“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, eyeing her carefully.
“Fine,” she answered, tucking her hat into her pocket. “Look, again, I’m dreadfully sorry. It was all my fault. I lost control of my skis on an icy patch up there.”
“That’s okay.” He glanced at the darkening sky around them. “Better get to the bottom before we end up skating down this thing, though. I’ll lead the way.”
Elm was about to protest at his arbitrary attitude of command when a quick look at the ominous shadows cast by pine trees changed her mind. Perhaps it was no bad thing the stranger wanted to lead the way. With a shrug she followed him. He was obviously an ace skier, though she had no difficulty following him to the bottom of the slope, despite the increasingly icy conditions. She just wasn’t going to break her neck trying to prove herself, she decided, shushing down the run after him.
Leaning on his ski poles at the bottom of the slope, Johnny Graney watched appreciatively as the slim, white-clad figure crossed the last few hundred yards, then made a neat sharp stop next to him.
“Okay?” he inquired solicitously.
“Fine.” Elm pressed the tip of her pole into the back of her binding. Johnny followed suit, wishing she’d remove her glasses once more so that he could catch another glimpse of those incredible brown eyes, such an unusual contrast to the blond mass falling about her shoulders. At least if he was going to be rammed into by a strange woman, he reflected philosophically, then by all means let it be by a beautiful one.
As though guessing his silent wish, Elm stood in the snow, shook her skis, then removed her glasses. For a moment he frowned. He knew that face, was certain he’d seen it before. Was she an actress? Someone he’d met in London or New York? He flexed his memory while removing his own equipment, determined to find out who she was.
“How about a glühwein or a hot chocolate in the village?” he threw casually, surprising himself.
“Oh, I really don’t think—”
“You said you were sorry for running into me.” He grinned, eyes flashing in his bronzed face. “Make up for it by joining me.”
Elm was about to refuse when she suddenly realized that, actually, she wouldn’t mind having a drink with this handsome stranger. It was Gstaad, after all, not Chicago. Everybody knew one another.
“Okay, why not?” She smiled.
“Great. Maybe we should introduce ourselves. In a formal manner,” he added, lips twitching as he removed his right glove.
Elm grinned ruefully and did the same.
“You first,” he urged in a smooth British accent.
“Elm Hathaway from Savannah, Georgia.”
“Pleased to meet you, Elm Hathaway from Savannah, Georgia. I’m Johnny Graney from Ireland slash Pittsburgh, U.S.A.” A warm tingle coursed through Elm’s fingers. Then all at once, memory jogged, realization dawned and she drew them back quickly.
“Johnny Graney?”
“Guilty.” He sent her a curious glance. “This sounds like a line, but haven’t we met before?”
“Uh, as a matter of fact, we have,” Elm responded, feeling as if she’d been thrown into a time warp. Johnny Graney had been her first serious crush, the boy she’d mooned over some twenty years earlier. It came as something of a shock to realize just how much time had elapsed—and, apparently, how much she must have changed, she reflected with a touch of humor. Johnny was clearly having a hell of a time trying to place her.
“I’m dreadfully sorry, but I—” He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “I’m afraid I just don’t remember.”
“How flattering,” Elm replied dryly. “But it makes sense. At the time, you were only peripherally aware of my existence.”
“I was?” His face took on a look of comical horror. “You must be joking,” he added, throwing up his hands. “If I’d ever met you, even for a split second, I’m certain I’d remember.”
Elm burst out laughing and watched his face color with polite embarrassment. He’d been a dangerous flirt back then, and every girl’s hero. She couldn’t resist teasing him a little longer. “I can see I made a lasting impression on you,” she said, glancing down. “It’s kind of cold. Shall we move?” Picking up her skis, she acquiesced when he immediately insisted on carrying them with his own.
“Look, I feel awful. At least give me a hint,” he begged.
“Should I?” she taunted, eyeing him playfully, deliciously aware that she was flirting, something she hadn’t done in years.
“Come on, be a sport. Heck, you almost massacred me back there. Are you planning torture, too? What kind of a woman are you?” He raised an amused brow, and Elm smiled sweetly.
“It’s too cold for conversation.”
“Okay. The Palace Hotel—I promise a table next to the fireplace if you tell me who you are and where we met.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“Elm Hathaway from Savannah, Georgia,” he said thoughtfully, placing their skis on the back of a new silver Range Rover. “I know that rings a bell somewhere.”
“This is really quite demoralizing,” she pouted, sighing heavily as he held the door of the vehicle for her. “To think I’ve changed to the point of being unrecognizable—”
“I never said that, I merely—”
“I know,” she continued, enjoying the game. “You meet so many women it’s hard to keep track. Don’t worry, I understand.” She sent him a sympathetic, pitying look.
“Hey! Hold it,” he exclaimed, coming around and getting in the driver’s seat, rallying as he turned the key in the ignition. “If it was a long time ago as you’re implying, maybe you were a skinny, gawky little thing. A sort of ugly duckling who’s since turned into a swan.”
“A skinny ugly duckling—” Elm spluttered, laughing, “I was never an ugly duckling.”
“In that case, you’ll just have to help me out,” he insisted, driving out of the parking lot.
“I don’t know.” She eyed him thoughtfully. “Seeing you strain your memory is rather satisfying,” she remarked, leaning against the cream-colored leather, remembering the numerous times she’d haunted the basketball court and the soccer field, just waiting to catch a glimpse of him.
“I give up,” Johnny declared dramatically as the four-wheel-drive vehicle wound down the mountain and back toward the village.
“What, so easily?” She raised a brow and looked him over with a sly grin. “I seem to recall a certain basketball team captain rallying his players with a speech about never giving up and fighting until the death, et cetera, et cetera…quite dramatic stuff, really,” she added with a sigh, “and so disappointing to know it no longer holds true.”
The car braked abruptly. “My God.” He turned and stared at her. “Now I remember. Little Elm Hathaway, the Southern belle from Savannah. You had a picture of me under your pillow—” a slow wicked grin dawned “—and that bitch Janine whatever-her-name-was stole it and showed it to the whole school at dinner.”
“Yes, well, we don’t need to dwell on that,” Elm muttered hastily, blushing despite herself. It had proved the most lowering experience. “Uh, I think there’s a car behind you,” she added, trying to divert his attention.
Johnny took his eyes off her and drove once more. “Well, well. It’s a small world indeed.” He flashed her another sidelong grin. “My only excuse for not recognizing you at once are the developments since then.”
“Developments?”