Page 57 of The Last Resort
Grabbing the zipper, she slid it down, opening the bag half way. With her arms free of their down-stuffed prison, she pushed the folds apart. Cool air rushed in, but she could move. Climbing off the bed, she made her way over to the light switch and flipped it off.
“Right, now to bed. And sleep.”
Snuggling back into the sleeping bag, she lay on her back, hands resting softly on her belly, as she pondered what to do next. Her mind was too busy. Her body hungry. There was only one way she could think of to calm herself down and be ready to sleep.
The instant her hand slipped under the waistband of her leisure pants all thoughts of the day’s events fled her mind. All she could think of was the hot billionaire with the deep brown eyes who was sleeping in the room next door. Her fingers drifted lower.
Memories of Matthew and the tender way he’d brought her to orgasm every time they’d made love had Rachel crashing through her self-love climax in under a minute. Her heart was still beating fast as her gratefully sated body began the slow drift into sleep.
Day one of their ski lodge adventure and her resolve was already beginning to crumble.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Halfway through Rachel’s shower the following morning, the water flowing down her back turned from warm-ish to freezing. “Shit!” She danced out of the spray. Standing well back, she put her hand under the water, praying that the change in temperature had been a temporary thing.
Had Matthew turned on the faucet in the kitchen? She’d kill him if he was the one taking all the hot water.
She could handle some discomfort but drew the line firmly at cold showers. With her hair still full of conditioner, there was nothing else she could do other than grit her teeth and stick her head back under the water. Running her fingers furiously through her hair, Rachel rinsed the conditioner out in record time, then leapt free of the bitterly cold cubicle.
“Oh, that’s the worst shower I’ve ever had.”
At least I brought my hairdryer with me. I can warm my aching head.
After drying off then quickly dressing, Rachel made her way into the kitchen, grumpy but well rugged up. The coffee machine had better be working or she’d be walking into town,snow, or no snow. She had just popped a pod into the machine when a dour faced Matthew wandered in.
Wearing his puffer jacket and expensive scarf, he marched straight over to the coffee maker and stood huffing and puffing next to Rachel. “I need something hot. My shower was ice cold. And my body is still numb with shock,” he grumbled.
I’ll warm you up.
Rachel shut that thought down and took a hurried step back. Late last night she’d been so close to caving and hittingone-clickon her Amazon cart. “Mine went cold too. When did you try the shower?”
“About an hour ago. If I’d gone and thrown myself in the lake at the bottom of the ravine, the water couldn’t be any colder. I’m beginning to wonder if the old boiler threw a hissy fit during the night. It was making strange noises when I went down into the basement not long before I went to bed.”
“Why were you in the basement?”
“Checking what upgrades have been made since the original blueprints were drawn up. By the look of it, the boiler is a good twenty years old. Probably been sitting here since they closed the place. I’m prepared to rough it a little, but I do have my limits. If the boiler doesn’t kick back in, then I think we should call the Brocks. We can’t stay out here if there is no hot water or heating.”
Taking her coffee, Rachel moved out of Matthew’s way. He popped a pod into the machine, and the second it had finished pouring he downed his small espresso, then went back for a second.
Setting her cup down, Rachel fished inside her jacket and pulled out the repair guy’s business card, along with her phone. She dialed the number. “Hi, this is Rachel. Dan Brock from the helicopter rescue service’s sister-in-law.”
“Are you one of the poor architects who got sent to go liveout at the Green Tree Resort?” asked the gruff but cheerful voice on the other end of the line.
“Yes, that’s me. I think the boiler is on the fritz this morning. We both had freezing cold showers. And the heating is gone. Would you have time to come and take a look at it?”
“I’m still waiting on a part from a guy over in Lakewood. It should be coming in with the courier either today or tomorrow. It’s taken over a month to find anyone who still stocks the parts. That boiler is getting on in age.”
There was nothing they could do other than wait. “Alright thanks. We’ll have to manage somehow. Can you please give me a call when the part comes in?”
“Sure. I’ll call you back on this number.”
“Thanks.”
She hung up and turned to Matthew. “Dan mentioned something about the boiler having issues and gave me a card. I’d kinda forgotten about the whole thing until the waters of the Arctic came crashing down on my head this morning. Let’s hope we can get it fixed, and soon.”
Matthew might well be an annoying billionaire, but she didn’t dislike him enough to hold the repair man over his head.He is sharing the coffee machine.Rachel wasn’t one for roughing it either, she liked comfort and the convenience of room service.
When my career is fully back on its feet, and I can afford life’s luxuries once more, I’m sticking to big cities, and five-star hotels.
