Chalet Girl Plays Cupid: (A Free Short Story) (Ski Season, Book 6) Read online

  One, Seeing Holly again. Two, being here in Verbier. Three…three?

  "Oh bugger it." She turned over in the bed angrily, pulling a pillow over her head. She'd do better tomorrow. Her jaw clenched as she ground her teeth but she didn't care.

  I'll think myself happy if it kills me. I'm going to get over this.

  "Morning." Emily sat down at the breakfast table the next morning and beamed at Jake.

  Come on, smile you grumpy sod.

  She was determined to cheer him up, it was certainly a challenge.

  "Mmm," Jake grunted noncommittally and continued munching a croissant, barely glancing up at her.

  Morning Emily, and how are you today? I'm fine Jake, thanks for asking…

  "So." Emily took a deep breath and tried valiantly to swallow down her irritation. "I understand Scott and Holly want us to try out some of the experiences they'll be offering the guests. It should be fun."

  "Should it?" Jake quirked a thick eyebrow, dark eyes boring into her, focusing on her for long enough to make her squirm.

  "Yes, it should," she replied firmly, her jaw clenching again. She'd be teeth grinding at night again if she kept this up.

  The dark brow rose fractionally higher, mocking her, but Jake remained silent.

  She poured herself a coffee. "So, do you know Verbier well?"

  "Yes." Jake leant back in his chair and continued to stare at her, insolently, arrogantly. If he hadn't looked quite so grumpy she'd have sworn he was enjoying being rude to her.

  Yes? That was the sum total of his effort to make conversation with her?

  He's been through a really tough time, give him a break. Imagine if everything you'd been working towards, dreaming of, was suddenly ripped out of your reach?

  Yeah right.

  As if she didn't know what that felt like.

  She forced another smile to her face. If nothing else at least her facial muscles were getting a good workout.

  "Well, that's useful then." She sipped her coffee, willing the caffeine to help her wilting energy levels. Getting used to sleeping alone was going to take some practice. She hated the first moments of waking up, forgetting what had happened and reaching out automatically only to find the bed empty.

  Absence of boyfriend, her own bed and her usual routine felt vaguely terrifying.

  She could've sworn she saw Jake roll his eyes but no one would be that rude, surely?

  "I was sorry to hear about your injury." She fixed her gaze on him. No way was he going to grind her down.

  "Thanks." The faint spark of amusement in his expression vanished, to be replaced by an oblique dullness.

  She recognised pain when she saw it, pain that made you feel so much it ended up numbing you, overwhelming your senses.

  "You'll always have the next Winter Games in four years’ time, won't you?" The impulse to comfort him bypassed her filtering system. The words sounded naïve and faintly ridiculous now they hung in the air between them. "Once they fix your leg you'll get fit again won't you? I mean athletes get injured all the time…"

  Just shut up Emily.

  Anger flared in his narrowed eyes as he stared at her long and hard. If looks could kill he'd just gunned her down and then let rip another few rounds, just to make sure.

  Well at least I've given him an external target for his anger, that's something. Better than turning it all in and bottling it up.

  But did she really want to offer herself up as target practice? That wasn’t healthy in her current state surely?

  Stop analysing, Emily. Just be nice.

  "I find it's best to focus on the positive," she said, wondering where Scott and Holly had got to.

  "To count your blessings you mean?" The sarcasm in his tone was inescapable, as bitter as the taste of the coffee on her tongue.

  "Yes, I do." She met his glare. Sod him, she wouldn't be intimidated. "There's always something to smile about."

  Abruptly he looked away, breaking the awkward tension that trembled in the space between them.

  "Actually you're wrong," he winced as he got awkwardly to his feet, towering over her. "Sometimes there's absolutely nothing to smile about at all."

  He limped out of the room, not waiting for a reply.

  Emily stared at the plates of croissants in front of her on the table, utterly devoid of appetite. Her stomach felt like a tiny contracted ball, as hard as concrete. Eating had been difficult lately. She never really felt hungry and forcing herself to eat took will power.

  "Oh Hi Emily, you're up." Holly came into the room and sat at the chair next to her. "Did you sleep well?"

  "Okay thanks," Emily lied. "That view is pretty spectacular, you’re so lucky looking out at that every day."

  They both stared out of the window down towards the valley, surrounded by the dramatic vista of snow-covered mountain peaks.

  "I think you'll like Verbier," Holly said, spreading jam onto a croissant. "You know I bet you could easily find more work out here, when Amelia gets back.

  "Really?" Emily swallowed down her panic.

  I don't want to think that far into the future.

  "Yeah, I bet you could run a kind of chalet girl on call business. Other owners must have problems with staff going sick, or quitting when they get homesick. We're not the only ones with staffing problems this season. It takes time to get new staff out here, you'd have the advantage over them of being on the ground already and available for interviews. Plus there are always private chalet owners needing someone to let the Jacuzzi engineer in or to put the heating on for them and open up the chalet for when they arrive. You wouldn't be tied to one job and you could double your rates because they'd be desperate."

  "Maybe. It would be nice to stick around for a bit and see more of you. And it's got to be better than London in winter, I can't say I'm keen to go back anytime soon. Look outside, you have sunshine and blue skies and lots of lovely snow, it’s gorgeous." Emily's mind buzzed with ideas and the first genuine excitement she'd felt in ages.

  Amazing, she felt genuinely enthusiastic. Without even having to repeat positivity affirmations.

  "Absolutely, we'll train you up and can provide you with character references. Take time to think about it, you might hate the job after all. See how you get on. It would be nice to have you around though." Holly beamed.

  "Pippa wouldn't be too impressed to lose another friend to Verbier," Emily said, feeling sufficiently cheered up to take a tiny bite of croissant.

  "She's happy enough with the free holidays when we've got a spare guest room," Holly replied. "Anyway, while we're talking about visiting friends, I was wondering how you're getting on with Jake?"

  Emily fixed Holly with her best Paddington Bear stare.

  Really? Is she trying to set the two of us up? She knows I’ve only just split up with Steve.

  Sure Jake was attractive but being pushed towards him made her feel like a teddy bear thrown for a Rottweiler. It might be a good distraction for the big dog but being chewed up wasn't her idea of fun.

  Before Emily could speak, Scott and Jake entered the room together, and sat down at the table.

  "What are you two up to?" Scott grinned at Holly. "Talking about us by any chance?"

  "Yeah, you wish." A pink flush crept across Holly's cheeks. "Actually we were planning Emily's future career out here. I think she should start a freelance chalet girl services business. You know, like a concierge thing, that’s really in right now."

  "Good idea," Scott said. "If you do decide to stay there’d definitely be work. People are always having staff problems and it takes time to get new staff vetted by agencies back home. Someone on the ground with experience and references could probably clean up."

  "You could call the business Chalet Girl on Call?" Holly suggested.

  "Hmm, that could make her sound like a call girl." Scott laughed, earning himself a glare from Holly.

  "Ooh, I've got an idea, how about Miss Fix-it?" Emily suggested, excited and already envisa
ging her business cards.

  Jake snorted and she turned to glare at him. Then she remembered she was supposed to be cheering him up and being nice to him and rearranged her features into an awkward smile.

  This being nice business is such hard work. How do other people do it?

  "So, what would you suggest Jake?" She did her best to keep her tone light.

  No snarkiness, remember?

  It was supposed to be bad karma. According to the book being negative or even sending out unpleasant vibes would just invite more bad stuff into her life. She had enough to deal with already.

  "Perky Pollyanna - chalet girl service with a smile?" Jake suggested and Emily glowered at him. Was it her imagination or was his mouth actually twitching?

  Rude.

  This wasn't quite how she'd planned on making him smile.

  "Better than Scrooge Services Ltd or Ogre on Call." She smiled sweetly, unable to totally suppress her inner snark.

  Scott and Holly exchanged knowing smirks.

  Great, they are trying to set us up.

  "Has Holly told you about the experience days we're planning this season?" Scott said, helping himself to coffee. "The odd bit of heli-skiing off piste just doesn't cut it anymore. We've heard about this company in Villars that offers guests overnight survival trips. Basically you take a skidoo to a mountain refuge cabin for the night. There's no electricity or running water obviously so it's a taste of adventure for urbanites. We were hoping you two could road test it for us this week, what do you think? Oh…Ouch."

  Scott's frowned at Holly and Holly's leg retreated back from under the table.

  Very subtle guys. Not.

  Holly had obviously wanted to build up to it. When she'd talked about experiences Emily had imagined a bit of tobogganing. A night alone with Jake in a confined space would be…A pang of desire took her by surprise and she crushed it, irritated.

  "It sounds like a great idea but I'm not sure it would be Emily's kind of thing." Jake's mouth twitched again as he stared directly at her. "You're a city girl really aren't you? I think the hut might be a bit too basic for you."

  "Excuse me?" She widened her eyes. He was for real? "You think I'm some kind of girly stereotype? 'Crocodile Dundee' has a lot to answer for. All those films where the girl wears high heels in the jungle really annoy me, like 'Romancing the Stone'. Although I actually did love that film but that’s not the point. I'll have you know city girls have to be pretty tough to survive commuting and London chuggers!"

  "Here, here." Holly cheered. "I'm an ex-London girl Jake so you’d better watch what you say. I agree with Emily about lazy stereotyping. Though I gave to say I loved 'Romancing the Stone too though'."

  Scott snorted with laughter. “So basically you want it both ways? To be treated as independent equals but be saved and seduced by a big macho hero at the same time? Typical females, can never make their minds up. Ouch.”

  Emily hoped Holly had kicked Scott hard this time, the bloody cheek of him!

  "I could manage a basic mountain hut, no problem." Emily met Jake's amused stare with narrowed eyes. "Maybe you're trying to use me as an excuse to get out of it because you're not up to it yourself?"

  "Hardly." Jake snorted. "But if you want to tag along that's fine by me. I've got sod all else to do while I wait for surgery."

  Tag along?

  "I think it's important to get the female perspective, men tend to overlook the practical details." She turned to Holly for confirmation.

  "Exactly, with your lay female perspective and Jake's experience as a ski guide you complement each other perfectly." Holly smiled happily.

  Emily suppressed a snort. Jake didn't bother to contain his and earned himself a school-marmish look from Holly.

  "Play nice kids." Scott grinned and Emily tried to smile to be polite, this time for Scott and Holly's benefit.

  She hadn't missed the reference to surgery, she needed to cut Jake some slack. He was having a rough time.

  So am I and I'm not the one being an anti-social git.

  She chewed another piece of croissant but couldn't seem to swallow, her throat felt tight and it just wouldn't go down. Surreptitiously she moved her napkin up to her mouth and put the piece of croissant into it, hoping no one had noticed.

  Then she caught Jake's eye and waited for the snide comment. This time none came.

  Holly smiled, raising her eyebrows at Scott.

  I've just come out of a relationship. Does she really expect me to jump straight into bed with Jake?

  Although, if he wasn't quite so grumpy, the idea wouldn't be too awful. He was pretty gorgeous in a brooding Heathcliff kind of way. What would it feel like to go to bed with another man? After being with Steve for so long the idea felt…strange. But exciting strange.

  And let's face it, it would be nice to actually feel desired for a change. Feeling that she'd been second best for the whole of her relationship had knocked her badly. Clearly Steve had wanted her to be Zoe, had only chosen Emily as a consolation prize to be dumped at the first sign Zoe might be available again.

  Yes, being desired would be nice but if she got chewed up and spat out again how would she cope?

  "Come and join us." Scott stared levelly at Jake who lay on his back on the bed, hands stretched up behind his head. "Unless you've got another riveting evening of staring at the ceiling planned?"

  "Join us?" Jake quirked an eyebrow. "Does 'us' include Miss Positivity?"

  He could've pointed out he was lying on the bed because elevating his leg made it hurt less but in all fairness he was moping too. Not to mention doing his best to avoid Emily in case he accidentally bit her head off.

  It just so happened the three activities went very well together.

  "There'll be wine and pizza," Scott replied. "And Emily needs cheering up. I'd really appreciate it mate, as a favour to us."

  "Hmm." A hairline crack appeared in Jake's resolve.

  Pizza - good. Positivity - not so good.

  Pizza won. Partly because he was getting sick of this self-imposed solitary confinement but mostly because he couldn't actually remember the last time he'd eaten. He heaved himself off the bed, ignoring the sharp stabbing pain in his leg. As though that would achieve anything. He felt bizarrely angry with his leg for letting him down. Not to mention being a constant nagging reminder of his frailty and failure. It had ruined his life and now it never shut about it.

  He glimpsed his reflection as he passed the bedroom mirror. He looked like a comedy villain - dark shadows beneath his eyes, wild hair and rough stubble on his chin because really, what was the point of shaving? Worst of all was the hardness he saw in his own eyes.

  He barely recognised himself.

  On the sofa nearest to the fire Emily sat with Holly, already sipping wine, looking pretty and fresh faced and…all shiny with glossy hair and lips. She'd made an effort.

  Never mind the comedy villain, Jake now felt like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Or, what was it she'd called him the other day? An ogre? Whatever, he felt unfit to mix in decent society.

  God, I'm really losing it.

  He slunk onto an armchair and tried to get it together.

  I need to eat.

  Concentrating on tasks helped. A little.

  Pizza boxes were piled on the coffee table. Emily gazed up at him, warily, and he attempted a smile.

  At least it was supposed to be a smile. From Emily's deer-in-headlights impression he guessed it'd fallen a little short of the mark.

  Jake sighed. Sod it, he was making an effort wasn't he?

  "We're slumming it tonight I'm afraid," Holly announced cheerfully. "We have to make the most of having the chalet to ourselves."

  Jake took a slice of pizza from the box Holly offered him, his stomach rumbling at the sight of pepperoni and grilled mozzarella. Actually, when had he eaten last? He wasn't sure. He'd avoided regular mealtimes; they were too apt to come with company he didn't want.

  His spirits lifted
infinitesimally, then his gaze fell on the board games sitting next to the pizza boxes.

  Board games?

  He winced, glaring at Scott. Nothing had been said about playing games. Well, if they even suggested charades he was going back to his room, rude or not. He was grateful to Scott for helping him out but gratitude had its limits.

  "We thought it would be fun to play some of these new games," Holly said, catching his eye, an undercurrent of steel in her tone. "We got them in for the guests, we may as well try them out."

  Jake couldn't resist an eye roll but wilted under Holly's gimlet stare. He dropped his gaze to his pizza, aware of a twinge of guilt. When he glanced back up he noticed Emily staring at him. Belligerently he stared back, challenging her, interested to see if she'd look away.

  She continued to stare, unabashed and he was struck by the colour of her eyes. They seemed to hover between greeny-blue and grey, ever changing in the flickering light of the fire. Something held his gaze, an invisible cord linking them.

  Mutual antipathy, probably. Each unwilling to back down first. A memory stirred in the back of his brain. Hadn't he read some crap about a science experiment that proved how any two people could fall in love if they sat and stared into each other's eyes for four minutes? Was it four minutes or longer?

  Uneasily he blinked and turned to stare at the fire.

  Chicken.

  Now he thought about it he was sure there were other steps, like enforced getting to know you questions.

  I wonder why she needs cheering up.

  Surely people like Emily floated through life, carried along in a shiny, happy bubble by one platitude after another?

  Why am I so angry with her?

  Jake finished his pizza in silence, tuning out the conversation between Scott and Holly about plans for the season. He shifted on his chair, uncomfortable and aware his antipathy towards Emily was about as stupid as being angry with his leg.

  Emily stood up and took one of the games onto the faux fur rug in front of the fire.

  She sat cross-legged, her jumper dress riding up to show shapely thighs in skin-hugging leggings. The firelight caught the flecks of gold in her strawberry blonde hair and her heart-shaped face flushed pink. Actually now that he thought about it her eyelids appeared a little pink too.