“Boring,” she said, giving me a playful kick under the table. “You need to get out more.”
I smiled and finished off my dinner. “After this next meeting, I’m at your disposal.”
Her cheeks colored and she hid her smile behind her bite of food. I loved seeing this side of Val, the carefree and relaxed woman who tookher time walking in the winter sunshine and eating a delicious, messy meal. In the months we’d spent together, this was the most at ease I’d ever seen her. I didn’t want to be arrogant and think it was because of our relationship, but a small part of me hoped that I could have this kind of effect on her.
“Want to stop somewhere for a drink?” I asked. “I have some time before I need to get back.” I had a call with some potential investors to fund my new project, and I had less than a month to convince them before my big proposal to the board. As long as it fit in the budget, I might be able to sway them to approve renovations for Hale’s Peak instead of selling it. But I was still in the exploratory stages, so I hadn’t told Val yet. If this worked, I could push through the renovations like she and everyone else thought was the original plan anyway. No harm, no foul.Yeah, she’ll definitely see it that way.Val would be pissed if she ever found out the truth, but it would never come to that. I was fixing it.
The cold air swept through us as we went to the bar next door and slid into the two remaining seats. It was after dinner and prime time for après-ski. Townsfolk and tourists alike gathered to sip drinks and chat over bar food. When the bartender approached us with an expectant look, I opened my mouth to order a scotch, but Val interrupted me. “We’ll take two of your Golden Peach beers, please.”
“What in the entire hell is that?”
“Delicious, is what it is. Trust me.”
I did trust her—and not just with my drink choice.The things I feel for this woman…It had me seriously thinking about what a future with her could look like—a future where Iwasn’tmarried to Cressida. And those were reckless thoughts to be having about a relationship with a countdown timer. We had one month of the ski season left before we’dhave to either break up or figure out what to do, so I set it aside.Plenty of time to deal with it later.
The bartender plopped two pint glasses brimming with cloudy orange-ish beer in front of us, and I took a sip. It was, in fact, delicious.
“Aha! See, I told you,” Val said.
My lips ticked up and I took another drink. “Don’t tell anyone about this. It will ruin my image.”
“Speaking of that…” Val drew her finger around the rim of her glass. “We’re still in the clear with the tabloids?”
“Seems like it,” I said. “Although you can never be too sure about these things.”
“And it’s okay for us to be out like this?” She darted a nervous glance around the room, as if paparazzi would be crouching behind the potted plants or hiding under the menus. Beneath the shadows of the bar top, I slid my hand up her thigh and smiled when she shivered under my touch.
“As far as anyone can tell, we’re on a business meeting. I’m just another suited man in a sea of other suited men,” I said. “I blend in here well enough.”
“You’re not just another suited man to me,” she said, her eyes darkening to honey brown. I tightened my hand on her leg.
“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll give you what your eyes are asking for.”
Brushing her fingers across mine, she said, “Patience,” throwing my words from our first night together back at me. A flood of sexual imagery raced through me and my cock twitched to attention. “Any updates on your mystery pen pal investigation?”
That killed my boner real quick.
I took a long pull from my fruity beer, then filled her in about Tess’s letters, the affair, and some of my suspicions. As I spoke, tension I didn’teven know I’d been holding loosened its grip. It felt good to talk to someone—no, it felt good to talk toVal.She’d quickly inserted herself into my life as my confidante, even more so than Daphne or Cressida. As she listened to my updates, her eyes grew wide.
“So Tess was right? There really was foul play?”
I finished off my beer and toyed with the empty glass. “Yes. I’m still working on proving it.” I didn’t tell her about the damning words Tess had heard the man say or that I was very close to putting all the pieces together. I needed to keep that information close to the chest until I figured out how to handle it, and I didn’t want Val getting caught in the crossfire.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, tell me.”
I swept my fingers across her knuckles. This was as close as she was getting to this mess. “Thank you. But don’t worry about me. I have my best people on it.” As I smoothed my suit, Val’s eyes scraped over me in a way that had me looking for a shadowy hallway for us to sneak off to.
But then both of our phones pinged at the same time, interrupting the moment. I glanced at the screen, and the bold letters of the headline shouted an accusation at me.
Fuck.
Not now.
When Val’s eyes met mine, wide with horror, I knew I was inches from losing her forever.
VAL
Ever since the gala, I’d had a pit in my stomach the size of a bowling ball. Cressida had assured me that the tabloids were under control andshe’d silenced Erica. But even so, that feeling of dread had not abated. So when my phone pinged with a Google news alert, quickly followed by a text from Cressida, I knew what it would say.
