Remember Me (3 page)

Lucy had watched the chairs circling and the handful of early skiers hopping on and off the lifts as if it was no big deal. “I don’t know…”

“You can handle it. You’ve got amazing balance. Remember when you exit the lift to keep your weight a little forward. I’ll teach you the right moment so the lift gives you some momentum to ski away without any problem.”

He was right. It turned out to be a lot less complicated than she’d thought it would be. Now, standing at the top of her first intermediate run, all Lucy could do was grin. She had pretty much figured to be on the bunny slopes the whole day. While she was sure this was nothing to a skier like Brandon, it was a big accomplishment for her, and one she wouldn’t have achieved without his help. Going with the impulse, she leaned over and hugged him.

“Thanks, Brandon.”

He looked surprised. “What for?”

“For getting me here in just a couple of hours. Skiing an intermediate trail was my goal for the week.”

“Given the athlete you appear to be, I’ll have you going down some of the easier advanced runs in a day or two. Now, let’s practice using your poles before we head down. You’ll find them more useful on these longer runs.”

Lucy wasn’t sure when she’d had such a good time or laughed so much. After landing on her butt the first time, she soon mastered controlling her speed and making the wide turns along the intermediate trails they explored. When Brandon suggested getting lunch, she agreed with reluctance.

“Trust me, baby, you’ll be glad for some rest once your body gets around to telling you you’ve been engaged in something new to it.” They put their skis in storage and headed to the lodge. Brandon took her hand in his. “I hope you don’t mind, I asked the staff to have lunch ready for us in my suite.”

Warning bells went off. Lucy pulled her hand from his. “I think you’re making some assumptions…”

Brandon stopped her with a touch on her arm. “No. I’m not. It’s a suite, Lucy, not a bedroom. We’ll be eating in a dining area off a great room with its own fireplace. I think you’ll understand why I made those arrangements when you step inside the main lodge.”

She’d pissed him off. It was there in the hard set of his jaw, but she couldn’t help it. Starting with puberty, she’d become a target. Boys and men had gone out of their way to take advantage of her, so she’d learned to be cautious. But Brandon was right about one thing. When she walked inside the lodge, she was greeted by a wall of sound almost as loud as a full crowd at Flamingo Road with the music pumping.

Brandon stopped her just inside the door. “So, which will it be? Lunch here or in my suite?”

“Your suite. And…I’m sorry.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it.”

* * * *

They walked from the main lodge to a smaller building which housed Falcon Summit’s luxury suites, and Brandon was beating himself up.
Don’t worry about it.
The problem was she did need to worry. He would like nothing better than to strip off all those layers of clothing and get her on her back in his bed. He unlocked the door and opened it before allowing Lucy to precede him. From long habit, his gaze dropped to her bottom, outlined in the tight, figure-hugging material of her ski pants.
Oh yeah.
Being a gentleman was going to get harder and harder.

“Wow, Brandon.” Lucy looked around her, eyes wide. “This is amazing. I thought I had a wonderful room, but this is unbelievable. The view of the mountains from your great room is incredible.”

The view from where I am is incredible.
“Like I said, I’m friends with the owner, so I get some perks.” Which wasn’t the complete truth. Matt made sure Brandon could get a suite anytime he wanted one, but Brandon paid fair market value for it too. He watched Lucy wander around the room, her fingers lingering over a sculpture on a side table and brushing over a copy of
National News
. He was reluctant for her to find out his connection to Barrett Newspapers. As wary as she was, he was afraid she might pull back completely.

“Oh, look, lunch is set here on the table right by the window.” She turned to grin at him. “I am so starving. I guess it must be all the fresh air.”

Brandon unzipped his jacket and tossed it aside. “No doubt. Let me have your jacket and we’ll tuck in.”

She slid out of the pink and gray coat to reveal a form-fitting turtleneck beneath it. Brandon’s body temperature shot up several degrees. Lord help him, but she had an amazing body. When she handed him the jacket, their fingers brushed, their eyes met and the heat level jacked up another notch.

“Lucy.” Her name hung in the air. He saw her swallow and blink before she took a step back. Brandon sighed. Whatever there was between them, she wasn’t ready to let her guard down, which made him wonder why she was so cautious. Someone with her beauty and generosity shouldn’t live life through a filter of mistrust. Brandon took a deep breath, smiled and gestured toward the table. “Let’s eat.”

Even as hungry as she was, she ate with delicacy and care. She avoided anything high fat, and limited the starches. Curiosity once again getting the better of him, he said, “You know, you don’t seem like a person who needs to watch what they eat, yet you do. You say you don’t model, but you eat like someone who does.”

Lucy paused with a bite of salad on the way to her lips. “I just like being in good shape.” A vague sense of disappointment filled him. She’d lied. There was more to it, but he didn’t feel like he knew her well enough to pursue the truth. Hell, admit it. He didn’t want to scare her off.

“Matt’s invited me out on the resort’s newest expert run this afternoon,” Brandon told her as he finished his sandwich. “It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been able to hit the slopes together.”

Lucy sipped from a mug of tea and set it aside. “I was going to hit the pool. They’ve got lap swimming time this afternoon, and I need to get in a workout.”

Brandon nodded, wondering again what made her such a fanatic about keeping physically fit. She sure didn’t seem like one of those obsessed women on the verge of a serious eating disorder. “You swim every day?”

She shrugged, her gray eyes once again a little wary. “Swim or run. I–uh–I lift a couple of times a week too.”

“Sounds almost like the training schedule Matt and I had to adhere to while we were on the ski team in college.” He hoped the comment might get her talking about why she spent so much time working out.

“You competed?” she asked instead, turning the conversation around to him. Not what he’d wanted, but he couldn’t very well ignore her question.

“Yes. Matt and I also competed outside of school. We were both shortlisted for the Olympics. I didn’t make the cut. Matt did.”

“So why isn’t he still competing?” Lucy asked. “I’ve heard of plenty of skiers who compete into their thirties. Why would he stop?”

“Injury. I’m sure you’ve seen the video in the opening of some of those sports shows. It was a pretty nasty accident over in Switzerland. Matt was lucky. He had some great surgeons who were able to not only repair the damage to his leg and back, but even got him to the point where he could ski again.”

“Just not to the point where he could be competitive, right?”

Brandon nodded. “The difference between being a great skier and being a world-class athlete isn’t measured in much more than tenths of seconds. Matt tried to come back, but he was never able to break into the top ten in any of the World Cup competitions. He didn’t even finish one season following his recovery before he decided to hang it up. His dad was ready to retire, so Matt came here and took over Falcon’s Summit. He’s made improvements and turned it into a first class resort.”

He didn’t add he had been a major investor in the resort, much to Alexander Barlow-Barrett’s frowning disapproval. But the money had been his, from the trust fund that had come into his control when he’d turned twenty-five. And it had paid off. Matt had not only succeeded, he’d already paid back Brandon’s investment with interest.

“Do you miss the competition?”

Brandon shook his head. “No. It was never that serious for me. I guess my family would tell you I’m the same about many things in my life. I enjoy sailing too, even competed in a couple of international races, but it wasn’t my life. What about you? What do you enjoy?”

Lucy laughed. “I’ve sailed. I grew up along the Maryland shore. I worked a couple of summers at a resort where I taught people how to sail little skiffs. I’ve never been on anything big.”

He caught her hand in his, the energy sizzling between them again. “Maybe I could take you out some time.”

She slipped her hand from his, and smoothed her hair from her face. “Maybe.”

“What else do you enjoy?”

“I’m a potter. I’ve got a small studio I work in from home.”

“So is that what you do? You’re an artist?” He could now understand the strength in her hands if she spent a good part of her day manipulating clay.

She shrugged. “It’s a hobby, I guess. It’s not like I’ve earned any real money from it. What about you? I know you ski. I know you wear suits and have breakfast meetings.”

Brandon shifted. “I work for my father’s company. We’re in communications.” It wasn’t a lie. And unless she examined
National News
in great detail, she would never notice the
Barrett Newspapers, Inc.
at the bottom of the logo. He didn’t get the feeling she’d tied the name Barrett to communications, but something sure as hell was bothering her. She’d set her napkin aside and pasted a cool, polite smile on her face.

“You must be busy. Look, I should get going. Thanks for the ski lesson and the lunch.”

She stood and Brandon followed suit. “That sounds a whole lot like a goodbye.”

She evaded his eyes. “You have plans. I have plans.” She shrugged.

“Can I take you out to dinner tonight?” He saw her hesitation. “Friends, Lucy. I won’t deny I’m attracted to you, but if you’re not… I get that, okay? No pressure. Just two people on vacation trying to enjoy some time together.”

“All right.”

He grinned. “Put on some dancing shoes. There’s a great dinner and dance club. Quiet. Plenty of jazz.”

He held her jacket for her while she slipped it on. The flowery scent of her hair and skin teased his nostrils. His hands lingered for an instant while he fought the urge to lift her hair to the side so he could nuzzle her neck. He only hoped his ski pants would hide the hard-on he now had. So simple, yet the scent of her was enough to turn him on. She glanced over her shoulder at him with those expressive eyes of hers.

“What time?”

“Seven.” Brandon couldn’t resist. He stroked a finger along her cheek. “I’ll see you this evening.”

* * * *

Back and forth. Lucy hoped the repetition of her swimming workout would make her forget how much she wanted to touch Brandon, and how little she trusted those feelings. He worked in his father’s business. It reminded her too much of all those years ago, of the one man who had broken through her wariness. Edward had been everything she’d thought she wanted. He had known right from the start what she was. In fact, he had seen her dancing. That was how they’d met, but he had been different from the other men. There hadn’t been any catcalls or suggestive remarks. Instead, he’d shown up several nights in a row. After the fourth night, he had invited her out for a late dinner. From there, it had turned into flowers, dinner dates, picnics in the park. Eventually it led to bed. She’d given him her innocence, and he’d given her an education.

Lucy executed a perfect flip-turn and continued to swim, her stroke fluid and efficient. She had gone out for the swim team at her first high school. The early morning practices got her out of the house. She’d been good too. Then her foster father had tried to invite himself into her bed. There’d been no swim team at the second high school. By the time she’d reached the fourth school, Lucy had seen little point in joining anything. Instead, she kept to herself and made sure she got her school work done. If she couldn’t get a scholarship, then she would at least make sure her grades were high enough she would be eligible for loans to pay her way to college. That was one goal she would not give up.

An hour of swimming, then Lucy vaulted from the pool. She ignored the looks from the men coming out of the locker room and wrapped her towel around her body. She ducked into the Jacuzzi in the women’s locker room and laid her head against the back, letting the bubbles from the jets soothe her tired muscles. She closed her eyes and Brandon’s face came to mind. He was so gorgeous that every time she was around him, she wanted to touch him. Would it be so wrong? Could she just enjoy what they had for this week? This vacation was like a slice out of time. It wasn’t the reality of her life. This was her reward, and wouldn’t Brandon be one more facet?

By the time he knocked on her door, Lucy had come to a decision. She would grab onto everything she could during this week, including Brandon, but she would do it with her eyes wide open this time. She smoothed her hands over the black silk dress she’d donned and opened the door. Her reward was the widening of his eyes and the smile curving his mouth. He was in a dark dinner suit, once again looking like a powerful businessman rather than an ex-skier on vacation.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured. “Do you have a coat?”

“A jacket.”