Billionaires Dollar Series

And we do.

By the time I join Skye for our dog-sled excursion, my legs feel like they’re shaking with every step. The comfortable tiredness of a day of exercise, my skin tingly with the nip in the air.

Skye is bundled up in a giant puffy coat when I arrive. “They have puppies in the kennel,” she tells me in an aside. “Think we can visit them afterwards?”

“We absolutely should.” I wince as I climb into the sled. I’d fallen once, to my massive embarrassment, but Nick hadn’t commented on it-just offered me his hand to get up. I’d been banking too hard. A rookie mistake, really.

Beneath his ski mask, I hadn’t been able to see his eyes at all. But I’d raced him to the bottom not once, not twice, but three separate times, the last one on a black slope. He was a damn good skier, but I’d kept his pace, matching him stroke for stroke.

Skye and I return to the chalet with more than enough time before the guys get back. The shower is practically life-restoring. Warm water over my muscles, the smell of magnolia from my shampoo, and I’m a new woman when I emerge. Looking at myself in the mirror, I take my time as I put on body lotion.

The look on Nick’s face as his gaze swept me head to toe in my bikini comes to mind. It makes my stomach tighten. I’d seen him in his swimming trunks, too, but I’d been too surprised to really see anything before he got into the tub.

Refusing to think about why I’m doing it, I slip into the best underwear I’d brought with me. A nude bra edged with lace, the cups slanted and flattering. A pair of matching seamless panties cut high on the sides.

Both of them are of my own design-a part of the new brand I’m working on, the one nobody will know is mine until I’m sure it’s a success. Finally, I pull on a silk skirt and a cashmere sweater, sticking my feet in a pair of slippers.

By the time I make it back to the kitchen, the staff are already starting to set the table and prepare for dinner. I give them an excusing smile. “Is it all right if I bake something for dessert? I just need a small, tiny corner of the kitchen island.”

I’m given ample space, though all I really need is a bowl and whisk. Chatting to Kristen, the hired chef, I start making the same brownie recipe that Mom always made when we were skiing. She’d sent it to me before this trip in exchange. Well, she’d tried to-the picture she snapped was blurry, but I could just about make out the measurements.

The kitchen smells amazing by the time they’re in the oven. I’m leaning against the counter, listening to Kristen tell me stories about other chalets she’s worked at in Whistler, when the front door opens.

Cole and Nick burst into the house like a tornado. Snow drips from their jackets, both of them grinning from ear to ear. It’s the kind of smile I’ve never seen on Nick before.

“That last fucking slope, man… you had me.” Cole sits down on one of the low benches and starts tugging at his snow boots. Opposite him, Nick does the same, leaning against a wall.

“Only because of the final turn. One more of those and you’d have won.” Nick unzips his jacket and it falls to the ground behind him. The black polo-neck he’s wearing underneath looks painted on him, tight against his wide chest and the curves of his shoulders.

My brother finally gets off his own jacket. “Too many almosts for my taste. Next time I’ll have you.”

“Well, you’re welcome to try.”

Cole stretches, his eyes finding mine. “Something smells amazing. Are you making brownies, Blair?”

“Yes.” My eyes are locked on Nick, though. The smile he’d worn just prior is gone now.

Cole stops beside me to press a quick kiss to my cheek. “Good thinking. Don’t forget to send Mom a picture of them later.”

The suggestion would have made me smile, if I hadn’t been drowning in the darkness of Nick’s gaze. Am I the only one who’s caught in this tension? Around me, the staff keep preparing dinner as if nothing is happening, my brother whistling as he disappears deeper into the house to find a shower of his own.

“Congratulations on your victory,” I tell Nick.

“Thank you,” he says quietly. “Enjoyed your time with the dogs?”

“Immensely.”

“Good.” And then his lip curls, just slightly. “Look at us being civil.”

“I wonder how long it’ll last,” I say.

His gaze drops to my hands, knotted in front of me on the kitchen counter. We’d been good today, when all we had to do was ski. When the fire between us could be channeled into harmless competition.

I open my mouth to say just that when the alarm goes off. My brownies are done. I tear my gaze from his to take them out, forcing Ken, the kitchen assistant, to move. He gives me a lopsided smile when I apologize. “Let me taste one of those and all is forgiven,” he says.

Behind me, Nick heads to his room, taking my chance to offer a nice comment with him. Watching the perfect brown squares of chocolate goodness in front of me, I barely register the smell.

“Are you sure no one else wants hot cocoa?” Skye asks hopefully. She’s standing by the kitchen counter with a mug in her hands. Beside me, Cole is sitting with his whiskey, and in the couch opposite, Nick with his brandy.

I raise my glass of white wine. “I’m sorry, but I’m good.”

“Seven more months of being the odd one out,” she declares. “A small price to pay for an eternity of happiness, I suppose.”

Cole snorts. “Remember to remind him of that when he’s throwing temper tantrums as a teenager. ‘You were supposed to be our eternity of happiness!'”

“But, you know, no pressure,” I add.

Skye laughs. “We’re screwing up this parenting thing already, and we’re not even parents yet!”

“So we’ve nowhere to go but up,” Cole says. “Just the way I like it.”

From the couch opposite ours, Nick swirls his brandy in his glass. He’d been quiet most of the dinner, his attention most often on the falling snow outside of the giant windows. Now, his gaze seems locked on the roaring fire.

The question hovers on the tip of my tongue. What are you thinking about? Anyone else, I would have simply asked. Anyone else, and I would have given them a smile and a teasing joke. But he would never welcome it and I can’t bring myself to ask it.

“What time is the helicopter ride tomorrow?”

“We leave here at nine,” Cole says. “You’re both joining, right?”

“Absolutely,” I say. The tour he’s booked is to a nearby glacier. The helicopter will land in the remote wilderness, a guide walking us along the ever-evolving landscape of ice and snow. Frozen slides, miles-deep crevices and deep-blue ice caves.

Nick nods too. “I’ll be there.”

It’s not long before Cole and Skye decide to retire for the evening. We’ll play charades tomorrow, Skye promises me, grabbing one last brownie.

“For the road,” she tells me. “It’s a big house, you know. I might get hungry on the way.”

Nick doesn’t move, and caught in indecision, I stay where I am, seated on one of the large couches with my legs folded up beneath me. The only sound in the living room is the crackling from the fireplace.

I make a decision. Maybe it’s a stupid one, but I’m drawn in by the remoteness of his gaze, by the ridiculous confidence his ogling yesterday has given me.

I get up to fetch the deck of cards from the dresser nearby. Nick watches me as I put it resolutely on the table between us. “I think you owe me a round of poker.”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

Nick’s eyes slide from the cards to mine. There’s something burning in them, and I don’t know if it’s irritation or excitement or a deliciously heady mix of the two.

“You truly haven’t forgotten that.”

“Of course I haven’t.”