Page 24 of Heart on Ice

“I’m going to head to South Dakota tomorrow,” he explains, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, and I hate the way his arms flex when he does it. His biceps tense, his forearm veins expose, urgh, I shouldn’t be looking. “I know you don’t want togo, but I could really use your help. I don’t know if I can do this on my own.”

Oh. I wasn’t expecting that.

Then I watch as Pierre clutches his chest. “I can’t breathe,” he says, gasping for breath.

Do not have a heart attack on my watch as I rush toward him.

“You’re going to be okay. Quick, sit down,” I say, dragging him into the living room where I pull out the dining room chair for him. “Just breathe.” He continues to gasp, the panicked look on his face is terrifying. “You’re having a panic attack.” I realize, and make him put his head between his legs as I drop to my knees and rub his back. “It’s going to be okay,” I reassure him as he continues to freak out.

“It’s not,” he says through strangled breaths. I’m surprised he hasn’t had a breakdown earlier, he’s been too collected since arriving this morning. Maybe the adrenaline of the flight has finally worn off, and the reality of what’s happened has hit him. I stay with him, talking gently until his breathing returns to normal.

“Shit, I don’t know what happened,” he says, looking down at me.

“You had a panic attack,” I explain to him.

“I haven’t had one of those in a while,” he confesses.

“It’s understandable, you’ve just flown in from Europe on a day that is supposed to be your wedding day. You’ve been running on adrenaline, and your body is now crashing. You probably didn’t get much sleep on the plane either. I can’t imagine what’s going through your mind, not only about your relationship but also your career.”

“You mean that,” he asks quietly.

“Yes.” I nod. I’m not a total monster. He gives me a small smile.

We stay there looking at one another, and I hate that my eyes are clocking every change on him since the last time we were this close. I notice the tiny creases on his eyes, the freckles across his nose, the squareness of his jaw with the odd bit of peppering coming through on his five o’clock shadow. The way his body fills out his tee, the muscles upon muscles, his dark hair which has grown longer and the way it curls up on the ends, I hate how silky it looks.

Pierre reaches out and cups my face. I still. Hating the way one touch from him still makes my body tingle. It’s not fair. “Thanks for coming to my rescue,” he says as his thumb slides along my cheek. I swallow hard because my body betrays my heart.

Instantly, I stand up and put distance between us. “I’ll grab you a water.” I quickly disappear.

This week is going to be hell.

7

PIERRE

“Hey, how are you going?” Collette asks.

“I’m okay. Still haven’t heard anything from Bill’s lawyer. Marcus is on his way home from Italy. I told him there would be a big bonus for him to make up for cutting his Italian holiday short. I know his wife has been looking forward to it, but she understands why.” I owe my agent big time. “Hope you guys are having fun though?”

“Don’t worry about us, we are having a great time. We’re worried about you.”

“Had a panic attack today in front of Issy, so that was great,” I confess.

“Oh no. Are you okay? And why was it in front of Issy?” she questions.

“That’s where I’m staying, with Issy.”

Collette squeals. “You’re staying with Issy. How? When? I don’t understand. There’s no way Issy would let you stay with her.”

“Harper convinced her. She isn’t very happy about it, but I promised her it’s only for this week. I’m going to head back home to grab Frankston tomorrow.”

“Oh, poor Frankston, he’s going to have no idea what’s happening,” Collette states.

“Once I’ve gotten him back, I think everything is going to feel better.”

“And then what’s your plan?”

“I’ve asked Marcus if he could find out if The Mavericks would be interested in me.”

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