Page 31 of A Winter Wish

“So you’re ready to be off, are you, Lexie?” Mike asked. “Enjoyed your holiday, I hope?”

“Yes, I—”

But Mike’s phone rang, and he made a show of fishing it out of his suit jacket pocket, holding up one finger as he checked the screen. “Have to take this, so sorry.” He stepped a few feet away before answering, wandering down into the bar area.

Lexie felt a sudden rush of nerves as she glanced up at Theo. Then she told herself to get a grip. She was an adult; she could handle being alone with him.

Theo cleared his throat. “So about last night,” he began, and she nodded, mentally preparing her answer. It shouldn’t have happened; she didn’t know what they’d been thinking; it couldn’t ever happen again. “If the truce still stands, I’d like to propose we hold fire on any discussions about the future of the company until later in the year.”

She stared at him, trying to catch up. Truce. He’d suggested that before he’d kissed her. Or before she’d kissed him—she still couldn’t quite work that one out.

The company—he was talking about R&L. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. But apparently he’d meant continuing the argument they’d been having before he’d kissed her. So what, they were just going to pretend it hadn’t happened? She bit the inside of her lip. OK, fine. She could do that. Maybe it was better, actually. No awkward conversations.

He was still looking at her, his dark gaze assessing her expression as he waited for a response.

“Right,” she managed. She couldn’t think of much else to say.

“OK. Great. And look, I’m sorry about—”

“Sorry about that,” Mike boomed from behind Theo. He came up between Lexie and Theo, as Lexie bent to pick up her rucksack just for something to do. Had Theo been about to talk about the kiss? I’m sorry. OK, well, that was good, wasn’t it? It meant he knew it was a mistake, meant they could just put it behind them.

Mike was smiling at Lexie. “Well, I suppose this is the last we’ll see of you for a while, Lexie? Off back to the Alps, I presume? I’d love a bit of skiing time right now, but far too much to do.” It was said in that boasting way that she’d heard so often—people making a point that their lives were busier and more important than hers, people who assumed she was frivolous, assumed that the way they’d decided to live their lives, saddled with responsibility, was somehow inherently better than hers.

Maybe it was because she was annoyed at that. Maybe it was because the weekend had made her realize she couldn’t just ignore the fact that she did have a responsibility now, like it or not. Or maybe it was because she didn’t want Theo to be able to use the fact that she’d been away the whole time at the end of the fiscal year, somehow tricking her out of her share when the company sold. It was probably a mix of all those things but the words were out before she could think better of them.

“Actually, I think you’ll be seeing more of me.” She directed the words to Mike but felt Theo’s gaze on the side of her face. She angled her head toward him, very deliberately. Everything between them felt like a challenge, she was learning, and while she might have lost last night, she met his gaze directly now. “I’ve decided I want to be more involved after all. Properly fulfill my side of the contract.”

“Well,” Mike said, clearing his throat and rocking back on his heels, eyebrows sky-high. “Well, I mean, that’s—”

“That’s fine.” Theo was totally calm. He still hadn’t broken eye contact, and despite herself, something in the base of her stomach fizzled. Don’t be stupid, Lexie.

“So I’ll just tie some things up, and I’ll be back in the UK in a week or so.” She matched his calm tone, no big deal, but her palms were already starting to prick with sweat. What was she doing? She’d have to leave the Alps, leave her friends. But really, it would only be two months until she was done anyway; this was just speeding it up a little. She’d broken eye contact with Theo as her thoughts went haywire, and she took a breath to calm herself.

“That’s fine,” Theo said again, while Mike tugged at his collar.

“It is?” She’d expected more of a protest. More You don’t care about the company so why should you be involved?

“Yes. I’m away on annual leave for a few weeks then anyway, so you’ll have time to settle in. And if you’re still there when I get back, we can figure it out then.”

Ah. So that was it. He thought she’d have bolted by the time he was back from holiday—thought he wouldn’t have to deal with her. “I’ll still be there,” she insisted, stubbornness setting in.

“OK.” He gave her half a smile. “See you then.”

“Well,” Mike said, stopping Lexie from reacting to the bland OK. “What a pronouncement! Looks like we’ll be seeing more of you, in this case.” He reached out to shake her hand—a clear dismissal. Which was for the best, actually, because she had a plane to catch, and she wanted to be alone to think through what the hell she’d just done.

She didn’t know whether to shake Theo’s hand. After last night, touching seemed like a bad idea. So instead she nodded politely.

“Yeah. You’ll see me then.”

It was in the taxi on the way to the airport that she saw she had an email from Ange, sent this morning. She opened it up. It was a ticket back to the UK from Austria. No explanation, only three words in the subject line.

Just in case.

Chapter Thirteen

“So he’s back in a week?” Fran asked as she and Lexie took a seat by the window of the independent coffee shop that Fran deemed the best in Bath. Mainly, as far as Lexie could gather, because of the fact that they often had little pieces of cake to sample for free alongside your coffee—and today’s white chocolate brownie had been good enough to tempt Lexie into buying a whole one.

“Yes. A week.” And the thought made Lexie’s stomach squirm uncomfortably. She’d moved back to the UK two weeks ago, after wrapping everything up in Austria—but Theo hadn’t been back in the office yet.