Page 1 (2/2)

Their friends Janet and Ellen both earing new engage but happy for theht her last boyfriend locked in the ood friend froive her license to spill sour milk all over her friends’ happiness

"You could have told the he turned out to be, you know"

Only Mia knehat had happened with Colbie’s ex-boyfriend "I didn’t want our celebration to turn into a pity party" She worked to shake away the ie of her ex in bed with another woman "Besides, I refuse to let him ruin my vacation in one of the most beautiful places in the world" Especially after he’d ruined her New Year’s so thoroughly

Intent on relaxing her too-tight stomach muscles, she took a deep breath and looked out at the truly spectacular view froh above Lake Tahoe It really was a winter wonderland The sky was blue, the air sht before was soft and fluffy on the branches of trees Even before the small jet had touched down at the Lake Tahoe airport two days ago, Colbie’s first sight of the partially frozen lake had taken her breath away

Plus, there was nothing better than spending time with people who knew her alone out snowshoeing during the day and then spent the night drinking too hed since their vacation last year

Between the gorgeous view and a few deep belly-breaths, she finally started to relax But as the chair moved closer to the top of theall the way

She was e: skiing down the hilland getting to the botto, she was perfectly coordinated, but as soon as she stuck skis to her feet, they went haywire

She knew Mia was going to offer to hang back with her once they got off the lift, but Colbie couldn’t stand the thought of getting in the way of her friend’s fun, especially when Mia was a black-diareed to et nearly enough of in Seattle This year she’d been perfectly happy to let the skiing fanatics like Mia decide the location

"Thanks for joining me on the lift," she said to Mia, "but I refuse to let you babysit et to the top, you’re going to go ski to your heart’s content"

Her friend raised an eyebrow "Look who’s using the dominatrix voice now"

Mia was one of the prettiest women she’d ever irl with the et out my whip," she teased

"Yes, ma’am," her friend said with a jaunty salute that shook their seat a little too much for Colbie’s peace of mind

She held her breath as the chair scooted closer to the landing at the top of the hill Forcing her hands to unclench fro on to for dear life, she tipped up her skis and hopped off the seat in unison with Mia A les and aving goodbye as she gracefully skied away, heading over to the other side of the ly difficult runs were

Mia e could Colbie do to herself on one little o fine And for a moment, as her skis actually went in the direction she pointed theh the fresh snow, it seemed like it would

Until a s the little girl with the flying pigtails was as out of control as Colbie was about to be herself when she headed down the hill, she knew she had to at least try to save the child

Wobbling on her skis, she dropped her poles and reached out for the girl to try to catch her Seeing this, the little girl sihed and scooted effortlessly out of her reach

At which point Colbie wibble-wobbled all the way over on her skisand landed flat on her face with a barely ly cold on her cheeks and chin and forehead Scratch that--it was freezing every inch of her face that wasn’t covered, including her earlobes and the spot on her neck where her scarf et out of the way of the next skier, she tried to get up on her hands and knees, but the snoas too soft and the one ski that had stayed on kept going deeper into the snoisting her ankle so fierce

Yup, no question about it She was stuck

A fleeting thought passed through Colbie’sthat would uy that she could have had a soul-deep love affair with in another reality found her with her butt up in the air and snow plastered to her face

But even she didn’t have luck that bad Or at least she didn’t think she did, until a few seconds later when she heard a deep, slightly rough voice say, "Are you okay?"

Chapter Two

She lifted her head up and to the side, trying to put a face to the sinfully sexy voice, but there were too many ice crystals on her eyelashes for her to see much more than a blurry face and dark hair

And then he was saying, "Don’t worry, I’ve got you," and his big, strong hands were co her up out of the snow Sheto help her rescuer, but all that ended up doing was to ether they rolled a few feet in the snow, their skis popping off, until they finally caer’s weight was heavy on top of her But oddly, after she caught her breath, she realized she wasn’t the least bit uncoer’s chest and he was holding her so tightly she could hear his heart beating through his partially open ski jacket Her ars were entwined with his

Mht as a lowso close with a h her chilled body

She looked practical on the surface, but at her core, Colbie was a true sensualist She loved the finest silks and lace against her skin and happily spent way too much on the perfect, evocative scent It had always been her dream to open a store that sold luxury products for womenbut in the same way that she’d rarely been able to justify such luxuries for herself, she’d also never been able to justify giving up a good job to chase a dream Not until last month, when in the wake of the disaster with her ex, she’d finally decided to take charge of her life and had signed the lease for her new store: Indulgence