‘Yes, see you later,’ she replied, tugging off her apron.
See you later. There was a world of promise contained in those three words and her spirits were soaring as she left the room. See you later cleared the mist on her immediate future another day with Mac.
He blazed into the restaurant. Customers halted with soup spoons halfway to their mouths to stare at the impossibly glamorous man who had just walked in in a storm of testosterone and muscle. Lucy knew the owner of the cosy mountain retreat and had been helping out by doing a little serving while she was waiting for Mac, but now she stopped as Mac, oblivious to everyone staring at him, headed straight for her. ‘Ready?’ he said, flashing a glance at the chef who poked his head round the door.
With arousal thundering through her she was already by his side, waving goodbye to the owner.
‘Do you really need to moonlight?’ Mac demanded, ushering her towards the pegs where her jacket was hanging and her ski boots were stacked. ‘Doesn’t the chalet company pay you enough?’
‘It’s not strictly moonlighting as I don’t get paid for working here.’
‘You do enough already,’ he said, frowning as he held the door for her.
‘The owner’s a friend.’
‘You let people take advantage of your good nature.’
‘I’m fine with it, Mac. Honestly, I’m no pushover.’
The humour in his slanted glance made her blush.
They skied down from the restaurant to the first lift. Mac was every bit as good as she thought he’d be—far faster and more confident than she would ever be. She tried to keep up with him and then found it hard to stop. It was quite a collision, but Mac caught her in his arms and didn’t even lose his balance slightly. ‘Speed demon,’ he commented wryly. ‘I can see we’re going to have some fun.’
Taking in his athletic form, dressed in the latest closefitting performance gear, Lucy decided that was mainly what she was afraid of.
For the first time that season she managed to catch a tip and fall off the lift as she got off—or she would have done had Mac’s awareness and reflexes not been lightning fast. Catching hold of her, he steadied her before she could suffer the ignominy of holding everyone up. ‘It happens all the time,’ he reassured her. ‘Even Tom took a tumble yesterday.’
But there wasn’t even a bump in the snow here and she could only blame Mac for distracting her—Mac who was so utterly gorgeous everyone was staring at him to the point where she couldn’t understand why he wanted to be with her. Even though they’d slept together it wasn’t exactly a holiday romance.
No, it was something more precious than that, she mused contentedly.
‘Shall I lead, or would you like to?’ he said, snapping her out of the daydream.
‘You’d better lead and wait for me at the bottom—I can’t ski as well as you.’ She doubted few people could.
Mac stared at her, the customary amusement missing from his face. ‘I wouldn’t dream of leaving you—I’ll ride shotgun. Off you go,’ he prompted. As he spoke the clouds parted and the sun streamed down, illuminating his face almost as a Hollywood director would reserve the special lighting for the star, Lucy thought, dazzled for a moment.
‘Come on, let’s get moving. The sun might be shining, but it isn’t the desert,’ he pointed out.
She laughed too. They were as far away from the desert as she could imagine. But as she was about to start off Mac caught hold of her arm. ‘I’ve got a better idea,’ he said. ‘Take off your skis.’
‘What?’ She looked at him in surprise. ‘You are joking?’
‘I’m perfectly serious. I’ll put them in the rack and arrange for them to be collected.’
‘And what do I do—slither down the slope on my backside?’ It might be faster, Lucy conceded as several people turned to stare at her in amusement.
‘Don’t you trust me?’ Mac murmured, holding her gaze until she blushed.
‘You know I do.’
He was remembering how his brother, Ra’id, had done this for him once—though under very different circumstances. He’d been about ten years old, and on his first trip to a ski resort. Eager to show his big brother he could keep up with him, he’d watched Ra’id take the lift up the glacier and had followed him. Ra’id’s instincts had saved his life. Sensing his foolish little brother was in trouble on the slope behind him, Ra’id had made a dangerous ascent of a perilous incline to rescue him. The weather had closed in, and it had taken Ra’id almost an hour in blizzard conditions to reach the snow bridge where Razi had been stranded. Even then Ra’id had been all patience, all control. He had checked for injuries, before taking him slowly down the slope to safety, as he would now take Lucy under much happier conditions. ‘Take your skis off,’ he prompted, seeing Lucy was still hesitating. Taking matters out of her hands, he snapped her bindings open so the skis fell away and she had no choice but to step out of them. He put her skis in the rack by the side of the slope and then beckoned to her. ‘Stand on mine.’
‘Now I know you’re joking.’
His stare didn’t waver. ‘Come on, my skis are stronger than you know. Come in front of me and rest against me…Closer…Yes, that’s right…Lean right into me.’
Was she really doing this?