She ran her gaze up and down the length of him. It wasn’t ego to say that usually when a woman did such a thing, it was with a light of lust in her eyes. Okay, maybe it was a little bit of ego. But he was athletic—big and built—and women usually gravitated to that.

Not all women, he corrected. This one in particular didn’t appear impressed at all.

In fact, she looked distinctly unimpressed, so much so that he looked down at himself. “I’m not in my gear,” he said, having no idea why he was defending himself. “I’m not technically on duty this morning.”

She didn’t respond to this, either, instead once again pushing off on her poles. Not heading down the face of the mountain thankfully, but toward the ski lift, about a hundred yards back.

He watched her go and swore to himself. She moved a little unsteadily, keeping her knees straight instead of bending them, incorrectly putting her weight on the backs of her skis. Whoever had given her those three lessons at Breckenridge should be fired. But she hadn’t asked him for advice, and if he taught anyone to ski these days, it was little kids because they were actually fun.

She’d be fun to teach too, came the unbidden thought, which he shrugged off. She was on the right path now, out of his hair, leaving him free to take Devil’s Face hard and fast the way he’d planned before heading into work.

Except … she’d left her helmet in the snow at his feet.

He had no idea how anyone could forget the eye-popping cherry-red thing against the white snow, but she had. “Hey,” he called after her. “Your helmet.”

But she must have had her earbuds back in because she didn’t stop or turn back.

“Well, hell,” he said and scooped up the helmet.

Giving Devil’s Face one last longing look, he headed toward the lift as well and caught up with her halfway there.

She’d stopped and had her weight braced on her poles. Bent over a little bit, she was huffing and puffing, out of breath. It could have been the altitude. They were at well over 8,000 feet and it affected everyone differently.

But he got the worrisome sense it wasn’t the altitude at all. When he’d lifted her, she’d been light, almost … frail. People didn’t realize it took a lot of strength and stamina to ski, and he was nearly positive she didn’t have either of those things. He once again tapped her on the shoulder and once again she jumped.

Yep, the earbuds again. She pulled one out and looked at him questioningly, like he’d been so forgettable she hadn’t even remembered he was behind her.

“You forgot this,” he said.