Never Been Snow Lucky (Snowed Inn Romance)

Chapter 4

4

JACK

I t turned out that Gavin had been right to be worried about the storm. I worked on our never-ending list of prep items until late last night, so I never made it down the mountain to grab extra stuff from my apartment in case I got stranded up here for a few days. Luckily, blizzards happened often enough that I had learned years ago to keep several changes of clothes in the office because by the time I had the chance to take a quick trip into town, the road down was already closed. Something I discovered just as I returned from stocking the last warming shack when he called to let me know that I was in charge until the blizzard passed.

“Hey, man. I’m not gonna make it up there. I was running behind because Tory needed some extra help with the kids this morning, and now the road is blocked.”

“Damn,” I groaned. “I thought I had more time.”

“Yeah, I heard that a tree fell and caused a huge snow drift to shift smack dab into the middle of both lanes.”

“I’m gonna have to give Hayden a hard time the next time I see him.” The town did their best to maintain the foliage on the mountain road so shit like this didn’t happen, but there was only so much you could do where Mother Nature was concerned. That wouldn’t stop me from yanking our mayor’s chain, though, since we were friends.

“That might be sooner than you think. I ran over to Hyde Garage a couple of hours ago and heard an interesting rumor.”

“Oh really?” I drawled, dropping onto my chair and stretching my legs out in front of me.

“Yup, when he popped in to grab a set of snow chains, Hyde was curious about why he needed them when he has snow tires, all-wheel drive, and chains that he bought a few years ago to keep in the back of his vehicle,” Gavin explained. “Not to mention the ones he bought were sized way too fucking small for his SUV.”

“That’s quite the story, but I don’t see why it means he’s stranded up here too.”

“That’s because you haven’t heard the best part yet. You gotta be patient and let me finish,” Gavin chided.

“Easy for you to say from the comfort of your home with your wife and kids, a generator, and plenty of supplies,” I grumbled.

My irritation just made him chuckle. “But you might have front-row seats to our mayor wooing the girl who he had Brinley follow up the mountain to the inn. And that was after he called in a favor from Raven and got her the last available cabin.”

It sounded as though this holiday season might’ve brought a woman into Hayden’s life as well. One who he probably met at the local hardware store since he asked the owner’s daughter to make sure she safely got up the mountain.

Hopefully, we’d both luck out, and the blizzard would leave us stranded with our girls like Gavin had been when he met Tory. Just preferably somewhere a fuck of a lot more comfortable than the warming shacks. Although, I wouldn’t mind if there was only one bed because it’d give me the perfect excuse to cuddle up with Iris.

“I’ll keep an eye out for the fireworks,” I murmured, without mentioning that I was hoping to be too busy to care about what was happening with Hayden and his woman.

“Looking forward to your debrief once the storm passes. Stay safe.”

“Will do, boss.”

After ending the call, I checked the weather reports to see how much time I had before the worst of the snow hit. Then I radioed each of the ski patrol members who were on-site to let them know they’d be stuck here for the duration of the storm. I lucked out and had three more people than our normal staffing, but that left me with nowhere to stay since I made sure they all had a bed before I worried about myself.

If worse came to worst, I could sleep in the office. It wouldn’t be very comfortable, but at least I would have some privacy.

After doing a quick inventory of what I would need to hunker down, I headed over to the inn to see if Raven had a better option for me. As I stomped through the snow, I scanned my surroundings, noting how many guests were getting in some time on the shorter trails before the snow and wind made conditions too unsafe. The wind was already bad enough that we’d closed the lift and gondola, but the magic carpet would keep running for another hour or two.

I hadn’t been able to get Iris off my mind since our short conversation yesterday, but there had been zero opportunities to try to connect with her again. My luck seemed to change when I spotted her on the bunny hill…just before she caught an edge going down the slope and went tumbling the rest of the way down.

“Shit.” I jogged over to her and crouched low, my gaze scanning over her sexy body. “You okay?”

“Yup, totally fine.” She sighed, stretching her arms out and gliding them over the snow. “See, I just took a little break to make a snow angel.”

I jerked my chin toward her feet. “It’s only a half angel. The snowboard messed up the bottom.”

“That’s not the only thing it messed up,” she muttered before pressing her lips together in a flat line.

There was no missing the pain in her pretty brown eyes, even through the purple tint of her goggles. “Where does it hurt?”

“My wrist,” she whimpered, lifting her arm to cradle her hand against her chest. “So much for me mastering the falling technique. I know better than to try to stop my fall, but I guess it only takes one out of a hundred times to forget.”

“Sorry to say that you’re right, angel.” I undid the bindings on her board to free her feet, setting it next to me. “Don’t move yet. I need to do a quick examination to make sure you’re not hurt anywhere else.”

“Okay.”

This wasn’t how I’d hoped to get my hands on Iris, but I heaved a sigh of relief when I confirmed that she hadn’t done any other damage. “The good news is that you seem good, other than your wrist.”

“And the bad news?” she asked, her nose wrinkling as she blinked up at me.

“Cammie, our medic, isn’t on the mountain today, so you’re stuck with me taking care of your injury.”

She laughed softly, and the sound was music to my ears. “That doesn’t sound bad to me at all.”

“Glad you have confidence in me, angel.”

She grinned up at me. “Hard not to when you just came to my rescue.”

“I haven’t gotten you back to safety quite yet,” I pointed out.

The board belonged to the resort, so I wasn’t too worried about leaving it on one of the racks, but just as I was considering my options, one of my guys skied over. “Hey, Jack. Need some help?”

“Thanks, Mike.” I gestured toward Iris’s board. “I think the ski shop might be closed already. Can you drop that off in my office for safekeeping?”

He nodded. “Will do.”

With that taken care of, I crouched low to slide my arms beneath Iris’s thighs and lower back. Then I stood and cradled her against my chest.

“Holy crap,” she squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Give a girl a little bit of warning next time.”

I winked at her. “That an invitation?”

“Maybe.”

Her answering giggle and flare of heat in her eyes told me that her thoughts were headed in the same territory as mine—to other scenarios where I’d have reason to carry her. Like to a bed.