Nor the time a couple of years later when he and his older brother, Gray—both shirtless and in low-slung jeans—had been working on a muscle car in that same alley all summer long, either fighting or drinking pilfered beers and laughing, their lanky bodies hot and sweaty.
And certainly not the summer after she’d graduated, when she’d finagled a dance with him at the annual festival on the lake, a slow dance—and even after the music stopped, they’d swayed to the beat, unable to break eye contact. She’d been shocked at the heat they’d generated and had wondered if he’d felt the same.
And then he’d kissed her, and it sure seemed like he’d felt plenty, because the kiss … Oh, the kiss. Magical, sensual, erotic … She’d pressed into him, willing to take whatever he could give.
But he’d held back, which at the time she had thought was so sweet. She’d thought he hadn’t wanted to pressure her, that they could take things slow.
Until the next day. Lily’s sister, Ashley, had come into Lily’s room all dreamy, confessing that she had the biggest crush on her assistant ski coach.
Who happened to be one sexy Aidan Kincaid.
Ashley had been sure he liked her back.
That had stung, but it was nothing compared to what followed.
I managed to survive it all, she reminded herself now. Staring into Aidan’s melted chocolate eyes, she repeated in her head, The past belongs in the past, the past belongs in the past … Still holding Aidan’s gaze, she revved the engine—her car engine, not her internal engine, because that part of her wasn’t going to rev for him ever again.
Nope, never. She simply couldn’t live with herself if she fell for him again.
With that same small smile still playing on his mouth, Aidan lifted his hands in a stance of mock surrender and took a step back.
Which meant she couldn’t very well run him over now. Instead she let her tires chirp as she accelerated out of the parking lot like the hounds of hell were on her heels.
Because in a way, they were.
Chapter 4
Aidan stood watching Lily spin out of the parking lot in a little Honda, as usual leaving chaos in her wake.
And in his gut.
And maybe also in his heart, something he’d admit never. There’d been a time when he would’ve smiled at just the sight of her, and as she was the daughter of the former manager at a neighboring resort, Aidan had seen her a lot.
She’d been quiet but not shy, smart but a lousy student. Her mountain skills rivaled his. She’d earned them working hard for her dad, very hard.
She’d never complained.
He’d loved that about her.
She’d been a bundle of contradictions, and he’d loved that too. He’d also loved how much she’d given to her family, not to mention how tough she was, both mentally and physically.
Her sister, Ashley, had been only a year younger, and they’d pushed each other hard, competing over everything. Ashley had been the outgoing, vocal one, but Lily’s charms had been more internal, an inner warmth behind her adventurous spirit that Aidan had been inexplicably drawn to.
He hadn’t seen a glimpse of that adventurous spirit or warmth just now.
Nope, the only emotion coming from those light green eyes of hers had been temper and lots of it—aimed at him. He had no idea what she had to be so pissy about. Ten years ago he’d been the one she’d left in her dust, his heart ripped to shreds.
He felt stupid remembering it now, but he felt like they had some kind of connection there on the mountain, in a way he’d never connected with any other girl before.
Or since.
They’d been two adventurous souls, kindred spirits. Or so he’d thought. He’d always been the glue that had kept his family together, and with her he didn’t have to work so hard. It had been easy, and he’d felt real contentment. Being with Lily, he could relax and just be. When she’d left, he’d lost all that, and nothing had come easy to him ever since.
Not that any of it mattered now. He’d gotten over her a damn long time ago, a fact he had to remind himself of several times as the worn tires on her car spun a little pulling out of the lot. A city car, not meant for the narrow, treacherous mountain roads and conditions in the Colorado Rockies.
Maybe she’d forgotten how they did things up here. Maybe she wasn’t staying long, though there’d been that cryptic “No” when he’d asked if she was visiting.
It didn’t matter. What she did was none of his business.
He pulled out his cell and checked to make sure he hadn’t missed any calls. His schedule for the fire season was three days on and one day off, which was today. But S&R had no such schedule. He was often on call for S&R and when notified, he’d go at a moment’s notice if he wasn’t already on a fire call.
Since he hadn’t missed anything, he called his older brother. Gray ran Cedar Ridge Resort and knew everything about everyone in town. He was an eighty-two-year-old lady hiding in a thirty-one-year-old man’s body. And he had some ’splaining to do, since he’d apparently known about Lily being back but hadn’t mentioned it.