Deciding to trust her judgment, he playfully bumped her shoulder. “Want to go check out our room?”
Jessie nodded, and he started leading her in the opposite direction of Harmony and April. His room was the last one on the first floor. They walked in and Kai let out a long whistle. There was an actual fireplace in the room, along with a jetted tub in the corner. The space was decorated as cozily as the rest of the lodge, with large wooden beams along the walls, smaller versions along the ceiling. There were photos of the Rockies along the walls, along with a set of antique skis and poles.
The trip had been sprung on Kai at the last minute, and this room had been the only one available. It was costing him a pretty penny, but Kai was making a decent income now, working for Mason, and he lived pretty simply. He’d had the extra cash and had decided that in a way, Gran was right. Life was short, and he’d always wanted to learn how to ski. What better time to start than right now?
Kai set their bags on the king-sized bed as Jessie secured her skis on a rack near the door. Kai didn’t have skis; he’d have to rent some before they joined up with April and Harmony. Coming up behind him, Jessie placed her backpack on the bed. “Wow, Kai, this is nice.” She glanced over at the adjoining bathroom and then to a table under the window surrounded by plush chairs.
Then her eyes focused on something that Kai had just noticed. There was a rug on the floor in front of the fireplace. It was white, fluffy, and looked like it could have belonged to an animal at some point, although, Kai was fairly certain the lodge had gone with synthetic fur over the real stuff. It screamed—have sex here. They both looked away from the rug at the exact same time.
A few hours later, Kai was sharing a hearty laugh with his cousin, and any earlier tension between them was forgotten. While April and Harmony had left to take turns on the more advanced slopes, Jessie had stayed on the “kiddy” slopes with Kai. She was teaching him the basics of skiing, which basically meant she was laughing her ass off.
When he fell for the umpteenth time, landing on his ass that was starting to feel numb, she giggled. She swooped in to help him up, like gliding across the snow was easy. Kai frowned at her, and at the eight year olds who were whizzing past as effortlessly as if they were walking. Nothing like being surpassed by people a fraction of your age.
Sighing as he took Jessie’s hand, he let her pull him upright. She continued to laugh as she brushed the snow off his back. Shaking his head at her joy, he adjusted his poles and experimentally slid his feet back and forth. Kai had been so certain he would pick up skiing easily; he’d thought it would be similar to surfing. He was wrong. But still, he was determined to make it down an adult slope this weekend, and that would be easier to do if his cousin didn’t find the whole thing so amusing.
Smirking at her, he said, “You just wait until I get you in the ocean. Then I’ll be the one laughing my ass off.” Grinning at her, he adjusted his goggles.
Jessie gave him a sweet smile, then chucked a fistful of snow at him. She hit him squarely in the face with the loosely packed ball and it exploded into a fluffy white cloud that coated him like baking flour. She bent over in hysterics, then expertly darted away, sliding along the banks fluidly as if she were a bird gliding among the clouds.
Kai shook the snow off him then awkwardly started out after her. He teetered on his skis, feeling like he was either going to fall on his face or his backside, but eventually he caught up with her. Laughing as she glanced behind herself, Jessie bent low over her skis and pushed for speed on the slight hill. Kai’s eyes locked onto the perfect ass she was putting on display for him. Damn. Grinning, he pushed harder to catch up.
When he was close enough that he could almost reach out and touch that luscious backside, Kai felt himself begin to lose control. The hill had taken a sharp dip and he hadn’t been ready for it. Feeling off balance, he racked his brain, trying to remember if it was the V that slowed him down…or if that made him go faster? Was it the other way? Not knowing what to do, Kai resorted to what he would do if he weren’t wearing skis—he picked up his feet and tried to walk. Floundering, he lost his balance and fell over again, forwards this time. Jessie had slowed when she’d noticed he was in trouble, and feeling like a jackass, he plowed right into her.
The force of the hit sent them both tumbling into a thick snow-bank along the side of the run. It cushioned their fall and covered them in a powder-fine blanket of white. Gulping icy air, Kai ripped off his goggles. His legs, arms and skis were all tangled up with Jessie’s. He was feeling the ache of the impact, so there was no way he hadn’t hurt her.