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“Maya, you are bloody amazing.” He leaned to kiss her cheek, slow to let his lips leave her skin, and once he did, he held her face close to his. “Thank you so much. For everything. I don’t even know how to thank you for all the stuff you’ve done for me, apart from saying it a million times. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Her pulse throbbed in her ears as she got lost in his eyes. “You’ll need to say it another nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven times if you’re to hit the million mark.”

He laughed softly. The urge to kiss him permeated her soul, but she shoved it down—he only saw her as a friend, plus he had a girlfriend. Albeit a toxic one; however, that was his choice.

But if he only sees me as a friend, why is he still holding my face and looking into my eyes as if he wants to kiss me too?

“Maya!” They jumped apart as Yvonne’s voice sounded up the stairs. “Do you guys want any tea?”

Maya swallowed, looking at Sam. “Tea?”

He smiled, color streaking his cheeks as he ran a hand through his hair. “That’s okay. I’d better head back before Cat wonders where I am.”

The sound of Cat’s name took some of the shine from Maya’s high. She opted not to ask where he’d told Cat he was going.

She cleared her throat. “I’m free after my junior class tomorrow morning, if you’re able to meet to finalize the arrangements for the sled race?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He followed her out of the room and down the stairs. “I think I’m going to be thanking you every day for the rest of my life.”

Maya called through to Yvonne that no tea was required, watching him pull on his boots and thinking that being in contact with him every day for the rest of their lives was something she quite liked the sound of.

The many other, more X-rated ways in which he might thank her began to crowd her thoughts—all of them containing very accurate detail of his body thanks to what she had witnessed at Kirsty’s and also in the spa suite.

Heat rose in her face as he looked up to flash her a smile, and she shoved those thoughts out of her mind quickly before she made a fool of herself.

Chapter

Fourteen

The kids seemed to be having loads of fun, chucking snow at each other. Sam smiled as he watched them from the terrace, noticing that Maya was lobbing snow with them. She seemed so happy working at the resort, and, not for the first time, he imagined what it would be like if she stayed on permanently. The idea of it made him feel as if he had electricity coursing through his system.

After taking a seat with his laptop, he ordered them some coffees and waited for her to finish, having decided that being by the fireside with her was best avoided in case he got any more romantic ideas. In any case, it had been occupied.

How did the mere act of watching her laugh and smile make him so happy? All of it was adding up. He loved her company and she made him feel so relaxed. She was always there for him when he needed her, and allowed him to be there for her even if they hadn’t been getting on as well. That he’d been eaten with jealousy at witnessing her kiss Brodie. Sam winced as he remembered his reaction and how it had, in some part, contributed to his surliness with her the previous morning. Granted, his response was mainly down to Cat-related stress and sleep deprivation, but he couldn’t deny that jealousy was mixed in there. What a shitty thing to do on his part. She was free to kiss anyone she liked, and it was none of his business.

He rubbed his eyes as he remembered how much he’d wanted her to kiss him the previous evening, in her bedroom. Shaking his head, he felt like the worst person in the world. Jealous about his friend living her own life. Thinking about kissing his friend when he had a girlfriend. Albeit one who not only refused to share a bed with him, but had fucked off to her parents’ house and was ignoring him. But that was no excuse for his treacherous thoughts.

The coffees arrived shortly before the woman herself, who walked over and removed her helmet with a shake of her hair that left him so weak at the knees he was relieved he was sitting. She brushed her lips against his cheek as she took a seat next to him, and it sent a wave of heat flaming over his skin.

“Right, Leonard. Where are we at?”

He smiled. Her teasing was so goddamned sexy. That was how they’d ended up against the wall of the boot room in days gone by. Maya had pinched something of his and wouldn’t give it back until he’d admitted that she’d had the best technique on a slalom run they’d just finished. She’d held whatever it was—he couldn’t remember what, he hadn’t even cared at the time; he’d just been enjoying the game—above her head so that he’d had to reach to get it, his body pressing against hers in the process. One thing had led to another and . . .

Maya nudged him. “Come on, slow coach. Get the tech fired up.”

Sam shook his head, realizing his heart was tripping along pretty fast. “Sorry. Here we go.”

Opening the fresh version of the web page that he’d had Rowan spruce that morning, he showed her the changes they’d made to the prize list, with the gig tickets at the top.

Maya rubbed her hands together. “Awesome. We should e-mail the existing entrants to let them know about the changes to the prize list. We also need to go big on advertising the new list, because it might draw more people in.”

He nodded. “I’ll get some fresh flyers made and we’ll put them in the local shops and noticeboards.”

“No. I’ll do it. You deserve a reprieve. What about the equipment and staffing on the day?”

“Sorted,” Sam said, absorbing the heartwarming sensation of her protecting him from the burden. “Except that Vicky was included in the numbers, so we’re a person down.”

Maya shot him an open-mouthed look, pointing to herself in an affronted manner. “What am I, chopped liver?”