wrong.”
    She swallowed hard. “Wrong?”
    “Yeah.” He looked at her profile. So proud. So pretty. So petrified. “For instance, you could freak out on me.”
    “I’m trying to keep my freaking to a minimum, thanks.” She continued to cling to the side of the chair, and he realized that some sick part of him wanted her to cling to him.
    “I talked to Lucy this morning,” Ally said shakily, then glanced at him. “She said she knew how much she was putting on you, and that she was very grateful.”
    Well, damn. Add guilt to his current list of sins. Topping that list was lusting after city girl here.
    The lift jerked and Ally quickly closed her eyes. “She said you’ve always been there for her.”
    “And vice versa.”
    She opened one eye, and when the lift remained smooth, then the other. “How did you get started here?”
    “I was tired of wandering from place to place. Lucy hired me for ski patrol.”
    “You were…just wandering the globe?”
    “Yep.”
    “You don’t have family?”
    Damn, now she pitied him, the last emotion he required in a woman. “My parents traveled a lot back then. I ended up in Wyoming looking for trouble.” Tina had just died and he’d spent some lost months drinking and risking his life away. Lucy had given him what he’d never known he was missing, what he never would have allowed anyone to give him if he had known—stability.
    He’d soaked it up.
    Within two years he’d been running the ski patrol. Two more and he’d been in charge of the entire resort, second only to Lucy as general manger. In his opinion, he had the best job in the world, with a nice chunk of downtime every autumn, which he used to roam far and wide, just to get it out of his system.
    Africa, South America, India, everywhere and anywhere he chose.
    But he always came back, always.
    The lift dipped a little, and Ally drew a shaky breath. “You were good with Brian today,” she said quickly. “Even though you’re not exactly a compassionate, sensitive caretaker.”
    “I’m not his caretaker. He just works here.”
    “I suppose he paid for those new boots he’s wearing, the ones that have Sierra Peak Resort plastered on the sides?”
    Chance watched her grip the chair with her fists when it jerked again. He watched her bite her lip, watched her breasts jiggle, her thighs press close together. He stared into her big, gray eyes and felt his body tighten. Specifically, his lower body. “So he needed new boots.”
    “So you care in spite of—” She broke off when he put one arm along the back of the chair, the other across the front of her on her arm grip, effectively trapping her within his embrace. If he’d thought her eyes big before, they nearly popped out of her head now. “What are you doing?”
    “In spite of what?” he inquired softly.
    “In spite of the fact—” She looked down at the ground, then paled again. “That I should just keep my thoughts to myself.”
    “Oh no, you don’t.” He brought her chin around, which meant he had to touch her. Big mistake, but that didn’t stop him. Her skin was as smooth as silk.
    She licked her lips, and gave away her inner most thoughts by darting a quick glance at his mouth before lifting her gaze to his. “I was just going to say…there’s a lot of similarities between Brian and yourself. It’s in the eyes.”
    “Really.” Now he couldn’t stop looking at her mouth. White skin. Pink mouth. White and pink. He imagined she had white thighs and pink nipples, and nearly groaned. “And what would that similarity be?”
    “Well…” She laughed a little. “You’re probably not going to like it.”
    His eyes narrowed as he tried