Page 60 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
I blew out a breath. All season, I’d let Val believe I was assessing the property for renovations. Every time I’d thought about confessing, I felt like an asshole, and that feeling only increased the longer I remained silent.I’m digging myself into a goddamn hole and I can’t seem to stop.“Why ruin the good thing we have going? It can’t last anyway because of our engagement.”
“So you feel perfectly fine lying by omission to the woman you’re falling in love with because you’re too chicken shit to be honest?”
Her accusation stopped me in my tracks. “You think I’m falling in love with her?”
“You brought her family here, you’re taking care of her brother, you want tobuy the entire townfor her. How do you think you’renotfalling for her?”
“Don’t make me regret confiding in you about how I plan to woo my woman,” I deflected, then grew serious. “Because I can’t be falling for her, Cress. It’s—it’s impractical.”
“Love is hardly ever practical, Nolan. Emotions are by definitionimpractical.”
Leaning forward, I lowered my voice. “Why would I fall in love with her when itdoesn’t matter how I feel? It changes nothing about our situation.”
Cressida’s lips thinned and she sipped her wine. “It might change things for Val if she knew how you really feel. And if you explained the situation you’re in with the board, maybe that will make the sale easier to handle? Soften the blow?”
I didn’t see it that way. “If I tell her all the dirty details of my plans for Hale’s Peak, it will prove I’m the callous CEO billionaire everyone thinks I am. But being that person is the only way I’m going to beat Cyrus athis own twisted game. In her eyes, I want to be just Nolan for as long as it can last. Telling her the truth will shatter all of that.”
“So you’d rather have a relationship based on lies?”
“It’s not even a real relationship, Cress. It can’t be.”
“Tell that to your face.”
Ignoring that.“The season will end, and so will our involvement. What Val thinks of me after that doesn’t matter because I’ll never see her again.” But the words rang hollow, even to my own ears.
After fussing with the wine bottle for a few seconds, Cressida asked, “What if you could have Val for real? A real relationship.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Cressida reached across the table to grip my hand. “Nolan, I came to terms with this arranged marriage because you and I were both loners at the time. Knowing you were already married to your job and I wasn’t keeping you from anyone made it easier to stomach. But now, you have Val. I cannot let you throw away your chance with her to protect me from my bullshit.”
When I traced a finger over her cheek, I heard paparazzi cameras snap in the distance, souring my genuine moment of affection. “You forget it’s my bullshit too. What Raife left you to deal with…” I squeezed my fist until my knuckles popped. I couldn’t tear open that wound of hers. Not now. “And Cyrus will make sure the board axes me if we don’t go through with this.”
“There has to be a way out,” she said, her perfectly manicured nails digging into my hand. Cressida was a fighter, and I was proud to see that Raife hadn’t completely destroyed that fire in her.
“I have made my peace with our situation, and Val is aware of our expiration date. In fact, parting ways in April was her suggestion. So let’s just keep things simple and move on as we were.”
“I thought you were a risk-taker, Nolan.”
“As long as you’re still in this engagement, I am too. I will not abandon you.”Not like Raife did.
Cressida frowned, but said, “Thank you,” and let the subject drop. Which gave me a perfect opening to ask something I knew would piss her off.
“Cora told me Raife called. Why didn’t you tell me he’s been bothering you?”
At the mention of the incident, she snatched her hand back to reach for her glass, finishing off the drink and pouring another. “I can’t let you handle all of my bullshit, Nolan.”
“He’s my brother, so he’smybullshit.”
Waving me off, she said, “Cora threatened him and I haven’t heard from him since. I think she scared him off.”
“If he’s still the same hard-headed motherfucker I remember, not much scares that man off.”
“I’m handling it,” she said with more force, then softened. “But I appreciate you asking. You’ve always had my back, and I’ll never forget that.” She squeezed my hand again. “And I’ll always have your back, even when you don’t want me to.”
If there wasn’t a table between us, I might have hugged her. “You’re too good for me, Cress.”
“Of course I am. Now, tell me more about your plans to ‘woo your woman.’ If you’re determined to give this relationship a shelf life, the least you can do is make it the best four months of Val’s life. Have you considered adding whipped cream into your bedroom activities?”
