Deeper (The Real Fling) (3 page)

Val wiped her cheek with his thumb. He held her forearm with his other hand, nimbly moving it back and forth. He was tall, maybe six foot two and broad even though his ski jacket hung loosely around him.

Adriana braced herself.

“Breathe.” Val watched her carefully. “I will not hurt you.”

How easy it was to believe him. One look in his eyes, and she knew he wouldn’t. Not intentionally anyway.

“I think it’s bruised, maybe sprained. We must ice it when we get down. Much easier to tolerate when you sit in front of a fire sipping a cocktail.”

We?
That tiny little word almost quelled her fears.

“The snow is picking up.” He looked up and put his gloves back on. Taking her right pole, he made a wide turn and she followed. They’d get down, hopefully before the lifts closed. “You left your friends?”

“No.” Adriana kept up with Val. It really wasn’t that hard if she took it one turn at a time. “I came out here with one…person. I work with her. I mean worked.” She cringed. “We even have a ski share in Vermont together, with a bunch of other people from work. She’s always running off. Aggravates the living fuck out of me.” Shocked, she put her hand over her mouth.

“Think I have not heard worse?” He arched his brow. “Continue.”

“She’s the real skier.” She rocked her head side to side, the way Jackie did when she was bragging. “She brought me up here and then vanished, like El Chapo through some mysterious portal with one of your friends. I tried to catch up to them, but they went through the woods and I lost them.”

There was a sudden blaze in his eyes. “She left you?”

“I must’ve gone the wrong way.”

A crease formed on his forehead as pink bloomed on his cheeks getting darker by the second. “Off-piste in the bowls, she abandoned you?” Tension strung through his limbs.

“Off-piste?”

“Here.” He waved his hands. “Away from the groomed trails. Out of bounds, in back country.” He stopped so abruptly Adriana almost bumped into him.

“I can ski.” But he was right; Jackie hadn’t hesitated. She never did when something better came along. This was the last straw. When they met, Adriana had just moved into the city. She wanted someone to pal around with, Jackie was fun and game for anything, but given the countless times she abandoned Adriana, she proved to be a lousy partner in crime and even worse friend. No more. Once they got back to New York Adriana was done.

Val’s hands were balled up in fists, and his face was a deep shade of red. “Real skiers don’t abandon people. They know how dangerous it is to leave someone alone out here.”

“I doubt she thought about it.” It was eerie how they were almost halfway down and still not a soul around. The conditions must have been far worse than she thought or they were really out of bounds.

“You can break a leg or hit your head on a rock. How long were you trapped here before I found you?”

Funny, his accent was nonexistent when he was angry. The words just flowed.

“How long?” he snapped.

Even though she sensed his emotions ran deep, his palpable fury startled her. “I dunno.”

“Who the
hell
would do that?” He was frenzied. “Not a friend. Not a human. Do you even have a beacon in that jacket?”

What was he talking about?

He patted down her jacket by her pockets.

“Hey.” She blinked.

“Nothing. You have none.” His hands flailed. “What if I didn’t come this way?”

“It’s over. You found me. We’re getting out of here,” she soothed. “No big deal. I had to get away from her anyway.”

“Wrong. It is a very big deal. You never leave a skier alone. It’s deadly. Especially in this weather.”

“Okay. I get it.” It was fucked up.
I could’ve died.
Roles reversed, Adriana would never have left Jackie, and she would’ve protected Jackie from their bosses too.
Game over.

He combed his fingers through his hair, fisting it away from his forehead, and inhaled. The tension seemed to dissipate as he exhaled.

Adriana hung her head.

Lifting her chin, he regarded her with kindness. “I am sorry. I am not angry at you.”

She edged away from him. “I’m tired.”

He blinked snow from his thick light brown lashes. “Almost down.”

The lift was nowhere in sight. “How do you figure?” Adriana glided her skis back and forth in place. “Where’s the ski lift? We’re not even close.”

“One turn at a time. Look how far you’ve already gone.” The disturbed snow where she’d fallen was at least fifty yards above them.

“Come.” They continued taking slow wide turns. Val stayed next to her. “Have you been to Vail before?”

She shook her head. “No and you’re trying to distract me.”

He angled his face away, but not before she caught the tease in his eye. “Where are you staying?”

“We’re in Jackie’s friend’s condo a couple of miles away from the village.” She slumped her shoulders.

He jerked his chin up toward her. “What?”

“Nothing.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I can’t believe I ever called her a friend.”

“For now we get you to that fireplace and ice.” He lifted his brows and softened his voice. “Coffee-flavored brandy or whatever you like in a proper glass.”

A wicked smile escaped her. “You’ve got a brandy problem.”

Cocking his brow, he tilted his head. “I do? Shall we have some more?” He opened the bota bag and offered her some.

She took a long pull and handed it back to him. “Thank you.”

He drank as well, watching her the entire time. The air between them was dense and charged as if it were right before a tropical storm.

Adriana broke the silence. “What about you? Who are you traveling with?”

“No one. I am not traveling.” His jaw clenched as he put the wineskin away.

“You live here?”

“Not exactly.” He resumed skiing and she followed alongside of him. Now that she got the balance right, it really wasn’t hard to ski at all. They were moving quicker.

“Then what?”

“Long story.” His body was wound up again.

“I got nothing but time.” How true that was.

“I am recovering.” His cheeks pinked beneath his stubble.

“Recovering from what?” She cocked her brow. “You’re clearly not in AA and you look fine.”

Her joke softened him. “You look fine too.” The spark was back in his eyes, and she hoped it would stay there.

Through the next turn, Adriana’s skis crossed or something and she slipped. But before she could brace herself for the fall, Val caught her. “Whoa. That was… That would’ve hurt.”

“I don’t think that shoulder needs another hit.” He righted her, holding the small of her back until she straightened. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“How long are you here for?”

“’Til Sunday.” Her tone dipped with sorrow. “We got in Tuesday afternoon and in two days my thighs are fried, my shoulder’s shot and I’m sick of everything. I should just take the shuttle back to Denver and get on the next flight home.” She drooped.

Val prodded her forearms with his poles.

Glaring at him, she raised them up.

“I have a better idea.”

Her stomach tickled. “Oh?” Any possibility of spending more time with Val was fine by her.

“Well I thought we could—”

“Shit. I forgot that we… I mean, I’ve to go back up the mountain and ski down the other side.” She was so tired.

“The other side is groomed. Perfect for your precious edges, no? We will be back at the base lodge in no time.” He winked. “What type of trails do you like?” Again, he was trying to distract her.

“Steep, groomed and no moguls.”

The faintest inkling of a dimple on his right cheek appeared while his white teeth glowed in the lowlight of the afternoon. “You like speed?”

“I do.”

“Yes.” His eyes glistened. “Of course.”

Something in the way he said that tickled her spine. “But not today. I don’t like anything today.” She couldn’t shake the smile forming on her lips.

“Oh, I got that.”

They went down the last bit to the ski lift. The chair lift guy greeted Val.

“Hey, Rich, she took a bad fall. Will you please slow it up when we get on and off?”

“Sure, Val. I’ll radio up ahead.” Rich slowed the lift for Adriana.

“Good.” Val fist bumped Rich. Val turned back to Adriana and took her poles. “Take the left side so you can hold on. I have your right.”

“I can do it.” She side-stepped him.

Val anticipated her movement and held her waist, helping her get seated.

Adriana grumbled. She wasn’t an invalid. Sighing, she lowered the safety bar and up they went. After a few moments she asked, “You been here long?”

“A couple of months.” His face was turned away.

“From Russia?”

He rested their poles across their laps. “No, I am American now. I have not lived in Russia for over twenty years.” Everything about him was primal and magnetic. From his hard sculpted body and the line of his strong jaw to the low rumble in his vibrant voice. Even his impossible obstinacy was alluring.

“Twenty years?” He was a little older than her. Thirty or thirty-two?

Putting his arm on the back of the chair behind her, he grinned like he knew she guesstimating his age. “We left in my eleventh year.”

“Makes sense, your English is very good, even with the accent.”

Arching his brow, he tilted his head. “What accent?” He handed her a Hershey’s chocolate Kiss. “For the pain.”

Adriana chuckled. “Thanks.” She unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. Val pocketed the wrapper. “So your family’s here?”

“My mother and sisters are in Brooklyn.” The wind shifted. Instead of flowing off of him in soft waves, it splintered and spiked, pricking her.

“You’re kidding.” She scissor-kicked her dangling legs. “That’s why you knew where I was from.”

His posture softened as he snorted, and the wind resumed its silky draft.

Adriana leaned toward him. “What?”

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his smirk. “I never needed to set foot in New York to know where you are from,
printsessa
.”

“Smart ass.” She wiped away the snow that had collected on her pants and studied the stunning view. Mountains and valleys. Absorbing the majestic scene never grew old. The clouds had lifted a bit, but not enough to get a good look.

Retrieving her phone, she checked the time. Three forty p.m.

“Did she text you?”

“No, and I don’t care. I’m so mad at her.”

“I would be too,” he said roughly.

“It’s more than her leaving me.” Adriana’s gut twisted. “We work together. Well, for the moment. I’m apparently being let go next week.”

A frown creased his brow.

It was his steady, kind countenance that set her instantly at ease. A part of her wanted to tell him her life story. “She promised that she’d talk me up to our bosses at work, and that I’d be promoted.”

“You don’t think she did?” Heat twisted off of him in erratic waves.

“Seeing as she got the promotion and I’m being let go, I’m guessing not.” Adriana shrugged and a shard cut into her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she grimaced.

Val lightly scratched her back in slow circles, around and around. “She does what’s good for her.”

Adriana’s ache slithered from sharp to dull.

“Not a real friend.”

“Nope.” Inhaling, she moistened her lips.

“Now you know.” The chair lift was slowing. “Back at the top.” Raising the bar, he angled himself halfway off the seat. He had his arm around her waist and their poles in his other hand. “Take it easy. I got you.”

Adriana bristled. “I’m not helpless. I can get off a chair lift.”

He bit his bottom lip. “I know.”

She scowled. “No you don’t.”

“Adriana, please.”

Her name rolling off his lips affected her like a lightning strike, leaving her so dumbstruck she forgot to stand up. Val hopped off the lift with their poles under his arm, and before the chair turned back around he lifted her, and skied her to safety, backwards.

“What happened?” He laughed.

Shit
. “Put me down.” She burned. “And stop laughing at me!”

“Of course.” Gently he lowered her. She was inches away from him, her skis between his legs. He pinched his lips, trying to regain his composure.

Adriana couldn’t handle any more humiliation. “I told you, I’m a good skier. Thanks for helping me, but I got it from here.” Grabbing her poles, she shoved off of him and skied away.

‡

Enough of relying on other
people.
Adriana was going to get back to New York and fix this bullshit. First, she had to convince the airlines to take her ticket, as is. Like that was a possibility. Jackie had used her miles to get both their tickets. The agents would laugh Adriana out of the airport and charge her double for the fun of it. She couldn’t afford that kind of hit. Her credit cards were maxed out and she’d “borrowed” too much money from her parents. She could go back to the condo, but Jackie was probably getting busy with the dark-haired guy.

All alone, black hole despair shrouded her as she approached the first ski intersection. Ten arrowed signs with ten trail names pointing in all different directions. Of course her map was in her right pocket. Inching her right arm up, she got her fingers partially to the zipper before the pain was too unbearable to continue.