Suite Embrace (13 page)

“I am,” Virina grudgingly stated, arms folded at her waist. “Where's my limo? I specifically asked Mark to arrange it.”

“Yes, I know, and he turned your request over to me.” A long beat. “Every limousine in Aspen is booked. We're very busy right now. However,” she nodded at Henri and pressed on, “if you'll put Miss Dagrun's bags in my car and her skis on the rack, we can be on our way.” Then she glanced pleadingly at the handsome man standing beside Virina, as if asking for his assistance, too.

“Sounds good,” Richard spoke up reaching over to shake Skylar's hand. “I'm Richard Nobel, here to cover the reunion for
Sports Challenge
magazine.”

A surge of relief flooded through Skylar. At least the man was pleasant and hopefully he would be able to calm Mark's mother down. She shook his hand, giving it a warm squeeze. “Oh, yes. You're staying at Scenic Ridge, too, aren't you?”

“Right,” Richard said, shouldering his single duffel bag.

“But I thought you were coming in on a later flight,” Skylar remarked as they started toward the Jeep.

“I was, but Miss Dagrun offered me a seat on her jet, so we could fly in together. How could I refuse?” He chuckled and glanced at Virina, who rolled her eyes and gave her platinum hair a quick shake.

“And aren't you glad you didn't have to deal with the craziness of a commercial flight?” Virina offered, her tone a tad less frigid. “This airport is a madhouse.”

“I've been here when it's worse,” Skylar added, while keeping her focus on Richard. “Is your cameraman with you?” she asked.

“No. He's coming in on the later flight, along with the bulk of the press. I'm sure the airport will be jammed tonight and all day tomorrow, too,” Richard finished.

“For sure,” Skylar agreed. “The reunion activities start tonight and every hotel is packed.”

“I understand you're throwing quite a bash tonight at Scenic Ridge, aren't you?” Richard added.

“Yeah. The Slide and Glide Gala. It's turned out to be the hottest ticket in town.”

Virina stepped up and linked her arm through Richard's. “Be sure to save a dance for me,” she whispered into Richard's ear.

Skylar widened her eyes, unsure of what was going on. “So, you two are friends?” she ventured, trying to put it all together.

“No. We met by accident at a restaurant in New York,” Virina rushed to say. “When Richard told me what kind of work he did and that he was coming to Aspen for the Black Winter Sports Reunion, I was thrilled. I invited him to fly in with me. I don't enjoy flying alone, you see, it's so much more fun with company.”

“That was nice of you,” Skylar admitted, doubting Virina's version of the story. There was something about the way the woman spoke that definitely had a false ring to it. “Well, it'll be great to have both of you at Scenic Ridge. Shall we get going?” Skylar asked.

Without waiting for a reply, she walked around to the back of the Jeep, opened the hatch, and waited until Henri had loaded the luggage and fastened Virina's skis to the top of the car. When Henri headed back inside the terminal, Richard opened the passenger side door for Virina and stood to the side. She made an icy grimace, reluctantly climbed inside and then sat down, remaining rigidly positioned on the edge of her seat as if the cushions were as dirty as the outside of the car.

Once they were underway, Skylar relaxed and let her thoughts wander to Mark, who was never far from her mind. Since their encounter in her suite last week, they had begun to spend most of their free time together while keeping their attraction under the radar. The last thing Skylar wanted was for her fast-growing interest in Mark to become a distraction—or the subject of kitchen gossip among the staff.

They had gone into Aspen for dinner, to Snowmass Village to shop, ice-skating at midnight on the rink at the square and had trekked once again up to Brookman Mill to sit and talk and linger and kiss.

Skylar knew she was falling hard for Mark and was doing little to keep it from happening. It filled her with joy to realize how quickly and how perfectly they actually clicked; that their conversations were so easy and engaging; that they each filled a need in the other's life that both had thought would be difficult to fulfill. However, Skylar knew she was not doing a very good job of hiding her feelings for Mark, and very soon, everyone at Scenic Ridge would know that they were a couple.

Mark stayed on Skylar's mind day and night. She waited by the phone when he said he would call and counted down the hours and the minutes until they were together again. The undercover aspect of their relationship created a heightened sense of anticipation that kept Skylar tightly strung, breathlessly anxious to be with Mark again.

Mark made no effort to hide the fact that he was falling in love with her and seemed blissfully happy about it. His pleasure radiated in bright, unmistakable rays that beamed from his face and tugged at her heart. She would never forget the intense way he had looked at her when he'd admitted to her that before her arrival at Scenic Ridge, he had felt lonely and lost amidst the constant crush of people who surrounded him. Now, he felt complete.

Mark's kisses were driving Skylar mad. God, how she wanted him, totally and completely, but she knew it would be a dangerous move to give in to her fantasy and go all the way too quickly. First of all, she wasn't going to be at Scenic Ridge forever: as soon as Deena found a replacement, Skylar was going to leave and go back to Florida—back to the warm, tropical climate she was used to, and maybe back to school. Secondly, her heart was barely healed from her last romantic disaster and she didn't want a repeat of that kind of pain anytime soon.

For now, Skylar knew that Mark's kisses and caresses were all that she could accept from him and luckily, Mark was patiently adhering to the boundaries she'd placed on their fast-developing relationship. He was caring, tender, sincerely interested in what mattered to her, and she respected his restraint.

When she came to a four-way stop, Skylar cleared her mind, braked and then chanced a glance into the rearview mirror, immediately catching Virina's attention.

“If you're the concierge,” Virina began, in a clipped voice, “what are you doing out here driving people around? Who's tending to the guests back at the lodge?”

Skylar gave Virina a weak half-smile. “Kathy, the food service director, is filling in for me. She's been at Scenic Ridge forever. She can handle anything that might come up.”

“The food service director? Doesn't sound very efficient,” Virina remarked, not trying to mask her displeasure. “I thought hotel staff like yourself had to be on site at all times…available to the guests. What kind of a place is Scenic Ridge?”

“First, it's a ski school, designed more for students than tourists, though we get a fair number of vacationers. It's set up to be a safe, comfortable place to learn how to ski and we get a lot of people who have never seen snow before, let alone been on the mountainside.”

“So Mark has told me.” Virina sniffed loudly. “I do applaud his desire to work with underprivileged children and with those who are adventuresome enough to expose themselves to a new sport. I guess it bolsters their self-confidence and all of that, but I doubt Mark will want to teach at your ski school very long. He's so talented, you know. He really ought to be at a much larger facility. Some place that will challenge him, allow him to continue to grow. Do you know what I mean?”

Unfortunately, I do,
Skylar wanted to say, but instead, she simply murmured an unintelligible response. “Scenic Ridge might be smaller than other well-known ski schools like Buttermilk and Snowmass, but the staff is just like family and Mark fits right in. We all help each other out and try to keep things fairly uncomplicated. In fact, the owner, Deena Simpson, is my sister.”

“Oh, really?” Virina managed vaguely, now leaning forward. “I see. So, it's a small bed and breakfast, family kind of place?”

Squinting into the mirror, Skylar chose her words carefully. “No, it's more like a miniature Swiss chalet kind of place that is surprisingly elegant and extremely comfortable. You're gonna love it, I promise.”

Sinking back, Virina let her face go slack, and then asked with a smirk, “How long have you been the concierge there?”

“A little over a month,” Skylar answered with pride. “My first job as a concierge and so far, I'm really enjoying it.”

“So? You're new at this?” Virina coughed lightly.

“Very new.”

“What were you doing before you came to Aspen?”

Skylar opened her mouth to respond, and then shut it, reconsidering her answer. How much did she really want to tell Mark's mother? Virina Dagrun struck Skylar as the kind of person who would not hesitate to do a bit of background digging once she realized that her son was interested in the concierge. Why give the woman any ammunition? “I'm from a small town in Florida. I was unemployed when my sister offered me the job up here,” Skylar answered truthfully, struggling to hide her smile.

“My, my,” Virina murmured. “You must have really needed a job in a bad way to leave sunny Florida and come to work in such a remote, cold place.”

“I needed a change,” Skylar responded, watching Virina in the mirror. “And so far, it's been a good one.”

With a shrug, Virina let the conversation drop and snuggled deeper into her blue fox fur while Skylar pulled onto Interstate 82 and focused on the road.

After a few minutes of silence, Virina spoke up again. “I want to stop by the St. Regis Hotel. Just for a second, if you don't mind. I want to see if a friend of mine has checked in.”

Skylar nodded as she executed a curve in the road. “Sure, it's on our way.”

 

The parking lot of the St. Regis Hotel resembled a luxury car showroom. It was packed with Jaguars, Escalades, Hummers, shiny Ford pickup trucks and several Mercedes Benz SUVs. Skylar sat behind the wheel of her Jeep, making small talk with Richard Nobel as they waited for Virina to return.

As soon as Skylar had pulled up at the entrance to the ritzy hotel, Virina had sprung from the Jeep without even waiting for the doorman to help her out. With a toss of her head, she had told Skylar to wait right there while she ran inside, and then she had disappeared through the tall wooden doors. Unfortunately, security had forced Skylar to move to an adjoining parking lot to wait for her passenger, and that had been nearly half an hour ago.

“So, you've worked for
Sports Challenge
magazine long?” Skylar asked, making small talk with Richard to pass the time.

“Not exactly. I'm a freelancer. I work for myself and whoever finances my projects.” He chuckled and sat back in his seat. “The way it usually works is, I come up with the story idea, then I find money people willing to finance my film. Once it's done I sell it to a distributor connected with major media outlets. In this case, I contacted
Sports Challenge
about covering the Black Winter Sports Reunion with a focus on the growing number of minorities that are hitting the slopes. They grabbed it and here I am. They plan to do a feature story with photographs as well as a short video for streaming on their website.”

“Cool,” Skylar commented. “So, you'll be on celebrity-watch big-time, I suppose?”

“You bet.”

“You might get lucky at the Slide and Glide Gala tonight. There're supposed to be some very important types dropping by and you'll have lots of opportunities for interviews and photos.”

“Oh, yeah. I understand Mariah Carey is slated to pop over and I'm keeping my eye out for Will and Jada, too.”

“Ought to be a pretty wild party, and a pretty wild week for that matter,” Skylar commented, thinking about all of the work waiting for her back at her office, wishing Virina would hurry up. “I guess you'll be interviewing Mark Jorgen, the head of our ski school? Folks around here consider him a celebrity.”

“For sure,” Richard hurried to reply. “As a matter of fact, but he doesn't know about this, so keep it to yourself, I'm in discussions right now about a biographical documentary on Mark Jorgen's life and career. I've got investors lined up already and my hope is to convince him to participate. Could be a very inspirational piece.”

Skylar nodded her agreement. “Oh, I don't see why he wouldn't do it. I'm not surprised that investors have already jumped on that. Mark is doing so much for the sport, introducing it to young people who might never have had a chance to ski. We're lucky to have him at Scenic Ridge.”

“I heard you say that your sister owns the ski school?” Richard clarified.

“Right. She and her husband, Jerome, started the school twenty years ago. It was a real struggle for them to make a profit at first, but as time passed, the ski school became more popular, and it's grown every year since then.”

“That's a story right there,” Richard said. “A black-owned ski school in the heart of Colorado's most exclusive ski area, and their lead instructor is an African-American Olympic gold medalist. That'd be a great angle for the piece. Think your sister would agree to be included in my project?”