struggled for breath. “Before you showed up, Philippe was afraid you’d died.”
A ring of white appeared around his compelling mouth. “Is that what you thought, too?” When she didn’t say anything because she was afraid to admit it, he held her upper arms, shaking her gently. “Tell me the truth.”
“I didn’t want to think it because—because I couldn’t bear the thought.”
“Of what?” he demanded.
“Of you being gone—” She averted her eyes. “The family couldn’t handle another tragedy.”
His sudden intake of breath sounded like a volcanic fissure erupting. “So it wasn’t personal?” He’d brought her body right up against his.
“Raoul—” she cried in torment, but that was the only word to escape her lips before he lowered his dark head and found her mouth. Her body quivered as he closed his mouth over hers in a man’s kiss so hot with desire it began melting her bones.
Crystal had already caught flame and opened up to him, giving in to her terrible hunger for him. She heard his unmistakable moan of longing before he deepened their kiss. The kind of rapture she’d never known sent out voluptuous heat, encasing them in a fire too marvelous to describe.
To be tasting and loving him like this when she’d dreamed about it for so long had her soaring. When he unexpectedly wrenched his mouth from hers, leaving her reeling, she gasped in the aftershock and took a step away from his arms.
What had she done?
“You—you shouldn’t have done that, Raoul,” she said, her voice shaking while she wobbled in place. The feel of him still held her in its grip.
His eyes glittered dangerously. “Hate me all you want, but you’d be lying if you told me you didn’t enjoy that.”
Her cheeks burned as if she had a fever. “Yes, I enjoyed it,” she admitted. “No man has kissed me since Eric. I’d forgotten how pleasurable it could be.”
“Kind of like the same way you forgot how much you loved to ski,” he persisted. “Look what happened when you gave yourself permission to embrace life again.”
Fighting for her life she said, “Yes, and that’s because of the offer you made me. I’ve done nothing but think about it, so I might as well give you my answer now.”
Raoul’s body broke out in a cold sweat. This was it, the answer he’d been waiting for since the other night at his house.
He watched her brace her legs against the end of the bed, as if she needed support. “This won’t take long.” He could hear her rapid breathing.
“Go on,” he said, moving toward her.
“I’ve considered it from every angle. Your offer was so incredibly generous, I’m still overwhelmed by it.”
His lungs froze. If his theory was wrong and she took him up on it, then it meant she didn’t have the feelings for him he had for her.
“I happen to know it’s unprecedented,” she continued, “which makes what I have to tell you sound like I’m the most ungrateful wretch who ever lived. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to turn it down because I’ve decided to make a new life for myself and Philippe in Breckenridge.”
The blood pounded in his ears.
“After we return, I’m going to start a ski school. I’m also going to buy Philippe and I a house of our own and get him enrolled in some activities like karate. At some point I’m also going to rent a piano in the hope he might take to it. Raising a well-rounded child is important to me. Though I didn’t like piano lessons when I was younger, it taught me music and I think it’s important.”
Crystal could talk all she wanted, but Raoul was too elated to listen and didn’t buy a word of it.
“I know you told me to think about it and give you my answer when I was ready. Well the truth is, I wanted to tell you ‘no’ when you first made the offer, but that would have seemed unconscionably rude of me.”
He shifted his weight, struggling to contain emotions that were spilling out in every direction. “You don’t know how to be rude, Crystal. If you don’t feel that establishing a ski school here is for you, then I won’t bring it up again. My concern was to be of help to you and Philippe any way I could.”
“You’ve always been there for us. There’ve been times when I don’t know what I … we would have done without you.”
The betraying choice of words wasn’t wasted on him. “I’ll always be here for you. You know that.”
It was fascinating to watch the way her hands rubbed against womanly hips in an unconscious gesture. The sister-in-law he’d once known had never betrayed her nervousness around him like this. He was seeing a new phenomenon she’d only started to display since he’d flown to Colorado.
“I’ll never forget your offer. Thank you for all you’ve done for Philippe. He’s the most fortunate little boy I know to have you for his uncle.”
“You know how I feel about him. In fact, one of the reasons I came upstairs was to tell you I’ve arranged for a sleigh ride for everyone who wants to go. It’s my treat to the children for putting on such a wonderful performance. See you downstairs? Be sure to dress warmly.”
He purposely held himself back from touching her again because he couldn’t trust himself within ten feet of her right now. After he left the room, he stopped at the stair landing to send Des a text.
She turned me down flat. Joy to the world.
HATE ME ALL YOU WANT, but you’d be lying if you told me you didn’t enjoy that.
Crystal stood there for a long time, taking in shallow breaths while the ramifications of what he’d done began to set in. With that soul-destroying kiss he’d crossed over the line and broken all the rules. What was it Eric had once told her about his elder brother?
Raoul makes up his own rules as he goes along. That’s why he’s the best of the best at what he does.
He was the best. Seconds ago she’d turned down an offer no other champion skier in her right mind would do. Yet, all the while she’d been giving him her reasons, she’d had the feeling he wasn’t listening because he knew Philippe wasn’t on board with any of it.
She’d kept waiting for him to raise objections. In a way, she’d been anticipating a fight. Not the cat-and-dog kind, naturally. Raoul knew how to put up arguments couched with logic and reason that made it difficult for her to ever come out the winner. But just a little while ago when she’d been frank with him, he’d said nothing to dissuade her. By not bringing any pressure to bear, it had thrown her off balance.
With that kiss, it meant all those growing feelings she’d tried to deny before leaving for Colorado had been visible to Raoul on some sensory level.
