Come to think of it, she had tried that ploy in seventh grade and it hadn’t worked then, either.

No wonder he hadn’t called after Florida.

One kiss was hardly an obligation.

Even if it was an amazing kiss.

Even if it happened after a moment of shared magic, like when the dolphins appeared.

Even if it was the kind of kiss she couldn’t stop thinking about, long after it was over.

“We’re ready for you, Darcy,” said the shoot coordinator. “Oh my gosh, you look amazing.”

“Two hours of hair and makeup, and I’m a natural beauty,” she said, flourishing her fashionably gloved hand.

“Ha-ha.”

“Where do you want me?”

“Top of the long chairlift. The light’s perfect today. This resort is ideal, by the way. Whose genius idea was it to shoot here instead of Lake Placid?”

“That would be me,” Darcy said. Me and my dumb ideas.

“It’s great. I’ll bet we can wrap this up in a day.”

That was a relief, Darcy thought as she rode the lift, sharing the ride up with a guy named Jeff, who said he was local and had been skiing Saddle Mountain since he was a kid.

“I like what the new owner’s doing,” he said, pushing his ski goggles up on his helmet.

I don’t, thought Darcy. But to be polite, she said, “What’s that?”

“He’s keeping what people like about the resort and building on it, instead of changing everything all at once.”

At the top of the lift, the crew waited with a woman called Brandi, who was Logan’s überefficient assistant. She’d coordinated everything via email. She wore retro stirrup ski pants with a tight sweater, and she was pinup model pretty. She was soon joined by the resort’s director of operations, a striking redhead in a green jumpsuit who was causing the videographer to drool. Apparently Logan liked surrounding himself with beautiful women. No wonder he wasn’t interested in Darcy. Plain old girl-next-door Darcy.

“Ready?” asked the camera guy.

“Ready,” Darcy said.

“Go make our gear look pretty,” said the snowboard company rep.

“I’ll do my best.” Darcy was no supermodel, and she knew it. But when she was on the snow, she felt the same magical rush she felt when surfing. All the beauty of the world flowed through her, and the joy of the ride was a tangible thing, an element that could be seen and photographed. Today there was a bonus—the Christmas season had arrived.