One Perfect Night

caught the basketball as it fell. "Is that what you’re blaming for your performance today?"
    It wasn’t like Noah to let a woman who captured his interest go without getting her number—or, at the very least, her last name so that he could look her up. But the beautiful, lushly rounded woman on the ski slopes had rattled his brain. And not just because they’d gone tumbling down the hill together and then spent several great hours together while he taught her to ski.
    No, his brain had stopped functioning right from that first moment he’d put his hands on her and had breathed in her soft floral scent. And then she’d pressed herself against him and he’d lost his balance, an ex–ski instructor who couldn’t keep his skis in line for the life of him.
    But falling had been worth it. More than worth it. Because it had meant he’d been able to hold her. Talk to her. Laugh with her. And drink in her incredible beauty. Unfortunately, hours later she’d left him all alone at the top of the mountain. Wanting to kiss her, and laugh with her both in and out of bed, and find out everything about her, but knowing it couldn’t ever become a reality.
    Because he didn’t have the first clue how to find her.
    He’d been useless at work today, so he thought he’d play a game of pick-up basketball with his friend Rafe. Turned out he was useless at basketball, too.
    Noah and Rafe had gone to college together at the University of Washington and over the past few years, Maverick International, the company Noah worked for as VP of Legal Affairs, had hired Rafe several times. Rafe was the best private investigator in Seattle, and had come through for them in spades each time they’d needed his services.
    Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier? "I need you to find her."
    Rafe’s eyebrows went up. "You don’t have the girl’s number?"
    "Actually," Noah admitted, "I don’t know her full name, either."
    He couldn’t blame his buddy for laughing at him as he asked, "How long was this meeting you had with her, exactly?"
    Noah gave his friend the quick nuts and bolts of pulling her up out of the snow and tumbling partway down the mountain with her in his arms before teaching her to ski. "All I know is that her name is Colbie and she was at Heavenly Ski Resort last weekend."
    Rafe gave him a strange look. "Wait a minute—what did you say her name was?"
    "Colbie."
    His friend looked like he was thinking about something. "Helps that it’s a pretty rare name. Can’t be a lot of Colbies out there. I take it you’ve already called the ski resort to see if they could give you any information about her?"
    "I did. They told me they couldn’t give out the name of one of their guests. Then again," Noah added, "I probably didn’t ask the right questions of the right people." He paused. "I need you to do this for me, Rafe. I need you to find her."
    But instead of agreeing readily, Rafe said, "I can’t help thinking, what if this were my sister some guy was trying to find? And what if she didn’t want to be found?"
    "Then I’ll leave her alone," Noah promised. "But there was something there, damn it, and I need at least one more chance to prove it to her."
    "Okay." Rafe pulled his phone out of his gym bag to take some notes. "Tell me what she looks like and the exact date and time that you ran into her, and I’ll see what I can do."

    * * *

    Meanwhile, across town...

    Mia Sullivan opened up one of the last remaining boxes of Colbie’s initial stock, and when she unwrapped a gorgeous set of French lace and silk panties, she made a purely female sound of pleasure that Colbie knew most guys would give their left arm to hear her friend make for them.
    "These are going to fly off the shelves," Mia said as she lovingly caressed the super-soft silk. "I’m going to have to hide a pair so I can buy them for myself."
    "Take them home with you tonight," Colbie said as she perched atop a stepladder to finish hanging the curtain in front of her dressing room. "Consider them a small thank-you for all you’ve done to help me get the store ready."
    She was amazed by how quickly everything was coming together. Then again, Colbie had been dreaming about opening Indulgence for so long that she’d known exactly what she’d wanted to sell and how the interior should look. She was on the verge of opening her doors tomorrow, which happened to be Valentine’s Day. She hoped that it would be just in time for all the men in Seattle to buy her