Fire and Ice

by Nell Harding

  With his body so close, Kate felt her pulse starting to race and her mouth go dry. The chemistry between them was palpable, magnetic.

  Sebastien wasn’t finished. “You wrote that I was “cold”, didn’t you? If I can read between the lines of your column.”

  “I always generalise,” she replied defensively, while fighting an irresistible urge to run her hands down his strong chest which blocked out all else.

  “Perhaps it is only that I actually know what it is to be discrete and professional,” he observed coldy. “Whereas you are far too opinionated, vocal and emotional. Although that’s exactly what the guests love about you.”

  “But you don’t,” she filled in for him, taking a step backwards.

  “I’m not finished,” he informed her, grabbing both of her wrists to pull her back toward him. “Do you ever know when to hold your tongue?”

  A hint of amusement was starting to show in his eyes, a tell-tale crinkling in the corners. Kate held her breath and bit her tongue to keep from blurting out what she most wanted to ask. He kept her waiting as the silence and tension grew.

  “I love everything about you,” he said finally, tugging her right up against him and murmuring into her hair discretely. “I love your impetuous nature, your warmth and joie de vivre, your enthusiasm, even the way you become awkward and embarrassed when you blurt out the wrong thing.”

  A tiny whimper of relief escaped her lips. Her mind was having troubles keeping up with the rollercoaster of emotions she was riding along, but her heart had understood. She raised her face hopefully from his chest to find his eyes waiting for hers. Then his lips were on her mouth with a ferocity that took her breath away and she forgot everything else as she dissolved into that kiss.

  Even the round of applause from Mimi’s clients wasn’t enough to break apart their embrace. Kate lost herself in Sebastien’s kiss, letting desire and euphoria consume her completely. She could happily have stayed there forever but eventually a deliberate cough from Emily broke through to her consciousness.

  “I really hate to interrupt,” Emily was saying, “But if you’re going to catch that plane I’m afraid you’ll have to rush.”

  Sebastien raised his head briefly. “She’s not going anywhere,” he answered for Kate, before continuing where he’d left off. Then he pulled his face away again and said, “Actually, yes, she’s coming home with me.”

  He kept his hands on Kate’s shoulders to steady her as she slowly opened her eyes, dizzy and weak-kneed. At the edge of her field of vision she became aware of Mimi mouthing, “A musical after all.”

  “You’d better not be about to burst into a song,” Sebastien growled warningly.

  “If my clients and I now broke into a chorus and dance, it would be the perfect ending,” Mimi acknowledged wistfully. “Now go get a hotel room or something before you scare away my clientele. We’re not that kind of a store.”

  “Not a perfect ending, a perfect beginning,” Sebastien corrected her. “And getting even better. Kate seems to have learned when to hold her tongue.” He gazed down at her with mock surprise.

  “Just trying to keep from singing,” she responded, feeling a wide smile start to spread across her face. “Or dancing.”

  “Who said anything against dancing?” Sebastien asked with a twinkle in his eye. He raised one of her hands above his shoulder and spun her around. “Let me lead you to my car,” he said, twirling her toward the door.

  Kate followed his lead dreamily as he guided her with an expert hand at her waist. He’d said he loved everything about her. Despite everything, Sebastien Pichard loved her. Nothing else mattered. And yet she found herself asking, as he sashayed her to his Range Rover and lifted her easily onto the passenger seat, “Are you sure you don’t resent me for having lied to you? I really hate lying, you have to believe me.”

  “I do,” he reassured her, climbing into the driver’s seat to start the engine. He hesitated with his hand on the ignition. “I have to confess I wasn’t totally honest with you either.”

  “About what?” she asked timidly, afraid of the response.

  “I always had a bit of a soft spot for romantic comedies myself.”

  She grinned with relief. “You loved the pretty actresses, right?”

  He turned to face her. “I loved the happy endings.”

  Kate could barely contain the happiness swelling up inside her. “So what happens next?”

  “I take you home and tear your clothes off,” he told her gruffly, starting the engine.

  Right now that was what Kate wanted more than anything, and she was willing to miss her flight even for just one more night with this man. And yet...

  “And tomorrow?” she insisted, wondering what this meant for her next step.

  “Tomorrow I’ll rip your clothes off again,” he answered with a smile. “And every day after that. although you might run out of clothing. And then you’ll just have to stay naked.”

  “Won’t that shock your guests?” Kate asked with a laugh.

  “We won’t have guests every weekend, cherie,” he replied. “Just most. So you’ll have to start working on your French. Let’s start with “Je t’aime.””

  “Je t’aime,” she repeated. “Je t’aime, je t’aime, je t’aime.”

  “So do I, Kate,” he breathed, kissing her hand. “Let’s go home.”

  Epilogue

  “So you actually do like walks,” Sebastien said with a smile, stroking Kate’s hair as she lay back on the picnic blanket. “I never could understand why your responses were so awkward every time I asked you a personal question.”

  “I hadn’t quite gotten into character,” Kate said lazily, squinting her eyes as the clouds broke apart to let the spring sunshine through. “I wanted to make sure you liked the real me.”

  “Ah, so you were out to catch me from the start,” he teased. He let his hand move down from her hair to the slight bulge in her belly. “Well, you did a good job of it.”

  They had gone for a walk in the fields above Verbier. The ski season was over and the lower slopes were already greening, with purple and white crocuses dotting the hillsides. The higher peaks were still glittering white with snow and ice, but the temperatures were warm.

  Kate was perfectly happy. Nothing could possibly make these days any better, she reflected contentedly, placing her hand on top of Sebastien’s.

  “When will I feel her move?” he asked, cupping his hand protectively over the tiny bump.

  “Probably when I start singing to her,” she answered with a grin.

  He nodded sagely. “Of course. She’ll try to move away.”

  Sebastien’s telephone buzzed and he threw it into the crocuses. Kate opened her eyes in astonishment. “You are allowed to answer it, you know,” she chided him gently. “I think that’s how it’s supposed to work on the days when you work from home.”

  “You heard my mother. No more bringing work to the chalet,” he countered her. “And this is the chalet garden, by extension.” He was silent for a moment, drawing lazy circles around her navel with his finger. “To think, all it took was a grandchild on the way to bring the sanctity back to the family chalet. I should have done this years ago. Thank you, little wee one.”

  “It’s Stefan who owes her a vote of thanks,” Kate yawned. “A bit of good news as positive publicity for the Pichards and all of his scandals are forgotten and forgiven. He’s certainly jumped back into his social role with gusto.”

  Sebastien rolled his eyes. “Not hard, with that young French actress wanting to model for us.” He was silent for a moment before continuing. “You know, the grandchild news isn’t completely positive for the Pichard image.” He reached in his bag to find something.

  “No more chocolate for me, I’m full,” she said with a groan. “So what’s not positive about a baby?”

  “Hold out your hand,” he commanded, ignoring her question and placing a small box on her palm.

  Kate recognised it as the on
e her Simply Elegant watch had been in and felt a surge of pleasure. “I thought you must have found that watch and melted it back down in anger,” she said, raising herself to a sitting position against him.

  She lifted the lid to reveal the familiar square of blue satin. But nestled in the middle, instead of the silver watch band, was a simple silver ring with a single embedded diamond.

  She opened and closed her mouth a few times but no sound came. Her wide eyes brimmed with tears as she looked up at him, overwhelmed. Then it was her turn to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him with wild abandon.

  “Was that a yes?” he finally asked, cupping her chin in his palm and looking into her eyes.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she gushed, letting the tears of joy flow freely. She finally had the answer to her question about the next step. It would be a two-step from here on. And that was all she needed to know.

  Upcoming Titles by Nell Harding

  If you enjoyed this book, look for more light-hearted romantic adventures around the world with the following books by Nell Harding:

  One Short Harvest

  Alex Larousse and Nadia Fischer are complete opposites. She is a free-spirited and unconventional young woman looking for adventure, and he is a traditional, strong and arrogant vineyard owner, used to getting his way. When she comes to pick grapes on his Burgundian estate, he asks her to pose as his fiancée with no idea of how this will wreak havoc on his ordered life, or on his heart. Will they be able to overcome their explosive animosity or to resist their equally explosive attraction in the space of one short harvest?

  Sunsets at Simba Hill

  Wildlife biologist Megan Hall thinks that she has landed her dream job when she is asked to remain in the Serengeti to run a luxury safari camp, until she discovers that she will be sharing the job with Jack Hamilton, the dangerously charming rogue who broke her heart two years ago. When neither will back down from this unique opportunity, the serious scientist and the irresponsible playboy find themselves battling their differences and their growing attraction in the heart of Africa.

  North of Superior

  Naomi Miller has just returned to Thunder Bay with her ten-year old daughter, Cody, to help her ailing grandfather and to make a fresh start when her life becomes entangled again with the sexy NHL player, Erik Landsverk. After he becomes Cody’s coach and renews his interest in Naomi, she learns the price of the secret she has been carrying, because he has no idea that he is the father of her child.