Page 29

Maya opened and closed her drawers noisily as she put her clothing away, remembering how she’d let Sam rile her when she’d dropped him at the gym the evening before last. She’d had to sit in the car park for a couple of minutes to recover before setting off. Then, the rides to and from work the previous day had been pretty much deathly silent.

How dare he act all high and mighty just because she’d declined his offer of fuel money? She’d only said no because it would be unfair to take it when she was going in the same direction as him, not out of pity or whatever it was he’d gone on about. The journey would be no different and cost an equal amount whether he was in the car or not, so it hadn’t seemed fair. Plus, taking his money when he was trying to save for that new car wouldn’t be something she’d feel comfortable with. Despite her suspicion that he probably only had to save because he’d want to get something flash to show off in. She slammed a drawer. “Tosser.”

“Maya? Everything all right?” Yvonne called up the stairs.

Oops. Better stop making it sound like World War III was raging in her bedroom.

“Yeah, sorry, Mum,” she called back.

Sitting on the bed, she took a deep breath. Sam had also been snide about her coming back to work at the resort, as if she weren’t worthy of the task. Probably because she was a woman. She’d had men be dicks about her abilities before, in both accountancy and skiing. Sexist prick.

The confusing thing was, it had seemed as if he was looking out for her when he’d interjected to save her explaining to Ben why she couldn’t stay late on her first day. But she must have misinterpreted his intentions, because after that he’d gone back to being a dickhead. He’d clearly had his heart set on getting to the gym that evening, and that was why he’d done it.

An idea flashed into her mind. One that would mean she’d be able to get out of giving him lifts sooner rather than later. As long as the garage could revive his car. But would doing it get her into trouble with him, when he clearly didn’t want any favors?

Maya blew out her breath. Who cared what he thought? He didn’t rank highly with her either, so what did his opinion matter? Ignoring the thought that his opinion did still matter to her a little, she took out her phone. In any case, the other issue was that Kirsty had messaged to say that the well-to-do neighborhood watch on her street had been curtain twitching and messaging on their estate’s WhatsApp group to ask about the old car that had been sitting there constantly for a few nights, with no comings or goings. They wanted to know whom it belonged to, under the guise of neighborhood safety, but Maya would bet they also didn’t like the look of it on their posh street. Snobby bastards.

Pretending that Sam’s car getting reported to some vehicle-related authority and towed away didn’t matter to her, she dialed her breakdown company. “Hi there. I just wondered if I can add my . . . boyfriend’s car to my breakdown insurance? We don’t live at the same address though . . . great. Thank you. Yes, here are the details . . .”

She gave them Sam’s information and the location of his vehicle, arranging for it to be collected and taken to the garage in Glenavie and then getting the fee for his cover added onto her direct debit. As she ended the call, there was a stab of panic that she’d done the wrong thing, but then relief set in that it would mean less car sharing, and she smiled like the smuggest Cheshire cat that had gotten all of the cream plus every dairy item on the entire farm. The notion that she’d done something to help Sam also provided a little warmth to her soul, but she ignored that, and set about earning her keep around the house on her day off.

Maya pulled on her swimsuit and fixed her hair into a messy bun. She’d been determined to try out the new facilities ever since Sam’s rather brusque tour on her second morning here.

They were housed in a new building tacked onto the side of the ski center, accessed via the back foyer off the slopes. There were three separate changing areas—female, male, and unisex—and each of those led into the space containing a hydrotherapy pool, a sauna, and a steam room.

A genius idea of Ben’s. She rolled her shoulders, eager to get into the steam room and soothe the muscles that were aching in a kind of satisfying manner from her newfound job. The thought of having to go back to sitting behind a desk made her shudder.

She eyed the hydrotherapy pool on the way past. One day, when she had more time, she’d need to try that out too. Crossing the area, she grasped the steam room door and opened it, stepping into a warm cloud of eucalyptus.

Blinking against the wet heat of the air, she found her way through the steam to the nearest edge of the tiled bench that ran around the rather spacious room. She couldn’t even see the far end of it through the steam, but she was pretty sure no one else was present. It was a bit too early in the day for these facilities to be busy.

Just as she settled onto her seat and breathed a satisfied sigh, a male voice cut through the cloud. “Hey.”

Oh shit. There was no mistaking Sam’s husky tone. She peered through the moisture and made out his rather impressive, swim-short-clad form, laid out along the bench opposite with an arm tucked behind his head.

Her pulse quickened. What was it with her newfound tendency to accidentally bump into her ex while he was partially clothed? Did the universe have it in for her? Oh, hey, Maya, just as you’re going through the most stressful period in your life, here’s your nearly naked hot ex to remind you of what you missed out on. Thanks for nothing, universe.

“Hey,” she replied, painfully aware that her eyes were adjusting a bit too efficiently and revealing the manner in which his wet hair fell onto his forehead in appealing dark tendrils. His skin was glistening with beads of moisture that clung to the muscular contours of his chest, arms, and legs.

There was a tightening low in her belly, which had no business being there and that she tried her damnedest to ignore. Then she realized that this time, she too was wearing less clothing than would be ideal in front of her ex, and she touched the strap of her swimsuit self-consciously.

Sam’s gaze appeared drawn to the movement of her fingers, his jaw clenching. He blinked, swinging his legs down to sit facing her and leaning his forearms on his knees. The muscles in his arms bulged as he kept his eyes on the floor at her feet, his voice gruff. “How’s your morning going?”

Her own voice came out a little squeaky. “Fine. Just thought I’d pop in here quickly to try it out.”

He glanced up, looking at her from under his brows with his wet hair falling onto his face, and for a moment she thought she was going to slide off her seat and melt into the warm water pooling on the floor. Why are you doing this to me? she asked her misguided libido.

Sam sat a little straighter, shifting his eyes onto the wall somewhere near her head. He can’t even look at me. I suppose that means he doesn’t have as much trouble keeping his eyes off me in a state of undress as I do him.

He ran a hand through the slick of his hair. “You should try the hydrotherapy pool too. It works wonders for aching muscles.”

“Will do,” she said, openly studying every ridge of his muscles while his gaze was preoccupied with the wall tiling.

“Anyway,” he said, bringing his eyes onto her just as she snapped hers up to his face, narrowly avoiding getting caught staring. “I’d better head.”

She nodded, getting the impression that he glanced down her body for a second. Then he swallowed hard, and stood up quickly.

He strode to the door, taking hold of the handle. “See you later.”