by Jo Grafford
She wasn’t surprised when he ended up being impossible to reach. Then again, that was probably more her fault than his. She lingered in the restaurant all afternoon with Dash and his crew and only returned to her suite long enough to dress for their date at the nightclub.
Chapter 6: Running Interference
Jovie
For the next several days, Christian made himself scarce while Jovie spent as much time as possible running through her paces on the new ski slopes. Dash joined her every chance he could, between the many tasks on his schedule. He was hard at work preparing the newly constructed areas of his island for their grand opening on Christmas Eve.
Despite his many responsibilities, however, he still managed to find time to construct her a training hill. He was adamant about the need for her to practice various jumping techniques before putting her on one of his competition-sized ramps. As he’d warned, he took jumping very seriously. So seriously that he hired an entire commercial construction crew with cranes and backhoes that had to be transported to the island on a barge. He had them gradually build up her practice hill day-by-day to keep pace with her progress.
“My boyfriend is building me a ski jumping hill,” she mused dreamily to Christian during their next business meeting. “A whole freaking hill.” They were perched on bar stools in the kitchenette of her penthouse. Her cheek was propped on her hand, and she was barely listening to him drone his way through her next season’s competition schedule.
At her declaration, he slammed his laptop closed. “I can’t do this anymore, Jovie.” He leaned his elbows on the bar and rubbed his eyes with both hands.
She glared at him. “Define this.” She was desperately weary of his moping and complaining.
“Mon Dieu, Jovie!” His head came out of his hands, and she was shocked to find his eyes red-rimmed. “I think it’s safe to say I’ve cared for you a lot longer than your billionaire boyfriend. A whole lot longer. We’ve been through thick and thin, you and I. Training, competitions, injuries, rehabilitation, more training, more competitions, and World Cup podiums. So, pardon me, if I find it hard to stomach the way that…that playboy has flown into your life dripping money and buying his way into your affections.”
For a moment, all she could do was gape at his outburst.
“That’s wildly unfair of you, Christian. And I think way down deep, you know it is.” She straightened in her seat and sucked in a bracing breath. This conversation had been a long time coming. In some ways, it was a relief to finally get things out in the open between them. “Although I respect your feelings and the sentiments driving them, the truth is I met Dash before I met you.”
“When?” he demanded.
“At a charity ball on my eighteenth birthday.” She took her lower lip between her teeth. “We’d both lost our mothers. We shared a fanatical love of skiing. We had common ground. We connected. It happens.”
“Oh, really?” His voice rose in agitation. “Then you spent the next five years apart, laid eyes on each other the day we arrived on Dasher Island, and whatever little spark you experienced all those years ago was instantly rekindled? Please assure me you hear how crazy that sounds!”
“When you put it that way, it does.” Her chin came up. “But that’s not exactly how it went down. We were in contact with each other. Quite a bit, actually.”
“How?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I was with you the whole time, remember? You almost never date anyone. I was actually starting to hope it was because you might have something more than professional feelings towards me. There was no one else, Jovie. I would have known.”
She stared at him in dismay, wanting to tell him more but feeling hesitant to do so. She’d promised the Phantom she’d keep his secrets after he unveiled himself to her.
“There was absolutely no one,” he repeated desperately.
“That’s not true, Christian.” He looked so crushed that it nearly broke her heart to continue. “There was someone else.” Someone vying for her attentions the entire time. “I’m sorry you didn’t see it coming. So little gets past you.”
“Oh, no!” he groaned, slapping his forehead. “Not him. Please say it isn’t him, Jovie.” He paled. “He’s the only one I can think of.”
Seeing in his eyes that he’d guessed the truth, she nodded sadly.
“Dasher Holliday is the Phantom, isn’t he?” He gripped his hair with both hands, looking ready to tear it out by the roots. “I’ve been so blind. That means Blaine Westover is The Bullhorn, which explains why I thought he looked so familiar when we met.” He sounded close to weeping. “I never stood a chance with you, did I?”
She reached across the bar for his hands, but he shrank away from her. “You were right about one thing, Christian. We make a great team.”
“Made,” he corrected sadly. “I think one of the reasons I worked so hard for you and served you so well was because I was driven by love.”
“Don’t, Christian. Please?” There was no point in putting them both through this kind of heartache. “We’re both professionals here. Let’s keep it that way.”
“It’s too late. Don’t you see?” His mouth twisted. “What I feel for you is so far beyond the bounds of professionalism that the only thing left for me to do is…let you go.”
No! No, no, no, no, no! “It’s my fault.” She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to kick herself. Hard. “I saw the way things were going between us. I should have said something sooner. I shouldn’t have let things go this far.”
“You couldn’t have stopped me,” he assured brokenly. “The heart wants what the heart wants. That is why I’m turning in my resignation.” He held up a hand when she tried to speak. “You have nothing to worry about other than finding my replacement. I’ll keep the Phantom’s secret and every one of yours, my friend.”
“Christian!” she gasped. You can’t just leave me! She would be lost without him.
“I’ll turn over all my notes and records to your next business manager, and I’ll make sure he or she is properly trained.”
Okay, maybe not completely lost if he was willing to provide such a kindhearted and thorough transition…but, oh, how she was going to miss him! By now, tears were streaming down her face. “Thank you.” Her voice shook. “Thank you for everything, Christian.” I’ll never forget you. Never!
“You’re welcome, cheri. We had a nice run together, and you’ll fly much, much farther without me. I see that now.”
She shook her head in protest, not sure she believed him.
There were tears in his eyes, too, as he made his way to the elevator. “Miss me a little, will you?”
Then he was gone.
* * *
Jovie wept the entire night and rose with purple bruises beneath her eyes.
To his credit, Dash didn’t ask any questions when she met him on the slopes the next morning. He drew her tenderly into his arms. “He’s on one of my jets, babe. I’ll personally ensure he makes it home safely.”
She nodded against his shoulder and wept some more. Christian Laurent’s exit from her life and career was a tremendous loss but one she should have seen coming. She blamed herself more than a little for how things had ended between them.
Once her tears were spent, Dash tugged her gently towards his office at the ski school. “How about a coffee break?”
She followed him, feeling depressed, but brightened at the sight of his enormous office. Like the rest of the premium indoor real estate on his island, the room was punctuated by a wall of glass that overlooked the snow-drenched scapes of Dasher Island.
When she tried to order a chocolate latte, he vetoed her loudly and ordered a massive sampler of coffees from around the world. “I am not going to watch my woman choke down store franchise coffee,” he declared. “No way. Not on my watch.”
“Coffee snob!” she accused, shrugging out of her black and red Moncler-Grenoble ski jacket.
The way he was lounged back in his enormous black leather offi
ce chair made her think of a king on his throne. “I’ve been called worse.” He appreciatively drank in the sight of her black fitted ski sweater. “Don’t knock ‘em before you try ‘em, babe.” He proceeded to pass around a dozen or more samples of what he insisted were the finest coffees on the planet. There was one called Hacienda Le Esmeralda as well as Saint Helena Coffee. Then there was Bull’s favorite flavor, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, as well as Raj’s top choice, an exotic sounding brand called Fazenda Santa Ines.
The more caffeine Jovie consumed, the more she felt like her normal self.
“I saved the best for last,” Dash finally announced. “Black Ivory.”
Right. Ugh! A girlish giggle escaped her as she recalled Bull’s warning about her boyfriend’s favorite coffee beans that weren’t exactly made from beans. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, but I can’t. I just can’t.”
He treated her to a mock glare. “Sounds like Bull has gotten his hooks into you.”
She shook her head fiercely, still snickering. “Yep. He totally spilled the beans on this topic. Pun intended.”
He made a point of taking a lengthy and satisfying swig from his oversized mug of Black Ivory. Then he spread his arms. “Come to papa.”
“Gross!” She feigned a shiver. “The fact that I’m even considering kissing you after you consumed something made from elephant excrement should prove how much I love you.”
He nearly dropped his coffee mug. “Jovie!” he exclaimed at a whisper.
Oh, no! The moment the declaration left her lips, she wished she could recall it. “I’m sorry, Dash. I know it’s too soon. I’m just overwrought. It’s been a long, horrible day. I didn’t mean…” She stopped, not knowing what else to say. The damage was done. She’d dropped the L word on him and ruined everything.
He briefly closed his eyes. “Jovie, you shouldn’t tell a guy you love him in one breath and say you’re sorry in the next.” He opened his eyes. “Did you even mean it?”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” She shook a threatening finger at him and hitched a hip atop the edge of his glass and chrome desk, trying to ignore the heat of mortification blasting her cheeks. “You do not get to go fishing before you have any skin in the game. I said something shocking about my feelings. The least you can do is to be honest with me in return. I’m a big girl, Dash. I can handle it.”
“Can you?” He came out of his chair and rounded his desk. “Because it sounds to me like you’re not all that sure what I’m going to say next, and that surprises me. Come on, babe.” He spread his hands wide. “I just bared my soul and shared my favorite coffee with you.” He made a face and took her in his arms. “Or tried to.” He lowered his mouth over hers.
“Huh-uh.” She pressed two fingers to his lips. “You seriously can’t expect me to kiss you after what you just drank.” She glanced wildly around his enormous office. “Surely you have a powder room around here somewhere.”
“I do.” His dark eyes laughed down at her.
“And a toothbrush.”
“One or two.”
She lightly shoved at his chest. “I’ll be waiting right here.”
He leaned in to nuzzle her cheek. “Ah, come on. Where’s your sense of adventure? You’re not going to let a little elephant brew scare you away from the man who’s madly in love with you, are you?”
She blinked at him, feeling her eyes grow damp. “That’s not funny, Dash.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
She gripped his shoulders and rocked back in his arms to get a better look at his expression. “When did this happen?” she begged, desperate to understand.
“My best guess?” He drew her closer and brushed his lips against her temple. “Five years ago at a charity ball.”
Oh-h-h-h. She melted into his embrace. “I love you, too, Dash. So crazy much.” So much that it made her dizzy.
“I know you do, doll. And while we’re jumping the gun on a few things here, how do you feel about meeting my family?”
“I’d love to.” She was sort of dying to. Ever since Christian had filled her ears with so much tawdry gossip about the reindeer brothers, she was anxious to meet them all and prove him wrong.
“Good. Then it’s settled. I’ll bring you with me to Thanksgiving dinner.”
It was only three days away.
“My father will be there and maybe one or two of my brothers. I never know how many will show up until the day of. Keeps our chefs’ lives interesting.”
* * *
Jovie called it an early day after their coffee break. She retired to her suite, slept the rest of the day and straight through the night, then returned to her practice jump hill at the crack of dawn the next day. To her surprise, Dash was absent, but she had two other companions present — Laurene Garland and Mara Holliday.
They were dressed in ridiculously conspicuous outfits that practically screamed for attention. Laurene’s was a hot pink ensemble; and Mara’s was solid black, as formfitting as if it had been painted on. It set off her mature curves to perfection. She looked truly stunning for her age. They both did.
They positioned themselves behind the fenced off area next to the out-run at the base of her jumping hill. For the next hour, they made a complete nuisance of themselves by filing the air with jarring cheers at the most importune times.
Common sense told Jovie to end her practice and come back when she could be more assured of having the jumping hill to herself. Try as she might, she wasn’t experienced enough to block out everything but the hill.
It’s just you and the hill, Dash had instructed. It has to be. And until it is, you’re not ready.
After an hour of fragmented concentration and too many failed jumps to count, she was nearly ready to give up. She closed her eyes, slowly filled her lungs with air, and decided to give it one last try.
It’s just me and the hill. She replayed the four parts of the jumping sequence in her head, forcing herself to visualize each one: There was the race down the initial incline, which allowed for her acceleration towards the ramp. It was followed by the jump itself, then the V-shaped position her skis needed to be in while she sailed through the air. Taking such an aerodynamic stance would maximize her distance. Lastly, was the landing. One ski needed to be slightly in front of the other, knees half-bent for support. Failure to land properly would result in points being deducted for style during an actual competition.
I can do it. Gritting her teeth with determination, Jovie climbed back on the ski lift and made her way once more to the top of the mountain. I can do this. It’s just me and the hill.
She adjusted her goggles and stared down the incline with her eyes slightly out of focus. That way she didn’t have to clearly see and therefore think about her two hecklers. It’s just me and the hill. She bent into a crouch and pushed off.
The wind soared past as she picked up speed. She reveled in the freedom of flying down the open slope. Since it was a training jump hill, it was clear of all debris. There were no trees to weave around, no boulders to circumvent.
She cruised her way towards the ramp and used the final slightly elevated piece of terra firma to push off with her skis. She wasn’t nearly skilled enough or confident enough to try any flips or other antics like her extreme skier boyfriend. She was content to take a more mundane, academic approach to the discipline, leaning into the jump with her body nearly parallel to the ground below, skis nearly touching at her heels and extending out into a perfect V.
She kept her legs bent and carefully touched down with her right foot in front of her left, flying like lightning though the out-run. Oh my goodness! I did it. I finally did it! Exultation coursed through her, mingling with the residual fumes of adrenaline.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shadow take shape and move in her direction. Oh for heaven’s sake! What now?
The two women in her out-run audience resumed their shrieks, but this time she managed to ignore them.
Which proved
to be a mistake.
An enormous ten-point caribou shot across her path, so close that one of his hooves clipped the front toe of her right ski. Jovie might’ve been able to correct her stance and maintain her position if it weren’t for her initial jolt of alarm.
Her skis twisted beneath her, and she went crashing into her lane so hard that the momentum dragged her a good many more yards through the snow.
She heard Dash’s voice frantically calling her name. Then the whole world went dark.
Chapter 7: Fall of the Heart
Jovie
Jovie awoke to a world of medicinal whiteness that did not in any way resemble the snowcapped mountains she loved so much. And pain. Lots of pain. Every muscle in her body hurt – every muscle she knew she had along with a few she didn’t realize existed until now.
“Where am I?” she demanded weakly, trying to sit up.
Strong hands propelled her forward and helped prop her against a pile of fluffy pillows. “You’ve been admitted to the hospital on Comet Island.” Dash’s fingers laced their way through hers. “Technically, it’s more of a glorified clinic.”
She opened her eyes and blinked several times. “How long was I out?”
“A couple of hours. Long enough to give me the scare of my life.” His voice was husky with emotion.
She waited a few heartbeats before asking her most burning question. “How bad is it this time?”
“This time, eh?” he growled. “Spoken like a true athlete.” He squeezed her fingers. “This time you were lucky. No broken bones, babe.”
She gave a huff of disbelief. “Only in this sport can no broken bones feel like you’ve been run over by a Hummer, backed up, and run over again.”
“Don’t I know.” He leaned over her hospital bed to kiss her tenderly on the lips.
“I know it doesn’t look like it right now, but I made the perfect jump, Dash. I wish you could have seen it. It was just me and the hill.”
