Page 75 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
“I assure you, I did notlabel you a ‘legend,’” I said as I stood to go. Something swelled in my chest, bantering with my brother like this.Must be heartburn.“I’ll leave you to it.” I subtly brushed my thumb across the back of Val’s neck before turning to go.
A smile pulled at my lips at the two of them already talking animatedly together like old friends. The swelling feeling in my chest grew. I was either in the early stages of heart failure or it was…something else I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
As I headed to my office, a gnawing thought wormed its way to the forefront, and I wondered if solidifying my position as CEO was worth what I’d have to give up in order to do so.
VAL
“Thank you for making the time to meet with me,” I said.
“It’s no trouble,” said Dominic. The man was gorgeous, although a bit more haggard than the night of the gala. “I was in Bozeman for an art show anyway.”
“So you’re an artist?” I prompted.A hot and artsy cowboy? Eat your heart out, Frankie.
“I enjoy making ceramics and I sketch a bit, but I like getting my hands dirty.”
Right on cue, Frankie came over to bring me a coffee. But I might as well have been invisible—her eyes prowled over Dominic, a sultry smile spreading across her lips. “I like my men dirty and good with their hands,” she said.
Dominicactually blushed. My gaze swung between the two of them and Frankie smirked. “Uh, Frankie, this is Nolan’sbrother, Dominic.”
“Yeah, I know. Met him last night during my shift when he was pounding shots of moonshine with Bobby.”
“Oof,” I said. No wonder the guy looked like death warmed over. Bobby’s moonshine was no joke.
“If you like getting messy, come help me disembowel some pomegranates,” Frankie offered. “Those things are the fucking worst and stain like hell. I look like an axe murderer after I’m done.”
Dominic ran a hand across the day-old stubble on his jaw and gave her an assessing look. “I can think of something else I’d rather do with my hands.”
Frankie’s eyes widened, then she grinned.
But he held up a pallet of charcoal and gestured to his sketch pad on the table, a sly curve to his lips.
“And here I almost thought you were going to be a good time, Dom.” Frankie laughed, heading back to the bar. Dominic stared after her, a thoughtful expression pulling at his green eyes.
Interesting.I’d dished to her about Nolan and I finally going all the way, and she’d devoured all the dirty details. But it looked like nowsheowedmesome gossip about what happened last night. I cleared my throat, refocusing on Dominic. “So, what’s your favorite place you’ve traveled to?” I asked him.
“Chiang Mai, hands down. Their street markets are amazing…”
Dominic regaled me with tales of his experiences and entertained all of my questions. At the end of our conversation, I was itching to get started on my own business plan, ready to dig into farming research and map out potential site visits whenever I had the budget.
Before he left, Dominic scrawled his number on a napkin and slid it across the table. “If you think of any other questions or just want a sounding board, feel free to call me any time. Just, ah, maybe don’t tell Nolan I said that. He’s the jealous type with his assistants.”
I pocketed the napkin, but a thrill went through me at the idea of belonging to Nolan, even if Dominic thought I was just his employee. “He certainly is.”
Dominic stood, giving me a smile that brought out his adorable dimples. “Good luck, Val. I’ll see you around.” But he made sure to swing by the bar and chat up Frankie before he left.
A few minutes later, I sidled up to the bar. The place was starting to fill up with the breakfast crowd, and Frankie was prepping a vat of Bloody Marys.
“Want to tell me what the hell all of that was?” I asked.
“Just messing around,” Frankie said as she measured some tomato juice.
“Dominic likes you.”
“He’s a straight man. He likes anything with boobs.”
“You likehim.”
“I likeflirting,” Frankie countered, upending a bottle of vodka into the tomato juice mixture.
