“Not so I’ve ever noticed,” Nick replied dryly.
Trish spoke up. “We’re going for the breakfast buffet. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?”
Ashley shrugged. “I don’t care. I just want to get outside for some serious skiing.”
Nick stood, pulling his jacket off the back of his chair. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
She rolled her eyes. “Look, you don’t have to be so diligent in your duties, you know. Nothing’s going to happen to me between here and the ski area.”
“You’re right about that.” He slid his arms into his jacket, pulled his cap down around his ears and removed his sun shades from his pocket. “Let’s go.”
“Hey, wait for me,” Trish said, hurriedly finishing her coffee. “I’ll come back to change clothes after breakfast.”
Ron stood and shrugged into his coat. “breakfast sounds good to me, too. Guess I’ll join you.”
“Oh, great,” Ashley said. “Am I going to walk in with each of you holding one of my hands?”
Nick looked at Ron. “Now there’s a thought. Maybe we should—”
“Don’t even think about it!” she retorted, and stormed out the front door. Trish went to get her coat.
Ron followed Nick down the front steps of the chalet. “I think you enjoy setting her off, don’t you?”
Nick shook his head. “Not particularly. I’m just not going to play her little games. She’s acting like a spoiled brat. If she wants to get her nose out of joint every time I do my job, then she’s going to have a really silly-looking face. In the meantime, I will do my job, with or without her cooperation.”
Ashley strode along the paved road that led to the lodge several feet ahead of them. Trish was content to walk along beside them, chattering about all kinds of things. Nick tuned her out.
Ron finally interrupted by asking, “Did you tell the others where we’re going?”
Trish tossed her head. “They’re all grown-ups. If they get hungry enough, they’ll figure out where the food is.”
Uh-oh, Nick thought. A little dissension in the ranks already. What a fun day this was shaping up to be.
As soon as they walked into the lodge, the savory scents of ham, bacon and hot syrup wafted toward them.
Once Ashley filled a plate, she headed for a table for two located in one of the corners, hoping that Trish was right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Nick was already moving toward a table nearby. She gave a silent sigh of relief.
She was going to have to get a grip on her emotions, that was all there was to it. She knew she was acting like an adolescent and there was no excuse for her behavior. What was it about the man that set her nerves to screaming whenever she was anywhere around him?
Her behavior wasn’t due to the fact that there were Secret-Service men with them. She actually enjoyed Ron and his quiet sense of humor. Somehow she had to get over her irrational dislike of Nick Logan. She just wished she knew how.
“What do you have against Nick?” Trish suddenly asked, sitting down across from her. “You’ve been on his case ever since we got here.”
Ashley rubbed her forehead with her fingers, feeling the hint of a headache looming. “I don’t know, Trish. I honestly don’t. He just rubs me the wrong way, that’s all.”
Trish grinned. After taking a big bite of her food and chewing it, she carefully swallowed before saying, “I really don’t think I’d care which way he rubbed me, as long as he was interested in trying.”
“Yeah, right. We both know you’re all talk and no action…so why the siren routine?”
Trish didn’t answer right away. Ashley continued to eat and was taken aback when Trish finally responded by saying, “I didn’t know Joe was coming on this trip to be with Erin.”
After a moment Ashley responded, “I think we all came to ski, Trish. That’s what this trip is about, isn’t it?”
Trish sighed. “I came because I thought if I was in a small enough group with him, Joe would finally notice me.”
Ashley studied her friend’s woebegone face. “Oh, Trish, I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. “I had no idea you felt that way.”
Trish sighed and continued eating. In a moment she said, “As long as Joe doesn’t know, I guess I’ll survive. You could have thrown me into a crocodile pit and I probably wouldn’t have noticed yesterday when Joe said he and Erin would share a room. I was totally freaked.”
“But would you have shared a room with him?”
“Are you crazy? Of course not! I’m not going to bed with some guy just because—” She stopped her tirade and shrugged her shoulders. “I just didn’t think this was going to be a trip about sex.”
“It isn’t. It’s about skiing.”
“For you, maybe.”
“For me, definitely. Do you think my dad would have agreed to let me come if he’d thought I’d be sharing a room with some guy?” She made a face, hoping to lighten Trish’s mood a little.
Trish chuckled. “He doesn’t have to worry about you, not with two chaperones following you everywhere you go.” She nibbled on a piece of toast before adding, “Wow. I just realized. That could really cramp your social life if you were seriously involved with someone.”
“Tell me about it. I’ll probably end up single for the rest of my life.”
Trish gave her a devilish grin. “Either that, or have an affair with one of your guardians.” She glanced over at the other table where Ron and Nick were eating. “If I were in your place, I would definitely be tempted.”
Ashley replied, “Ron’s just getting over a painful divorce. I don’t think he’s ready for another relationship anytime soon.”
“Not Ron, you idiot! Nick. I bet he could teach you all kinds of things.”
“The thing is, Trish, I think you’re supposed to like the guy before you decide to have an affair with him. At least that’s always been my take on the matter.”
“What’s not to like? Don’t you just adore his eyes? And the way he looks at you, as though he can read your very soul? Not to mention that body? Sometimes I have this urge to walk up and just stroke his backside in unabashed admiration, you know what I mean?”
Unfortunately Ashley had just taken a sip of coffee when Trish nonchalantly threw that suggestion at her. She almost choked when the liquid went down the wrong way at her gasp.
“Trish!” she finally was able to hiss, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Well, it’s the truth. I’m not really into body building and stuff like that, but I have to admit that I’ve wondered what that man would look like in the buff. I have a hunch he would be all burnished muscle and sinewy strength.” The expression she got on her face was embarrassingly dreamy.
“Could we change the subject now?” she asked, with more than a hint of annoyance.
“Sure.” Trish waved to someone and Ashley glanced around. Joe, Derek and Craig had just walked into the room. Trish jumped up. “I’ll go see what happened to Erin. See you later.”
Ashley took the opportunity to make her escape. She gave a brief wave to the others before she hurried toward the door. She would return to the chalet long enough to gather her skis and poles before she headed up the mountain.
Just as she reached out to push on the door, a masculine arm reached past her shoulder, swinging it open for her. She didn’t have to look around to know that Nick Logan had joined her.
This was just great. She wouldn’t be able to look at him without thinking of Trish’s ridiculous comments. She glanced over her shoulder at him and forced herself to smile.
“Thank you.”
His expression didn’t change. Since he’d placed his sunglasses over his eyes, she couldn’t visually gauge his reaction to her politeness, but his answer came readily enough. “Don’t waste your breath, Ms. Sullivan. No one else is around to hear it.”
It was that very trait that she found so offensive. She was trying to be nice, for heaven’s sake. His response was to be sarcastic.
She decided to retreat into silence.
Even that wasn’t good enough.
“Yeah, that’s much better,” he drawled, matching his steps to hers. “I’m familiar with your silent sulks.”
She would not dignify his sniping with a reply. Not even one.
They gathered their equipment and returned to the ski area.
There were eager skiers everywhere this morning. Clouds were beginning to form just above the mountains to the northwest of them. From the looks of things, it could be snowing by noon. If there was a storm coming, she wanted to be off the slopes before it hit.
“Hey, guys, wait up.”
Derek and Craig hurried toward them, carrying their equipment. “What’s the hurry, Ashley?” Craig asked. “Couldn’t you have waited another few minutes for the rest of us? I thought this was a group experience.”
She could feel her face heating up. “I’m sorry, Craig. I guess I wasn’t thinking.” She glanced toward the darkening sky. “I didn’t want to miss out on skiing today, and those clouds are certainly beginning to look threatening.”
Nick nudged her. “Here comes our ride,” he said, suddenly lifting her onto the seat and swinging around to sit on the other side of the bar. Ashley was so startled that she almost lost her poles. She looked back and saw Derek and Craig putting on their skis.
“That was rude,” she muttered. “We could have waited for them.”
“Yes, we could have. However, if you’re serious about getting some ski time in today, we needed to get moving. This may be our only chance before the storm hits.”
She frowned. “Not necessarily. I’ve skied when it was snowing. There’s no reason to—”
“Do you enjoy arguing, or is it just with me? You find fault with everything I say.”
“I just find you unnecessarily rude, that’s all. This is supposed to be a fun trip, but you’ve certainly managed to take all the fun out of it…for all of us!”
A burst of swirling snow blew past them, and she ducked her head to get away from the stinging spray.
“I had no idea I had enough power to ruin six people’s vacation time. Damn, but I’m good.”
When she looked at him he was staring ahead of them, watching their progress up the mountain. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
He still didn’t look at her. “I should hope not. I’m the guy with no sense of humor.”
Ashley had never felt so much animosity toward another person in all her life. If she’d thought she could do it, she would have shoved him off the lift right then and there.
They reached the top of the lift. She got herself ready and eased off, moving through the snow. Only then did she realize that the gusts of snow-laden air blowing around her were not recirculating snow that had already fallen. This was new stuff coming down, growing thicker by the moment.
“Let’s go,” Nick said brusquely.
“I’m waiting for Derek and Craig. They’ll be here shortly.”
“Ashley—”
She looked away from him. “If you’re nervous about the weather, go ahead. I’ll meet you at the lodge.” When he didn’t say anything, she casually turned her head and looked at him. She was a little alarmed by how fast the snow was falling. He was covered by snow and she was already having a little trouble seeing him. His expression was blurred. She adjusted her goggles and looked around.
There they were! Craig and Derek joined them. “Joe had the right idea. He said he was going to wait to see what this weather was going to do. I don’t like this at all,” Derek said with more than a hint of uneasiness.
Craig shoved forward. “Last one down the hill pays for lunch,” he hollered over his shoulder.
Derek was quick to follow.
“Ready anytime you are, Ms. Sullivan,” Nick said quietly.
She pushed away, determined to leave him. The problem with that was the fact that he was darned near a pro on skis. She took the most direct route down, swerving suddenly to miss a slower skier, and in advertently left the trail she’d been following. With a groan of frustration, she forced herself to slow down while she tried to figure out a way to get back on their chosen run.
She finally came to a complete halt and looked around. None of the men were in sight.
Not even her shadow.
“Nick?” she called, looking around.
She could see others skiing, but no one that looked like the three she had been with. She decided to continue down, hoping to cross another path soon.
Nick would probably think she’d done this just to annoy him. She was now in a wooded area where she moved very carefully. She didn’t like being lost. The ski trail had been clearly marked; here there was nothing she could use as a guide down the mountain. Ashley shivered.
The snow continued to come down in thick flurries.
This was close to a whiteout, she thought a few minutes later. She couldn’t see anything in front of her. It was much too dangerous to continue to move with any speed in this kind of weather.
She didn’t know how far she’d gone when she finally spotted one of the large midmountain restaurants that were scattered through out the area for weary skiers. She managed to reach the side of the building, sighing with relief to be out of the heavily falling snow.
It was scarcely ten o’clock in the morning. There was no reason to panic. She’d just wait here for a brief time to get her breath back, maybe get something hot to drink and warm up a little before she continued downhill.
Chapter 5
By the time Nick reached the end of the run, he was ready to wring Ashley’s neck. He was really tired of her attitude and her silly games. Did she think she was going to win some points by disappearing on him? He looked around, the thick flakes obscuring his vision, hoping to see Ashley’s red parka somewhere nearby. Once he found her, he intended to give her a lecture she wouldn’t forget.
Perhaps she wasn’t aware of it, but he—and Ron—had the authority to end this little vacation of hers if, in their opinion, they were unable to adequately protect her.
He spotted Derek removing his skis, but there was no sign of Ashley.
He made his way over to him. “Where’s Ashley?”
Derek stopped unfastening his skis and looked up at Nick in surprise. “I haven’t seen her. I thought she was with you.”
Nick scanned the area. There were several red parkas, but none of them belonged to Ashley. He began to feel uneasy. At the rate the snow was falling, it was hard to tell the color of anything.
He muttered an unprintable word and turned away.
“Where are you going?” Derek called.
“To find Ashley.”
“Don’t worry about her. She was born on a pair of skis. She probably got off course a little. It’s coming down like a son of a—”
“I don’t need a weather report,” Nick growled to himself, moving toward the lifts again.
What really alarmed him was how she had managed to get away from him. One minute she was there just ahead of him, the next minute there’d been no sign of her. Was it intentional? Was she in danger? He didn’t know why he bothered to question her disappearance. Of course it was intentional.
He turned and watched as more skiers came down the mountain. One of them looked familiar. He moved toward the snow-covered figure who was moving very slowly in his direction. As he drew closer, he recognized Craig.
“Have you seen Ashley?” Nick asked him.
Craig shook his head. “No. I took a spill up there. By the time I could get started again, I’d lost track of Everybody.” He looked around. “You mean she isn’t down here?”
“Derek hasn’t seen her. She was ahead of me, but I lost sight of her about halfway down.”
Craig shrugged. “Yeah, well, I was ahead of all of you, for what that’s worth. If I hadn’t been showing off, I would have been the first one down.” He rubbed his shoulder. “You don’t suppose she fell, do you?”
“I have no way of knowing. I�
�m going back to look for her.”
“You want me to come with you?”
Nick shook his head. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.”
Craig looked relieved. “I don’t envy you going up there in all of this. What a mess.”
Nicked waved as he shoved off for the lift. If she was hurt somewhere up there, he needed every minute he had to try to find her. All the while he rode up the mountainside he watched for her red parka. There were so many things that could happen, even to an experienced skier. He didn’t want to think about some of the possible problems she may have encountered.
By the time he reached the top, the wind and snow had caused the visibility to be measured in inches rather than feet. Nick was aware of the adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream.
His first full day in charge of her and he’d managed to misplace his charge. How could he have allowed this to happen?
He started down the same run they’d chosen earlier, watching for tracks leaving the marked area, but of course that was a waste of time with the amount of snow that had already fallen. There was no sign of her anywhere.
By the time he reached the bottom of the run, he was ready to call in reinforcements.
“Hey, Nick, she’s okay!”
Craig waved at him from one of the wind-protected areas. Nick skied over to him. “Have you seen her?”
“No. But I’ve been asking people coming down if they had spotted her. One of the guys I just talked with said a young woman matching her description had been at one of the restaurants having coffee. He said he’d chatted with her while they were in line. She told him she’d gotten separated from her party. He said she would probably be down soon.”
Nick hadn’t taken his eyes off the trails during their conversation, wondering which way she would be coming down. It was then that he saw a bright red dot swooping down in an almost vertical drop on one of the more difficult runs.
Craig pointed. “Look! I bet that’s her! Didn’t I tell you she’d be down soon? Just look at her go.”
Oh, he was looking, all right. Of all the dangerously foolhardy stunts he’d ever seen, she was definitely pulling one now. Did she have any idea how fast she was going? And if anyone got in her way… He didn’t want to think about it.
The President's Daughter Page 5
