She looked down at her sky-blue corduroys, lilac sweater, and lemon-yellow jacket. When she grimaced, he quickly added, “I mean it in the very best way.”
Grey leaned his crutches alongside the bench before sitting beside her. He found a short, thick, broken branch on the ground and tossed it to his left. Shaman barked and took off after his prize.
Despite her mood, a smile formed. Grey had that effect on her, darn him. “If you slip on patchy ice so soon after surgery, you’re risking another ACL tear and jeopardizing whatever progress we’ve made these past few weeks.”
“Shaman needs to run.” The dog returned and dropped the stick at Grey’s feet. He picked it up and tossed it again. “Besides, I’m going crazy sitting around. You said motion is important. I brought the crutches so I could ease up if needed. Trust me, no one wants to get stronger more than I do.”
Avery sighed, wishing she could read Grey’s mind and determine whether he was willing to take her house, or planning to testify against Andy in the criminal proceedings. If she stopped lying to herself, she’d also admit to wanting to learn more about Grey Lowell the man.
“He’s a beautiful dog.” Avery watched the dog tearing up the ground to retrieve the branch. “How’d you come up with that name?”
Grey stretched his legs out and rubbed his thigh. “It’s an Indian word for medicine man.”
“Very cool.” She glanced at Shaman, who was already returning.
“He’s a healer, like you.” Grey grinned.
That grin melted her insides a little.
“I’d prefer Shaman to Bambi.” She playfully cocked one brow, even as she resented succumbing to his charm.
“Just accept the fact you don’t get a vote.” He winked at her. The words heart aflutter had always sounded corny to her until that moment. His silken waves of hair called to be touched. His intense gray eyes sparkled with mischief. His lips . . .
Don’t be stupid, Avery. Too much at stake.
She crossed her arms and refocused. “Where exactly do you live? Because you really shouldn’t be pushing it.”
“Above the office, just a few blocks away.” Grey withdrew a small bag of lollipops from his pocket and offered her one. When she declined, he grabbed one for himself and shoved the rest back in his coat.
She straightened her spine. “Backtrax is more than a few blocks. Pretty far for this stage of your recovery, especially with the pits in the sidewalks and roads.”
“Are you worried about me?” His good knee brushed against her thigh when he twisted toward her to toss the branch in the opposite direction. She kept her leg still, maintaining contact. Apparently her body didn’t care about her brain’s warnings.
“More like I’m worried all my hard work will end up down the drain.”
“Nah. I’m tough.”
She believed that about him. Saw, had seen, the evidence. Well-developed calf and thigh muscles. A strong core and sinewy arms and shoulders. A sculpted body earned through years of healthy, active living and sports, not from protein powders and calculated weight training.
“You’d have to be in your profession.” She’d skied the backcountry with her brother from time to time, but they’d never pushed too hard. Would it be fun or frightening to ski with Grey? “Do you like Sterling Canyon?”
“So far, so good. The skiing’s pretty sweet, and the town is beautiful.” Grey gestured around with his arm. Then he looked right into her eyes. “Just like one of its residents.”
Avery caught herself blinking again, like flippin’ Bambi. Meanwhile, he remained completely comfortable and confident, as if it were no big deal at all to tell her he thought she was pretty. His grin widened at her silence.
Flustered, Avery deflected. “Is that so different from your hometown?”
“Not much. I grew up in Truckee, outside of Lake Tahoe, but I left a couple of years after high school and traveled around, working at different resorts. Colorado, Utah, Alaska.” Grey tilted his head. “Guess that makes me a vagabond, huh?”
“Or just very well traveled, unlike me.” Funny how the notion Sterling Canyon might be just another pit stop for Grey came as a letdown instead of a relief. “So then, will your time here be short-lived, too?”
“Depends.” He flashed a smile, the one that should come with a “hazardous to your health” sign.
“On what?” Curiously, she’d stopped breathing for a second.
He grinned again, like he’d noticed her anticipation, but then his expression grew serious and he glanced away. “On what happens with Backtrax.”
More accurately, with his case against Andy—a topic they couldn’t discuss.
Grey’s livelihood and Andy’s freedom both hung in the balance, with her family’s finances caught in between. The heaviness of heart that had driven her to the park returned.
“But I hope I’ll be around a long time,” he finally said, breaking the gloomy silence.
“Do you ever miss your home?”
Before Grey looked away, she saw the light in his eyes dim a bit. “Home is where the heart is, right?”
“In other words, butt out?” She grinned despite feeling a little deflated.
He closed one eye and tapped his index finger against the side of his nose. She dropped the line of inquiry, although curiosity about his past tickled her psyche.
“Why aren’t you skiing on your day off?” Grey’s casual tone couldn’t conceal his obvious desire to change the subject. “The mountain closes soon.”
Now it was her turn to obfuscate. She turned her face away for a second and then looked straight ahead. “I usually ski with my brother. But even if he were healed, having fun isn’t a priority right now.” Her jaw clenched at another reminder of her brother’s dismal future. “Funny how life moves on, when all I want is to turn back time.”
She gripped the edges of the bench and glanced at her shoes. Like every other time she imagined Andy going to jail, she got teary. His looming fate made her feel selfish for worrying about her house. She hid her tears behind the wall of hair shielding her face. Heat raced to her cheeks as she considered what Grey must think of her odd behavior.
But then his warm hand covered hers in comfort, and her heart skidded to a halt.
“You’re thinking about the criminal charges?” he asked.
She nodded, lungs tightening. “We’re all so afraid about what might happen to him while he’s behind bars.”
“If only I would’ve stopped by your table and talked to you that night, everything would’ve been better for all of us.” Although she heard sincere regret in his voice, she couldn’t look up at him.
Shaman barked in the distance, having found something of interest near a bush. Without uttering another word, Grey threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand.
A perfect, simple gesture of friendship.
She welcomed his silence while her gaze remained glued on their interwoven fingers. The heat from his hand spread up her arm and through her core, coiling low in her abdomen.
Desire. Forbidden, risky, uncontrollable desire.
For a few seconds, she closed her eyes and pretended they were different people sitting on a different bench in some different town with no connection to anything or anyone but each other. Pretended Grey might be that one-in-a-million guy who wouldn’t try to change her or make her helpless.
The fantasy didn’t last long. Guilt crashed over her when she thought of her dad’s angry face, her career, and Kelsey’s hopes, so she slipped her hand free and cleared her throat.
She stared at the worn leather-and-silver bracelet she’d noticed him wearing during therapy. The one obscuring the tattoo encircling his wrist. A tattoo she’d grown quite interested in recently.
“You always wear that bracelet.” She dabbed at her eye before flipping her hair behind her shoulder. “Are you purposely covering your tattoo?”
He extended his arm and twisted the bracelet around once or twice. “Sort of.”