Never Been Snow Lucky (Snowed Inn Romance)

Chapter 5

5

IRIS

M y wrist was throbbing, and I was embarrassed that Jack had witnessed my wipe out, but a part of me was grateful for that spill because it’d brought me close to him again. He was as sexy as I remembered, and the spark of attraction I felt when I first saw him hadn’t dimmed.

Not even the pain or cold dampened the rush of passion coursing through my veins while he carried me all the way to the inn. He barely broke a sweat and didn’t seem to be out of breath when we entered the lobby, and he set me on one of the chairs near the fireplace.

“Hang tight while I grab a first-aid kit.”

“Sure thing,” I agreed before staring at his butt as he crossed the room to duck behind the reception desk.

He chatted with the guy working there for a moment, then ducked down to get a big red bag from beneath the counter. I tugged off my goggles and helmet, setting them beside me when he returned. “Would you be more comfortable having me do a more thorough examination of your wrist here, in the small clinic our medic uses, or up in your room?”

I’d had enough broken bones from sports injuries that I had a good handle on how they felt, and the pain wasn’t to the level where I thought that was going to be the diagnosis. So I felt safe saying, “Let’s just go up to my suite. There’s plenty of space, and I’d like to change into something more comfortable while I still can. My fleece base layer top will be tough to get off if I wait any longer, and my wrist swells more.”

“Makes sense to me,” he agreed, wrapping his arm around my waist to help me stand. It wasn’t really necessary, but I wasn’t going to argue when it felt nice to be tucked against his side.

He grabbed my helmet and goggles, and when we crossed the lobby to head to the elevator, someone called my name. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted Raven hurrying toward us. “Are you okay, Iris?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just took a little spill on the snowboard, but Jack was there to save me.”

“He’s good like that.” Raven shot a smile at him. “I hate to put you out when you’re injured, but I was hoping you’d be willing to let someone stay in the double-bedded room of your suite. With the road closing earlier than expected, I’m short on places to put skiers planning to head into town this afternoon. I have a family of four who can’t get back to their rental house, and it would be the roomiest option I can offer them. The connecting door has a deadbolt, so you’d still have the living room, kitchen, and king bedroom all to yourself.”

My brows drew together as I took in everything she said. “I think I missed something…why can’t they go to their rental house?”

“The road to the mountain is closed,” Jack explained.

“Oh no,” I cried, digging in my ski pants with my good hand for my cell. “That means my parents won’t be able to make it up here then.”

“We can probably finagle a room swap with that family I was talking about,” Raven offered. “So at least if your parents are stuck in town, they won’t need to find somewhere to stay.”

There was a long list of notifications waiting for me that I had missed while snowboarding. A call each from my mom and dad, plus about a dozen messages in our group chat. Pulling up the thread, I quickly scrolled through their texts. “That won’t be necessary. Their flight was canceled, so they won’t make it until after Christmas. If at all.”

“I’m sorry, angel.” Jack gave me a comforting squeeze that helped ease some of my disappointment.

“Son of a nutcracker,” Raven mumbled, her lips curving down in a sympathetic pout.

Her choice of words made me giggle, lightening the mood.

“Raven has a habit of replacing swear words with Christmas terms,” Jack explained when we continued our trek to the elevator.

“Considering her penchant for snowmen, that totally makes sense.”

The lift was crowded, so we stayed quiet until we were outside the door to my suite. Crossing my right arm over my body, I tried to dig deep enough into my left pocket to grab the key, but I couldn’t quite reach it. Since I didn’t want to risk doing any additional harm to my wrist, I blinked up at Jack and asked, “Um…could you do me a favor and get the key out of my pocket?”

“Wasn’t how I imagined I’d get in your pants the first time, but sure,” he teased.

My cheeks felt as though they were on fire as he reached into my pocket to fish out the key. Which seemed appropriate since his innocent touch sent a spark of carnal need straight to my core. I’d never experienced anything quite like it before, but I finally understood what women meant when they said a guy made their panties spontaneously combust. If I didn’t know it was physically impossible, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see smoke coming from my ski pants.

Luckily, Jack didn’t seem to notice my reaction. He stayed in professional mode as he guided me over to the couch and started to pull supplies out of his first-aid kit. Then he prodded my wrist to check my pain level and tested my range of motion before stating, “I can’t be positive without doing an X-ray, but I’m fairly certain it’s not broken.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking it’s a sprain,” I agreed. “Hopefully, a mild one since it doesn’t feel too bad.”

“I’m going to wrap it for compression, and then I want you to use one of the instant ice packs for fifteen to twenty minutes,” he recommended as he unwound an ace bandage. “I’ll snag a couple of ice packs from Cammie’s office so you can continue to ice every two to three hours. Do you have ibuprofen?”

I nodded. “Yup.”

“Good, don’t be afraid to take it. It’ll help with the pain and inflammation.”

As soon as he finished wrapping my wrist, I jumped to my feet and mumbled something about needing to get out of my boots and ski clothes. I rushed into the bedroom and realized that I had completely forgotten that it was an impossible task with only one hand. I had to ask him for help.

“Crap,” I muttered before backtracking to the door. Jack was packing his supplies back into the first-aid kit, but his head lifted when I cleared my throat. “I may have overestimated what I could do on my own.”

“Happy to help.” He gestured toward the couch. “How about you sit down, and I’ll get those boots off you first.”

“Thanks.”

Having him kneel in front of me was a lesson in torture. All sorts of dirty images flashed through my head, making my core ache. My fingers itched to run through his thick hair, so I clenched my good fist at my side.

Jack’s gaze darted to my hand after he tugged my boots from my feet. “Is the pain getting worse?”

“Nope, I just need to take that ibuprofen, and I’ll be good,” I assured him.

I got to my feet, and he undid the zipper of my jacket and helped me pull my left arm through the sleeve. Then he undid the zipper on my snow bib so that the straps would easily slide down my shoulders. The layer beneath it was snug and long-sleeved, so I wasn’t surprised when he gently clasped my wrist and widened the sleeve so that I could pull my arm close to my body. “Thanks again.”

“My pleasure, angel.”

His raspy reply sent a shiver down my spine, and I almost swore he mumbled something under his breath about undressing me being a favor to him more than me. But when I glanced up to scan his expression, he just smiled and headed toward the door. “I’ll be up here until the roads are cleared after the storm passes, so I hope you don’t mind if I pop in to check on you from time to time.”

My answer was instant. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”