‘Oh no, dear, you can’t do that. The town is full and everyone is booked up.’
‘It’s either the ski-lodge or a few more hours’ drive.’ The old man tapped her windowsill. ‘You’d better get going, there’s snow coming in.’
The couple stepped back from the car, linked arms and ambled across the road and through a cast-iron gate into the brightly lit hotel on the corner.
Lex glanced at Cole, to find his eyes on hers. ‘So, what’s our next move?’ he asked her.
They could either leave, drive to the next town to try and find accommodation or drive up to the very empty lodge. The answer was obvious, but Lex appreciated him asking her opinion. ‘The ski-lodge. We’re guaranteed a bed there.’
‘But we’ll be alone,’ Cole pointed out.
She got his subtext and knew he was reminding her that there would be no one around to dilute their attraction, or who’d require them to be circumspect. They’d have to face each other and the desire bubbling between them. There would be no place to hide, to run.
His topaz eyes glinted in the low light of the car and Lex shivered, not from the cold but anticipation. She patted his thigh, hoping to lighten the tension in the car. ‘It’ll be good for you to make your own bed and your own coffee and not be waited on hand and foot.’
Cole covered her hand with his and lifted it to brush his mouth across her knuckles. ‘I’ll have you know that I make my own coffee all the time,’ he quietly told her, his tone low and sexy.
He turned in his seat and grimaced at the clouds building behind them. ‘If we’re going to go, we should go now. I don’t want us driving on an unknown road in the dark during a snow storm. And, damn, I could murder, a whisky.’
‘Me too.’
‘I like mine in a crystal tumbler, on two cubes of one-inch ice and served on a silver tray.’
It took a moment for her to realise he was teasing and, when she did, she slapped his thigh before starting the car and heading out of town into the night. She flashed her cheekiest smile. ‘Thanks, I look forward to you pouring me one.’
Despite the gloom, Rossdale Ski Resort was more impressive than Cole expected it to be. Built of weathered dark timber, steel and stone, it looked modern but still held a hint of old-world charm.
Having been involved in a few construction projects himself, Cole didn’t want to think about how the original builders had transported the wood and stone up the ten-kilometre road he and Lex had just navigated. The road was narrow and there was the occasional drop-off. If a vehicle left the road, it would land on rocks or in the stream below. Lex, looking cool and confident, had navigated the road with ease, allowing the four-by-four slowly to inch its way up the icy road.
They were on a plateau now, and a couple of buildings sat on the only flat piece of land in the immediate area. The boutique hotel looked like what it was—a three-storey smallish hotel set on the edge of another, gentle slope. Off to the other side, at the bottom of the steepest slope, sat another building, the offices, a small pub and a shop which hired out snow equipment. A smallish snow lift stood at the bottom of the hill.
The slopes looked pretty decent and would give some good skiing if they received a couple of feet of snow. He wouldn’t get to ski, he reminded himself as Lex pulled the vehicle into an empty parking bay—one of many. They weren’t going to be here long enough.
He watched Lex remove her hands from the steering wheel and then flex and bend her fingers before shaking them out. They were trembling, he realised.
Capturing the hand closest to him, he gently squeezed her fingers before lifting her hand so that he could kiss its tips. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Under her freckles, in the cool light of the car her skin was now ashen.
‘Just glad that’s over,’ she told him, emotion in her green, green eyes.
‘Glad what is over?’ he asked, following her gaze to look over the back seat. ‘Are you talking about the road?’
‘Well...yes,’ she admitted. ‘I’m used to urban roads, dodging potholes, passenger buses and pedestrians, not negotiating slippery tracks on the sides of mountains.’
‘Have you ever driven a four-by-four before?’ Cole asked her.
‘I’ve never driven on a dirt road before,’ Lex admitted.
Damn it. If he’d known that he would’ve taken the wheel at the bottom of the hill when Lex had asked him whether he wanted to drive. He’d wanted to say yes but hadn’t wanted to offend her by suggesting that he didn’t trust her driving.
‘You did well,’ he told her, dropping her hand. He looked to the left, to where the triple-storey stone-and-wood structure sat in the ever-descending darkness. ‘What do you think?’
Lex leaned forward to look past him and he caught the scent from her hair, lemon and berries, fresh and sweet. ‘It looks amazing.’
Cole left the warm car and turned up the collar of his leather jacket, frowning when a splatter of ice hit his nose and then his cheek. He cursed as he walked to the back of the vehicle to pull out their bags.
‘The temperature is dropping rapidly, and we need to get a fire started,’ he told her. ‘Get your pretty butt out of the car, Lex, and let’s get inside.’
Lex exited the car and tried to take her bag from Cole but he wasn’t having any of it. Putting the strap of his bag over his shoulder, he held her overnight suitcase in his other hand and grabbed her free hand, tugging her through brittle grass to wide stairs leading to a massive front door. Next to the door was a panel and Cole keyed in the code, intensely relieved when the door clicked and opened an inch. Placing his hand on the solid timber, he pushed it open, followed Lex into the house and found himself on a narrow gantry overlooking the double-height common room. Cole dropped the bags and, using the torch app on his phone, found the light switch. One minute they stood in near darkness, the next the hallway was flooded with light.