By the time Ning had collected herself and emerged from the bedroom, Leo was already sitting at the dining table.
She walked over and sat down under his gaze.
Deliberately avoiding his eyes, Ning picked up the sandwich he had made and took a small bite.
“I’m the one who got the compliment. Why are you the one blushing?”
After a few seconds of silence, Leo asked the question with a low laugh.
There was something inexplicably seductive about that laugh. Ning kept feeling as though she had fallen into some sort of trap.
“You’re a racing driver?”
She skipped straight past his question and steered him onto another subject.
Leo raised his brows slightly and leaned back in his chair, showing no surprise at her sudden change of topic.
He nodded.
Ning smiled in understanding, then quietly took another bite of her sandwich.
“Aren’t you going to ask me anything else?” Leo leaned forward, resting his temple against one hand. His gaze stayed on her, direct yet restrained.
She set down her sandwich and took a sip of milk. “Like what?” she asked softly.
“How many years I’ve been racing. How many championships I’ve won. Whether there’s someone I like.”
“All right. You can answer those now.”
Ning sat up straight and rested both hands on the table. The atmosphere suddenly took a strange, inexplicable turn.
She looked at him seriously, though she had already drawn her own conclusions.
With a face like his, he could hardly be short of admirers. As for the person he liked...
“I’m twenty-eight. I’ve been racing for nine years, and I’ve won six world championships.”
His words broke into Ning’s thoughts.
Before she could speak, he added, “There wasn’t anyone I liked before. But there is now.”
Ning’s eyes widened at once. She could smell a story.
“Really?” she asked instinctively.
When he said nothing, Ning swallowed and ventured, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell someone?”
“Would you?” Leo asked in return.
Ning shook her head and took another sip of milk.
“It wouldn’t matter if you did. Then the whole world would know there’s already someone I like.”
He chuckled, looking languid and completely at ease.
After breakfast, before returning to her bedroom for her camera, Ning still insisted that Leo give her Alan’s contact details.
Back in her room, she called Alan to confirm what had been wrong with the car and how much the repairs would cost.
She had barely hung up when Leo, standing on the cabin’s balcony looking out at the snow, received a call from Alan.
The moment he answered, before he could say a word, Alan’s American-accented English came through the receiver, brimming with curiosity.
“Leo, is there something going on with you?”
“That lady with the really gentle voice just called me.”
“Don’t tell me you took her with you last night?”
Leo raised his thick brows slightly and turned to look through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors toward Ning’s bedroom.
“She is here with me,” he answered quietly.
Alan immediately let out an exaggerated cry. “So did anything happen between you two? Anything romantic?”
Leo pressed a hand to his forehead. “Stop. Rein in that imagination of yours.”
Alan burst out laughing. Eventually, he settled down and got to the point.
“What are you planning to do next? Her rental car was fixed and returned to the rental company this morning.”
“There’s definitely nowhere to rent a car where you are.”
“I know.” Leo gazed out at the still lake. The warmth on the left side of his chest kept growing, and the corners of his mouth curved.
A few seconds passed without another word from him, and Alan asked suspiciously, “You’re not thinking of taking her along, are you?”
“Aren’t you supposed to meet up with Terry and the others?”
Leo pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts. “They abandoned me.”
“Why do I get the feeling you sound a little pleased about that?” Alan knew him well enough for the question to be pure teasing.
Leo turned and leaned back against the railing, looking toward the living room.
Just then, Ning came out of her bedroom carrying her camera. Searching for him, she turned her head and met his eyes across the distance.
“They abandoned me, so God rewarded me with a gift. I am pleased,” he said quietly.
The words were for Alan on the phone, but his eyes were fixed on Ning in the living room.
His look puzzled her a little. She thought no more of it, though, and turned toward the cabin’s front door.
She followed the wooden steps built along the side of the cabin. At the bottom lay the lake.
Looking out, she saw a mountain rising in the middle of the lake, a little to the right, thickly blanketed in snow. Beside it, at the foot of the mountain, stood wooden cabins with their lights on.
Ning lifted the camera hanging around her neck, adjusted the settings, and pressed the shutter. She also recorded some footage for her vlog.
...
She lingered there for a little while. Then she turned to head back up the steps—and walked headfirst into someone’s chest.
Dazed, Ning caught a slightly familiar scent. She looked up sharply. It was Leo.
She immediately straightened. “When did you get here? You scared me, sneaking up without a sound.”
Leo gave a low laugh and stepped down to face her, barely a forearm’s length away.
“Are you a professional photographer?”
Ning nodded, unconsciously taking a step back. She failed to notice the low wooden post behind her. Her leg caught against it, and she toppled backward.
Her eyes flew wide. Then she thought of the deep snow piled behind her. Falling into it probably wouldn’t hurt much, so she simply gave up struggling and let herself fall.
At that moment, a large hand caught hers. A second later, she was safely back in Leo’s arms.
It had all happened in an instant. Ning looked up into his deep eyes and, for a moment, forgot to move.
“Hey, look. Isn’t that ‘One Little Lemon’?”
“What little lemon?”
“That travel vlogger I showed you before!”
“Oh my God, she really is that gorgeous in person. Is the guy holding her her boyfriend?”
“I’ve watched Lemon’s videos for ages, and I’ve never seen him in one. He’s so handsome, oh my God!”
“I want to ask her for a photo. What do I do? What do I do?”
It was quiet around them. The two Chinese girls were talking neither loudly nor softly, a barely concealed excitement in their voices. Ning and Leo could hear every word.
At their words, Ning instinctively tried to hide. She turned her face, buried her head against Leo’s chest, and tugged one side of his coat over her face.
It was a perfect display of burying her head in the sand: if she couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see her.
Leo glanced at the two passing girls, then lowered his eyes to the head tucked against his chest.
Unable to help himself, he slowly lifted the hand at his side. He paused just before touching her head. Two seconds later, he rested it there anyway and gently ruffled her hair.
“One Little Lemon?”
He had deliberately lowered his voice, making it even more rich and magnetic.
When she gave no answer, Leo bent slowly toward her ear. “They’ve gone.”
Ning immediately pulled out of his arms and looked in the direction the girls had taken. Only after making sure no one was there did she slowly breathe out.
Coming back to herself, she remembered how she had just invaded his space, and color crept into her face.
“Um, I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry.”
She hurried through the apology, lifted her camera, and strode up the wooden steps.
Behind her, Leo called after her again. “Hey, One Little Lemon. I just saved you, you know. You’re running off already?”
His voice was leisurely, as though he were deliberately drawing out the words.
Ning’s face grew even redder, but she did not stop. She only climbed the steps faster.
—