Page 20 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
She blinked. Lush pine forest rose to one side, powdered with snow as thick as the icing on a wedding cake. On the other was the village of Lanersbach, a cluster of peaked roofs with carved, wooden eaves.
‘What?’ she asked again, as he rolled his eyes. All around the isolated valley rose mountain summits, dappled with snow on their steep slopes.
‘The landscape is… extraordinary. Did you drive us into a different world?’
‘No,’ she said quizzically. ‘This is Tyrol.’
Groping for the door-handle, he tumbled outside, his neck bent backwards as he spun in a slow circle, taking it all in. Raising his arms, he marvelled at the snow showering around him, glistening in the glow from the street lamps as the sky darkened with early dusk.
‘Evviva! Woohoo!’ he cried out, taking a step – right into a snowdrift. ‘Ahi!’ Stumbling out of the icy, wet pile, he grasped the door for balance, throwing her a wry smile that caught Kira in the ribs.
She was used to finding men attractive when they had overdeveloped muscles in their backs and big, blunt hands for grasping rocks and tying knots. Patterned shirts with too many buttons undone, bright smiles and clumsiness were not supposed to inspire this fluttering in her gut.
But there it was. Her throat thickened and her chest tightened and maybe she was ill? If she had a virus, that might explain why her insides were goop just from looking at him. She couldn’t help thinking that his friend Alessandra was right about one thing at least: there was something special about Mattia that needed protecting – mostly from himself, she added, as he lifted one foot to inspect his sodden shoe with a grimace.
‘Cazzo!’ he cursed.
‘Get back inside!’ Kira called. ‘I have to phone Ginny to send the shuttle for us and I don’t know how long we’ll be waiting here.’
Swinging himself back into the seat, he gave a violent shiver and pulled the door closed. ‘Maybe I should just look at the beautiful snow and not touch it.’
Shooting him a tolerant smile, Kira held her phone to her ear and climbed over the centre console into the rear of the minivan.
‘Finally! Please tell me you’ve arrived! Alessandra is beside herself.’
‘We’ve arrived!’ Kira was glad to declare, amused by Ginny’s effusive relief. After her colleague promised to send the shuttle for them, Kira hauled her rucksack upright and popped the snaps as she signed off, ‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘Kira,’ Ginny continued tentatively before Kira could disconnect the call. ‘You remember what I said about… being presentable?’
‘For fuck’s sake, it’s minus five degrees out there and even the rich people will be wearing technical boots,’ she grumbled. ‘But I remember, which is why I’m going through my stuff right now to find a… blouse.’
Kira’s nose wrinkled. She wasn’t sure she’d ever used the word before. It sounded like something used for blowing her nose.
‘You’re the absolute best. You won’t believe this group. The bride is gorgeous and super sweet, but holy shit, this lot use their silver spoons to check their reflections! London finance types with money to burn – or freeze, in this case. You have to manage them carefully and part of that is earning their respect early on.’
‘I’m sure I’ll earn their respect on the slopes,’ Kira pointed out, ‘but putting on a nice shirt won’t kill me.’
‘And… some make-up? Did you get that stuff I recommended?’
When Kira had determined that every last item of make-up she owned was so old, it was unhygienic, she’d asked Ginny for advice. ‘I brought some make-up. I won’t embarrass you.’
‘Fuck, I wish that didn’t make me sound like such a bitch.’
Kira grinned, remembering the first time she’d discovered Ginny was a terrible potty mouth, as bad as any mountaineer, although she kept up a perfect facade for her clients – a skill Kira wasn’t sure she would ever master.
‘See you soon. But you owe me a drink after this.’ She stilled, her brow pulling down. Since when did she want to hang out with the staff of I Do Destinations? The two very different travel companies found themselves in a marriage of convenience, which Kira had assumed would never be anything other than merely convenient. Ginny surely wouldn’t want to hang out.
But her colleague answered, ‘I’m going to need a big one too!’ with a smile in her voice. ‘It’s a deal.’
After disconnecting the call, Kira rummaged in her stuffed rucksack, tugging out her toiletry pouch and a rather crushed cream blouse she’d only ever worn once. It had a sort of scarf thing attached that she had no idea how to tie, but other people made it look so effortless, she was certain she’d work it out somehow.
Ducking to avoid whacking the roof as she flailed, she unzipped the collar of her merino base layer and whipped it off. That was when she caught sight of Mattia, wide-eyed and turned in his seat, frozen and staring.
Her skin flushed with heat. His look was difficult to misinterpret – especially after their conversation about attraction and friendship – and if she’d wanted to misunderstand on purpose, the strangled sound of surprise in the back of his throat would have undermined the attempt. His gaze drifted along her shoulders and down her arms, then back up, snagging on her breasts before snapping up to her face as his cheeks blossomed pink.
‘Sorry,’ he said tightly, whipping around to face forward – about thirty seconds too late. His chest rose and fell heavily.
Kira slipped the blouse over her head and stuffed her arms into the silky sleeves, grimacing at the skip in her heartbeat and the tightness of breath that she really didn’t want to be feeling right now.
