Dad was unfortunately right. There was no reason to finish the descent under my own steam, even on the off chance that she’d see me riding in. It was no use trying to impress her. I’d tried that once and it had ended in disaster. Besides, Leesa was too smart – tooeverything– for me and she’d unfortunately seen all the stupid stuff I’d pulled over the years.
Stupid stuff like growing a moustache to rub a teammate’s face in his junior position. But, damn it, my heart was pounding and my knees were bouncing in the car as we headed for the hotel. I should have descended on the bike. It would have been quicker.
As well as the power to bend gravity, I had apparently developed a sixth sense as well – my Leesa sense. I heard her voice as soon as I entered the lobby of the hotel. Despite the blood-smeared elbow, the rip in my jersey at the ribs, a day’s worth of stale sweat and an idiotic moustache, I still swerved helplessly in her direction.
I was under no illusions about my own attractiveness right now, to say nothing of the fact that she’d always seen through me, but I wanted to see her, even if it was only to work out exactly how much she resented me now, after everything I’d done in September.
She was sitting with Wilhelmina in the dining room. Her back was to me, drawing my eyes to the curve of her neck, an earlobe with a simple gold hoop. Her hair fell to just below her shoulders. A woman’s hair had never registered with me before, but Leesa’s was something else: springy curls in tight loops, somehow neat and wild at the same time.
And perfect. She was fucking perfect.
Leaning heavily on the wall just outside the dining room, I took long, controlled breaths and tried to talk my stirring body out of its extreme reaction.
‘I’m so glad it’s you they’ve sent,’ Wil was saying. I gave that statement a hard agree until she continued. ‘You remember what he’s like.’
Leesa chuckled – a throaty laugh that would have shivered over my skin, if she hadn’t been laughing at me. Actually, I still felt that dry laugh in a few places that weren’t very comfortable in my bib shorts.
‘That’s what worried me about taking this assignment,’ she said. ‘How on earth could I accept responsibility for makingColin Gallagherinto a sympathetic protagonist? I don’t think PowerFuel would approve of the pranks and relentless jokes.’
My shoulders slowly sank.
‘But I remember you enjoy a challenge.’
She tucked her hair behind her neck and straightened. ‘I sure do.’
‘Just don’t let him guess that he’s your challenge.’
‘Oh, God, no! He’d never let up. I’d find lizards in my breakfast and frogs in my bed.’
At least I could inwardly scoff at her lack of imagination. Lizards and frogs? How old did she think I was? Nine? I might have been a green youth with bum fluff on my chin when I’d first met her nearly six years ago, but the age gap between us had closed further every season since. Besides, when I was nine, I’d already graduated to putting food colouring into my sister’s toothpaste.
‘There are so many star-struck women working in marketing,’ Wil continued. ‘If they’d sent anyone else, I might have got worried Colin would turn on the charm and end up AWOL in the evening.’
I straightened with a grimace.One timethat had happened. It had been a nice invitation, and who could blame me when I had to share a twin room with Amir or Nelson for months of the year in shitty hotel rooms without much space between the beds?
My ears were hot, picturing Leesa taking my hand and steering me down the corridor to her room as my heart vaulted in my chest. Wil couldn’t know about last year, that I’d come back early to watch her last race and nearly made a fool of myself.
But then Leesa replied, ‘There is absolutely no danger of that.’ Her tone was steady – amused, even. ‘Colin isnotthe person I picture when I hear the word “charming”.’
The urge to prove her wrong flickered in my chest.
‘That’s one pitfall we don’t need to worry about. It’s so important to safeguard your professionalism in this industry – especially as a woman in sports,’ Wil continued, giving Leesa’s forearm a squeeze.
My intentions deflated again. She was here to do a job and that was all – to make me look good, which drew a smirk to my lips. There was no need to react personally to anything she said.
But that didn’t mean I had to play along.
Chapter 3
Leesa
‘Let me know if you needanyhelp – or if Colin gives you any trouble. I remember what it’s like starting out,’ Wil said – too kindly, because I was already struggling not to tear up.
‘What? Sending emails and making coffee?’ I joked, mostly to give me a second to pull myself together.
It was triggering, being back here.
I’d come to this exact hotel on two occasions, with the girls. It was a dreamy chalet, all wooden beams and lacy curtains, nestled in a sloping mountain meadow and surrounded by the peaks of the northwest Dolomites. Every view out of every window was heart-stirring.
