Page 65 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
“A few weeks ago, he came to me with the idea and I told him it was impossible but he said, ‘Not with my kind of money.’ I’ll be damned, but he made it happen.” Tess took a sip of her champagne and fell into conversation with Bobby, but her eyes kept darting over to Nolan’s table.
At her explanation, I tapped my chin. Had Nolan done this to prove to his grandfather that he saw the value in the town and the property, as a signal of, “Mission accomplished, Arthur! Please send me home now!” Or, well…I didn’t want to admit to being so self-centered, but I thought he might have organized this for me, to help with the farmers market. But I shook off the idea. Grand romantic gestures were the things of rom-coms, not real life. It made good business sense for him to do this, and it was great PR for Hale’s Peak.
Before I could think more about it, Robert Wilhelm—sans Erica, thank god—approached our table. “Tess, may I borrow you for a moment?” At Tess’s nod, the two headed out of the ballroom. Frankie looked at me and I shrugged. He probably had a question about ski lessons or something.
After dinner and dessert, we flocked to the dance floor. Loosened up by the catchy music and flowing liquor, Frankie and Hugh twirled around like experts.
“I can’t dance like that, but I promise I won’t step on your feet,” Austin said, offering me his hand. After three drinks, I was feeling pretty toasty and up for a dance. True to his word, Austin did a pretty good job of leading us around the dance floor, spinning me until I was laughing and breathless.
A few songs later, I glanced around for my friends—and saw Frankie twisted around Ryan. Frowning, I said to Austin, “That’s weird.”
“Yeah, thought they were in their off-again stage, but seems like they’re rekindling,” Austin replied.
“Hmm.” Ryan was nice enough, but I thought for sure Frankie would pounce on Dominic.And secretly, the idea of each of us nabbing a Keller sent a little thrill through me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dominic leaning against the bar nursing his drink. He’d ditched his jacket and had rolled up his shirt sleeves, exposing forearms that had me thinking inappropriate things that Nolan would certainly not be happy about. But while the view was nice, that wasn’t why I stared at him—he waswatchingFrankie with a smoldering expression, locked in on her as if no one else in the room existed.
Interesting. She’ll love to hear about that.
Interrupting my crowd-scanning, Nolan and Cressida swept into my periphery, looking elegant as ever. But Nolan was glaring daggers into the back of Austin’s head, and I repressed a laugh.The man has no poker face sometimes.
The song ended and he was there, invading my senses with his scent of expensive cologne. “Mind if I steal her for a dance, Austin?” But Nolan’s azure eyes were fastened on me.
Clapping him on the shoulder, Austin said, “You got it, boss.”
Then Nolan scooped me into his arms and we were off. Everywhere our bodies touched felt like an electric current zinging through me, and there was barely a whisper of breath between us.
“Should we be dancing like this?” I asked. Journalists dotted the edge of the room, snapping pictures, interviewing guests, and vying for the VIPs’ attention.
“Cressida is dancing with Anton, one of the biggest manwhores I know, and I danced with a couple other female employees already. We’ll be fine.”
“Missed you this week,” I murmured, keeping my voice low even though we were unlikely to be heard over the music.
“I see Austin wasted no time in being opportunistic about the gala.”
“Don’t be mean,” I said with a laugh. “At least he communicates with me like a normal person and not a Neanderthal who can only grunt and drag me by my hair back to his cave.”
A wicked grin curved Nolan’s lips. “You like having your hair pulled? Noted.”
At that, a slew of X-rated images sprinted through my head. Clearing my throat, I said, “This gala was your idea? You planned this?”
“I did.”
“So you could appease Arthur and show him that you learned your lesson while you were here? Is this all…just business?”
At the way his eyes flashed, I could tell he took my double meaning. “Do all of your ‘business’ arrangements involve you bringing yourself to orgasm in front of your boss? Because, if so, there are some previous bosses of yours I need to murder.”
Oh. Well then.“That answers that,” I said with a nervous laugh.
Sensing that I needed more, he continued. “After seeing how much the people are the heart of this place, I wanted to give back. They deserve to be repaid, and not just with money.”
His words struck me straight through the little corner of my heart that only he could reach, and emotion welled inside of me. “Nolan, that’s…no one has ever done anything like this for our town before. Thank you.”
As the music crescendoed, he pulled me into his chest, eliminating the space between us, and leaned down to speak in my ear. His whisper against my skin sent tingles shooting down my spine. “Are you happy?”
The question settled into the hole in my chest that had been there ever since Antonella’s car crash. I hadn’t thought about my own happiness in years, drowning in the familial responsibilities and just trying to get through the day. Nolan looked at me with an open earnestness. Like…like he genuinely cared about my happiness.
“I am,” I said. Then he gave me a real smile. A rare glimpse under the mask that he never let anyone else see. Something twisted in my chest. “I just…” I bit my lip and looked anywhere but at him. “I wish the season didn’t have to end.”
I wishwedidn’t have to end.
