Of course, it was all physical with Erika. She was the sexiest woman he’d had the pleasure of putting to bed in a long time, but she was irritating and stuck-up and so far from his type...it was merely physical.

Her braless state when he’d entered Cassie’s an hour before had given him a semi-hard-on that only the emergency call had been able to deflate. Soft-looking, round breasts visible under the tank top she’d been wearing had practically begged to be touched and the long, shapely legs that had straddled him on the couch had stolen his attention more than once. Messing with her had been a mistake...putting his hands on her body after a sleepless night of thinking of nothing else had only made the torture worse.

He couldn’t act on the temptation. She was his sister’s best friend, a woman he’d grown up with, and her attitude drove him insane. Hot sex with her wasn’t worth the headache.

And now, watching her climb the side of Snowcrest Mountain with three support members and the head of the ski patrol unit, he definitely regretted inviting her along. Tyler, Wade and Marcus seemed more focused on getting to know Cassie’s houseguest than they were on the task ahead of them.

Tyler especially. He was going to have a chat with the young team member. Reed wasn’t going to act on his impulses toward Erika, but he didn’t want anyone else to either. She should get to enjoy her vacation without being pawed at by his team.

He hadn’t even expected her to agree to come along. But after only the slightest look of consideration, she’d hurried to Cassie’s closet to find an extra ski suit—one that fit his sister’s body like a glove and therefore hugged every last inch of Erika’s taller, curvier frame like it was clinging for dear life.

If he was jealous of anything, it was the fabric.

Of course, her excitement and eagerness to join him had nothing to do with him, but a doctor’s instinct combined with the prospect of boredom, holed up in Cassie’s condo all day. From the moment he’d entered, he’d felt a restless energy from her. He would be surprised if she lasted five days on this vacation.

“So, this is a first,” Tyler said, falling back from the others to walk alongside him.

“What’s a first?” Tearing his gaze away from Erika’s ass, he turned to the guy.

“You bringing a morning-after out on a rescue.”

His jaw tightened at Tyler’s casual dismissal of the surgeon as just another lay. “Not a morning-after. She’s just a friend of my sister and she’s a doctor. Thought we could use the help.” That hadn’t been his motive at all. He’d wanted to show her that there was more to him than she saw.

Why did he still want some sort of validation from her? What Erika Sheraton thought of him shouldn’t matter at all, but it did.

“A doctor? Shit. Beauty and brains. She single?”