ZOE
“One of thosecute ski-tenders is trying to get your attention,” Pam said at the end of the meal.
The food was utterly amazing. Asher had outdone himself with a deconstructed mac and cheese that looked nothing like the comfort food I’d grown up with. Instead of a gooey casserole, he’d created something that belonged in a magazine—perfectly al dente pasta tubes standing upright on the plate, surrounded by what I thought was a cheese foam and with crispy breadcrumbs on top that tasted buttery and rich.
Then there were flecks of what might have been truffle, and thin slices of some kind of cured meat, maybe prosciutto, draped artfully over everything. It was fancy and weird and absolutely delicious. I didn’t know half the techniques he must have used to create it, but I knew it took serious skill.
Then I replayed in my head what Pam had said. “Ski-tender?” I asked.
Pam jerked her chin toward the bar. “Well, they ski and they tend bar. So yeah, it seems like a good term.”
“You’re right, it does.”
I was almost done with my meal, and even though I’d been thinking about what would happen later tonight for half the day, I really wasn’t willing to give up the last couple of bites.
So what was I learning about Asher? He could cook like nobody’s business. He had a magic touch, and he could kiss. God, could he kiss. It was just when he opened his mouth to use it for other reasons that things fell apart.
I finished up, practically scraping my plate to get all of it. “All right, I’m going over there. Do you want something to drink?”
“I’d like a drink of him,” she said, pointing to Landon. “I don’t know which one he is, but I’m thirsty.”
I laughed and wondered if Pam’s head would explode if I told her what the last twenty-four hours had been like for me.
On my way over to the bar, I couldn’t help wondering how she couldn’t tell them apart. Even at a distance, they just radiated such different energy. Kai was always bouncing on the balls of his feet, practically vibrating with an undercurrent of electricity—kind of like I had today.
And Landon almost always had a calm energy. It couldn’t have been clearer to me if Landon had been wearing a name tag.
I slid onto a stool at the end of the bar. Landon came over, and I said, “Make it a double.” Kai was nowhere to be seen
He smiled. “Make what a double?”
“I don’t know. They always say that on TV.”
“Well, I’m a twin, so I’m a double by default.”
“True.”
He had on a plaid flannel shirt, open over a white t-shirt that showed at the neckline. Everything I’d seen him wear so far, from a bulky ski jacket to nothing at all, or at least from the waist up, looked amazing on him.
“So what’s up?” I asked.
“I have a message from your instructors.”
“Really?” That worried me a bit. I didn’t want them roping Landon into our lessons if he wasn’t comfortable with that.
He seemed to sense my concern. “I should tell you that I’ve officially accepted a position as an advisor in this X-rated school you three have cooked up.”
“My advisor?” I asked. He sure as hell was better looking than Professor Youst, my advisor freshman year. And also about a century younger.
Landon delivered a drink to the other end of the bar and came back. “Actually, I’m the advisor for all of you. To make sure things don’t get out of hand. And it’s agood thing I am, because those two geniuses were bemoaning earlier about how we’re two hours or a helicopter ride from the nearest lingerie shop.”
“Crap. I hadn’t thought of that. I didn’t bring anything sexy to wear.” Not that Ihadmuch lingerie back at the tiny apartment I shared with two other students.
“You don’t need to wear anything special to look sexy,” Landon said, and then he moved on before I could think of how to respond to that. “But I pointed out that there is, right here in this lodge, something that looks hot as hell on a woman, and it’s waiting for you in your room.”
“What?” I was having trouble keeping up with this conversation. It wasn’t just what Landon was saying—it was also the glint of amusement in his eyes. It was good to see, even if it was at my expense. I’d take it over pure sadness any day.
“I mean, thank you,” I said. “I didn’t want to show up in bulky sweaters and jeans all the time. If I was going to do that, I might as well wear those damn ski boots. They’re about as flattering.”
