Fire and Ice (11 page)

This awareness made her also
conscious of her own body, the way her heart was beating faster than usual and
how sensitive she was to each subtle movement in the sofa cushions which
reflected a shift in his position.

Kate tucked her feet underneath
her to hide her thick woollen socks. She was wearing a pair of loose dance
trousers and a tight top, and her hair was spread all around her in a wild
mess. At least it was time to give up pretending that she didn’t care, she
reflected ruefully, judging by her body’s reaction to his physical proximity.

The movie ended far too soon,
bringing them all back to the Alps. She had enjoyed this feeling of informal
closeness, even if it left her senses wired up instead of relaxed.  She
wondered if something had brought about a true change in attitude in Sebastien or
if his cold, guarded manner on weekends was simply a reaction to having to host
clients.

Either way, this new version of
her boss was undeniably attractive. When he was relaxed his face softened, and
his smile spread up into his eyes which held a mischievous twinkle.

Emily hurriedly rose to her feet.
“It’s late, I really must be off,” she said quickly, brushing off Sebastien’s
offer of another drink. “I have to be at work early tomorrow,” she excused
herself. “But thank you for the hospitality of your lovely chalet.” She
practically fled to the door, after hugging Kate goodbye with a whispered “Good
luck!”

Sebastien stretched and stood up
to escort Mimi to the door. Kate unfolded herself to gather up the wine glasses
and carry them to the kitchen.

“Leave them for tomorrow,” he told
her lazily, as she bent down to load the dishwasher.

He had come into the kitchen
silently. She felt his eyes on her and stood up quickly, tugging her top down
to cover her waist.  Facing him, she suddenly found it hard to speak.

“I enjoyed this evening,” he said
in an off-hand way, picking up an orange from the fruit bowl and tossing it
absent-mindedly in the air. “I’ve been working too much lately. Well, for the
last year, really.”

“For a good reason,” Kate said
stoutly. “I heard about your “Simply Elegant” campaign for more ethical business
practises.”

Sebastien shrugged, catching the
fruit and putting it back in the bowl. Then he picked up an apple and stared at
it as if he’d never seen one before. He twisted the stem until it finally broke
off and he hastily placed it back with the others.

Finally he shoved his hands in his
pockets, took a deep breath and faced Kate. “Look, Michelle, about the other
night...”

“There’s nothing to say,” Kate
interrupted him hurriedly, too mortified by her own behaviour on that occasion
to want to discuss it. “An unnecessary plate of hors d’oeuvres never goes to
waste. Well, maybe to my waist, ha ha ha.”

Oh shut up, girl, she told
herself, cringing inwardly. In situations that made her nervous she had a
painful habit of babbling inanely just to prevent the conversation from
continuing and to avoid thinking. She turned back to loading the dishwasher, trying
to hide her flaming cheeks from Sebastien’s gaze.

She could feel his dark eyes
following her, waiting. Eventually she ran out of dishes to load and turned to
face him reluctantly.

His thick brows were furrowed,
giving him the look of a confused puppy. Despite the tension of the moment,
Kate found herself marvelling that the cold, impersonal man she had met had
such a sensitive side, although it obviously made him uncomfortable to show it.
It also made him more attractive than ever.

He seemed to be searching for the
right way to say something and Kate’s stomach filled with dread. She wondered
how much her face would betray her if he announced his engagement to Axelle. Or
maybe Axelle had convinced him that Kate was unnecessary. The fear of either
situation made her realise just how much she cared and wanted to keep working
in close proximity to this man.

“Axelle and I,” he finally blurted
out, making Kate’s heart freeze. “It’s a business relationship. I work with
quite a few models and actresses, you know.”

Kate stood stock-still, as if not
moving could keep the conversation going where she hoped it was heading.

“These women can be prima donnas
at times and a bit hard to handle,” he continued desperately and her heart
waited in purgatory. “Which can make it hard for me to give you advanced
warning if plans change. For that I apologise, and also if she was rude to
you.”

Kate gaped like a fish while she
digested this information. So there was no “he and Axelle”. And he had actually
come to apologise. Or even to let her know that he was free? Her hopeful mind
was leaping to conclusions and she tried to rein it in. It was enough to know
that he wasn’t about to spend all his weekends with Axelle in the chalet.

Relief made her giddy and she knew
that her voice was too loud as she waved away his apology. “Don’t worry about
it. It’s all part and parcel of the job.”

He fixed his eyes on her. “I meant
what I said before about you being a pro, Michelle. You really excel at putting
my clients at ease. Now I want to ask you something above and beyond your duty,
so please feel free to say no.”

Kate stared at him, waiting to
hear what he had to say and wondering if anyone ever managed to say no to this
man.

He hesitated a moment before
continuing. “I have a few business partners and friends coming over from the UK
next week to stay with me in Geneva for a few days. Actually, my friends might
stay for the whole holidays. In any case, we’ll definitely come up to Verbier
at some point to give my work associates a proper Swiss mountain experience. Probably
a raclette on the mountain and a luge back down, and I’d like to ask you to
join us. It’s a real Verbier experience and I think you’d enjoy it.”

Kate bit her lower lip, thinking.
“Won’t they find it odd, you bringing the chalet girl?”

The dark eyes looked at her steadily.
“I told you, it’s outside of duty, probably mid-week to avoid the crowds. You
won’t be going as my chalet hostess. We could call you my partner, it’s a good
ambiguous term, but basically you’d be my date.”

Kate’s heart seemed to stop.
“Because I help put your guests at ease?” she asked falteringly.

Sebastien threw his hands open in
an equivocal gesture. “Because you help put me at ease. Because you bring the
fun back to this.” He leaned closer and his eyes seemed to bore into her,
searching. “Because you want to.”

What she wanted to do was kiss
him.

 His face was so close, looking
intently for her reaction.  For a moment she felt as if he was thinking the
same thing, and she felt her knees go weak, surrendering to the attraction
between them.

Abruptly he stepped back. “I don’t
mean to put you on the spot or put pressure on you,” he said, somewhat stiffly.
“You can think about it and let me know your decision on the weekend.”

He turned to leave the room. He
hadn’t even reached the doorway when she called after him. “The answer is yes!”

He half-turned toward her to shoot
her a dazzling grin. His eyes lingered a moment on hers, burning her up with a
look that was both satisfied and hungry, before he continued toward the stairs.
“Good then, I’ll see you on Friday. I’ll be off ridiculously early tomorrow
morning so I won’t see you then. Good night.”

Before she could say anything he
was gone. She stared after him, a slow smile spreading across her face as “Just
Kiss Da Girl” played in her head. People could scoff all they liked, but there
was definitely some magic in a feel-good musical romance and even the frosty
Monsieur Pichard was not immune.  

Chapter Twelve

Kate tucked her mittens tightly
over her ski jacket sleeves and looked around her happily. It was a perfectly
clear night, cold and starry, with a glimmer of moonlight shining on the snow.
Below them, down the long forest road, twinkled the lights of Verbier.

They were standing outside Chez
Claude, a cosy little restaurant on the mountain which nestled one hour’s walk
above the town. It was set in a converted alpage, a wooden summer home where a
family used to stay and make cheese in summers, when the cows were brought up
to eat fresh alpine grass and wildflowers.

Sebastien had led the little group
up the mountain road as darkness fell. They had followed a snow-covered forest
road that had been groomed for sledding, the precisely ribbed snow crunching
crisply underfoot.

The English guests were a cheery
lot, gamely donning their snowshoes and chatting amongst themselves on the way
up. Simon Bell was a friend from Sebastien’s school days, while Nick and Carol Farnell
were a young couple from London who seemed to be friends with both. 

The three others, Jim and Susan
Hall and Mike Hathaway, were a bit older and worked in the luxury watch sector
in London. They seemed to be primarily interested in Sebastien’s Simply Elegant
campaign, although they knew Simon as well. With everybody on such familiar
footing, Kate found it hard to keep track of how they were all linked to her
boss.

Sebastien himself was in fine
form, giving inside stories about Verbier and making them all laugh. Kate had
been relieved to find him as friendly and fun as he had been during his
mid-week unexpected visit.

She had spent the preceding days
alternating between anticipation and dread, excited to see him again but uneasy
about the lie she was living. To silence her nagging conscience she had decided
to tell him at the end of the evening, regardless of his reaction. 

Dinner had been a roaring success.
They had all ordered raclette, and the waiter had been kept busy bringing scrapings
of melted cheese to everyone in turn to eat over small boiled potatoes.

The warmth from the fire after the
exertion in the cold left everyone rosy-cheeked and relaxed, and the white wine
had flowed freely. They had finished the meal with a café d’amitié, a local
specialty of mixed coffee and spirits which was served in a multi-spouted
tea-pot and which sent a wave of warmth into the blood stream.

“For courage for your descent,”
their host had told them with a wink.

Now in the biting cold they prepared
their sleds for the long slide back down to the village. The restaurant
provided them with old-fashioned luges, high sleighs with wooden runners.

“You can steer them by leaning and
by dragging a foot,” Sebastien explained, adding with a laugh, “To some extent,
that is.”

“If it’s about being a bit out of
control, I’ll be a natural,” Simon said sportingly, selecting a one-man luge
and lining it up in front of him. “In fact, I’ll have to show my true colours
here, because you won’t see them when it comes to something more coordinated,
like skiing.”

“It’s faster with two per sleigh,”
Sebastien warned him, placing a gloved hand on Kate’s shoulder and steering her
toward the sleds.

Even through the thickness of her
ski jacket, Kate felt the warmth of his strong hand. She offered no resistance
as he chose a longer, two-person luge and led her back to take her place beside
the others.

“I’ll start in front,” he told
her, seating himself on the sled with his feet tucked on the runners. “The
person in front gets the most snow sprayed in the face. You just hang on and
lean when I do. We can change places after the first crash if you like.”

Kate smiled self-consciously as
she sat down carefully on the sled. She tried to mimic Sebastien’s way of
sitting, with her knees bent in front of her and her feet hooked underneath. He
turned back to flash her a boyish grin.

“That only works if your plan is
to put your knees through my back,” he told her, grabbing both of her ankles
and lifting her legs onto his lap. He pulled tightly and she found herself
suddenly snuggled up against his back. To keep herself from falling backwards
she had to throw her arms around his chest as well.

“That’s better,” he said
approvingly. “Now just hold tight. Is everybody ready? Headlamps on?”

There was a hearty response from
the others who were taking their positions along the road, and then they were
off in a spray of snow and excited shrieks along the silvery trail.

The luges picked up surprising
speed on the hard-groomed track. Kate let out an adrenaline-fueled squeal and
buried her head in the back of Sebastien’s coat as the snow flew up from the
boots of the couple on the sleigh next to them who were trying to steer.

 The feel of his strong back
beneath the jacket, and the intimacy of wrapping her arms around his chest were
intoxicating. Somehow she felt both incredibly safe with him in front of her
and at the same time she knew she was on the edge of something more dangerous
than the hard snow flying by underneath them.

“Stay on the road you son of a –
aaaaaahhh!” she heard Simon yell, followed by a muffled thump.

Sebastien laughed out loud. He was
locked into a playful battle against the couple beside them, each trying to
force the other off the track. They were picking up speed as they approached a
bend in the road, and Kate instinctively threw her hands back to drag them in
the snow in an attempt to slow down.

Without disengaging from his
struggle with the neighbouring sleigh, Sebastien reached back and pulled her
hands forward again to their original position on his chest. He pulled her
close and gave her hands a quick squeeze before concentrating on the curve.

Kate felt dizzy and breathless,
not only from the headlong descent through the dark and the flying snow. The
close contact with Sebastien heightened her senses again, and she could feel
her own heartbeat pounding against his back as well as the rise and fall of his
chest with each breath. Was he aware of her body pressed against his? He was so
caught up in the luging that she couldn’t tell if he was also savouring the
physical contact or if it was simply part of the sport.