Page 16 of Mountain Trial

“Jens Melkopf. Good to see you again, Luc.” Jens wore a small smile. I knew you’d come, his expression seemed to say.

“Gael Leon,” the last man said. He was slimmer than the others, but looked just as strong and fit.

A runner, or a climber.

“How did you and Kat meet?” Damien asked.

“Yeah, that’s a funny story,” Kat said. “I ran Luc over in Pylones. Let’s not spend too much time on that one.”

Luc watched as she took a long sip of her beer. Her pale throat moved up and down as she swallowed, and Luc had to swallow hard himself.

He shook himself―they were all waiting for him to say something.

“It wasn’t Kat’s fault. Let’s just say she took the safest course of action under the circumstances. So you’re all with the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne?”

The men nodded and began an animated discussion about when they’d each joined the PGHM.

“How about you? What do you do, Luc?” Gael asked. Luc detected a slight accent in the man’s voice. He sounded … Spanish, perhaps?

For the first time in his life, Luc was embarrassed to admit what he did. He was technically a snow groomer, though on leave from his job. At least, that’s what paid his bills. He was also a Paralympic skier. That’s all he was, and neither of those things were likely to impress the men in front of him. Strangely, he wanted to impress them.

“Luc’s an athlete,” Kat said. Her lips pursed slightly as she said so, as if she were trying to keep her distaste of the word at bay.

Is she embarrassed?

The thought of embarrassing her was unbearable. “You’re here for the Victory Games, right?” Gael asked.

“I saw your jumps earlier today, man. Very impressive,” Jens added.

Luc nodded, feeling his face flush with embarrassment.

“It was nice to meet you, Luc. I’m going to head off,” Damien said. “Tess and Jamie are waiting for me at home.”

Kat nodded quickly. “Of course. Please say hi to Tess for me, Damien.”

“I’m off as well,” Drake said, standing up quickly. He didn’t need to say where he was going.

“Congratulations again, Drake,” Kat said warmly. “Is it okay if Tess and I call Isolde tomorrow?”

Drake nodded. “Sure. She’s nervous, so I’m sure she’ll be glad to speak to you both.”

“I’m sure she’s not half as nervous as you, man,” Gael said, laughing.

“I should probably head home as well. Bailey needs a walk,” Hiro said, standing up.

Luc picked up his beer. It was cold and slightly bitter. He could almost see himself drinking the entire glass, but stopped after a couple sips. Since his injury, he used medication to manage his bladder control, but had also learned to manage his food and liquid intake carefully at times when he wanted to avoid a trip to the bathroom. Right now, he had no interest in discovering if Bar Barracuda’s bathroom was accessible or not.

Now it was only the four of them left at the table. Jens and Gael got up to get another drink.

“I’m glad you accepted Jens’s invitation and joined us tonight,” Kat said. Her teeth worried her lower lip in a way Luc found infinitely distracting. As she brushed her hair out of her face, Luc got a whiff of her perfume. She smelled good. Really good.

Maybe pheromones are responsible for the way I’m feeling.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

“I came to see you,” he said honestly. “I want to get to know you better.”

Kat blushed again. “I want to get to know you better as well,” she said. “Maybe with fewer people around, next time. I’m sorry they grilled you.”