Page 36 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
Wiping his hands on a towel in his back pocket, Hugh said, “They’re good. The Medfords really appreciate the stipend, although they say it’s not necessary.”
I waved away his remark. “It is the least we can do. It’s kind for so many people to help us.”
Hugh smiled through his beard. “That’s what Hale’s Peak is all about. We’re a family. I’d do the same for any of them.”
I nodded in thought as Hugh bustled off to tend to his customers. Such a feeling of community and camaraderie was so foreign to me. The Kellers were ruthless, constantly looking for backs to lodge knives into. But here, nobody had such concerns. If someone had a problem, everyone pitched in to help. Something strange and warm flickered in the dim chambers of my heart—and then was swept away by an overwhelming frigid frost.
Val sat at the opposite end of the bar, deep in conversation with a mop of curly hair.Austin.A dark, ugly feeling unfurled in my chest,spurred on by my earlier agitation. In the greenhouse, something had changed between Val and me. We knew each other’s private darkness, our most closely held secrets—or she knewoneof mine. And here she was, laughing with him.
It should be me.
No. Leave it alone. Just go home.
But when it came to Val, the rational part of my brain had taken its leave a long time ago. Finishing my drink, I navigated through the crowd and walked up to the two of them. Raking my eyes over Val, I took in her powder blue sweater that clung to every sweet curve of her body. The sweater thatIhad picked out for her new closet, because I knew it would look hot as fuck. And it did. Austin might as well have been invisible for all the attention I paid him.
“Hello, Val,” I drawled, keeping my posture and expression neutral in case there were any tabloid journalists skulking about. I wasn’t sure where I was going with this, but it was too late to back out.
At my tone, Val’s back stiffened and she darted a look at Austin. “Mr. Keller,” she said carefully.Jesus. Did she have to call me that?“Do you—can I help you with something?”
Oh, that’s a good idea.“Yes. I need you to rearrange my schedule for tomorrow. I have…meetings. New ones. Very important.” Shewassupposed to be my personal assistant now, and I definitely needed her to personally assist me far away from this fucking guy.
She blinked at me. “Um, okay. And you need me to do this right now?”
“Right now.”
With a puzzled expression, she turned to Austin and said, “I’ll see you later. But sign me up for that trip to Whistler next fall.”
“You got it,” he said with an easy grin.
At that, something must have shown on my face because now Val was openly glaring at me. But meeting her temper with mine would only cause a clash of epic proportions—like in my office.Not here.I reined in my emotions and ushered us outside, away from prying eyes.
Once inside my cabin, we reconvened in the kitchen, facing off across the center island. “I thought you said Daphne was still handling your schedule,” she noted, eyes narrowed.
“She is,” I conceded.
“So why am I here?”
“I…” I could lie, come up with some work excuse. But Val wasn’t stupid. “I don’t like seeing you with him.”
Several emotions sprinted across her face—surprise, confusion—desire?But then she fastened her hands to her hips, a flinty spark in her eyes and a notch forming in her forehead. The woman looked ready to kick my ass, and I fucking loved knowing she was comfortable enough with me to be mad as hell andshow it.
Zeroing in on me, Val asked, “What the fuckis wrong with you?”
Oh, she wasverypissed—she hardly ever swore, and I’d never heard her say fuck before. Was it sick that I liked bringing out this side of her? But she didn’t give me a chance to answer before plowing onward.
“Look, I don’t know what that masculine display of marking your territory was about, but I am not your territory. Austin is my friend, so you can cool it with trying to intimidate him. Although, it didn’t work anyway. He isn’t ruffled by much, unlike someone.” She crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrow in a challenge.
She knows exactly what she’s doing.Prowling around the counter, I closed the distance between us. I shouldn’t care about any of this. Val was free to do whatever with whoever she wanted. I was the one with the problem. “Does Austin know he’s just your friend? Because friends don’t spend entire conversations staring at the other friend’s ass.”
Val rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?” Her breath caught as she realized what she’d just said. We were treading in risky territory.
A small step across the line can’t be worse than what I’ve already done to us.
“Let me take you out,” I said.
Val snapped her mouth shut. She didn’t outright reject me, and my blood pressure spiked as she scrutinized me. “Like a…date?”
Unable to help myself, I reached out and twisted one of her curls around my finger. “Do you want it to be a date?”
