Читать книгу Modern Romance December 2019 Books 5-8 - Jane Porter - Страница 25

THE CROWD IN the ballroom listened attentively as Stacey thanked them for their generous contributions. Then she invited key members of staff up on stage. ‘Nothing would happen without these people,’ she explained to a barrage of cheers and stamping feet. ‘And now, if you would like to join us in the hotel lobby, your transport awaits! And please, dress up warmly. I’ll meet you outside, where my team will show you where to go.’

She left the stage as people rushed to grab their coats and boots from the cloakroom. Luc was waiting at the foot of the steps. ‘Thank you,’ he said politely. ‘I know this is your job and what you’re paid for, but you’ve excelled yourself tonight, and I couldn’t be more pleased.’

‘Thank you,’ she said with a tight smile, before hurrying away to join the growing crowd in the hotel lobby.

Was that it? Thank you? Was that all he had to say?

She felt sick inside.

Trying not to think too hard, she smilingly arranged the excited guests into travelling groups. If she dwelled on Luc’s manner, she’d break down. She knew it was time to grow up—this was work—but if only he could be a little less distant, and maybe ask some intelligent questions about the baby. His disregard hurt so much, she had to believe there was a reason for it. He couldn’t have changed so much, become so cold. She knew he had a problem with feelings, but taking it to these lengths? There had to be something wrong.

Get over it. It was probably all for the good, she decided as she started to muster guests into travelling groups. She would never belong in this sophisticated world. If they could return to the easy relationship they’d shared on the farm when they weren’t fighting, chatting easily about horses, maybe there’d be a chance for them. She huffed a humourless laugh as she moved on to the next group of guests.

Operation Up the Mountain was a welcome distraction. Stacey’s passion remained unchanged. Seeing people enjoy themselves at the events she organised was everything to her, and she never allowed personal feelings to get in the way. It was crucial that guests remained unaware of the mechanics behind an event, and it never felt like work to Stacey. But to be on the receiving end of this carousel of parties and lunches, banquets and fashion shows, rather than organising them? She couldn’t do it. She had to get her hands dirty. She had to be real. False eyelashes wouldn’t last five minutes in the country in a rainstorm, and, though she loved the city and all the glamorous occasions she helped to arrange, her long-term goal was to live on a small farm surrounded by ponies, where the only event she ever went to was the local county show.

The transport Luc had arranged was inspired. Nothing could stop the big snowploughs trundling up the mountain on their tank treads. Headlights blazing, music blaring, the party continued as they travelled up the slope. Stacey found herself seated next to Lucas, but this was business so she kept her distance and he kept his. The only comments they made were directed at their guests to make sure they were seated comfortably and well wrapped up in rugs.

When they arrived at Luc’s impressive chalet, she’d made sure that champagne, mulled wine and soft drinks were waiting for his guests.

‘You’ve thought of everything,’ he commented as he helped her to climb down. ‘And you look amazing.’

She blinked. Not that Luc’s touch on her arm wasn’t as electrifying as ever, or his face as wonderfully familiar, nor were the expressive eyes holding her own bemused stare any less darkly commanding and beautiful, but…compliments? Really? Was that the best way to start when they had so much more to say to each other?

So what would you say? She shrugged inwardly. He’d made a start. She should too. ‘You don’t look bad yourself. We’ll talk later. Yes?’

Angling a strong chin already liberally shaded with stubble, Luc gave her a measured look. ‘I think I can make time for you.’

‘Make sure you do.’ And with that she was off about her duties.

He tracked her down in an empty kitchen minutes before the fireworks and the torchlit descent were due to start. ‘I sent Maria out to enjoy the show,’ she explained in a neutral tone, swiping a cloth across the granite worktops without pausing to look up.

‘Well?’ he prompted, suffocated by tension he could cut with a knife. ‘Do you have some news for me?’

She stilled and slowly raised her head. ‘Are you saying you don’t know?’

Of course he knew. He made it his business to know everything concerning him. His security team hadn’t been hired for their pretty faces. But he wanted Stacey to tell him. Whether she could open up enough to do so remained to be seen. ‘Just tell me.’

‘Congratulations,’ she said in the same emotion-free tone. ‘You’re going to be a daddy.’

He ground his jaw so hard he could have cracked some teeth. The way she’d told him, and, worse, the way this most marvellous news was overshadowed by concerns from his past, made him madder than hell, and saddened him equally.

‘Don’t you have anything to say?’ she pressed.

‘Congratulations,’ he echoed with a brief, accepting smile.

‘Wow. Your enthusiasm overwhelms me.’

‘Not now,’ he warned as Maria bustled back into the kitchen.

‘When, then?’ Stacey mouthed across the counter.

‘When everyone else has left and we’re alone.’

With a shrug she seemed to accept this, and they split, each attending to their duties, which left them both, he suspected, with a grinding impatience that wouldn’t leave them until they’d talked.

The most spectacular firework display Stacey had ever seen was accompanied by classical music. The combination of fire in the sky and the passionate strains of a full orchestra turned a spectacular event into a spellbinding affair. She couldn’t resist watching for a while, though tensed when Luc joined her. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was there.

‘Enjoying it?’ he asked.

‘It’s amazing,’ she confirmed. ‘But shouldn’t you be spending time with your guests?’

‘Shouldn’t you?’ he countered softly.

‘Of course, señor—’

‘For goodness’ sake, don’t call me that. And no. Stay with me,’ he commanded, catching hold of her arm when she started to move away. ‘I want to watch the display with you. My guests won’t care with all this going on.’

‘I guess not,’ Stacey agreed as a starburst of light exploded high in the night sky over their heads. Luc didn’t speak as he came to stand close behind her. He made no attempt to touch her, but that didn’t stop all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. She could almost imagine his heat warming her, and she found herself wanting to forget their differences and start again. More than anything she wanted them both to throw off the shackles of the past and express themselves freely to the extent that Luc took her in his arms and kissed her in front of everyone, and she kissed him back. But that was never going to happen when a muted ‘Congratulations’ was the best he could manage at the news of their child.

He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss the breath from her lungs, but not with so many interested eyes on them. It hadn’t been easy for Stacey to build a new life, and the last thing he wanted was to cast the shadow of his so-called celebrity over her, bringing her to the world’s interest. Her childhood and early teens had largely been composed of fantasies, Niahl had told him, and that was to block out the fact that she felt invisible at home. Stacey’s only fault was being a reminder of her mother. She’d tried hard to shake that off, but in doing so had ended up feeling disloyal to her mother’s memory. She couldn’t win. From the youngest age she hadn’t been able to do right in her father’s eyes, and that had stripped her confidence bare. She had worked hard when she left home to build up her self-belief, and he could so easily destroy it with a few misjudged words. Everything he said to Stacey had to be weighed carefully, and, unfortunately, like her, he was a man with a tendency to spit things out.

Deciding there was only one way around the problem, he knew that it wasn’t enough to rejoice in the fact that they were having a baby, and that Stacey would always know he was holding something back. The only answer was to unlock the darkest secret from his past and confront it, but that would have to wait, as the torchlit descent in which he was taking part was about to begin.

‘I’m sorry… I have to go,’ he explained. ‘My job is to ride shotgun and make sure no one falls or gets left behind.’

‘I understand,’ she said with a quick smile before glancing back at the chalet. ‘And I need to make sure that everyone’s glass is full to toast the parade as you start off.’

‘You’ll be okay if I leave you here?’

She shot him a look and smiled. ‘I’ll be okay,’ she confirmed, but her gaze didn’t linger on his face as it once had, and he knew that if he lost her trust it would be gone for ever. Stacey was a survivor who knew when to cut a hopeless cause loose. He ground his jaw at the thought that he was in real danger of falling into that category, and right now there was nothing he could do about it. The ski instructors and other advanced skiers were waiting for him on the slope. He was one of the stewards, and the torchlit descent couldn’t begin until he was on his skis, ready to go with them. ‘Don’t get cold,’ he warned Stacey.

She laughed. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t. I’ll be far too busy for that.’

After making sure all the guests had a drink, and a blanket if they needed one, Stacey chose a good vantage point. She had selected the music to accompany the skiers’ decent in a sentimental moment, asking the guitarist from Barcelona, where she had so memorably danced with Luc, if he would agree to play live with a full orchestra, and he had agreed. Everyone around her commented on the passion and beauty with which he played, and as the other instruments swelled in a crescendo behind him her eyes filled with tears at the thought that special moments like these could never be recaptured.

But they would live on in the memory. Cling on to that…

She must not cry. This wasn’t the time or the place, so she bit down hard on her bottom lip. Luc’s guests relied on her to entertain them and their evening wasn’t over yet. Personal feelings were unimportant. She’d be better off without them, and must certainly never show them. Maybe she had revealed too much to Lucas, because what had he shared with her? He kept more hidden than he revealed.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut short when everything was plunged into darkness, signalling the start of the descent. The murmur of anticipation around her died. Nothing was visible beyond the ghostly white peaks. Then the lights of the same snowploughs that had brought the guests up the mountain blazed into life and it was possible to see the skiers assembling with their torches like tiny dots of light. She wished Luc safe with all her heart. It reassured her to know that the chief mountain guide always led the procession, as no one knew the ever-changing nature of the trail better than he. Skiing at night at speed always held some risk, and there had been fallers. Not this year, she prayed fervently as she fixed her gaze on the top of the slope.

The long snake of light with its accompanying music was an unforgettable sight and Stacey was as spellbound as the rest. As if one party wasn’t enough, there would be another in the village square to welcome everyone safely home. Transport was waiting for Luc’s guests, and as she moved amongst them it was wonderful to feel their upbeat mood. The feedback so far suggested this was the most successful event Party Planners had ever arranged. It was just a shame the lights went out at the end of it, Stacey reflected, pressing her lips flat with regret.

The snowplough was approaching the village, where she could see that every shop and restaurant was ablaze with light. There were bunting and bands in the square and so many food kiosks they were banked up side by side. This was the first real fun people had been able to enjoy since the village had been snowbound, and everyone was determined to make the most of it. And it didn’t take long, once they had been taken down, to learn that the roads were clear, and everything was on the move again.

She glanced around, but couldn’t see Lucas. Quartering the square in the hope of finding him proved useless; there was no sign of him. None of the guests had seen their host and the torchlit descent had ended some time ago. So where was he?

‘Some people peel away and ski home before they reach the village,’ a ski guide still pumped with success and effort told her. ‘Maybe Lucas is one of these. He’s very popular…’

As the guys around him laughed Stacey walked away, red-faced, but she couldn’t give up. Maybe Lucas had gone home with another woman, but that was his business. She just wanted to know he was safe. And it didn’t seem likely that he’d desert his guests. At last, she found someone who’d seen him.

‘He stopped on the slopes to help a young woman who was trailing behind, and then she fell,’ the elderly man informed her.

‘Not badly hurt, I hope?’ she exclaimed.

‘The clinic’s just over there,’ he said, pointing it out. ‘You could go and ask.’

‘Thank you. I will.’ She had to know for sure what was happening. If Lucas didn’t show his face, she’d have to explain to his guests why their host had deserted them. Summoning reinforcements from the team on the radio to look after the guests milling about the square, she crossed the road to the clinic. Each small community in the mountains had a medical facility and a doctor on standby. She’d discovered this while she’d been researching the area for information to pass on to the guests.

The receptionist at the clinic explained that Lucas had stopped to help a young woman, but the young woman had turned out to be only thirteen years old, and skiing on the mountain without the consent of her parents. ‘It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last,’ the smiling receptionist told Stacey. ‘The mountain is like a magnet to local teenagers, and the annual parade is the biggest draw of all.’

‘Can I help you?’

Breath shot from her lungs. ‘Lucas! Thank goodness you’re safe!’

Regardless of anything that had gone before, she was just so relieved to see him.

Still dressed in dark ski wear, he looked exactly like the type of big, swarthy hero any young woman would dream of sweeping her off her feet on the slope. It was lucky she was Lucas-proof, Stacey reflected as he shot her a brooding look.

‘Why are you here?’ he demanded coolly.

‘To find you, of course.’

‘Shouldn’t you be with my guests?’

‘Shouldn’t you?’ She stared up at him, unblinking, while her heart shouted hallelujah to see him unharmed.

‘Are you here to remind me of my manners?’

‘If you need a nudge…?’

A glint of humour in his eyes greeted this remark.

‘How is the girl you rescued?’

‘A painful pulled ligament. Thankfully, nothing more.’

‘And you’re okay?’ She searched his eyes.

‘Obviously.’

Why didn’t she believe him? Because the wounds Luc carried weren’t visible, Stacey concluded as he glanced at the exit.

‘I’m going to say goodnight to my guests,’ he explained, ‘and then I’m going to take you home. I’ve checked the girl’s parents are on their way, so there’s nothing more for me to do here except thank the staff and hold the door for you.’

‘I can stay in the hotel in the village,’ she protested. ‘People are leaving now the roads are clear.’

‘The gondolas are running too,’ Luc commented as they left the building, ignoring her last comment, ‘so no excuses. You’re coming with me.’

They needed to talk, she reasoned, so why not? Just because Luc was unconventional and unpredictable didn’t mean they couldn’t communicate successfully. Demanding clients were her stock in trade. How much harder could it be to discuss the future of their child with Luc?

After an extensive round of farewells, Stacey was able to wrap up the night with her team, and Luc led the way up the steps of the gondola station. ‘Come on,’ he encouraged. ‘We can have a car to ourselves.’

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into an empty car just as the doors were closing.