Page 78 of Counting Down To You

I close my eyes and moan.

“Look at me, Ali.” It’s a murmur, his breath caressing my ear. I open my eyes, find his gaze waiting for me. He kisses me one more time, hard, as his thumb brings me closer to the edge. Then he drives me into a wave so heavy and dark there’s nothing else. Nothing else but him.

Chapter

24

I wake while Leo is still asleep, his arm flung over my side of the bed, head turned away from me on the pillow. I tiptoe to the bathroom and back again, and still he doesn’t stir. I dress as quietly as I can. It’s early, barely light outside, and, from what I can tell, the rest of the chalet is still sleeping so I open the doors to the balcony rather than going downstairs, not wanting to wake anyone.

We must be facing a different direction than at the hotel, because from here you can see the sunrise over the mountain peaks. A bright ball of yellow and orange, lighting up the white and gray. I watch as everything around me wakes up, the snow sparkling and bright, the shadows over the pine trees lifting. It’s cold, and my coat is downstairs, but I almost don’t notice it, watching the colors dance on the horizon.

“Hey.”

I look behind me to see Leo there, jeans on, doing up his shirt. I smile. “Hey.”

He comes to sit next to me on the spare chair, looking out at the sunrise too. He’s quiet. I really hope it isn’t because he regrets last night.

“So Betty and Louisa need to leave in about an hour or so,” he says. I nod. I suppose talking about work is practical, even if a bit disappointing.

Then he reaches out, links our fingers together. “Later, though,” he murmurs, his thumb stroking over the back of my hand, “can I come round?”

Relief slides through me as I grin. “I think that would be okay, yes.”

Live in the moment, Ali, I remind myself. This can’t go anywhere, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it while it lasts.

I glance at the top of his shirt, which is still unbuttoned. I can see the top of a faint white line. I trail a finger over it with my free hand. Like last night, his body tenses as I do. “How did you get it?” I ask, dropping my hand.

He hesitates. But before he can answer, there is the sound of something clattering downstairs. Someone attempting to help themselves in the kitchen, maybe. Duty calls.

“I’ll tell you later, I promise,” he says, as we both stand. “It’s a story I want to do justice.”

—

I ended up getting the lifts back with just Adrian, who had some work to do, while the other three went back via the slopes with Leo. I’m sitting on my sofa, composing a text to Lucie to let her know how the whole thing went, when Leo knocks, earlier than I was expecting.

I smile as I open it. “Hi. Betty and Louisa get off okay?”

“Hi.” He moves into my cabin, catching my waist with his hands. “Yep, and I don’t care about them right now.” He kisses me in a way that makes my head spin. I’m running my hands down his back, already trying to tug his shirt free, when he catches my wrists to stop me, pressing his forehead to mine.

“As much fun as this is—or would be—I didn’t come round just for this.”

I pull back to look at him. “No?”

“No. You’ve got the rest of the day off, right?”

“As my manager, I guess you already know.”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “Want to do something?”

I tilt my head. “What did you have in mind?”

“Lunch?”

“Lunch?”

He laughs at my incredulous tone. “You know, food. Eating. Conversation.”

“Hmmm. Sounds a bit like a date.”