‘Wow.’ Peeling off his jacket, he stood and admired the view. ‘This is sensational.’
Tania smiled as she wrapped ice in a tea-towel and headed back to him. ‘Isn’t it?’
‘I’m not even going to ask how much this place is for a week. Our chalet hasn’t got anything like this setting and that cost the best part of a second-hand hatchback for our stay. Luckily, there are loads of us to split the cost. And I suppose it is Christmas week. Fish in a barrel, and all that.’
‘Yes. Here you go.’ Keen to move the conversation on, she held out the cold compress. He took a seat at the end of a sofa and tugged at the bottom of his ski trouser leg, pulling it up as far as he could. There was no way it was going up past his knee.
Glancing at her, he pulled a face. ‘Houston, we have a problem.’
‘Take them off … If it’s easier.’
‘Thought you’d never suggest it.’ He offered her a lopsided smile.
Trying to ignore the way his eyes sparkled as he smiled, she rolled her eyes to deny it. ‘I promise I won’t look.’
‘Shame.’
She did look, though. He stood and turned away from her, unfastening and dropping the insulated trousers to the ground before he sat again and applied the ice. Tania headed for the kitchen area, but not before she’d taken in the black compression shorts, tightly fitted against the substantial muscles of his thighs, an unashamed forest of dark hairs covering his newly exposed calves.
‘I might have a mint tea. Do you want anything?’ she said.
He shook his head. ‘No thanks. I’m OK.’
‘Painkillers?’
Another shake of his head as he leaned forward to rifle through his trousers. He held up his phone. ‘I’ll find the appropriate number and get someone to fetch me. We’re in Snow Pine Lodge, that’s right, isn’t it?’
Tania nodded. It hadn’t always been called Snow Pine Lodge. When her father had bought the building, it had been called Chalet Génépi. She’d rather liked it, liked the fact the place had been given the same name as a mountain liqueur, but her stepmother had taken an instant dislike to it. Or perhaps she just wanted to make the building her own. Either way, Brigitte insisted the change be made.
Busying herself filling the kettle, Tania found a mug and a herbal teabag while Gull made his call. She glanced across again, her gaze settling on him as he leaned back against the cushions of the sofa, eyes closed, traces of pain still embedded between them.
The kettle clicked off. He opened his eyes and looked in her direction before she could pretend she’d been doing anything else in the time it took the water to boil other than stare at him. The heat notched up in her cheeks when he didn’t change his expression, he just held her gaze.
She swallowed and poured water into her mug, then took hold of the paper tab at the end of the teabag’s string. The distraction was welcome, as she concentrated on jiggling the bag around in the water. She glanced at him again. This time he was staring through the window, and she stole a few moments to take in the profile of his face. He wasn’t classically handsome; probably wouldn’t score on any Hollywood scale. He wasn’t in the least bit chiselled. There was nothing refined about him, nothing particularly photogenic. There was a definite roughness to his edges. She would term him as rugged if that didn’t conjure up so many clichés. If her father’s stylist was given Gull as a project, he’d probably have a nervous breakdown trying to work out where to start. And yet, Tania couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away from him.
‘Are you here with family, or friends?’ Gull swung around to look at her.
‘Girlfriends,’ she replied, wondering why she’d felt the need to include their gender. Heat notched again in her cheeks. ‘You?’
‘My brother and his almost fiancée. Some other friends.’ He paused, a frown pressing itself into his forehead. ‘My sister was supposed to be here too, a big sibling get-together but … Well, she’s seven months pregnant …’
‘Didn’t she want to fly?’
The frown on his face didn’t let up. ‘No, it wasn’t the flying– she’d have been fine to fly. It was that bloody husband of hers. They were both supposed to be here, that is until Ellie discovered he was having an affair.’ His face clouded further. ‘She’s devastated, obviously. Couldn’t face the trip out. So she stayed at home with our parents.’
‘Oh, Gull. I’m so sorry.’
He pulled in a breath, his expression intense. ‘How does somebody do that to someone they supposedly love? And what woman does that to another?’
‘I don’t know.’ It had happened with alarming regularity in her own family, not that there was a great deal of similarity between her family and any family which operated in even a remotely functional manner. Her experiences felt like they had little relevance in the face of the level of emotion Gull was displaying.
His voice softened. ‘Ignore me. You don’t want to hear about my family dramas. She’ll work it out. She’ll have to.’
‘But she’s got you to turn to for support?’ Tania asked. He nodded. ‘Then she’s luckier than some.’
‘I suppose. She can always rely on me, and David. We’ve told her we’ll happily go round and break Harry’s legs if it’ll help.’
‘And you’re joking, now, I presume?’ Tania said.
