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about this kind of scenario?
    Of course. This was J.C. and he probably starred in many, many women’s fantasies. But she knew him better than just his smoking hot sex appeal. And talking to him again had reminded her how much their parting a decade ago had stung. Sure, she’d been a teenager and it had been a drama-filled time. But that didn’t diminish what had happened between them. She’d put a whole lot of faith in his strong, sexy, eighteen-year-old hands and he’d bailed on her.
    He’d broken his word.
    “I’m actually feeling extremely clearheaded at the moment, and your biting words were so lucid even a lug-headed hockey player could follow them.” With one hand, he held the seat rest behind her head. The other hand reached for her, drifting perilously close to her cheek. “You said we have no chemistry. I’m refuting that statement.”
    Heartbeat fluttering ridiculously, she tried glaring harder. But she couldn’t quite formulate any more biting words at the moment. Words had vanished from her head.
    “Unless…” He hovered so damn close to her she could almost taste him. “Maybe I could forego the need to win this battle in the spirit of making peace with the past.”
    “Magnanimous of you.” Her words hitched on her dry throat because… damn him.
    “If you stay at my place tonight, we can revisit this in the morning when we’re both ready to play fair.”
    “Are you suggesting I don’t play fair?” She bristled, remembering he’d been the one to take his coat off and start flexing all that eye-catching muscle.
    “Let’s call it a draw while we both still have our clothes on.” He shifted in his seat, turning the key in the ignition even though she hadn’t agreed to any particular destination just yet.
    “I wasn’t even close to getting naked.” She reminded him, trying to elevate her surgery boot against the console while she stared pointedly at his discarded parka.
    He drove north out of town and she could only guess he was taking her to his house. Which was fine at this point because it was after midnight, she was exhausted, and she didn’t have any better ideas. The snow had picked up volume, the flakes small and fine. She’d driven in bad weather for enough hours today. She was glad someone else was at the wheel now.
    Even an arrogant, too-sexy-for-his-own-good old flame.
    “You just keep talking,” he said softly, flipping on the directional to turn east. “And I’ll keep dreaming up ways to prove you wrong.”
    There was a wicked gleam in his eye when he shot her a look.
    “You realize I would never be setting foot in your house tonight if I wasn’t surgically impaired.” She retrieved his knit hat and used it to swipe away the condensation on her window so he could see out of it.
    “It’s like fate placed you in my path.” His expression changed, the sexy arrogance fading to reveal something more serious.
    Something she wasn’t sure she wanted to see.
    “Hardly. It was just a matter of time before we crossed paths again.” She tossed the hat behind her, remembering that text from Rachel telling her she was in the ideal position to fix the past. Too bad she didn’t believe in fate. “We both have ties here, like it or not.”
    “I never understood why you disliked it here so much. People travel from all over the country to vacation in Cloud Spin.” He slowed down as they reached a road that must not have been plowed in the last few hours.
    There were no tire tracks to follow. No streetlights here. Just an old country lane heading straight up the mountain.
    “Okay. Here’s a valid reason not to love Vermont.” She pointed to the road ahead. “Will this car even make it up that hill?”
    She’d grown up driving in winters like this, but she’d been relying on public transportation for a long time since then. Her father had always kept a set of chains, a shovel, and some sand in the back of his truck at this time of year. Not that he usually had any trouble