Page 38 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
Dios, I will never survive this winter, let alone this evening.
“What do you wear to a first date that can’t technically be a real date, and you want to look nice but not too nice?” I said to Frankie via FaceTime. I had an hour before I needed to be ready, and even with Cressida’s generous additions to my wardrobe, I’d been agonizing over my options for an embarrassing amount of time.
An alarming squeal trilled out of my phone speaker, and I cringed, holding it away from my face. “So the unmentionable boss who is completely and utterly fuckable in every way and some ways that have yet to be discovered finally asked you out?”
I snorted. “Do you always have to be so extra?”
“Yes. It’s who I am. Answer the question.”
“He invited me to dinner.”
At another outburst from Frankie, I gingerly placed the phone on my dresser as I searched through my closet, her constant stream of chatter the soundtrack to my outfit selection process.
“The FBI should hire me,” said Frankie, coming down from her high. “I knew those internet message boards were onto something. Either Nolan’s a two-timing asshat, or they have an open relationship and he’s allowed to date other people. You should call him out on it.”
I stifled a groan. At the very least, it sounded like his situation with Cressida was hellishly complicated—something my life did not need. I had enough on my plate with taking care of Juanito and trying to get my farming cooperative off the ground. Tossing aside a smelly shirt, I said, “I’m not interested in him regardless of his relationship status.”
“And I’m not interested in banging Chris Evans. See, I can tell ridiculous lies too.”
“Extra,” I chastised. “Be nice or I’m not wearing those flashy earrings you made for me.” Frankie was an expert jeweler and ran a side hustle that she wanted to make her main hustle, just like me with my farming ideas. It’s what we’d bonded over when we first met.
“You’ll wear the damn hoops and you’ll like it,” she threatened. “That reminds me, I’m setting up my jewelry stand again at the General Store this weekend for the holiday shoppers. You should come too. Mrs. Medford could use some extra help.”
Ah jeez.I’d been so distracted with my new duties and Nolan’s, uh, antics that I’d missed my last volunteer shift. “Tell her I’ll be there. Gotta go.”
“The hoops, Val. And at least wear some lip gloss, for god’s sake!”
NOLAN
I finished the workday, but I couldn’t focus on anything except the prospect of alone time with Val. At Cressida’s suggestion, I’d reserved Summit’s Edge, the resort’s mountaintop villa, for the evening. Because of the holiday, there was a slight uptick in guests and with that semi-pro snowboarder hanging around, the paparazzi were beginning to descend in earnest. So really, renting out Summit’s Edge was in our best interest for privacy.
Or that’s what I told myself.
Because as Val said, this was not a date. This was just me doing something nice for her.
Yeah, right.
I’d been ready to spill my secret to Val last night, but now that Cressida had given me the green light to tell her about our situation, I wasn’t sure if I would. What if Val decided not to get involved? I wouldn’t blame her, but the thought of revealing my fake relationship only to get rejected gave me pause.
By the time I arrived at home, I was thoroughly wound up. When I walked inside, Val sat on the couch, tapping on her phone. The sight of her sitting there, waiting for me, stirred something deep in my core. It must have shown on my face, because she hoisted an eyebrow. Loosening my tie, I said, “Give me ten minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, I loaded us into the resort’s Escalade. “I’ll take it from here, Stan.” The older mustachioed man gave me a puzzled look.
“Are you sure, sir?”
“Enjoy a night off. We’ll be fine.”
Stan wrung his hands as if he’d never taken a day off in his life and wouldn’t know what to do.
“Ellen and the kids will be thrilled,” said Val. “It’s s’mores night at the bonfire.”
Stan grinned. “Good idea. Mr. Keller, if you take the road straight, Summit’s Edge will be the last turn on the right.”
“Thanks,” I said and slipped into the driver’s seat. Val climbed into the passenger side and we were off. It had snowed all week and a light snow was falling now, but the grounds crew had been working around the clock to keep the roads manageable. It was a little after five in the evening and the skiers and snowboarders had headed home or to the bar for après-ski, so the road up the mountain was empty.
I studied Val out of the corner of my eye with one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on the gear shift. My hand itched to jump the few inches to touch her leg, to curl around it and rub my thumb across the smooth, sensitive skin of her inner thigh and feel her shiver underneath me. Her hair was twisted into a braid, baring the elegant column of her neck. I wanted to sink my teeth in, to hear her gasp in my ear and feel her claw at my back.
Yeah, doing a great job of keeping myself in check. Get it together, Keller.
