When the Snow King Suite came into view, Virina increased her pace. She had a list of things she needed to discuss with Mark and wanted his undivided attention before he got busy with his students.
First, she wanted to know how his meeting with Richard Nobel had gone and if he was as excited about the film as she was. Surely, Mark could see how lucrative such a documentary could be and how much he could profit from it, financially, professionally and socially. She had to get busy raising the funds right away, and that was going to require a quick trip to Los Angeles to visit with those she planned to tap for cash. It might take a few days to get everyone on board, but she knew she could do it if Mark was serious about moving forward.
Secondly, she wanted to know exactly what his intentions were as far as Skylar Webster was concerned. A casual date with a coworker was harmless, but Virina feared that her son was much more serious about Skylar than she had dared to imagine. What she had witnessed last night remained etched into her brain, making her slightly nauseous to think that Mark might actually settle for such a woman. That little affair had to be stopped right away, before it went too far.
When Virina reached the front porch, she climbed the three steps, stamped snow off her boots and knocked hard on the door. She could hear music coming from Mark’s CD player, a good sign. He was not still asleep.
Mark opened the door, and was not surprised that his mother walked right in, before even saying hello.
“I’m glad you’re up,” she told him, moving deeper into the room. She pushed back the hood of her baby blue parka, shook out her hair and began to pull off her gloves. “There are a few things we need to discuss.”
“I just got out of the shower,” Mark muttered, tying his belt and turning up the collar of his thick white robe. He had a towel thrown around his neck and his hair was still dripping water. Clearly, this was not the time for a visit from Mom. “I don’t have time to talk now, Mother. I’ve got to get dressed and over to my office. Our schedule is crazy today and classes have already started.”
“All right, all right. I won’t keep you long, but I wanted to talk to you about…” She paused, her blue eyes sweeping the room, as if to make sure they were alone. When her gaze settled on Skylar’s burgundy, reverse-cut velvet jacket, the one she had been wearing at the party, Virina stalked over to the sofa and picked it up. “What is this?” she asked, eyes wide and unblinking.
Mark simply stared at her, sending the message that he wasn’t about to discuss Skylar or her jacket. He knew Virina was aware of the fact that he and Skylar had gone out on a date and he’d wondered why his mother hadn’t brought the subject up when she first arrived at Scenic Ridge. Well, now she had, and he wasn’t biting. An argument about his love life was not how he wanted to start his day.
“Answer me, Mark!” Virina snapped, giving the jacket a hard shake. She held it out and away from her body as if the piece of clothing were contaminated. “Please don’t tell me she spent the night here with you.”
The dramatic screech of Virina’s voice made Mark flinch, and he prayed that Skylar was still asleep and not able to hear what was going on. Groaning, he reached out, took Skylar’s jacket from his mother and hung it over his arm. “I’m not going to tell you anything. Who spends the night here is none of your business.” Squaring his shoulders, he calmly waited, letting his words sink in.
“Don’t be so damn smug about this. You’re making a big mistake, Mark. What do you know about this girl? Who is she, really? What does she want?”
Realizing that shutting his mother up without getting into a full discussion was going to be impossible, Mark clinched his fists and plunged in. “I know enough about Skylar to feel fairly sure that our relationship has a future.”
“A future! Oh, please!” Virina shot back. “She probably thinks you’re rolling in cash and wants to get her hands on your money.” Virina chuckled sarcastically.
“That’s not true. She knows the truth…that I’m not rich. That I spent as fast as I earned when I was skiing professionally and that I earn enough now to live comfortably.”
“Comfortably? Maybe in a place like this, but certainly not in the style you’ve been accustomed to,” Virina bluntly observed. “And that’s why you’d better think twice about settling for a woman with no financial resources. She was on unemployment before her sister gave her a job! You weren’t raised to mix with people like that, nor to live an ordinary life, and if you try to change, you’ll get bored, frustrated and angry. Then what will happen to this so-called ‘relationship,’ huh? It’ll crash and burn and you’ll be hurt.”
Mark blew air through his lips and shook his head. “God, you really have an imagination, don’t you?” He edged closer to Virina, anger darkening his deep green eyes. “I think you’d better leave. I refuse to get into a discussion about finances or my personal affairs. If that’s all you came over here to talk about, you can go.” He folded his arms across his chest and clamped his lips together, ending the conversation.
“All right. If you’re determined to work at Scenic Ridge and teach skiing to underprivileged youth, I won’t complain. Your mission is commendable. However, you don’t have to live here. You ought to move out of this isolation and take a suite at the St. Regis Hotel, where more sophisticated people stay. You could easily commute back and forth.”
“I’m happy where I am.”
“No, you’re not. You’re confused. But I’ll let it go, for now. However, you’d better be careful with that girl. Something about her makes me nervous. A tad too sure of herself if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you, remember?” Mark threw back, his frustration with his mother beginning to rise. All of his life she had done this to him: made him feel as if his decisions had no merit, reminding him that she had all the control. A familiar sense of dread crept over Mark as he studied the determined set of Virina’s jaw and the flash of irritation in her ice blue eyes. He couldn’t give in to her, and he certainly wasn’t going to allow her to push him into saying something that wasn’t true. He loved Skylar and he was certain she loved him, too. If there was any hope for them, he’d have to fight to keep Virina from spoiling everything.
“Okay, okay. Don’t get snippy,” Virina said, backing down. “But before I leave I need to ask you one more thing.”
“What?”
“Are you going to do the documentary with Richard Nobel?”
“Yes. I am,” Mark answered tersely, carefully omitting the fact that he and Richard had decided to feature Scenic Ridge. “I told Richard that he can start getting some footage of me on the slopes today and we’re going to meet later for a long interview. I even pulled out some of my old scrapbooks for him to use for background research.”
“Good. That’s all I wanted to hear,” Virina said as she walked to the door. “I have some videos I can give him, too and don’t forget to show him all of your medals and trophies, which I assume you still have?”
“Of course. Some are in storage, but the important ones, I have with me.”
“Fine. Now, one more thing. I won’t be around tomorrow. I’m flying to Los Angeles.”
“Los Angeles?” Mark queried, surprised. “Why? You just got here yesterday.”
“I know, but I’ve got to start raising money. It’s business that needs to be taken care of right away. I have the jet, remember? So, it’s no big deal. And I’ll be back before you know it.” Tossing him a dazzling, runway-model smile, she pulled the door open and then turned around. “Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone.”
“Good-bye, Mother,” Mark managed tightly, shutting the door behind her.
During her walk back to her cabin, Virina’s mind clicked through the list of people in Los Angeles she planned to tap for the money she needed to finance her son’s film. Now that Mark was on board, it would be up to her to make it happen, and she was excited about the future once more. Once she got settled in L. A. she was going to tackle one more thing. She would find out just who Skyla
r Webster was and why an unemployed girl from Florida would settle for a concierge job in the Colorado mountains. Something about that little scenario simply didn’t ring true and she was going to get to the truth.
Towel-drying his hair, Mark crossed the great room and headed toward the back of the cabin, wishing Virina luck. He knew her well enough to know that she was not going to take no for an answer once she started with her pitch for money. He shrugged, actually glad she was raising funding for the film. “At least,” he muttered, shrugging, “she’ll be out of my way for a while and I won’t have to listen to her nagging complaints.”
Entering his bedroom, he found Skylar beginning to stir. He had managed to slip out of bed while she slept and into the shower, with a plan to fix her breakfast before she awakened, but Virina’s unexpected visit had ruined that.
Skylar sat up in the middle of the bed, yawned, and rubbed her eyes. “Hey,” she said softly as she wrapped a red quilt around her naked shoulders. Her hair was tousled from sleep, but her eyes were wide and staring straight at Mark. “I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she started, “but did I hear voices? Was that your mother?” She tilted her head to one side, waiting for his reply.
“Yes, it was.” Mark tossed his towel onto a side chair and flopped, belly down, onto the bed, his face only inches from Skylar’s. Leaning up, he kissed her lightly on the cheek. “But, she’s gone. For now, at least.”
“Gee, what’d she want so early?”
“She’s leaving. She has to get busy playing producer, raising money for the film that Richard Nobel is going to do on my life.”
“Oh, right,” Skylar said. “That’s great. So, your mom is really going to be the producer? Has she done this kind of thing before?”
“No, but she’s got connections with rich folks in Los Angeles who will probably come through. Gonna be gone a few days.” No way could he tell Skylar that his mother was also on a mission to break them up, even though there was nothing she could ever say or do to make him give up Skylar. Virina was just going to have to accept the fact that Skylar was the only woman he wanted. And accept Skylar for who she was. After all, she might be Virina’s daughter-in-law one day.
“Too bad she’s leaving though. She just arrived,” Skylar commented.
“I know, but that’s the way she is. Flitting here and there, always on the go. We used to live like gypsies when I was younger and competing. We moved from hotel to hotel, city to city, country to country. Never stayed in one place very long.”
“That must have been hard on you,” Skylar offered, slipping down to snuggle next to Mark.
“It was, at times,” he confessed, pulling her to him. He rested his chin on her shoulder and went on. “Back then, I went along with whatever the plan was. She never consulted me about what came next.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Disconnected, mainly. I was alone, remember. No father, no brothers or sisters.” He cleared his throat with a nervous cough. “That’s why I want to have a big family of my own, one day. Lots of kids who will always have each other, no matter how old they get or where they live. I want to be a grandfather, too, and I plan to spoil my grandchildren terribly. I never had that kind of connection with either my mother or my father’s family, and it’s something I’ve always thought about.”
“Having children is very important to you, isn’t it?” Skylar asked.
“Very,” Mark agreed. “I’m sure that’s why I’m thirty-eight years old and not married. I’ve been waiting for just the right woman to be the mother of my children, and my wife, of course.” He scooted forward and kissed her tenderly on the neck. “I didn’t realize how chaotic and lonely my life had been until I quit the ski circuit and met you. Coming to Scenic Ridge was fated.”
“It was a very wise decision,” Skylar commented, tracing a finger along the side of Mark’s face. “And if I hadn’t let Deena persuade me to come to work at Scenic Ridge, I never would have met you.”
“I know. And now that we’ve found each other, you can bet that I’m not letting you go. Skylar, you are the woman I’ve been searching for. You’re amazing, you know? You work so hard, you never complain, you’re gorgeous, adventuresome and so easy to talk to. I know we can make it, don’t you?”
Skylar simply nodded. “We have come a long way in the few weeks we’ve been together.”
“And I can’t wait to see where we’ll go next.” He leaned back and placed both hands on either side of Skylar’s face, holding it still as he took her in, feeling uncontrolled waves of arousal beginning to creep over him. “Don’t forget. Tonight, we’re going into Aspen for the ski club karaoke at Que’s. Nine o’clock, right?”
“Right,” she agreed, “I’ll be ready.”
“Good.” Mark shifted to one side, holding her even closer. She was warm and soft and smelled of an intoxicating mix of her femininity and his lust. He could feel his breathing quicken as he thought back over the thrill he’d experienced while making love to her last night.
They had come together a second time during the night, with a searing need that had exploded in a frenzy of kissing and touching and bodies slick with desire. As he’d tasted, teased and stroked her—from her full luscious lips to the supple skin of her stomach and thighs—she had yielded to him, pushing him to heights of arousal that he had only imagined existed. Even now, he could feel the strong throbbing in his groin and the red-hot pulse of his blood as it raced through his body with electrified speed.
She trusted him. She was finally allowing him to melt the ice around her heart, and this progress brought Mark a deep sense of satisfaction, as if he’d finished first in a very important race.
The natural way in which they had so easily consummated their attraction had not surprised him: somehow he had known they would fit perfectly together, and he could hardly wait to feel her naked skin flush against his once more.
A fiery jolt of need shot through him. Edging closer, he smothered her mouth with his. “God, how I want you,” he groaned, sweeping his hands down between her legs.
“No time for that,” Skylar giggled as she placed her hand on top of his, halfheartedly trying to remove it. “Aren’t you already late for work?”
“Not that late,” he protested, entwining his fingers with hers.
“But then you’d have to shower again,” she teased.
“So, I’ll shower again. And with you, this time,” he decided, easing ever closer.
“I guess I can handle that,” she murmured, smiling as she slid beneath him, spreading her legs in promise.
The warm water that slid over Skylar’s naked body melted her resistance to Mark’s sensuous touch as he slid his soapy hands over her back and shoulders. She tilted her head back and accepted a moist kiss on her neck, closing her eyes in pleasure. His firm body pushed up hard against her buttocks. His fingers roamed around her torso to the front, finding her slick wet breasts, where they lingered and teased, turning her nipples into hard brown nuggets. Groaning, she reached behind her and settled a cupped hand over Mark’s groin, and was not surprised to find him as stiff and ready for action as he had been only moments ago.
With a quick twist, she turned to face him and then guided him from beneath the rain of warm water over to the cool tile wall. She pressed her back against the wall and pulled him to her, moaning as his mouth slanted over hers. She shifted her hips and fit her body to his, in an easy move that fused them together, nose to nose, their lips barely touching. His nearness made Skylar gasp in delight and go weak, eager to surrender completely again.
“You can’t imagine how it makes me feel to be with you. I’m a lucky guy, Skylar,” Mark whispered, his breath warming her face. “With you at my side, we can have a great life. Children, a home, a real future.”
A hot ache tore through her body and filled her up, temporarily blocking out the nagging worry that she didn’t want to face: How could she tell Mark the truth? That she had held back an important part of her past from hi
m. That she might never be able to give him the family that he dreamed of. That she wasn’t the honest, hardworking woman he thought her to be.
“I’m the lucky one,” she managed in a voice filled with longing. “And you really caught me off guard, you know? I wasn’t looking for anything like this when I left Tampa and came here. All I wanted to do was lose myself in my job and forget about my problems. But then you came along and changed everything.”
“We were meant to be together, Skylar.”
“You think so?”
“I know it, and I feel that way every time I look at you, touch you, kiss you.” He traced his tongue across her wet shoulder in a lazy, silky way. “Who would have dreamed that I’d ever find a beautiful, uncomplicated woman like you in a remote ski school in the Colorado mountains?” He chuckled and shook his head. “Loving you is so easy.” He swept his tongue over her warm smooth skin once more, licking away a few drops of water.
Suddenly, Skylar chilled and shifted away from Mark’s touch. He had just called her “uncomplicated”? What could be further from the truth?
Untangling her body from Mark’s, she went to stand beneath the shower of water once more, her hands at her sides, her mind churning as the water sluiced over her body and brought her back to reality.
What was she thinking? She was a multi-millionaire and just might have more hard cash in the bank than he did. Uncomplicated? She was far more complicated than he could ever imagine
Skylar fell quiet and thoughtful as she considered her reaction. The pace at which their relationship was moving had finally caught up with her and she knew it was time to slow things down or come clean. But how could she tell him now? When they both were about to rush off to work? No, that would not be right.
Maybe this was a big mistake. Maybe she’d better rethink this, she thought. After all, she couldn’t keep her secret from him forever, but until the time was right, she’d be wise to cool this situation down a few degrees.
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