After Midnight (9 page)

Something that Lindsey never felt she had.

“That’s great.”

“Are you okay?” Elizabeth asked, her brow in concern. “You don’t seem yourself today.”

Lindsey nodded. “Just nervous about this meeting. I know what the event is supposed to be but I’ve never been on a committee before.”

“You’ll do fine. It’s nothing like skiing sixty miles per hour.”

Lindsey gave Elizabeth the smile she was sure her friend was looking for. But she knew that skiing wasn’t easy, and this meeting wouldn’t be, either. Of course, she could contribute and she’d do whatever she had to to make the charity ski event a success.

The event had been proposed by Carter and had taken a lot of the resort owners in the area by surprise. The last time he had proposed something it had been to allow snowboarders on the runs in the valley; something that had gone against the resort owners’ policies. He’d won them over, and now skiers and snowboarders were welcome on the mountain, but he hadn’t exactly endeared himself to the owners with that move.

So the charity event, which would bring world-class athletes and young kids interested in winter sports together, had initially caught the higher-ups off guard. Lindsey smiled to herself at the thought of how shocked the owners had been to see their old nemesis in a different light.

Not unlike the way she was. Carter had changed, and he’d sort of changed her. She missed having him around, but wouldn’t admit it to herself or to anyone else. She figured if she had a few restless nights plagued with dreams of making love on her kitchen table with Carter, that was the price she had to pay for peace of mind.

“Hello, ladies,” he said, walking up to her and Elizabeth. Seeming to appear from out of nowhere.

She took a sip of her coffee and burned her tongue. He looked good. Polished in that roguish way of his. Elizabeth and he were chatting, but all she could do was watch him and acknowledge to herself that her dream-induced fantasies fell far short of the real man. She missed him.

No denying that.

“Well, Linds, how’s the skiing going?” he asked after Elizabeth excused herself to greet some of the other committee members.

“Great,” she said. No use telling him she still hadn’t made it up the mountain. That was her personal struggle. “How long are you here for?”

“For the next six months.”

Her eyes widened. “What? Why that long?”

“This charity event is my number one priority right now,” he said. “And I told you I was going to get you back on skis. I can’t do that from California, now, can I?”

“I think you’ve done enough. Feel free to go back to Cali.”

He leaned in close to her and the spicy scent of his aftershave wrapped around her, reminding her of how strong the scent had been when she’d rested her head on his shoulder after making love.

“I promise you I haven’t done nearly enough.”

9

C
ARTER
SAT
ACROSS
from Lindsey in the meeting. He was excited for the event and when he’d originally come up with the idea had known it was going to be a hard sell. Truth was, he’d never really played up to the resort owners in Park City, Utah, and the surrounding valley. They had sort of always looked down on snowboarders, but he wasn’t Houston Shaw’s son for nothing, and had learned from his father that turning adversaries into business partners made for some interesting and profitable ventures.

But this wasn’t about profit. This was about bringing snowboarding and skiing to kids who couldn’t afford it otherwise. Giving them the chance to have what he’d always had. To be honest, he hadn’t realized how much of a financial struggle competing at the world-class level could be, since he’d had the benefit of his father’s money.

Lindsey understood that. She spoke eloquently on the fact that it wasn’t just inner-city kids or those at the lowest economic level who needed help, but also middle-class families who were getting by—as her family had when her talent had been spotted.

“I think we’re all on board now,” Lars Usten, the namesake and owner of the resort, said. “We just need to figure out what the event will look like.”

“I see it as a three-or four-day event,” Carter told them. “Starting on a Thursday with events for the kids who’ve maybe signed up through our program to have lessons.”

“What program?” Elizabeth asked. “Is this something new to the agenda?”

“Yes,” Carter said. He passed around some folders that outlined his idea. “Since we’re not doing the event until the fall, I propose we start getting local kids involved in training sessions now. I’d like to see each of your resorts offer up your facilities, and maybe we can have teams to compete against each other.”

Everyone had opened the folder and was skimming the contents. He had done a lot of work.

“Bradley Hunt of FreshSno is donating the gear for the kids, and Thunderbolt, my energy drink sponsor, will give the kids the clothing they need,” he said finally. “Ski pants, jackets and a T-shirt. All I really need now is your resorts and time on the slopes.”

“That’s great, but who’s going to teach the kids? We all have full-time jobs,” Lindsey reminded him. “Not everyone is a man of leisure like you.”

“Well, I’m going to teach snowboarding. It’s what I’m good at and, as you’ve pointed out, I do have the time. I’m sure there must be a few former world champs who wouldn’t mind teaching the next generation.”

“I didn’t say I minded,” Lindsey said, bristling at his insinuation. “Of course I’ll do it on my days off. These will just have to be needs based and when I’m not teaching the kids from the resort.”

“Good. So now we’ve got Alpine skiing and snowboarding,” Carter replied.

“I’ve got an idea,” Bradley said. “Watching you two square off... What if we put together two teams, captained by each of you, to raise funds? Anyone who follows winter sports knows that you are adversaries—the Ice Queen versus the Bad Boy.” He smiled broadly. “It’s classic and fun. We can have people from the committee and other resort staff members on the teams as well as the kids. What do you think?”

Carter liked it. It was an innovative idea and would give him a chance to spend more time with Lindsey. A legitimate reason that she wouldn’t be able to back out of. “Sure. I think it’s got some merit. Plus, it’s for charity. I want to see it be a success.”

Lindsey glared at him from across the table. He wasn’t sure what it was he was doing today, but he seemed to be getting on her nerves.
Perfect.
He wanted her to be aware of him and to be bothered by him. It seemed only fair, since she was bothering him.

He was here because of a cause that was dear to him. He’d seen a lot of talented kids over his years in the sport that’d had to quit because they couldn’t afford gear. That wasn’t right.

But then, as he stared back at Lindsey, a telltale smirk suddenly tugged at his lips. Okay, if he was being
totally
honest, his reasons for being here weren’t entirely altruistic. It was also because he’d wanted to see her again and this was the only way he’d been able to do it. She’d shut him out. He’d thought about calling, but he wasn’t going to keep chasing her. At least not in an obvious way.

“I want it to be a success, too. I’d be happy to captain a team,” Lindsey said, her fake smile firmly in place.

“Okay, then. How are we going to choose teams?” Elizabeth asked. “We have two representatives from all the resorts and other participants here, so we could do it that way. One from each?”

There was some discussion around the table of the different skills, but soon the teams were established and Carter thought he’d made out pretty well. Most of the owners and executives from the resorts were passionate skiers.

“We’ll need to come up with events. And they should be pretty standard but not risky,” Lindsey said.

“It should be fun, too. We want to bring new people to the sport and make it something the kids will want to do. In fact, maybe we can use our teams as mentors,” Carter suggested.

“That’s a great idea,” Lars said. “I’ll be in charge of the events for our competition. I think we should hold it in February to kick off our announcement for the fall event. Use it to encourage kids to sign up.”

There was agreement around the table. Lars asked each of them to jot down one or two ideas for events for the kickoff to be held in February. A meeting was set for the following week and everyone left the boardroom.

Carter gathered his papers and followed Lindsey down the hall and out onto the patio that led to the ski rental and lesson building.

“Wait up.”

“Sure,” she said, whirling around to face him. “Think of something else you wanted to challenge me on?”

“Not at all. I told you I wasn’t done with you,” he warned.

“I know that. I’m not done with you now, either.”

She wasn’t really angry with him. On the contrary, he could see worry and maybe a little bit of fear on her face. She couldn’t ski, and she’d just been put in charge of a ski team for a major public event.

Crap.

* * *

S
HE
HADN
’
T
MEANT
to talk to Carter. She’d meant to exit the lodge, get into her ski clothing and then... What? She had no real idea. Obviously she couldn’t lead a team down the slopes in February considering that just sledding down a little snow mound took all of her courage.

But she had to. Everything had changed thanks to this guy and his damned argumentative streak. She had a hunch that he’d originally started sparring with her in front of everyone as a sort of payback for the way she’d kicked him out of her place on New Year’s Day, and frankly, she hadn’t blamed him.

But this... She put her arm around her waist.

“Okay, this is serious. I already offered to help you and I’m not going to let this go,” he said.

“Carter, thanks, but you can’t make that fear I feel when I strap on a pair of skis go away. I mean, you seem to be able to charm anyone into doing anything, but this is something I don’t think even you can simply force under your control.”

She dropped her arm as she realized how defensive that might look to him. Then she spun on her heel and started walking again. As she moved across the resort grounds, she paused to look around her. It was the kind of day she used to love. The snow was thick, perfect for a fresh run, and the sky looked clear and endless. This was her favorite sort of winter.

“I know that,” he said, quickly catching up with her. “I’m just saying every time I dare you to do something—”

“It backfires,” she retorted. The bet on a kiss that had started all of this hadn’t spurred her on to greater skiing glory. Or had it? She’d kept her head down and trained harder to prove he didn’t bother her. That his flirting couldn’t shake her. Maybe that was what she needed to do now. Put her head down and pretend he couldn’t affect her.

“I’ve got this.”

“You know,” he said, “it wouldn’t hurt you to admit that you can’t do it all on your own.”

“I don’t need an entourage to remind me— What is it exactly that they do for you?” she asked sweetly.

“Nothing. They are friends, not an entourage. Something that seems foreign to you.” He reached out and gripped her arm. “You have people who care for you, but you are always so afraid to let them in.”

“Let
you
in,” she said, jerking away. “That’s what you really mean.”

“True. Why is that?”

She stopped walking and looked over at him. He had put on a pair of sunglasses so she couldn’t see his eyes. “You scare me. You make me confused. I don’t really like it.”

“I don’t like it, either, but we are going to have to work together.”

“Why?” she asked.

“I’m the only person who knows you haven’t skied since your surgery, aren’t I?”

She nodded. When she got home she was taking that damned resolutions list off the fridge and adding “no drinking champagne” to it. Maybe if she hadn’t been drinking she wouldn’t have found him as attractive and confessed all sorts of things she should have kept to herself.

“Carter, please. Just let this go. I’ll figure it out and no one will have to know anything,” she said.

“I can’t.”

She sighed in frustration. “Why not?”

“Because you made me your New Year’s resolution and I’m determined to give you a year you won’t forget.”

“I was drunk when I said that,” she said. But despite her annoyance with him, his words made her feel warm like the sunshine on her face. There was more to Carter Shaw than she wanted to admit. Mainly because if she didn’t keep him at arm’s length she might do something foolish, like fall for him.

And it was foolish. Though she hadn’t seen him in person for the past two weeks, she’d seen him online on the gossip websites with a bevy of women at the Thunderbolt Energy Drink Extreme Winter Games as he’d promoted his upcoming professional debut in California. She knew that he was a player.

She had to seem like a novelty to him. And while she got that to him she was different, a challenge of sorts, how long would it take for that to wear off and for him to move on? She wasn’t being down on herself. She had plenty to offer a man, but not one like Carter. His expectations were based on a model of woman and a lifestyle that made hers seem boring.

“You weren’t drunk. If you want to pretend you were, then fine,” he said tersely. “I don’t know why I keep chasing after you.”

She didn’t know, either, and she wasn’t foolish enough to guess. “Thank you. I guess I’ll see you next week at our meeting.”

“Yes, you will.”

She walked away and admitted to herself that she was disappointed he’d let her go. She’d hoped that maybe he’d follow her. But she knew she’d have shut him down if he had.

She got changed in the locker room and, as usual, putting on her ski clothes brought out that little bit of sadness and fear. But she had a class to teach, and letting down her students wasn’t something she’d do.

Her first lesson went well, and instead of just holding her skis, this time she put them on and skied around a little bit while the kids met their parents for lunch. She was going to try to take a run after lunch.

The clock was ticking and she wasn’t about to let anyone else know her secret. It was time she conquered that fear and moved on. Then maybe she could figure out what to do about her attraction to Carter.