Fire and Ice Read Free Page B

were expecting my brother, no doubt. Most people do.”
    “Actually, I was expecting
someone… older,” she stuttered. “Your father, that is.” She bit her tongue to
keep from babbling nervously.
    “So was I, for that matter,”
replied the man coldly. His eyes seemed to bore a hole in her, scrutinizing
her. “Somebody with many years of experience.”
    Kate was aghast. Had Emily checked
the age of the woman she was meant to be impersonating? Was she meant to be
forty? And she had assumed that Michelle was French or English, but maybe she
was meant to be West African or Haitian. It was going to be hard to impersonate
that. She felt panic building up again, sure that those dark eyes could see
right through her.
    She could always turn and run if things
got worse, she thought desperately, trying to sound cheerful and businesslike.
She had to be a professional. “Forgive my rude behaviour, Monsieur Pichard. I
am Michelle Clark, sent by the agency to be your new chalet hostess. ” She
held out her hand.
    She saw a hint of cold amusement
in his eyes as he took her proffered hand. “Sebastien Pichard. Welcome to the
family chalet. We might as well use first names, since we will be sharing
a living space for much of the winter.”
    His hand was strong and warm, but
his eyes remained guarded. She forced her gaze away from his face and looked
around her.
    A wooden staircase led up to an
open mezzanine with rooms beyond. Behind Sebastian she could see a spacious
living room with a welcoming fireplace. Although the spaces were large with
high ceilings, the simple décor gave the chalet a warm, homey feeling.
    Which made a nice contrast to the
feeling she was getting from the man in front of her. He kept looking at her
intently without smiling, which added to her growing sense of disaster. He
seemed to be studying her face, looking for something. Or maybe she was
becoming paranoid.
    It was time to regain a modicum of
control over things, she decided. The shorter she made this meeting, the more
likely the odds that she would survive without giving herself away. She needed
time to prepare herself mentally before they next met.
    She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry
I’m not in very good form just now,” she said with an attempt at a smile, which
died on her face when he failed to smile back. It was like trying to melt a
glacier with a candle. “I’ve just arrived and I’m quite tired, so it might take
me a day to find my feet again.”
    For a terrible instant she thought
he was going to ask to see some sort of proof of identification. Then he seemed
to come to a decision and turned abruptly toward the living room.   
    “I will just give you a cursory
tour of the chalet and then leave you to make yourself at home.” he said over
his shoulder as he led the way. “I still have some business to take care of
today, but you will have a week to familiarise yourself with everything before
your services are needed.”
    “What a beautiful living room!”
Kate gushed, and then caught herself. If this was a test of her discretion and
professionalism, she had already failed.
    Again the thick eyebrows rose
slightly. “I’m sure you’ve seen much more grandiose chalets in your previous engagements,”
he said in an off-hand manner, looking to her for a reaction.
    Kate froze and felt her colour
begin to rise again. “I...I am not at liberty to discuss my previous employers,”
she stammered, feeling flustered.
    For the first time Sebastien
seemed pleased with her response, giving a cursory nod. “I’m glad to hear that.
I’m sure that you are aware that we had a delicate situation last year because
of indiscretion. We have many guests, business associates and occasionally
various sorts of artists who don’t need the press following them around.”
    Kate felt a slight glimmer of hope
and confidence return. The discretion clause might save her new role yet. She
had no idea what she should or should not have heard, so she tried