Confessions of a Chalet Girl: Read Free

she could handle. So there were a few chemical reactions happening between them. The guy had good pheromones. So what? Nothing would happen.
    You need to take more care.
    She did nothing
but
bloody well take care. As soon as she was old enough she was cleaning up vomit, encouraging her mother to change, to wash her hair, to maintain the semblance of a normal home for all the prying eyes and snoops. Terror at the idea of being put into care meant she perfected the art of pretending everything was okay. Then the years trying to get her mother to AA meetings before the gut-wrenching conclusion she never would because she simply didn’t want to.
    ‘Right,’ she replied, voice tight and her throat aching with the words she wasn't saying. Her heart felt as cold and heavy as the patches of thick ice on the path. She didn't want his advice, didn't want his… Well, maybe she did want his jacket. It was bloody freezing after all.
    ‘Are you okay?’ The warmth in his tone and the absence of a mocking, teasing air made her almost think about confiding.
    Almost.
    ‘I’m fine thanks, really pleased to be here.’ She smiled a tight smile. ‘Thanks for giving me the opportunity to work here.’
    Fine, so she deserved the raised eyebrow she got for that, it sounded insincere even to her own ears. She met his gaze levelly, defiantly, flashing a ‘no entry’ sign as politely as she knew how.
    It was a look she’d practiced and used to great effect with teachers prying into her home life when she was a child and she’d carried it on into adulthood. It had been a useful tool in her defence arsenal.
    ‘I’m thinking you don’t normally get to have much fun, Holly.’ The flirty edge was back in his voice and a spark danced in his eyes. Clearly she needed to practice her 'piss-off look'. Either that or he was immune. That was a scary thought.
    ‘Fun?’ She ground her teeth, immensely grateful they were almost at the chalet.
    ‘Yes, you know. That thing where you relax, let your guard down, lose control.’
    ‘I never lose control,’ she replied, pulling his jacket more tightly around her body.
    The snow-covered porch of Chalet Repos was a welcome sight. She huddled in the doorway as he pulled out his keys to let them into the basement staff quarters.
    ‘That sounds like a challenge,’ he said. His eyes locked on hers with an intensity that was dark and probing, seeing…what? Far too much, anyway.
    She couldn't look away, the connection between them mesmerising her, accompanied by a tug of desire so visceral it took her breath away.
    Flakes of snow fell, softly tickling her nose and resting on her eyelashes.
    ‘It's snowing again.’ She broke away first, stamping her boots on the doormat to dislodge the snow.
    Scott laughed and turned the key in the lock. ‘Call that snow? Just you wait until we get the really heavy falls. Oh, I meant to ask you - whose was the bra you pretended to remove?’
    The change of subject startled her. She stared at him, flushing again as something knowing and very, very sexy flashed in his dark eyes.
    He held the door open and she slipped past him, the warmth of the chalet enveloped her as she stepped inside, senses tingling and skin super sensitised. His hand lightly brushed her arm when he took his jacket back. She started violently. Had he done that on purpose?
    ‘Err, what makes you so sure it wasn't mine?’ The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them. Never ask a question you don't want the answer to.
    Too late.

CHAPTER TWO
    Scott couldn’t help but grin. Holly intrigued him. He knew he should maintain a professional distance but what the hell, it was fun playing with her. She was a puzzle to be solved, a challenge to rise to. On the surface she seemed to be acting a part, that line about being grateful for the opportunity had been falser than her little strip routine.
    Usually he hated that kind of superficiality but her eyes had a depth and intelligence that blew him away.