Blaze For Me (Be for Me Page 5

  “Yeah?” Austin gritted his teeth and forced a smile. “I gotta go.”

  “Again? You’re not coming to the bar later?” Kyle punched his shoulder. “We need you.”

  “No you don’t,” he muttered. “Happy hunting.”

  He turned to stalk his own prey.

  She was waiting on his floor but he beckoned her towards him. “Not my room tonight.”

  “No?” She frowned.

  “Yours.” He headed towards the stairwell to walk up to the next level. He wasn’t in the mood for chat right now.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re the one who has to go fast down the mountain a million times a day. You can fall asleep in your own bed and not have to move again ’till morning.” Because it wasn’t going to be only a couple of hours tonight, he needed a whole lot longer to get this craving out of his system.

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Isn’t treating patients more important than skiing?”

  “I’m not doing brain surgery. I’m putting on plasters and doling out painkiller to hung-over party-goers.”

  “You’re playing it down.” She bristled. “You’re doing heaps of conditioning work with the snowboarders. You get concussions and bone breaks all the time.”

  And he looked after the locals too, including a couple of cancer patients. Yeah, he had plenty to need his concentration for. But so did she.

  “I don’t care.” She wasn’t sneaking out of his room at some horrendous hour again. He was having her. Then leaving her. “Don’t argue with me on this.” He took the stairs two at a time.

  “Or what?”

  He didn’t answer until they were safely locked in her room. “Or I won’t give you what you want.”

  She had no answer to that. He chuckled as he pulled her into his arms. He liked this side of Nicoletta—the hungry, passionate woman who wanted him. The woman who cried out his name. Who turned him on so hard he couldn’t think for wanting her.

  So he had her. Fast the first time. Then he went for the slow torture.

  A couple hours later he went to her kitchenette to get them some water. He noticed the room service meal receipts on the table next to her laptop and the day’s newspaper.

  “You usually eat alone?” he asked, when she appeared, wearing just a thin tee that skimmed the tops of her thighs.

  “Its no fun being seen dining alone in a restaurant.” She sipped from the glass he handed her.

  Being seen. Alone. “Why don’t you dine with others in the squad?” He put his glass down.

  “And see them assessing the nutritional value of everything I eat? Wondering if it’s the extra serving of kale that’s giving me the edge?”

  He turned at the edge undermining her joking tone. “You’re not that friendly with them?”

  “I’m not unfriendly.” She tried to move out of his path but he had a hold of her waist already.

  “But you don’t consider them your friends?” he asked.

  “We’ve been on tour together since we were kids. Practically grew up together. But we’re still competitors. They want to beat me. I want to beat them. It can’t be the best friendship when you have all that in the way.” She shrugged.

  “All that being the sponsorship and the modeling and the publicity that you get. They must be jealous.”

  “They envy NV?” She screwed up her face as she twisted her hair into a messy topknot that somehow stayed up without any pins. “I hate that nickname.”

  “It’s on your helmet. You can’t hate it that much.”

  “Marketing. Publicity. All part of the machine.”

  And she felt trapped in it? She was making serious changes if she’d ditched her social media accounts. And with the new coach taking over from her dad? “So you’re better friends with the guys?” He couldn’t help wondering about some of those athletes, felt a hit of envy himself.

  “They make good training companions. But sometimes one might want something more.”

  “And you don’t.”

  “It’s a very simple rule.” She looked up at him earnestly. “You never mess around within the squad. Never ever. Remember the fall out from Logan’s affair a few years ago?”

  He remembered. Connor Hughes’s wayward brother Logan Hughes had been the ultimate player—sex tape and everything—and he’d paid a hefty price more than once. But Austin was more interested in Nicoletta’s motivations right now. “What other rules are there?” he asked curiously. She was big on rules—for this liaison, and her whole life.

  “No getting serious. No serious distractions.” She looked serious with it.

  “Your parents taught you that rule?”

  “Of course. You can’t expect to get anywhere without sacrifices.”

  And all that mattered was getting to the top.

  “So that means dinner on your own. With the newspaper.” He glanced at the evidence sitting next to the room service receipts—the half-completed puzzle page from that day’s edition.

  “So sue me for being a loner.” She folded her arms and glared at him. “Whereas you dine with a different woman every night?”

  He smothered a grin at the jealousy in her voice—glad he wasn’t alone in feeling it. “Sometimes I eat by myself. Sometimes with the guys from the field. Sometimes Connor.” He wasn’t the man-slut she seemed to want to believe.

  “Options huh? Go you.” She tried to wriggle out of his hold.

  “Don’t get mad,” he soothed.

  “Then don’t get judgmental.”

  “I’m not. I was concerned.”

  “I don’t need pity, thanks Doc,” she scoffed. “I’m quite good at entertaining myself.” She suddenly froze and held up a hand, her face washing beet red. “Don’t say it. Don’t say a thing.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “You watch porn in your hotel room?”

  “I told you not to say anything,” she grumbled at him. “And no. I don’t.”

  He glanced back at the paper folded on the table. “The word you’re missing there is ‘RENAISSANCE’.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the gap in the ‘code cracker’ that he’d supplied. “How’d you get that so quick?”

  “I didn’t. I worked on it at lunchtime.” When he’d been trying to distract himself from filthy thoughts of what he was going to do to her tonight.

  Her eyes widened. “You do the code cracker?”

  “We have the paper in the clinic for the patients. I race the receptionist for it.”

  She chuckled.

  Good. He liked her best when she laughed, she lit up from within and was all the more gorgeous for it.

  He understood that her isolation was self-protection. She perceived her teammates as threats and maybe they were. Everyone on that squad wanted gold. They’d all made sacrifices, all put in years of hard work.

  “Who was your first lover?” He couldn’t hold back his curiosity. If she’d spent most of her life totally focused on winning, when had she found time for the other kinds of fun?

  “You’re asking me this right now?”

  “Yeah. I am.” He laughed ruefully and rubbed her back. “Mine was a girl at school. She was a senior. Since then there’s been a few flings. Not as many as you seem to think—hard to meet people when you’re busy studying and then travelling. Now you. First time?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It was at a ski camp a few years ago. There was a party.”

  “Of course there was.” He groaned. “First times at parties aren’t generally a good idea.”

  “Hindsight.” She rolled her eyes. “I was curious. He was good-looking.”

  “But crap in bed?” he guessed.

  “Marginally more experienced that me. So yeah, not so good.”

  “And since then?”

  She shrugged. “It’s hard to meet people who aren’t in the squads. And hard to meet people who don’t know who I am and who just want something from me. Because it’s not really me they want.”

  No, they want
ed the publicity or kudos for ‘scoring’ NV. Was that part of why she’d wanted to keep this secret? “You feel pressure to perform?” he asked carefully.

  “In every way,” she confessed. “And I can’t always be what they all expect me to be. I’m not that good.” Her cheeks flushed.

  He had the horrible feeling she was thinking of the actor loser who’d cheated on her.

  “You don’t know what it’s like,” she said.

  He smiled at that. “You’re no poor little Princess NV. You think I don’t know about pressure? You think you’re the only one to feel that kind of heat?” He laughed. “I come from a dynasty of surgeons Nikki. I’m the black sheep because I did sports medicine when they’re all neurosurgeons or heart specialists. The expectation on me was to be the best of the very best. Trust me, I understand elite expectation.”

  A frown pleated her brow. “So how do you handle it?”

  “I don’t give a damn. I decided to do what made me happy. Snowboarding makes me happy. Mountain rescue makes me happy. I like having conversations with my patients, not cranking open an unconscious body… I like face to face contact. I don’t have to conform to what their idea of successful is.”

  “That’s easier said than done when it’s your family though.”

  “Sure. But if your family loves you, they get it eventually.”

  “Do they love you?”

  “I make them laugh. They can’t help themselves.” He pulled her so she leaned on him. “Your parents love you too.”

  “My parents love me to succeed,” she corrected. “They don’t want me to jeopardize that success.”

  “And what could you do to jeopardize it?”

  “A myriad of things. Get busted doing something stupid. Get involved with the wrong guy. Someone in the squad or worse. Get—”

  “Caught doing all the fun things.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So no fun things.” Hence all the ‘rules’.

  “Not while my career lasts. Already there’s doubt since my switch up in coaches.” She sighed. “I’m only as good as my last race. If I lose my form, I lose my contracts. It’s all over. And what do I do then?”

  “You’re not decrepit yet.”

  “The newest young thing could come knock my off my perch any day, I know it’s not going to last forever.”

  “But you’re not stupid. You’ve made plans.”

  “I’ve made investments so I won’t starve.” She nodded. “But beyond that?”

  “Early retirement?” He leaned back and winked at her, but she looked too doubtful to take the joke. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You’ll figure it out.” He cupped her face with his hand. “You will.” He kissed her.

  She still looked doubtful.

  “Would you study?” he prompted.

  “I was mostly homeschooled by mom.” She grimaced. “I’m not sure I’d cope with sitting in a big class full of kids staring at me.”

  “University isn’t like normal school. It’s more fun. And everyone’s trying to be too cool to be caught staring.”

  “Maybe,” Her hands swept over his skin and her eyelids lowered. She was distracting herself—and him. “It doesn’t matter yet anyway, I’ve got some trophies to add to my stash first… and I know what I want to do right now.”

  Yeah, too bad for him he was top of her ‘to do’ list.

  Two hours later he snuck out of her hold. He didn’t want to leave but he knew he had to. She needed at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. And okay, so did he. He saw her animal face socks on the floor in the lounge and smiled.

  She travelled light—didn’t have billions of bags like a real princess would. The only personal ornament she’d bothered to put out in her room was a picture of her parents in a frame on the table.

  She looked about six in the photo, and they were at the beach. No snow. No skis. No medals. Just smiles.

  Her laptop was also on the table. He knew she studied her race footage over and over. Then she studied her competitors’ races. Then she did the code cracker and the crosswords from the daily newspaper. Just like he did.

  She was lonely. Just like him.

  He went back to the doorway of her bedroom, stealing once last look as she slept. She wasn’t some spoilt ski princess, she was a real woman who wanted to be loved. A woman who faced huge pressures and a punishing schedule.

  And it had taken less than twenty-four hours for him to fall for her completely. He’d fucking known it would happen—that’s why he’d kept such strict distance from her last year. She’d fascinated him then, and getting past her persona now and discovering the real, sweet’n’sexy woman she was? His stupid heart had no chance.

  So now he had two choices—to back the hell off, or try pushing for what he really wanted.

  Option one was impossible. Trouble was, he had less than a fortnight to make option two a success.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It was still dark, too early to rise and get ready for training, but Nicoletta had run out of sleep. She wished Austin had stayed the whole night, wished she could find him now and kiss him, wished she could call in on him at his clinic any time she damn well wanted…

  The last five nights had been incredible. He’d met her in her room as soon as he was done for the day—stripping even as he walked in. Her laughter swiftly turned to sighs. Man, could he make her shake and sigh and scream and still it wasn’t enough.

  He’d order a meal to his room and sneak it to hers. Eventually they’d get around to talking through their days—he’d tell her stories about accident-prone tourists and the antics of this season’s crop of lifties, she’d tell him speeds and squad goss. They’d eat. Shower. Have sex. Have sex again. And then again.

  She couldn’t get enough of him.

  Not just the sex. But of everything with him.

  Now she rolled out of bed with a wince, forcing herself to snap out of the lethargy. She needed to stop day dreaming and get her focus back. She went down to the training center to check in and plan the day, but he wasn’t there. Her morning training went well, then she went to the gym to work on the machine for a while. He still wasn’t there—not during lunch. Nor was he there after her final slope session for the day.

  Back at the Lodge that evening, he didn’t answer his door. She even sent him a text but got no response. She walked along the corridor towards the foyer, trying not to look obvious.

  “Nicoletta?” Savannah called out to her from one the meeting rooms, then stepped out to catch up with her. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I was just…”

  “He’s up the mountain.” Savannah smiled.

  “Who?” Nicoletta asked warily.

  “Austin.”

  “This late?” A chill swept over her and she narrowed her gaze, taking in Savannah’s slightly set features. “There’s someone in trouble?”

  “Missing off piste.” Savannah summoned another smile. “Don’t worry. Connor’s a good pilot and Austin’s a good doctor. They’ll bring him home safe.”

  “When did they go up?”

  “A few hours ago. They’ve since found him but it’s a tricky extraction apparently. You want to have a drink with me while we wait? Or something to eat?” Savannah asked.

  “Um, thanks.” She tried to think of an excuse. “But I’d… better… get…”

  “Okay,” Savannah interrupted, saving Nicoletta from her clumsy refusal. “Don’t worry, they’ve done it many times.”

  Yeah. But it was dark out there and there were many experienced helicopter pilots who’d crashed in the mountains. So many skiers had been caught in avalanches or taken bad tumbles and were left stuck on the side of a mountain with hypothermia setting in… She knew the risks better than anyone.

  Time went stupidly slow—every second took forever, stretching her nerves to breaking point. She went to her room, stripped out of her gear and showered. Dressing in loose jeans and a comfy tee,
she waited some more. And fretted. Surely they wouldn’t keep trying when it was so dark? Would they have to dig in up there for the night? What about the snow forecast to fall in the early hours? She hated the thought of him up there and in danger.

  Finally she heard the unmistakable whop, whop, whop of a helicopter nearing the resort. Fifteen minutes later she heard a truck pulling up outside the Lodge. She couldn’t stay away.

  A pile of people were whisked through the foyer through to the Lodge’s ‘Great Hall’ that had been closed to the public. Austin stood out in his bright colored jacket and broad smile. He stood talking intently with a tall woman who had a medic bag. An older man sat wrapped in rugs in a wheelchair, his left leg out straight, obviously injured. He was smiling up at a tear-stained woman who’d bent to talk to him. Savannah stood alongside Connor, both of them were smiling too.

  It seemed it was all a happy ending.

  Nicoletta turned away before she got caught watching again. But she’d barely taken more than two steps towards the corridor when Austin was suddenly there.

  “Hey,” he said, taking her arm and turning her towards him before releasing her. “You okay?”

  She paused, flushing. “I should be the one asking you that.”

  “I’m fine. Nothing too tricky. Connor was the skilled one getting the helicopter off that soft snow again.” He rolled his shoulders, easing the tension. “The old boy’s fine. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

  “You don’t need to go back to look after him?”

  “The nurse will settle him now. I’ll check on him again through the night.”

  Nicoletta glanced back at the couple, so she wouldn’t have to look at him and give herself away. The older man and his wife were kissing—the relief and love between them was so obvious. She gazed at their connection. It was everything she felt yet couldn’t show.

  “You really do like watching, don’t you?” Austin laughed lightly in her ear. “You’re such a sweet looking deviant.”

  It wasn’t that watching turned her on—infact it was the opposite. It hurt. She’d watched that couple reunite and the envy ate her up.

  “Did you ever watch Logan’s sex tape?” He teased, drawing her back down the corridor towards the elevator and away from the crowd.