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  “Because he’s my fucking hero,” she says emphatically. “I’ve followed him his whole career. When I was younger, I told my coach to teach me to ski just like Brett.”

  “How’d that go?” I say.

  “Well enough to get me to the Olympic qualifiers in 2018.”

  What the hell? She’s an Olympic-caliber skier? Maybe it’s a good thing we never got to race, because she might have demolished me.

  “You didn’t make the team?” I ask.

  “Took a bad spill on a practice run and sprained my ankle,” she says. “I couldn’t continue.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  “I’ll try again in 2022. That’s one reason I want to talk to Brett, to see if he’s got any advice for me.”

  “I’ll make it happen, Pearl. I promise.”

  For the first time, she smiles at me. A warm, genuine smile.

  The next second, she shivers badly.

  Pearl

  It’s so fucking cold in here.

  The news that I might be able to get an extended conversation with Brett Carnegie should be enough to make me forget all about the weather, especially since an introduction from his friend would lessen the chance that he’d see me as stalker-y. The last thing I’d want is for Brett to think I’m stanning.

  But the cold is getting to me at this point, settling deep in my bones. I normally try to go as light as possible when I sky, with thinner insulated materials instead of thicker, warmer ones. This is one time I wish I’d sacrificed a little maneuverability in favor of protection from the temperature.

  “Pearl, don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe if we sit together, we can keep each other warm.”

  I look at this guy, Connor. He’s handsome as fuck, and has promised to introduce me to Brett, which is no small thing. But I can’t stop seeing him as an arrogant prick, and his offer to keep me warm sounds smarmy.

  “I’m good, thanks,” I say.

  I’d rather freeze, actually.

  I think.

  “So tell me about yourself, Connor.” If we don’t keep the conversation going, my brain will focus on the cold.

  “Not much to tell. I own a sporting goods business. Always loved to ski, but unlike my buddy Brett, I loved to party even more. I stopped drinking so much a few years ago, but not in time to become a competitive skier.”

  “So you got the bug, too?” I ask.

  He laughs. “Yep, I got it, too. Or at least I had it at one point. Do you really think you can qualify for Beijing?”

  “I’m going to give it my best shot. I know I would have made the team in South Korea.”

  “Good for you,” he says. “I hope you make it. Do you have a family? Husband or kids?”

  I shake my head. Ten minutes ago I would have told him it was none of his business, but in our current situation, it makes no sense to be fighting.

  “That’s good. More time to practice.”

  “A family can come later, if it’s in the cards for me,” I say. “Right now I have more important things that require a hundred percent of my focus.”

  The gondola sways gently in the wind. Outside it’s getting hard to tell the trees from the shadows. I shiver again, this time harder.

  “Jesus Christ, it’s cold.”

  Connor looks at me for a second, then stands and steps across the cabin, making it sway a little more. Then he sits on the bench next to me.

  Okay, maybe I’ll welcome a little warmth. Then he drapes his arm around me and pulls my side to his.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, honestly confused about his intentions.

  “Keeping us warm,” he says.

  The sudden feeling of another body next to mine is not only pleasant, it feels necessary.

  “Okay,” I say. “Just don’t get carried away.”

  We’re both quiet for a few minutes, the slight whistling of the wind through the small seams in the car the only sound.

  “Connor, are we really going to be here all night?” I ask.

  He thinks for a minute.

  “We might. But don’t worry, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Pearl.”

  I’m not sure why that promise feels so reassuring to me.

  Connor

  I don’t remember ever going from wanting a girl, to wanting to strangle her, then back to wanting her again so quickly.

  But right now what I want more than anything is to get off of this damn lift and get into the hot tub back in my suite at the lodge. I am freezing my balls off up here, though holding Pearl close to me is warming me up a bit. She’s stopped shivering, too, so I think it’s having the same effect on her.

  “How did you win the contest?” I ask, using conversation to ward off the cold and the awkwardness.

  “It was an online thing. I just filled out an entry form and clicked ‘submit.’”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah,” she says, “though I did it about twenty times a day for a month.”

  I laugh out loud.

  “I even had my mom and my sister doing it for me. I probably sent in a couple thousand submissions.”

  “I guess it worked.”

  There’s a moment of silence, then Pearl asks, “Can you really introduce me to Brett? No joke?”

  I pull her closer, our bodies squishing together. “Absolutely. And he’s a great guy, so I’m sure he’ll help you any way he can.”

  She rolls her eyes, this time at herself. “Now I feel kind of bad that I was such a bitch to you earlier.”

  “I suppose I had it coming. I was showing off a little on the slopes.”

  Pearl laughs. “A little?”

  “More than a little. Though if I had known you were the same girl I saw at the photo op, I’m sure I would have been trying even harder to impress you.”

  She turns her head to look at me. “Is that right?”

  I smile. “I had my eye on you this morning. I was hoping to see you again tonight at the dinner.”

  “Well, you saw me again, that’s for sure.”

  We both laugh. “I’m glad we had a chance to meet,” I say.

  I see a twinkle in her eye. “Me too, Connor. Only I wish the circumstances had been different.”

  “Is this really so bad?” I ask.

  Pearl bites her upper lips and rolls her eyes upwards in thought for a second.

  “Yes, it is.” We laugh even harder this time.

  Pearl

  “So you’re not married, then. Do you have a boyfriend?”

  It’s been an hour since Connor sat down next to me. I’m still freezing, but my mind tells me I’m warmer now. Who knows what the truth is.

  “No boyfriend, at least not at the moment,” I say. “In the past, sure, but my commitment to skiing always seems to overwhelm them at some point.”

  “I can imagine. You’re probably away a lot.”

  “Not only that, but away with another man,” I reply.

  Connor looks at me, silently requesting clarification.

  “My trainer,” I say.

  “Ah, that makes sense. Who’s your trainer?” He really seems curious.

  “Pierre Durand.”

  “Oh yeah,” he says.

  “You’ve heard of him?” I ask.

  Connor laughs. “I know Pierre well. We worked together on a project a couple of years ago. Great guy. And your prospective boyfriends have nothing to worry about. Pierre’s more devoted to his wife than any man I’ve ever seen.”

  Oh my god, he does know Pierre! “Right? He’s crazy about Sophie! They Facetime several times a day when he’s away from home. His data bill must be astronomical.”

  “Hey, when you’re in love, you do what you gotta do, y’know?”

  I don’t know, but I hope to one day.

  I shiver again. I’m trying not to, or at least trying to minimize the shivering when it hits me, but holy shit, it’s so damned cold in here. Connor again pulls me close, and this time I wiggle my butt closer to him until pretty m
uch our entire sides are touching from knees to biceps.

  “Do you have a watch?” I ask.

  Connor looks at the Fitbit on his wrist. “Eight twenty.”

  It seems like we’ve been here forever. I don’t even want to think about what happens when I absolutely have to pee, and that moment will arrive at some point. Connor can just stand on the seat and dangle his man-thing out the little window, but I don’t have that option.

  “What’s your favorite movie?” he asks, and I’m happy for the distraction from potential bathroom emergencies.

  “Hmm… oh, I know. But you have to promise not to laugh.”

  “Something tells me it would be unwise to make such a promise,” Connor says.

  I nod. “I understand. Okay, my favorite movie of all time is… Elf.”

  Connor turns to me, his eyes wide. “Elf is the best holiday movie EVER!”

  “Oh my god, it really is! Will Ferrell is the perfect man-child elf.”

  “Buddy is one of my all-time favorite movie characters. And that scene in the shower, where he and Zooey Deschanel sing—”

  “Baby, It’s Cold Outside!” I half-shout.

  We talk about the perfection that is Elf for a few minutes, then I ask, “What’s your favorite movie?”

  Connor looks me right in the eye and says, “Anything with the Rock in it.”

  For a good ten seconds, he doesn’t flinch as I try my best to probe his brain with my eyes and see if he’s joking.

  “You’re serious?” I finally ask. Nobody has such bad taste.

  “You don’t like the Rock?” he asks, with over-the-top concern. I’m beginning to suspect he’s pranking me when he bursts into laughter.

  “You dick!” I say, punching his thigh with my balled-up, gloved hand. “I totally believed you!”

  “I would hope that even in our brief time together, you’d already know me better than that.”

  “I guess not,” I say. “Seriously, what’s your favorite movie?” Why is my hand still on his thigh? And why aren’t I removing it?

  “It’s got to be Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” he says.

  “I love that movie!” I practically squeal. “But I thought guys don’t like romance movies.”

  “It’s not just a romance,” Connor says. “It’s kind of scifi, has some comedy, and it’s just kind of bizarrely amazing.”

  “Okay, I think I get it now. It is a great flick,” I say.

  “So during our accidental incarceration, we’ve determined that we can probably watch movies together without one of us getting bored. We should go see a movie sometime.”

  “That would be gr— wait, where do you live?”

  “Boulder. You?” he asks.

  “Squaw Valley.”

  “That makes sense,” he says. “Great slopes, not overly crowded.”

  “So it looks like the movie date won’t work after all,” I say.

  “Why not? Tahoe is only about a thousand miles from Boulder. I could do that.”

  I laugh at his silliness. “You would drive that far to see a movie with me? I call bullshit on that one.”

  His look turns serious. “Well, there’d have to be more than just a movie involved.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what? I’m afraid to ask, but what would be the thing that would entice you to drive a thousand miles to see a movie with me?”

  “There’d have to be dinner involved. Dessert, too. And who said I was driving? Maybe I have my own private jet.”

  Connor has me grinning now. “Okay, Mr. Private Jet, it’s a date. If you show up in Squaw Valley, I’ll buy you dinner and take you to a movie.”

  “What about dessert?” he asks.

  “Who knows, you might get a special dessert for traveling so far,” I say, playfully cocking an eyebrow.

  “This is sounding better and better,” Connor says. As I look in his gorgeous eyes, I see a totally different man looking back at me than the one I’d seen this morning. In the dim light, I can’t see what color those eyes are, and I don’t remember from earlier when I didn’t like him at all, but they seem softer now.

  “What color are your eyes?” I ask.

  “Green,” he replies. “And yours are the most amazing shade of blue I’ve ever seen.”

  They are blue. He’s been paying attention.

  “Connor, I’m freezing cold. Kiss me.”

  Connor

  For a split second, though, my mind involuntarily wonders if she’s joking about kissing her. But I don’t care, I’m not going to let an opportunity like this slip away. I lean her back on the bench and twist myself to face her. After a brief look into her eyes, or what I can see of them in the dim light, I press my probably-blue lips against hers.

  What begins as a simple kiss rapidly evolves into something deeper and more sensual. Her lips part at the first touch of my tongue, and soon we’ve forgotten about the frigid temperature and are locked in the most passionate kiss I’ve ever had.

  Oh. My. God.

  By the time we finally break a good five minutes later, my cock is rock hard and I’m glad I have a few layers of clothing to hide my teenage-level excitement. As I move back from her face, she gasps and softy says, “Wow.”

  “You liked that?” I ask with a smile.

  “It was… unexpected. In the best possible way,” Pearl whispers.

  “I’m glad you thought so, because there’s lots more where it came from.”

  “I should hope so,” she says as she slips a hand behind my neck and pulls me back toward her for more.

  The second kiss starts out as a continuation of the first, but soon moves from sensual to sexual. My tongue caresses hers and she doesn’t hold back in responding in kind. In fact, she’s more aggressive than I am.

  I ache to put my hands all over her, to rip her zippers and buttons apart and get to her flesh. If we weren’t in freezing temperatures, I probably would make such a move.

  She pulls away to look into my eyes.

  “Connor, you kiss like… like an angel and a devil are working together.”

  “That’s good, right?” I ask. “Because nobody’s ever said that to me before.”

  “Oh, it’s good. It’s really good.” I become aware that her hand, which has been resting on my thigh for a while now, has creeped upwards and is so close to my hidden hard-on that I worry she’ll accidentally touch it and this whole moment will evaporate in a pervy instant.

  “And you kiss like…” I pause when I realize where I was headed.

  “Like what?” Pearl asks, her other hand still on my neck and threatening to pull me back in again. “Tell me.”

  “Like you’re fucking,” I say. “Totally.”

  “Mmm, I like your interpretation.”

  Just then, she shivers again, harder than before. “Hold me. Please.” It’s hard to decipher whether the request is more related to desire or survival. Maybe both. Regardless, my shivering body also wants to be against hers. I lean over and press myself against her, our jackets smashing so hard that I can feel her big tits even through the layers of insulation.

  We remain like that for a few minutes, our faces close together, me giving her little kisses across her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and back to those plump, imminently kissable lips.

  “I feel a little warmer,” Pearl whispers.

  “Funny how that works,” I reply.

  “Come here,” she says, lying on her back along the wooden bench. “I want you to be my blanket.”

  This could be a little embarrassing at best, or mood-killing at worst. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I say with no elaboration.

  “I don’t care,” Pearl playfully insists. “You got me into this mess, now you need to keep my warm.”

  She pulls me onto her, and I cringe as I feel my hard cock press down against her pubic bone.

  I look into her eyes sheepishly. “That last kiss was pretty intense,” I say apologetically.

  “Apparently,” she replies, b
ut she doesn’t freak out and try to run to the other side of the cabin. “This little incident keeps going in unexpected directions.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine it’ll go away while it’s pressed against you like this. If it bothers you, I can change positions.”

  “No.” Pearl says, her eyes smiling. “Maybe it’ll warm me up, you know?”

  Something’s going on between the two of us, something I certainly didn’t see coming a few hours ago when this car stopped in midair and she looked like she wanted to rip me apart.

  “Okay, then,” I say. “Let’s find out how hot we can make it.”

  Pearl

  What is going on here?

  I’m lying in a gondola suspended over a frigid mountainside in near total darkness with an almost complete stranger on top of me. More than that, his extremely hard cock is pressing against my clit and has me so excited I nearly forgot how freezing I am. The cold that had seeped down into my bones has been held at bay by a few incendiary kisses and the body of an obviously excited near-stranger.

  I’d forgotten how good it feels to be this close to a man. I can’t remember the last time I had sex, but I’m suddenly and painfully aware that it was way too long ago. If we weren’t exposed to the elements, I’d be tempted to strip him down right here and now.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Connor asks. My god, he cares about whether or not his erection is offending me. I’d actually be far more offended if he just let me sit there, shivering to death.

  I nod. “Don’t worry about it. I’m warmer now.” I’m surprised to hear my voice coming out more like a moan than a whisper. “Can we stay like this for a while?”

  “I’m fine with it if you are,” he says.

  “You won’t get…?” Jesus, what’s the word I’m looking for? Overly excited? Too hard? Throbbing? Not that it matters, I don’t want Connor to go anywhere. “It’s not uncomfortable at all?”

  “I’m fine, Pearl. This feels… oddly perfect.”

  It does. It’s definitely odd, but it’s absurdly, surreally perfect. If it weren’t for this fucking cold air all around us, that is. But at least now the fronts of our bodies are warming. I just wish we could strip down and lie naked together with all these layers of clothes under us and on top of us to keep out the cold.