by Tara Wyatt
“Uh, hey,” she said, glancing out toward the half-pipe. She lifted her gloved hand to her mouth, touching it unconsciously, then dropped her hand abruptly. “That was really impressive.” She tipped her head in the direction of the half-pipe. “How do you, like, stay oriented up there?”
“Lots of practice and countless wipeouts,” he answered with a grin, shifting his weight. Her gaze dropped to his knees, and he wondered how much Theo and Lauren had told her.
“It’s especially impressive given how big you are. I mean…” Her cheeks went red and she shook her head. “I just mean you’re tall and, um, have muscles, and…” She closed her eyes briefly and he chuckled.
“You been checking me out, Bristowe?”
She met his eyes, her chest heaving a little. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Naturally.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Davis. “Kayla! We have that marketing seminar in fifteen minutes!” he barked out from ten feet away. Sebastian noticed the way her shoulders bunched up and she flinched.
“Yep. Coming.” She turned to go, but he reached out, curling his fingers around her arm.
“Does he always talk to you like that?”
“Davis is just enthusiastic,” she said with a small shrug. From the way her eyes wandered everywhere, not meeting his, he could tell she didn’t believe what she was saying.
“Davis is an asshole to talk to you like that.”
She shot him a wry grin. “Says the man who was trying to get me fired twenty-four hours ago.”
“Hey, maybe this is one of those takes one to know one situations.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She gently pulled her arm away from his grip. “I have to go.”
“Right. Uh, listen. Do you want to grab a coffee or something later? Or maybe dinner, if you don’t have plans?”
She froze, her eyes going wide. “No, Sebastian. I can’t. This isn’t…We’re not…” She grimaced. Then she took a breath and said, “I just mean that you’re not the type of guy that I would ever…” She trailed off, a look of horrified embarrassment on her face. For him, not for herself. Obviously.
“Oh. Yeah. Okay. I’ll see you around, Kayla.” He hoisted his board up under his arm and turned, crunching over the snow with his face on fire. He felt a little light-headed as he walked, embarrassment prickling through him. Of course a woman like Kayla wouldn’t want anything to do with him, and he was an idiot for thinking that one kiss would change that. What a fucking moron to think he could actually be someone she’d want. He’d screwed up his own life beyond repair, and had done serious damage to hers in the process. She was smart to stay away.
Her rejection was exactly what he deserved.
Kayla closed the door to her hotel room behind her and then slumped against it, dropping her laptop bag onto the floor. She’d just spent the past two hours in a marketing seminar and she hadn’t absorbed a single thing the presenter had said, which was a shame because when she’d originally planned it, she’d been looking forward to it. But all she’d been able to think about was Sebastian.
With a sigh, she pushed off of the door, kicked her boots off and then turned the fireplace on. She stood by the sliding glass doors, watching the snow fall in a gorgeous blanket of swirling white from the sky. Snow in New York was pretty until it touched the ground, where it instantly turned into a grayish-brown slimy sludge. Here, everything stayed so white and pristine. It was beautiful. Peaceful and serene. Soothing.
She let out a long breath and then shook her head. She’d done the right thing turning Sebastian down. His life was a mess, and, um, hello, he’d been trying to get her fired only yesterday. She wasn’t exactly jumping up and down at the prospect of going on a date with him. And besides, he was all wrong for her. He barely met any of the criteria on her list.
So then why did she feel like she’d made a mistake? Maybe it was just because she’d seen the hurt and disappointment etched on his handsome face and regretted that she’d been the one to put it there.
She strode back to where she’d dropped her laptop bag and fished her phone out, calling Willa.
“Hey,” she answered on the second ring. “What’s up?”
“Hey,” said Kayla, clearing her throat when her voice came out a little creaky sounding. “I…I need to talk. Are you busy? You’re probably busy.”
“I always have time for you. Always. What’s wrong? You sound upset.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just…having a weird few days.”
“Weird how? No, give this to Max, please. He has to sign off on it. I don’t know, ask his EA. Sorry. I’m here.”
Kayla sank down onto the floor in front of the fireplace, the warm air comforting on her back. The snow fell steadily outside, making her feel like she was in a wintery cocoon. She sighed and then told Willa everything. Sebastian’s efforts to get her fired, how Stammler was probably going to demote her when they got back to the city, the kiss, how he’d asked her out. Everything.
“I did the right thing, saying no, didn’t I?” She asked, tracing a whorl through the plush carpet with the tip of her finger. “He’s not…he’s not right for me.”
“I don’t know. I mean, if you knew turning him down was the right thing, I don’t think you’d be calling me for reassurance, would you?”
Kayla snorted out a soft laugh. “No. Probably not.”
“Do you like him?”
“I…I don’t know. I’m attracted to him, but I only seem to know the bad stuff about him. The shitty boss, the asshole trying to get me fired. And yet…” She shook her head. “I have this weird gut feeling that that’s not who he is, underneath. But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the real Sebastian. I think he got lost somewhere a long time ago.”
“Okay, hang on a sec, I’m just going to pull up your list.”
“My list?”
“Yeah, the perfect man wish list. I emailed myself a copy from your phone because I had a feeling we’d be having a conversation almost identical to this one.” There was a brief pause and then Willa came back on the line. “Okay, so. First off, we’ve got a physical description. Hot, dark hair, blue eyes, awesome bod, tall, big hands and hung.”
“Well, yeah, he’s hot, but any woman with eyes can see that. And he is my type, in the looks department. Dark hair, blue eyes, tall, and from what I can tell he’s got an amazing body. Big hands.” Goosebumps shivered over her skin as she remembered the feel of his hands on her face, on her waist, warm and strong. She swallowed thickly as she remembered teasing him about the size of his package after the itinerary debacle and the hint of an outline that had indicated he probably exceeded her criteria in the dick department. “And yeah, he might be hung, but obviously I don’t know. He might also have a micropenis.”
“Um, doubtful. From what Lauren has said, Theo is packing, and I saw Max in wet swim trunks last year at the company beach day. The Prescott men do not disappoint. It’s genetics.”
“Okay, fine. So he meets the shallowest of my criteria.”
“Is he funny?”
She bit her lip, remembering the pranks, the teasing. “Yeah. I think he is, when he wants to be.”
“I’ll just put a little checkmark here. Next we have hardworking, passionate, generous, kind and sensitive.”
“No. I can’t say with any degree of certainty that he’s any of those things.”
“Smart? Patient? Supportive?”
“He’s smart, but he gets in his own way all the time.”
“Financially secure with a good career.”
“Nope. I’m pretty sure he’s broke, and he’s a thirty-four year old snowboard instructor. So.”
“Um…”
“What?”
“He’s definitely not broke.”
“What do you mean?”
“Okay, so his dad is Quentin Prescott, who’s one of the founding partners of The Whitestone Group.”
Kayla’s mouth fell open. “I did
n’t know that. You mean the investment firm, right? The one that’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars?”
“That’s the one. Anyway, they each have a trust fund worth two hundred million dollars.”
Kayla’s hand went limp and she nearly dropped her phone. “What?”
“Yeah. Max used some of his to start Tapp, Lucian used some of his to start his businesses. I mean, Lauren and Theo were friends for ten years and she only found out about it after they got engaged. They don’t really talk about it, but they’re all multi-millionaires, including Sebastian.”
“But…I don’t understand. What’s he doing working here? With that kind of money, he could be doing anything he wanted.”
“I don’t know either, but there’s no way he blew two hundred mil. Even Sebastian couldn’t do that.”
“Okay, he’s rich and sexy, but that doesn’t mean he meets any of the most important criteria on the list.”
“If you won’t even have coffee with him, you’ll never find out.” Willa cleared her throat softly. “And let’s not forget about GIBOO.”
Her stomach dipped and swirled, and she clenched involuntarily, her pussy fluttering at the thought of having sex with Sebastian. The kiss had been…spectacular. Toe-curling. Less than sixty seconds of his mouth on hers and she’d been panting and wet, ready to beg for more.
“Right,” she said, her voice a little raspy. “I don’t know what to do, Willa. He’s totally wrong for me, and yet I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m worried that I’m like a moth to a flame and I’m going to get burned beyond recognition if I let myself…”
If I let myself give in to what I want.
“I know you’ll figure it out. I gotta go, I have a meeting. But text me if you need me, okay?”
“Thanks, Willa. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
She disconnected the call, her eyes fixed on the window outside, and she didn’t want to sit in this room alone anymore, lost in her thoughts. The snow was so beautiful, especially with darkness falling and the resort’s lights casting a soft glow. A ride through the snow—on the resort’s easiest hill, obviously—sounded perfect right about now.
She quickly changed out of her work clothes and into a fleece top and a pair of leggings. She tugged on her snow pants and jacket and headed for the door, eager to get outside, wondering if she could outrun her swirling thoughts about Sebastian
10
The storm came in fast, whipping around the mountain and making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. The snow had fallen faster and thicker as the day went on, and then as dusk had descended, the wind had picked up, sending the flakes squalling sideways in a white blanket. Sebastian had headed to the main resort to help convey the message that the slopes were closing early today due to the near whiteout conditions and strong winds. Everyone was being accounted for, and ski patrol had gone out to round up the few skiers left on the slopes. The forecast had originally called for only a few inches, but the storm had morphed into something much more dangerous. This wasn’t just a few inches. This was a dumping of snow.
As he walked from one side of the lobby to the other, his staff radio blipped from where it was clipped to the waistband of his pants. “This is base to remote ski patrol. I’m being told that we have a guest unaccounted for.”
“Remote ski patrol here. What’s the description and last known location?”
“Thirty-year-old female, about five-foot-two with long blond hair. Kayla Bristowe, she’s here with the corporate retreat. Computer shows she signed out a snowboard about an hour ago. Experience level is beginner.”
Sebastian immediately picked up his radio, his breathing quick and shallow as panic surged through him. Panic and worry and fear and a shitload of other stuff he didn’t have time to examine right now. “Hey, this is Sebastian. I’m up at the main building. I know Kayla. I’ll help you look for her.”
“Roger that, appreciate the assist. We’re rounding up a few stragglers here on the North Face, on the Timber Falls and Skyview runs.”
His mind whirling, Sebastian raced outside, snow pelting him. When he slammed his way into the pro room, his face was numb. His hands shook a little as he practically ripped a board from the wall, shoving his feet into boots. Adrenaline pumped through him as he made a plan. Kayla was inexperienced, and she wasn’t a risk taker. She’d probably gone out on the Main Face, which had the easier runs. Blackbird Junction, Cooper’s Hill, and Snow Pass were all safe bets. He just wished he knew where she’d headed.
Once he had all of the gear he needed, including a first aid kit strapped to his back, he hopped on one of the resort’s snowmobiles and headed toward the Main Face, his eyes scanning from left to right as he drove, hoping to spot a flash of pink somewhere among all the white.
Fuck, there was so much snow, and he could feel the temperature plummeting as the wind intensified. Gusts sent the snow swirling in tornado-like columns known as snow devils, making it even harder to see. His heart pounded in his chest as he navigated the snowmobile through the sheet of freezing white. Kayla was out here somewhere, alone.
He had to find her. He had to.
He parked his snowmobile in the designated area and then strapped into his board, his eyes scanning the various runs, looking for signs of recent activity. But the snow was falling too quickly and the wind was too strong for anyone to have left a trace. Worry and dread tightened his gut, and moving on instinct, he decided to try Snow Pass first. It was one of the easiest trails, and it wasn’t far from his cabin, so if she wasn’t there, he could swing by for a flashlight and binoculars to keep searching.
With his heart in his throat, he started making his way down the trail, boarding slowly from left to right, sweeping the terrain and the clusters of pines off to the side with his gaze. Snow pelted him, bouncing off of his jacket and goggles, pinging against his exposed skin.
He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Kayla! Kayla, are you out here? Make a sound if you can hear me!”
Wind rushed through his ears, making it impossible to hear anything beyond the storm. But then, way off to the right, a flash of pink caught his eye, sending fresh adrenaline shooting through him. He shifted his weight forward, gaining speed as he headed for a copse of pines about a hundred feet off of the trail. As he got closer, the flash of pink took on a human form, hunkered down among the pines.
“Kayla!” he called, the wind snatching his voice away.
But she’d heard him this time, because a very faint, panicked sounding, “Help!” reached his ears. Determination to get to her fueled him, making his heart hammer in his chest, his blood rushing through him. A film of sweat clung to his skin beneath his shirt and coat. He slowed a little as he got closer to the tight grouping of pines, knowing that if he wiped out and hurt himself then they were both screwed.
“Kayla!” he called again, his eyes trained on her.
“Sebastian,” she said, her voice a little weaker than before. Shit. How long had she been out here?
He came to a stop about six feet away from her and unstrapped himself from his board, running to her, snow flying up around him. She sat huddled against the base of one of the tall pines, shivering. Her discarded board lay a few feet away. He dropped to his knees and reached for her, running his hands over her arms, her legs.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, relief churning through him that he’d found her.
“I think I twisted my ankle. I lost control and almost skidded into a tree, and there was no one around because the snow was getting heavier,” she said, her eyes wide, her hands shaking. “I crawled in here to try to get some shelter. How did you find me?” Shivers racked her as she spoke, her teeth chattering.
“I figured you’d be on one of these runs, and I took a chance. Can you stand?” He rose to his feet and helped her to hers.
“Shit!” she cried out, immediately pulling her left foot up, clutching at his shoulders for balance. “I can’t put any weight on it.” She sucked in a
shuddering breath, and he could tell she was trying not to cry. If he was going to get them both to safety, he needed her to keep it together.
“Hey,” he said, tipping her chin up with his gloved hand. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
“How are we going to get back to the resort?”
He shook his head. “We’re not. But my cabin is only about half a mile that way,” he said, pointing.
She shook her head, panic and cold making her tremble. “I can’t walk that far. Not like this.”
“I’m gonna carry you. We need to get out of this storm.” He plucked his radio from his waist and spoke into it. “I found Kayla. We can’t make it back to the resort, so we’re going to take shelter in my cabin off of Snow Pass.”
“Roger. Does she need medical attention?”
“She has a twisted ankle, but nothing serious. I have supplies to tend to her injury.”
“Roger. Glad you found her. Stay warm.”
“You’re going to carry me half a mile through a snowstorm?” Her eyes were wide and he could tell she was trying not to panic.
He met her eyes, and she relaxed the tiniest bit. “You’re fucking right I am. And you’re probably going to hate it.”
“Whaaaaaa—” Her question turned into a shriek as he hoisted her over his shoulders in a very undignified fireman’s carry. He wrapped his right arm around her legs, holding her right arm with his left. His knee ached and he wished he hadn’t pulled off all of his kin tape earlier.
“Comfy?” he asked as they emerged from the trees. Wind buffeted them and he angled himself so that they wouldn’t be walking into it head on.
“I’m okay. What about the boards?” she asked, lifting her head a little.
“They’re just boards. We need to get to shelter.”
The wind picked up, pushing against him, stealing his breath. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trudging his way through the storm. By the time his cabin was in sight, maybe fifteen minutes later, sweat coated his skin and his knee was screaming in protest. His muscles were weak with exertion and relief by the time he mounted the steps to his cabin. As carefully as he could, he bent down and lowered Kayla to her feet. She clung to his arm for support as he unlocked the door and then led her inside.