Page 24 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
Oh crap in a sack.
I cringed. “Um—”
Abandoning my hopeless closet, Frankie jammed her lithe body into the minuscule amount of space beside me, shoved her short black hair behind both ears like she meant business, and zeroed in on me. “What the fuck happened the other night, Val?”
“Well…” I caught her up on everything that had transpired between Nolan and I since he’d arrived. She took it all in, her eyes popping out of her head.
“And then we were in his office arguing, like he was jealous of me dating Austin or something, and then he grabbed me and kissed me and I kissed him back, and then my hand was in his belt somehow, but he pulled away and I’m a horrible person, Frank. I’m the worst. I’m not a girl’s girl, I’m a saboteur. I’m—”
“Valeria Rosalinda Isabella López!” Frankie said, interrupting me with the Francesca Kang special—a hearty thwack on the arm. “Howdareyou keep something this juicy from me!” Then she leapt to herfeet, resuming her assault on my closet. “I knew the tabloids were right about their engagement falling apart, and I swear I saw Cressida eyeing one of the ski instructors yesterday. So we areabsolutelygoing super sexy tonight.”
Grumbling, I threw myself against the back of the chair. “Didn’t you hear anything I said? He’s engaged, and our boss, and this cannot happen.”
“I heard the part where youkissed him backand had enough time to attempt to rip his pants off.” She tossed a V-neck emerald top and a pair of dark wash fitted jeans at me. “Hurry up and get dressed. I’ll do your hair.”
I grumbled, but put on the outfit, tuning out the swelling anxiety. I liked when Frankie braided my hair, and I had to admit that her choice of wardrobe looked good on me.
This is just a work thing. A business meeting. A fun evening with Chef Rocco. I love Rocco, he’s a blast.
Everything will be fine, and there will be no more belt-grabbing.
Chapter 13
NOLAN
Anhourlater,Iwas showered, shaved, and dressed in a light blue button-down shirt and jeans. Barney arranged my door-to-door car service to The Gilded Fern, the restaurant attached to the main lodge, and I arrived right on time.
Tonight, and every encounter with Val moving forward, my goal was to act like everything was normal. The kiss never happened and Val was my employee. That’s it.
As I approached the hostess stand, I stopped in my tracks. Val was already there. She hadn’t noticed me yet, so I was free to drink my fill. And fuck, did I.As I devoured her with my gaze, I imagined my hands taking the same path across her body and the sounds she’d make for me.Shit. Two seconds in her presence, and my “act normal” plan goes careening off a cliff.Then my eyes snapped to hers and I saw her breath catch in her throat.
Busted.
“Hello, Val.”
“Hi.” A tiny smile pulled at her full lips, and she tucked her hair behind her ears in what I was beginning to learn was a nervous gesture. “Chef Rocco is ready for us.” As I followed her to the kitchen, I tried—okay, I didn’t trythathard—not to noticehow good her ass looked in those jeans.Normal, Nolan. Just be a fucking normal boss on a normal work thing with your normal and not completely gorgeous employee.
Yeah. That was helpful.
Instead of stopping in the main kitchen, Val continued out the back door and into a private kitchen with multiple work stations.
A tanned, suave man in his fifties with slicked-back hair awaited us, his face lighting up like a goddamn Christmas tree when Val entered.
“How’s my favorite girl?” he said, his voice lightly accented. “And Nolan Keller, a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Rocco Gaccione. Thanks for letting me commandeer your kitchen for the night.”
“Thank you for doing this,” I said, shaking his offered hand.
“Anything for my friend Val,” said Rocco. “I owe her for the delicious basil she grows for me when I visit. Let’s get started, shall we?”
Val and I took our positions at two separate counters covered in glass bowls and various ingredients. As I rolled up my sleeves, I felt Val’s gaze on me. When I glanced over, she faced forward with a jerk, sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth as a pretty shade of rose spread across her cheeks.Fuck, that mouth.
No, everything between Val and I was certainlynotnormal.
I had convinced myself that the attraction was one-sided, but apparently she wasn’t as unaffected by my presence as I wanted to think. Something within me purred at the idea of Val wanting me too.
“Tonight,” said Rocco, “we’ll be making my version of ravioli di zucca. A perfect dish for those chilly winter nights.” Ravioli di zucca was one of my favorite dishes to make. It reminded me of weekend family dinners with my mom and her mother. “First, we’ll start with the dough.”
As Rocco walked us through step by step how to make our own pasta dough, my hands fell into the familiar work with ease. I piled the flouron the counter and made a divot for the eggs, then mixed everything together with my hands. Kneading the dough into a ball, I worked it for a few minutes but it was too sticky. After adding a sprinkle of flour, I continued kneading until I got the right consistency, then wrapped the ball in a sheet of plastic wrap.
