Endangered Hearts [Après-Ski 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Zara Chase

  “No!”

  Sabine rolled over to cuddle closer to Rick, wondering why he was trying to wake her when she had only just fallen asleep. His space was empty, the sheets cold. Her eyes flew open.

  “What’s happened?” she asked, bolting upright, dazed and disorientated.

  Rick smiled down at her and leaned in for a soft, open-mouthed kiss. He was fresh from the shower and dressed for work.

  “What time is it?” she asked, wondering why he was going to work in the middle of the night.

  “It’s seven in the morning.”

  “Seven! It can’t be. That means I slept for eight straight hours.”

  “Without moving a muscle.”

  “I can’t have. I never…I mean, sorry. Give me a minute.” Damn it, she had thought he’d wake her with his morning erection. She was absolutely sure he would have had one. He’d probably tried to interest her but it sounded as though she had found a cure for her insomnia. “I’ll jump in the shower and be right with you.”

  “No, you stay there. I brought you some tea,” he said, placing a steaming mug beside the bed. “Without wishing to sound stereotypical, I figured, being British, you’d probably prefer tea in the morning.” He sent her one of his lazy smiles. “I don’t even know what your beverage of choice is, but I look forward to learning all that stuff about you.”

  Sabine blinked, pushing her tousled hair off her face. ‘You do?”

  “Look, babe, I have to go and get the first lot of eagle-watchers organized. You stay here and sleep in a while. I’ll be back before you know it. Then I’ll spend the afternoon up the mountain with you, helping you with your shift. How does that sound?”

  Like heaven. “Don’t come back on my account. I can find my own way up there.”

  She could see he was confused by her response. He was being considerate, and she was pushing him away with her distant tone. Her problem was that she had a hard time dealing with kind. When someone was kind it was usually because they wanted something from her and as a general rule, it would be something she wasn’t ready to give.

  “No problem. I need to come back and talk with Leo anyway.”

  Ah, of course, Sabine thought. It wasn’t her he was really coming back for. The sex had been a real eye-opener, and she had slept through the night for the first time since forever, but she mustn’t lose focus. She was still the only person she could rely on.

  “Of course you do. I’m surprised you haven’t already,” she said, taking a sip of her tea and almost burning her tongue.

  “He’s not around. I guess he was in the dungeon until late.” Rick took the mug from her hand, placed it back on the nightstand and kissed her again, harder and longer this time. “Later,” he said. “If you want breakfast right away, there’s a buffet in our private lounge, but if you wait until I get back we can eat together.”

  “I’ll wait for you.”

  His eyes softened as he straightened up, whistled to Ruben and headed for the door. “Good,” he said.

  * * * *

  The first group of volunteers included the intense German guy, so they were predictably efficient and Rick left them to it, secure in the knowledge they knew what to do. He was anxious to get back to Sabine. It had felt natural and right to have her sleep the entire night with her head on his chest, and he felt ridiculously privileged that she trusted him enough to do so. He knew it had been a huge leap of faith for her. He had woken early, just like always, and watched her sleeping, her ridiculous pink hair spread over his chest, her features soft and relaxed in sleep. He had a raging hard-on, which he really wanted to put to good use, but couldn’t bring himself to wake her. She looked so adorably comfortable that waking her would have been selfish. When he did rouse her, she seemed grouchy, her old insecurities returning. Rick sighed. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that shit, he reminded himself.

  “Okay, guys,” Rick said to his volunteers. “You know what to do. There will be a lot of hikers up here today, and some of them will ask you questions about the eagles. Word of their eeries has gotten out and people are interested. Interested is good, and you might want to remind them there are donation boxes for the conservation cause in all the hotels, or they can donate online through the website. But if anyone asks too many questions, or excites your suspicions in any way, get on the radio. Not that I expect anyone to try and get up there in broad daylight, but if we have a description of the people you suspect, the guys on the cable car will clock them on the way down and we’ll be able to identify them. Any questions?”

  There were none and so Rick whistled to Ruben and headed for the cable car himself.

  “Got ’em set up, Rick?” Jordie, the manager of the cable system, asked.

  “Yep, I don’t expect any problems this morning. But get straight onto me if they call you.”

  “You know I will.”

  “Good man.” Rick slapped Jordie’s shoulder and stepped into the cable car with Ruben as it slid smoothly to a stop in front of him.

  He looked down on the familiar terrain as he was whisked back down the mountain. In winter these piestes were populated with skiers in bright colors doing their best to break their respective necks, all in the name of having a good time and earning bragging rights. In summer it was a whole different scene. As well as walkers, there were trail bikes, mountain bikes, pony treks, para-gliding, abseiling, rock climbing, and a hell of a lot else besides. Fun for all the family—at a price.

  None of those summer activities existed before Leo came to Nevella and persuaded the Padron family they were missing out on a big chunk of the summer market. Nowadays people wanted more than a campsite, an unheated swimming pool, and the beauty of nature. They expected to be entertained. The Padrons hadn’t believed Leo at first, and were slow to adopt his policies. Now they were raking it in, and the other valleys had scrambled to follow their example.

  Rick and Ruben disembarked from the cable car and made their way briskly toward Hadleigh’s. Leo should be around by now and, much as Rick would prefer to head straight for his rooms and wake Sabine up again, he really did need to talk to Leo first. As expected, he found him in his private office behind the bar, doing paperwork.

  “Fucking brewery,” he said, throwing down his phone and glancing up when Rick walked through the door. “Charge me twice for a delivery they haven’t gotten around to making yet and wonder why I get pissed with them.”

  Rick perched a buttock on the edge of Leo’s desk. “I feel your pain, buddy.”

  “So, what’s up?” Leo leaned back in his chair and planted his legs on his desk. “Saw you and Sabine up on the viewing gallery last night. Is that the way the wind blows with you guys?”

  “She has a whole raft of problems like you wouldn’t believe, but I’m doing my humble best to get her over them.”

  Leo grinned. “She seemed to like what she saw in the dungeon.”

  “Yeah, she did. She’s a natural sub, although she doesn’t fully realize it yet.”

  “No doubt you will persuade her. You guys seem tight, and I like her.”

  “Yeah, me, too. She’s still upstairs. I just went and got the eagle watchers started.”

  “And now you’re talking to me.” Leo frowned. “Seems to me you’ve gotten your priorities wrong, my friend.”

  “I wish.”

  Rick spent a couple of minutes explaining to Leo what Sabine had been sent here to do.

  “Ah, so the waiting’s over.”

  “Yeah, and part of me is glad about that. It was starting to get to me.”

  “You have a plan? What do you need me to do? I have your back, you know that, right? We all do.”

  “I appreciate that, buddy, but I think I just need you and Jack to help me through with this. Tyrell’s tied up in the kitchen and Ross and Ward have other priorities now. I don’t want to involve them.”

  “They would be there for you in a heartbeat.”

  “I know, but I don’t think I need them now, although I might p
revail upon Ward in his professional capacity when this is all over.”

  “You mean to go public?”

  “Damned straight I do.” Rick flexed his jaw. “I warned them what would happen if they fucked with me. They should have listened.”

  “Well, I’m sure Ward will be happy to oblige. Run it past him when you get a chance.”

  “Not until after it’s gone down. He’ll only insist upon getting involved otherwise.”

  “Okay, tell me what you have in mind that you think Ward will want to get involved in. If you need Jack, perhaps he should be here, too.”

  “Sure. That would work.”

  Rick paced restlessly around Leo’s small office as he buddy picked up his phone and buzzed Jack’s room.

  “Jack says he’ll join us in five.” Leo chuckled. “Judging by the earful I just got for waking him at such an ungodly hour, it sounds like the little volunteer Jack took off your hands kept him busy half the night.”

  Rick laughed as well. “He’d never admit it if he failed. Jack doesn’t do failure. His reputation couldn’t stand it.”

  Leo nodded. “Yeah, there is that.”

  Jack sauntered into the office, bare-chested, a pair of ratty sweatpants sitting low on his hips, his uncombed hair standing on end. He yawned, and rubbed his face. “Where’s the fire?” he asked, snagging a mug of coffee from the pot on Leo’s credenza.

  The moment Rick started to explain his problem, Jack came awake and asked intelligent questions about his role.

  “Gonna have to keep this quiet,” Jack said. “Assassins running around Nevella won’t do a whole lot for the tourist trade.”

  “Yeah, picking off the tourists will give the place a bad name.”

  “I appreciate your help, guys,” Rick said, chuckling. “It ain’t your fight but—”

  “Hey, it’s us Yanks against the world,” Jack said, yawning again, falling back into his indolent persona now he’d gotten his part clear. His casual take on life might fool a lot of people, but not Rick and Leo. They both knew a sharp brain lurked behind the lazy, little-boy-lost attitude that went down a storm with the women and never failed to get him laid. “We need to stick together.”

  Rick slapped Jack’s shoulder. “Go back and get some more sleep. You look like shit.”

  Jack grinned. “Yeah, but she was worth it. I owe you one for Cassie.”

  Leo and Rick rolled their eyes as Jack wandered off in search of breakfast.

  “I’d best go and make sure Sabine’s okay,” Rick said, heading for the door as well. “Catch you later, bud.”

  Leo waved him off and went back to his paperwork.

  She was up, showered, and dressed, Rick discovered when he got back to his rooms. That was disappointing. He’d hoped to cash in on the rain check he’d given himself earlier. Ah well, perhaps it would be better not to overwhelm her with wall-to-wall demands for her body. His sexual appetites probably took some getting used to, especially to the uninitiated.

  “Hey, babe, I’m home,” he said, grinning at her. “You look rested.”

  He slid an arm around her waist and gave her a slow, easy kiss. She responded with encouraging enthusiasm.

  “Hey yourself,” she replied. “You were quick.”

  “I had incentive to get back here.”

  “Really? Anyone I know?”

  Rick shook his head at her, surprised at her willingness to exchange flirtatious banter with him in the cold light of day. He didn’t think it was something she made a habit of, but was glad it seemed to come so naturally when she was with him.

  “Let me feed this guy,” he said, when Ruben whined, then barked for his breakfast. “Then we can feed ourselves. Are you hungry?”

  “Actually, I am.”

  “Well, that’s easily fixed.”

  Ruben cleared his bowl, licked it clean and pushed it across the floor with his nose in thirty seconds flat. Sabine laughed at him and scratched his big head.

  “Everything okay up the mountain?” she asked.

  “Yep. So far so good. And none of the volunteers has quit yet, which is encouraging.”

  “Are you always such a pessimist?”

  He grinned at her. “Less chance of nasty surprises if you always expect the worst.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on, darlin’, let’s go downstairs and find some breakfast.”

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m in his room now, but accessing his computer is beyond me. I can’t crack his password. Well, I might be able to, but he never leaves it long enough for me to risk trying it. If he catches me, I’m screwed.” Sabine looked up at Rick as she spoke to her boss and winked. Getting screwed by Rick was high on her to-do list. Judging by his suppressed groan, they were thinking alike. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Okay, forget the computer,” Mike replied. “The client would prefer to have all angles covered, but not at the expense of your getting caught.”

  “What angles?”

  Mike ignored the question. “Have you figured out where he keeps the report?” he asked instead.

  “Yes, he’s got a locked cupboard in his room. It has to be in there.”

  “Can you get into it?”

  Sabine rolled her eyes, even though Mike couldn’t see the gesture. “Does Christmas always fall in December?”

  “I don’t doubt your ability to pick a lock.” Yeah, you did, you jackass. “That’s not what this is about. I don’t care what you have to do to get this assignment done, but I do need to know how quickly you can get your hands on the documents.”

  “Hmm, won’t be able to do it today,” Sabine said, enjoying herself in a perverse sort of way by anticipating Mike’s frustration.

  “I thought I made it clear we have time issues on this one.”

  “He’s due back any minute, then I’m on duty up the mountain this afternoon. I can’t get into his room here at Hadleigh’s unless he invites me to join him. The private quarters are protected by secured doors and even if I knew the codes, there’s always someone around. I’d be seen. But, if I’m invited back to his room tonight…” She fluttered her lashes at Rick, who simply shook his head at her.

  “Make sure you are.”

  “Make sure you pay me for this, like we agreed,” Sabine snapped back. “I’m nobody’s whore as a general rule, but this guy is kinda cute.” Sabine stifled a laugh when Rick offered her a theatrical bow. “Anyway, what’s the rush?”

  “The client’s getting impatient.”

  “Then tell the client to come and do his own dirty work.”

  “Stay cool and focused, Sabine. Just get the papers tonight and keep them with you at all times after that.”

  “At all times? Why? I thought you’d want me to get them and then move on out. I can’t swipe them and hang around. He might notice. He will notice, especially if they are as important as your damned client seems to think. He goes to that cupboard a lot.”

  “You’re up the mountain tomorrow night, all night, you said.”

  “Yeah, just Rick and me. Why?”

  “Have the papers with you then.”

  “What’s going on, Mike?”

  “Leave the planning to me. Just do what you do best, get those damned documents and have them with you tomorrow night, you hear me?”

  “I hear you,” Sabine replied. “Have the agreed sum in my bank account by close of play today. Once I see it’s there, I’ll get you your fucking report.”

  She cut the connection and looked up at Rick, wondering why she felt so disillusioned. She had never completely trusted Mike, just like she never trusted anyone. Even so, being told he was a lying scumbag was very different to hearing him condemn himself with his own words.

  “Sorry, babe.” Rick sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. “I know a part of you didn’t want to believe he set you up.”

  Sabine closed her eyes for an expressive moment, tempted to lean on Rick and let him run with this. She was tired, so tired, of always having to stay one step ahead
. But she couldn’t give up now. She had to be strong, if only for the sake of the guy she’d so stupidly fallen in love with and whose life currently hung in the balance.

  “Shit happens,” she mumbled against the solid wall of his chest.

  “There’s no need to be brave. Let it all out. You’ll feel better if you do.” His lips brushed the top of her head. “I’ve got you, babe. I won’t let you fall.”

  The temptation to do precisely that grew by the minute. Sabine pushed the inclination aside and forced herself to move away from the security of Rick’s arms. “He wants me to steal the documents and take them up the mountain with me tomorrow night,” she told him. “That can only mean one thing.”

  “We always knew they were going to come for me. Now when.” Rick fixed her the full weight of his unimpeded gaze. “And we know they want to silence you, too.”

  “Right, because no one can get up the mountain after the cable car stops running, not by official means anyway.”

  “Yeah, they’ll go up during the afternoon probably, and hide themselves away until it’s just us and them.”

  Sabine thumped her thigh with her clenched fist. “I hate it when people think I’m stupid.”

  “Hey, I didn’t mean—”

  “Not you, but Mike. Does he really think I’m so dense it won’t occur to me no one could be there to take the papers from me? This assignment is different from anything I’ve done for Mike before, and Mike himself is edgy and short-tempered, whereas he’s usually calm and precise. Doesn’t he think I might wonder about that and sense danger?”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better, him thinking you’re a bimbo works to our advantage. We now know for definite what they intend to do and can be ready for them.”

  She stabbed a toe sullenly into the rug. “Yeah, I guess. But you still haven’t told me what your plans are.”

  “Later.” Rick kissed her, she kissed him back with fervor and her disgruntled mood evaporated.

  “How can you be so laid back?” she demanded to know when he broke the kiss.

  “Because I’ve had a lot of time to think about and prepare for this moment.” He touched her face. “My only regret is that you’re involved. I’ve only just found you. If anything bad were to happen to you, I don’t think I could—”