She eventually became so engrossed that she jumped when she realized someone was standing in front of her, trying to get her attention. Audrey looked up and saw a man dressed in ski pants and a black sweater smiling down at her, a bit sheepishly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Audrey blinked. The man was attractive. Extremely attractive. Tall and lean, with a dash of silver at his temples and smile lines indicating he had a few years on her. But the years looked good on him. He seemed vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t quite place him.

He pointed toward her feet. “You mind if I sit? I hate to invade your space, but as far as I can tell, you’ve got access to one of the only power outlets in the place.”

“Oh, of course,” she said, noting the laptop under his arm and waving at the chair opposite her.

He smiled and sat, pulling a charger out of his jacket pocket and shrugging out of his coat. “Good book?” he asked, nodding at her Kindle.

“Apparently,” she said, looking at her watch, surprised to see how many hours had passed.

“Not a skier?” the man asked curiously, bending down to plug in his charger.

“I am. I just never learned to love it enough to choose being out in the cold over being cozy by the fire. You?”

“I did learn to love it. But I’ve got two loves, and this is the other one.” He tapped a long finger against his closed laptop.

“Your computer?” Audrey asked dubiously.

“Work,” he said, his eyes doing that attractive crinkling-in-the-corner thing again.

Audrey couldn’t help her gaze dropping to his left hand, a little surprised to see there was no ring. She wondered if he was newly divorced or a rare late-thirties/early-forties bachelor who was, well, hot.

“Your husband ski?” he asked casually, opening his laptop.

“Hmm? Oh,” she said, realizing that he had apparently checked out her left hand as well and found it adorned with Clarke’s ring. “Fiancé. And yeah, he does.”

The man gave a noncommittal smile and turned his attention to his screen.

Audrey turned her Kindle back on but looked up when she sensed eyes on her. She was a little surprised that the man didn’t look away or make any effort to pretend he hadn’t been curiously studying her.

He leaned forward, right hand extended. “Jarod Lanham.”

“Ohhh,” Audrey couldn’t help but say, as the name confirmed why he looked so familiar.

He flashed her a smile, white teeth gleaming, as she noted his face looked to have gotten a bit of color out on the slopes that morning. “I see the name rings a bell.”

“The world’s most eligible billionaire? I’ve heard of you,” she teased lightly, then promptly felt a wave of dismay when she heard the flirtatious note in her voice.