“Friends who will divorce in a few weeks.”
“We could still see each other.” He looked at her. “If you want.”
Her lips parted. “If I want?”
“I would very much like to still see you, after we are divorced.” His blue eyes seared through her soul. “For as long as you are still interested in seeing me.”
Josie sucked in her breath. For as long as she wished to see him? That would be forever!
She looked back over the edge of the dune. It didn’t look so frightening anymore. Not with this new challenge. Not with her very virginity on the line.
But…
What about saving herself for love, for commitment, for a lifetime?
She looked back at him. Was Kasimir the man? Was this the time? Was this how she wanted to remember her first night, for the rest of her life?
Her heart pounded in her throat.
Should she let her husband take her virginity?
“Just so you know,” she said hesitantly, “my babysitter taught me to snowboard.”
“Even better.” He gave her a cheeky grin. “So with your head start, you have pretty good odds.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his smug masculine confidence. “Bree’s the gambler, not me.”
He gave her a long look beneath the blazing white sun.
“Are you sure about that?” he said softly.
On the other end of the dune, with a loud shout, the boys pushed off again, going straight down, good-naturedly roughhousing and cutting in front of each other as they skidded down the sand.
Josie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and made her choice.
“I’ll do it.”
“Excellent.”
His blue eyes were beaming. He clearly expected that this would be no contest and that he would easily overtake her. He didn’t know that the entirety of the choice was still hers. Would she let him beat her? Or not?
Before her courage could fail her, she breathed, “Just tell me when to go.”
“One… two… three… go!”
Hastily, Josie tilted her snowboard and went off the edge, plummeting down the dune. Her body remembered the sport, even though her brain had forgotten, and her board picked up speed. For a glorious instant, she flew, and wild joy filled her heart—joy she hadn’t felt for ten years.
Then she remembered: if she won, she would sleep alone.
And if she lost, he would seduce her.
Slow down, she ordered her feet, and though they protested, she made them turn, her body leaning to drag the board against sand as hard and glassy as ice. It was hard to slow down, when her body yearned to barrel down the dune, like the reckless child she’d once been.
“You’ll never win that way,” Kasimir called from the top, sounding amused. “Turn your feet to aim straight down.”
Josie choked back a wry laugh. He had no idea how hard she was trying not to do that. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead from the effort of fighting her body’s desire to aim the snowboard straight down and plummet at the speed of flight. Couldn’t he tell? Couldn’t he see she was actually forcing herself not to win?
“Ready or not…”