Page 10 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Molly understood. She felt completely out of control herself. What was she doing? Surely she’d be sacked once Levi found out who she was. Keela was bound to tell him eventually. Molly put a hand to her chest. ‘It’s fine. I understand. We were both caught up in a moment of madness.’
They took a beat to regain their composure.
‘Exactly. Forgive me, Molly.’
‘Nothing to forgive,Angelo.’
She gave him a moment to come clean as their eyes met.
He didn’t.
With the atmosphere becoming increasingly awkward, they hovered in the corridor. Levi could be anyone. He might even have shares in the place for all she knew. Plus, there was the small matter of the angry redhead determined to sue her into the ground. Molly decided to leave before she caused any more trouble. Even in a treacherous storm, the snowmobile seemed the better option. ‘So, anyway, thanks for the kind offer but it’s probably best if I just go and wait in the bar.’
‘Probably.’
He was clearly having a change of heart about her going back to his room anyway. Molly went to take off his jacket.
‘No. Keep it. That bar might be full of…’ Levi stopped talking.
‘It’s fine. I’m sure I’ll be able to handle a few drunks. Besides, I’ll probably wait in the kitchen.’ Molly looked down at her skimpy outfit. She would immediately go and change into her comfortably padded, libido-crushing snowsuit and moon boots.
‘Kitchen?’
‘No, not the kitchen. I mean the guest waiting area. Where guests usually wait. For the gondola.’
He fumbled in his pocket for his room key, balancing the tray Keela had given him in the other. ‘This is silly. Why don’t you at least hang in my room until the gondola is back up and running? The engineers couldn’t even make it up here on their snowmobiles.’
The storm was too bad for snowmobiles? ‘How long do you think it’ll take?’ Molly had depressing visions of herself sleeping standing up in the kitchen, propped against the freezer cabinets.
‘A while. It’s a bad one.’ Levi opened the door to his suite for her. ‘I’m sure we can behave like civilised adults while we wait for the storm to pass,’ he joked weakly.
Molly took a moment to appreciate the ridiculousness of what he’d just said. They had barely survived a thirty-second lift ride without wanting to act on impulse.
‘You’re right. I’m sure wecanbehave like civilised adults.’ She had doubts even as she was saying it. It would take just shy of a horse tranquiliser to calm her thumping heart. She was all but dressed for a night of wild sex, and he was a raging pile of pheromones. Her eyes wandered the length of him. One twang of her garter and he’d be salivating.
With her mind in a whirl, she walked through the doorway into a luxurious living room. She took in her surroundings. Three giant sofas with tasteful cushions surrounded the flickering fire. The immaculate wooden décor accentuated the stone walls. Candles burned discreetly on all surfaces, the smell of jasmine and bergamot filling the air as though she had stepped into a luxurious spa. ‘This place is amazing.’
‘Please make yourself comfortable,’ Levi said in a formal tone as he placed the tray down on the coffee table.
Molly waited to see which of the giant sofas he would sit on and was disappointed when he chose to remain standing. She perched on the nearest sofa.
‘I’ll ring reception for an update.’ He spoke on the phone in fluent French, which she immediately found horny and distracting, but she managed to catch the gist of what was being said.
Levi clicked off the call impatiently. ‘Sorry. Looks like you’ll have a bit of a long wait. They still need to clear the cables and do a test run. Even the helipad is out of action.’
Thank goodness for her fear of rotating blades. She’d rather stay stranded at the Cigar Lounge in her bone-crushingly tight corset than face getting airlifted out by helicopter.
She shook her head vaguely as Levi paced around the room sounding like he’d come straight from the Met Office. ‘Storms of this severity don’t usually happen too often, thankfully. Something to do with a low-pressure system sweeping in from the Atlantic.’
The romantic atmosphere was waning dramatically as they engaged in what was arguably the most stilted and self-conscious exchange between two people desperately trying to pretend they hadn’t just had their tongues down each other’s throats.
‘I know what you mean. The snow.’ She pointed outside. ‘There’s way too much of it.’ Honestly.Where were her words? The longer, sophisticated words?
He stopped pacing and faced her with a bemused expression. ‘And snow wasn’t something you expected to see holidaying in a ski resort at this altitude? At this time of year?’
Molly wondered whether this undercurrent of sarcasm was strictly necessary, but she could barely look him in the face, he was so ridiculously good-looking. She needed to stop acting as though she had a schoolgirl crush. ‘I can think of worse places to be trapped during a storm. Not that I’m trapped here. Obviously not. Great view.’ She was babbling. Her thought processes were all over the place under the pressure to show him she was a rational and civilised adult. Without sex on the brain.Three whole years!
Levi followed her gaze to the window. Apart from snow pounding unnervingly against the glass, it was pitch-black outside. All she could see was her own reflection staring manically back.
