‘In fairness, no one could have predicted this,’ Luc agreed, driving forward. ‘The gondola station has only just closed.’
‘Closed?’ Stacey exclaimed. ‘How do I get down the mountain?’
‘You won’t—not tonight, at least.’
‘A hotel, then,’ she said hopefully, looking about.
‘All the hotels are full of people who are stranded,’ Luc explained.
‘So where are you taking me?’
‘Does it matter?’ Grabbing hold of her arm, he urged her along. ‘Come on, we’ll freeze if we stay here.’
Against her better judgement where Luc was concerned, she felt safe for the first time since coming up the mountain. And optimistic for some reason. She felt way too much of everything, Stacey concluded as she admitted, ‘This is not how I expected us to meet.’
‘I’m sure not,’ Luc agreed, forced to shout as he drove them both on against the battering snow. ‘You’re lucky I was checking the progress of evacuating skiers, and making sure the slopes were clear, or we wouldn’t be here.’
‘Where exactly are we?’ she asked. ‘How do you even know where we’re going?’ Having stared about, she couldn’t be sure of anything but an unrelieved vista of white.
‘I just know where I am,’ Luc said with confidence. ‘In-built GPS, I guess.’
She wouldn’t put anything past him. ‘I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.’
‘Not your fault,’ he said brusquely. ‘It’s been called the freak storm of the century. No one saw this coming.’
Reassured that he didn’t think her completely reckless in venturing up the mountain, she asked another question. ‘Do you have a phone signal at your chalet? I need to reassure the team I’m okay.’
‘I have a landline,’ Luc confirmed, ‘though mobile lines are dead. You can ring the hotel and leave a message.’
‘Sure?’
‘Of course.’
‘That’s very kind of you.’
This was too polite, she mused as Luc steered her away to the left; a bit like the calm before the storm.
‘My chalet’s over here.’
‘So close,’ she exclaimed with surprise.
‘As close as the black ski run where I found you.’ Luc’s voice held irony and humour in matching amounts. ‘You might have had a shock if you’d gone that way.’
‘Terrifying,’ she agreed. ‘Particularly as I can’t ski.’
‘Nor can I without skis,’ Luc pointed out dryly.
In all probability, Luc had saved her life. ‘I can never thank you enough for finding me.’
‘We’ll find a way.’
Her heart almost leapt out of her chest. Her brain said it was a throwaway remark, but it was still Luc speaking. She hoped he’d say more. He didn’t. Locking an arm around her waist, he steered her until finally he half carried her up a slope that had probably been steps to his chalet before the snows came.
‘Thank you,’ she said as he steadied her on the ground as the impressive entrance door swung open.
‘You’ll have plenty of chances to thank me,’ he observed with some irony. ‘You won’t be going anywhere tonight. Neither of us will. You’ll have to stay in the chalet with me.’
Left with that alarming thought, she smiled as obliging staff gathered on the doorstep to greet them. Without exception, they were relieved to see Lucas return safely. He introduced Stacey to his housekeeper, a rosy-cheeked older woman called Maria, who wanted nothing more than to take Stacey under her wing, but they all paused in the same instant as a thin wail cut through their greeting.
‘Did you hear that?’ Stacey asked.
‘Go inside while I take a look around,’ Luc instructed.
‘No way. I’m coming with you. It isn’t safe to be out on your own tonight.’
‘Says you?’ he countered with a devastating smile. ‘Do you think two of us will be safer?’
‘Two will stand more chance of finding someone stranded.’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re freezing. Go inside.’
‘I can last a little longer, and if there is someone out there, we have to find them.’
‘You have to call your team,’ he reminded her.
‘And I will, just as soon as I get back.’
Luc frowned. ‘That sounds like an animal in distress…’
‘Let’s go,’ Stacey insisted, tugging on his arm.
An hour later, she and Maria were tending a cat after a most astonishing encounter in Luc’s boot room. Two calls later, and Stacey had informed her team that she was safe and they should stay where they were. ‘I’ll give you an update tomorrow,’ she promised.
‘Bath. Now,’ Luc instructed from the doorway. ‘I won’t be answerable for your well-being if you don’t take my advice.’
‘I didn’t ask you to be answerable.’ She couldn’t bring herself to add, I’m fine. I can look after myself, as the blizzard had clearly proved her wrong about that.
‘Lucky for you, I’m still going to care about your welfare,’ Luc said in a tone that made her think he was speaking as her brother’s friend, rather than as her lover. ‘Just remember—you’re in my house and I’m in charge. No arguments,’ he added in a mock-stern tone. ‘And when you take a shower be sure to run it cold, or you’ll burn yourself. Even on the coldest setting the water’s going to feel warm to you. It’s only safe to increase the temperature when the water starts to feel chilly to you. When you’re confident everything’s back to normal you can take a bath. Don’t rush. I’ll be doing the same thing.’
He was almost out of the door when he thought better of it and turned around. ‘You did well tonight. That could have been a person, and a cat is no less deserving of our care. Mountain rescue will be on the case by now. They’re a lot better equipped than I am for this sort of thing, so you can relax. I’ll call them to let them know the area we covered, and then we can safely leave them to it. I’ll join in later if they need me.’
‘Then so will I,’ Stacey insisted.
‘No, you won’t. You can’t ski, and you don’t know the mountains. You’ll only get in the way. Stay here. You were brave tonight. Don’t be foolish now.’
‘I wasn’t brave, I was scared to death,’ she admitted. ‘That’s why I had to go out again, in case there were others trapped like me.’
‘You’re very honest,’ he observed.
She shrugged. ‘I try to be.’
Stacey, Stacey, Stacey! What was she doing to him? Lucas reflected as he paced the great room, attempting not to think of her naked beneath the shower. He’d passed the time while she’d been warming up, making calls to reunite the cat with its owner, and to