Page 21 of The Christmas Accomplice

The idea of Reece acting as a ski instructor, however, didn’t cause any anxiety. As a matter of fact, Welton was surprised to realize he hoped Reece had been serious about giving Welton lessons himself and not referring him to a ski instructor at the lodge.

“You might be right.” Welton finished his water and added his cabin number to the bill before signing it. He pushed back from the table, stood, and grabbed his coat. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Let’s go.”

Welton attempted to exit at the far end of the dining room, but discovered there was no door. He gestured back toward the main entrance and said over the ferns atop the half wall, “Guess I should use the actual exit instead of the imaginary one I expected to be back here.”

“Unless you can hurdle this wall, I’d say that’s a good idea.”

When he finally stood alongside Reece, they looked at each other a moment, both of them grinning.

“Did that feel like the longest walk of your life?” Reece asked.

“Second,” Welton said. “Longest was walking home from my senior prom.”

Reece’s eyebrows went up.

“Alone,” Welton added.

Reece’s eyebrows went a bit higher.

“In the rain.”

Even higher, and then Reece said, “Was it uphill, too?”

Welton’s laugh came out as a snort, and he put his face in his hands.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Reece said through a laugh of his own. “Come on, I promise you this will be a lot better than your prom.”

“That’s not a very high bar.” Welton looked Reece in the eye for an entire second before having to look away.

Reece led the way to a good-sized room called the Freestyle Ballroom.

“I take it that’s a ski term?” Welton said.

“You take it correctly. It’s tricks and stuff like that.”

The room was carpeted in a maroon and gold pattern except for a large square portion at one side made of laminated hardwood used as a dance floor for parties and wedding receptions. On the wall behind the dance floor, he noticed a series of plugs.

“Looks like this is where you’ll want to set up your equipment.”

“Right, I’ll have a riser set up there with a table on top.” Reece went to a corner, opened the door to a small closet and hauled out a plastic bin filled with tangled cables. “I’m sure there’s a connector in here that could work, but there are so many it’s a bit overwhelming.”

Welton peered down into the bin. “It’s like a snake orgy.”

Damn his stupid mouth. He crouched and sifted through the cables, deliberately avoiding looking at Reece. Maybe he’d let his comment go by.

“Do snakes have intercourse?”

Well, you should have expected that follow-up question.

“They do,” Welton said. “And it can take up to a whole day.”

“Damn. Next life goals: come back as a snake.”

Holy hell, I’m going to spontaneously combust.

Reece squatted across the bin from him and Welton managed to meet his eyes for a fleeting moment.