Page 18 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Levi remained sceptical. She wouldn’t blame him if he marched away as desperation seeped from her every pore. Molly felt sure he would have women throwing themselves at him constantly.
Levi studied her, his shoulders sagging slightly. ‘Sorry. As tempting as it seems, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.’
Molly hung her head. This was embarrassing on so many levels. This wouldn’t even make a funny tale to tell the grandkids, and the only person she would ever have wanted to share this humiliation with was dead. Molly had never felt so alone. Why had she ever allowed Ava to persuade her to leave her home country and embark on such a wild adventure?
‘I’ll leave the gown here for you. Don’t forget to use the rail when you get out,’ Levi said, getting up from his crouching position. ‘I’ll go to reception and see about getting you down to the hotel safely. Then I’ll be back to talk if you need to.’
Was there anything worse than pity after the lethal sting of rejection?
Molly’s whole body was ablaze with shame. As soon as he disappeared back into the room and she heard the door to the suite close, she scrambled out of the hot tub and into her dressing gown. Sniffing up her tears, she scurried to the bathroom with the angry force of a woman who was very annoyed with herself and who was still very much sexually unfulfilled. And while she was far from happy about it, she only had herself to blame. Three bloody years and two weeks, almost to the day, but who was counting? She rapidly towelled herself dry, grabbed her ridiculous burlesque costume and rammed her limbs into it, determined to be long gone before Levi returned. And as for borrowing his clothes, she could do without a souvenir of this hideous night. But most of all, she hoped she’d never set eyes on him again.
Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she realised she had mascara running down to her chin, her hair was a giant nest sticking out at all angles and her cheeks were on fire with humiliation. She decided there would be no more nights at the Cigar Lounge, no more nights in hot tubs. Bucket list or no bucket list, she wasn’t sure her nerves would survive another moment in the company of that man. He wastooremarkable.Tooconfident.Tooperfect. Everything about him oozed sex appeal.Toomuch sex appeal. She’d stay safely tucked away in the kitchen for the rest of the season. She’d just have to throw herself at the mercy of the solicitor and hope that she could come up with an alternative way to save the restaurant and her home.
Once she was fully dressed, she stealthily made her way out of the suite into the plush corridor, every nerve ending on edge. She noticed signage on the wall pointing the direction to the spa and pool area, the Bar Rouge, the Billiards Room, but most importantly to the kitchen. She raced along and flung herself inside, taking a moment to catch her breath and wipe the remaining tears from her eyes. She’d rather risk crashing the snowmobile than spend one second longer at the Cigar Lounge.
She heard footsteps behind her. Was he following her? What would she say to him? Her mind raced as the door opened and Keela followed her in shaking her head. ‘Of all the rules to break.’
‘What do you mean?’ Keeping her back to Keela, Molly knew exactly what she meant.
‘The hot billionaire in the lift?’
Molly busied herself with the empty trays, clattering them loudly as she piled the trolley high, her damp hair swinging down to hide her flushed face. ‘Nothing happened. That’s me done. I’m off now.’
‘There’s a weather warning. You’ll have to stay here. Wait, have you been crying?’ Keela asked as she hurried to help her.
Molly shook her head.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
‘I need to go.’ Molly sniffed, rubbing her hot eyes with the palms of her hands.
Keela sighed. ‘Honey, you wouldn’t be the first, but let me warn you now, that one is strictly off limits. You’ll only get hurt.’
This did nothing to quash the sinking feeling, her skin crawling with shame. If only Keela knew that Levi had rejected her before anything had even begun. Molly was desperate for this conversation to end. Her whole mind was becoming numb with embarrassment.
‘Promise me you’ll stay until the storm is over?’ Keela soothed.
Molly nodded but as soon as Keela left the kitchen, she yanked open the changing room door. She kicked off the ridiculously high shoes and stuffed them into her backpack. Speedily pulling on her snowsuit over her costume, her boots, a hat over her damp hair and some still damp gloves, she heaved open the outside door. She was met with an icy blast and a sea of darkness.
A security light sprang on to reveal the snow, while piled high, was no longer coming down as thickly. The main plaza below was still lit up but empty of life. She had no idea what time it was, only that she wanted the comfort of her own soft bed in her own tiny room. Steeling herself against the freezing cold, she stepped out into the snow and trudged towards the snowmobile, yanking at the handles.
The vehicle roared to life as if powered by her fury. How could she embarrass herself like that! She felt it strain against the snow blocking its path, the trailer caught in the drift. Molly let out a frustrated scream. She unhooked the trailer and hopped back on the snowmobile. It surged forward with force, and within ten minutes of what felt like a terrifying sheer drop down the mountain, she was sliding to a stop outside her charming, rustic, Alpine restaurant made of wooden logs and a thatched roof and hurling herself through the door with the big CLOSED sign. She deftly wove through the wooden tables with their quaint red-and-green Christmas tablecloths and glittering candle holders, thumped up the stairs and into her safe and cosy apartment. She slammed the door shut, shaking the walls. She was fuming with rage and humiliation in equal measure. She threw herself into the shower in the small ensuite and let the boiling hot water and soothing conditioning shampoo wash away her temper until her breathing returned to normal and the pain in her chest subsided.
She dried her hair and collapsed into bed, exhausted. A throbbing between her legs reminded her of how much she’d wanted him. Her breasts felt tender, aching for his touch. Her whole body, her entire being, felt different. She was tortured by images of her arching into him, her hair falling onto his chest, his eyes burning into hers as she more or lessbeggedhim to kiss her.
She’dbeggedhim for a second chance! How desperate!
Molly felt the tears slide slowly down her cheek as she rolled over onto the pillow and implored sleep to take her.
* * *
The alarm went off what seemed like five seconds later. Molly’s dreams had been full of traitorous images of Levi. She dragged herself down to the restaurant kitchen to start the breakfasts and bottomless brunches. She inspected her pasty complexion and red puffy eyes staring back at her from the mirror. The only consolation would be that she would never have to run into Levi again. She would stay safely tucked out of sight and away from the ski resort guests. She opened up the restaurant and as always, no matter how hard she was finding things, the picture-perfect square bustling with skiers heading for the slopes against the backdrop of the snow-peaked mountains stole her breath away. Light flooded in through the wooden window shutters, illuminating the quintessentially French décor, the beams across the ceiling, the huge fireplace that dominated the main eating area. Molly and Ava had knocked a wall through, making the kitchen semi-open, so that the customers could enjoy the delicious aromas of Molly’s cooking. Often, if they were glued to what she was doing, she would talk them through the process, politely answering questions on her unconventional techniques.
After a slow morning cooking breakfasts and making her house special hot chocolates for the few stragglers that came in, it was time for Molly to close up and head across the square to the main hotel kitchen to start her second job of the day.
* * *
As soon as she arrived at the hotel, Molly raced into the pantry, tying her apron strings behind her as she went. Pulling her long thick hair up into a topknot, she grabbed the roster to see she had been assigned a small sixtieth birthday celebration being held in the hotel’s private dining room. She flicked her eyes down the list for allergies and got to work preparing a tasting menu. She decided on a ten-course degustation that would keep her so incredibly focused, she’d have no time to even think about the humiliation of the previous evening. The horrified expression on Levi’s face. The ridiculous way he’d fled the room on finding her naked. It was making her blood boil just thinking about it. She felt such a fool.
