Company Vacation (2 page)

Elle paused the video on her tablet. With a yawn, she massaged her temples and stretched in the luxurious hotel bed. Her sore muscles protested loudly, and she reached for the ibuprofen that she kept nearby ever since arriving in Aspen two days earlier. The sun was starting to come up, and she’d barely slept. Her final, private snowboarding lesson started in a couple of hours, and she knew she wasn’t even close to good enough to fool her lovers, who would be arriving that day.

She washed down the pill with some cool, mountain water, then grabbed her tablet and watched, again, as the instructor explained how to turn the snowboard simply by shifting one’s body weight. Her weekend of private lessons meant that she was able to make it down the easiest hills without falling … usually. She dug her fingers into her palms. Why had she told Jonathan that she knew how to snowboard?

Maybe because she didn’t know how to say “no” to him. She didn’t want to chance losing esteem in his eyes.

A light knocking at the door startled her. She slammed the cover over her tablet and dropped it into her tote bag, then stood. Her joints ached from having fallen on her butt and knees a million times over the last two days. As soon as she had her bathrobe tied securely, she looked in the peephole. Nolan stood impatiently on the other side, his longish dark hair enticingly messy. Even though he wore a bathrobe, he managed to look stylish.
 

“I see your light on,” Nolan called. “I can hear you.” He started opening his bathrobe, and Elle flung open the door, to pull him out of the hallway before he scared someone.
 

But Nolan was wearing swim trunks. Elle had to clench her fists to stop from punching him in his gorgeous, smug face. “Feel like getting wet?” he said teasingly. It just annoyed her even more. Nolan had never come to her of his own will for anything remotely sexual. She’d once thought Cunningham had forbidden it, but Jonathan had told her otherwise. Nolan’s behavior was starting to make her paranoid … like he only participated because he didn’t have anything better to do.

Elle glared at him. Nolan crossed his arms and lazily leaned against the doorframe.

He was so exasperating. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit. Call me crazy, but ski resorts don’t exactly make me think of swimming.”

Nolan’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been out here for two days and you didn’t take a dip in the hot tub? You can wear a t-shirt and underwear.”

Elle shook her head, but she was already considering it. Steamy hot water would feel so good on her aching muscles. Besides, now that they were far from the office, it was the perfect time to grill Nolan about Cunningham. “Ok.” She shut the door in his face, and Nolan laughed.

Luckily she’d packed some boy-cut panties. She pulled them on and dug through her suitcase, looking for an appropriate shirt. Everything was made of thin fabric that would be completely transparent when wet. She opened the door with a sigh. “No shirts,” she said.

“I’ve got extras.”

Elle grabbed her key and followed Nolan down the hall. It was strange seeing him wearing something other than a pricey suit. “You look like a musician.”

Nolan ran his fingers through his tousled hair. “I need a haircut?”

“No. It’s … hot.” She suddenly felt uncomfortable. What, was she trying to start something with Nolan? These last few weeks of eating lunch with him, of sometimes grabbing dinner after work … it offended her female pride that he never made a move. But there was something about the way they bickered all the time, a sexual tension that wasn’t released when he fucked her with the others.

Nolan didn’t seem to have noticed her sudden discomfort. He dipped his keycard into the slot and swung the door open. “Ladies first.”

His room was bigger than hers. She wondered if Cunningham had given it to him or if he’d paid for it himself.

He opened his suitcase and pulled out a fistful of undershirts. Elle grabbed a black one. “Thanks.” She shucked off her bathrobe and pulled the shirt over her head.

Nolan watched. God help her, he watched like any red-blooded man, his appraising gaze slipping down her body. But he didn’t look horny. Just … patient. Like he was watching simply because she was there.

And to think that she once believed he had feelings for her. Thank goodness she’d kept that to herself.

He reached in the closet and tossed a pair of disposable slippers to her. Elle ripped off the plastic and stepped into them, and Nolan reached for her elbow when she wobbled.

“Thanks.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried not to think about how close he was, and how the bed was just behind him. He could fuck her if he wanted to … but no, he was already heading for the door.
 

As they walked silently through the halls, Elle wondered what it’d be like alone with Nolan. She knew that Jonathan, despite his carefree nature, was attentive and gentle, but could turn dominant quickly. And Cunningham was never anything
but
dominant. Part of the reason she loved when they shared her was that they balanced each other out.

“Why do you do it?” Elle blurted as they entered the deserted sauna and hot tub area. “Share a woman, I mean.”
 

Nolan frowned. “Why do
you
do it?”

Elle blinked, suddenly taken aback. “Because it feels amazing,” she said. She headed for the largest tub, grabbed the railing and descended into the hot water. The skin on her arms and legs tingled pleasantly at the temperature change. “Not only physically. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like something better is just around the corner. It’s like … all the buzzing in my head goes away, and all the uncertainty about the world and the future just doesn’t matter. I know it sounds really New Agey, but when the four of us are together, I feel like I’m in the present. In the Now. Like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

She sat on the tiled ledge and raised her eyes to his. His expression was blank. Maybe she was saying too much, but he had asked. And frankly, she was tired of how none of the men ever talked about it apart from reiterating the One Rule all the time: don’t get attached. But things had been going on long enough that it was silly to think it was casual.

Nolan stepped into the tub. “Really? I assumed it was all about the orgasms.” He paused. “So how come you’re in love with Cunningham? What makes him so irresistible?”

“It’s complicated.” She slipped deeper into the hot water until only her head was sticking out. She wasn’t about to tell Nolan that she daydreamed about a relationship with all of them. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Nolan exhaled and leaned back. He was quiet for so long that Elle kicked him. “Fair is fair! I asked first, plus I answered first.”

“I know,” Nolan said grumpily. “I’m trying to put my thoughts together.”

“Just spit it out. You know women. We pretty much disregard what men say and search for the deeper meaning behind it.”

“If I say it the right way, you won’t have to dig around to figure out what I mean.” His blue eyes started to darken, just like they did whenever he was angry.
 

Elle narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t think I’d answer, did you?”

“Sometimes I wish you weren’t so smart.” He shook his head. “I figured if you gave me a superficial answer, I could give you one back. But you were much more forthcoming than I anticipated.”

“Keep talking.”

“Geez.” Nolan raised his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation. “All I wanted was to relax a bit.” His smile, while genuine, was guarded. “What was the question again?”

“Why do you do it? All of it. Rumor mill says you’re loaded, so why work the receptionist’s desk when you clearly hate it? Why work for Cunningham at all? And why share a woman with him when you’re not even attracted to her?”

Nolan’s face went blank in shock. “That’s what you think? That I hate my job, hate my cousin? That I’m not … attracted to you?”

The door opened and two silver-haired couples walked in. What rotten timing, and damn Nolan for dragging this out. It had probably been his plan all along. But he was wrong if he thought she’d just drop it. “I don’t think you hate sex with me,” she said quietly. “But if Cunningham and Jonathan didn’t make you participate, you wouldn’t.”

“They don’t make me do anything,” Nolan growled.
 

Elle eyed the two couples as they settled into a hot tub at the other end of the room.
 

“But you’re right that it’s not something I’d have gone looking for. Especially with Cunningham in the mix.” He shook his head. “Cunningham has a way of messing things up because of his own demons. Seems like the harder he tries to make a relationship work, the more he screws it up. His rules and boundaries are saving you, Elle.” The final way he said the last bit made it clear he wasn’t going to discuss it further.

“What demons?”

“Those aren’t my secrets to tell.” Nolan twisted to look at the large clock over the door. “We’d better head out if we’re going to make first tracks.” He stood, pulling Elle up with him.

“But you didn’t answer my questions,” she protested as Nolan wrapped a fluffy towel around her shoulders.

He abruptly tightened the towel so that she couldn’t move. His irises had gotten so dark, that scary midnight blue that meant something had made him royally angry. “How could you think I’m not attracted to you?” He kissed her roughly, possessively, and he didn’t let her go until she trembled from head to foot.

By 11:00, Elle was so jumpy that her poor instructor finally tossed a handful of snow at her. “You aren’t paying attention,” he said for the fiftieth time. James was probably in his thirties, though he might have been younger and just never bothered wearing sunblock. He’d told Elle at the first lesson that he’d been a real estate lawyer, but once he realized he worked hard only so that he could afford ski trips, he ditched everything to work at the resort.

“Sorry, James.” Elle smiled apologetically. They were waiting for a lift to try a new part of the mountain. The trails were a lot less crowded than they had been on the weekend, and Elle couldn’t stop scrutinizing every group of tall men. Cunningham and Jonathan should have arrived hours ago, and they were surely somewhere on the slopes.

“Elle, this lift is different from the ones you’ve been on. Pay attention.”

“Sorry. Really, I’m listening.”

James grabbed her shoulders and pretended to shake her. “Woman, you are taking years off my life. The lift is faster, and the dismount is steep. Now I’m going to sit behind you, and you just focus on riding that snowboard. You won’t fall, but if you do, try to fall backward, and I’ll keep you upright. Just focus on going straight ahead.”

Elle nodded. “Got it.”

“You can do this. I have to say, up until recently, you’ve been the most fearless, most motivated student I’ve ever had.”

Elle grinned as she skated her snowboard forward. “You know I can’t afford to hire you all week,” she said teasingly. But she still blushed at his compliment.
 

“Rock on, homegirl,” James said. Elle assumed he was trying to be funny when he said stuff like that, but she wasn’t sure.

A pair of tall skiers carved down the hill, and Elle watched appreciatively. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to grow up doing these things. She didn’t envy her lovers their money, but the life experiences that went along with that money? Yeah, she was a little green about that.

She pulled off a glove and fished a bag of tissues out of a pocket.

Behind her, someone said, “Looks like your hat’s trying to escape.”

Elle froze, then stuffed the tissues back in her pocket. She knew that self-assured voice. It was Jonathan. She guessed he was far enough behind her that it might be ok. She faced forward, praying she hadn’t been spotted.

“Thanks. I’ve lost three hats this winter,” a female voice said, her tone sugary as honey. Elle’s jaw clenched. She hadn’t had to deal with women throwing themselves at her lovers very often because she usually saw them at the office. But those men were gorgeous, so she knew it happened a lot.

To her relief, Jonathan didn’t reply beyond a neutral, “No problem.” Maybe it was because the woman was ugly. Curiosity overcame her, and she sneaked a glance back. The woman was definitely
not
ugly, and Jonathan wasn’t alone. Cunningham and Nolan stood next to him.

And Nolan knew what she was wearing because he’d insisted on walking with her from the hotel to the bottom of the mountain. She skated forward and ended up bumping into the skier in front of her. The skier turned and glared.

“Sorry,” Elle whispered.
 

James made a chiding, tsk tsk sound. “If you don’t pay attention, you’re going to eat snow at the top of the lift. You want them to have to shut down the entire lift while you get up and out of the way?”

Elle shook her head, her eyes wide. She definitely did
not
want that. She and James loaded onto the lift, and Elle turned to look behind her as soon as they were in the air. Nolan was staring at her, but he hadn’t told the others; they were deep in conversation.

Nolan. Such a mystery, that one.

She focused and managed not to fall at the top. To her relief, a sign pointed the way to other, higher, chairlifts … and the black diamond trails. That was surely where the guys were headed.

James steered her toward an intermediate trail. Finally the trail merged onto the beginner trail that James had made her do over and over that morning. Elle’s confidence soared.

“You got this,” James called. He gave her a thumbs up. “I’m right behind you.”

Elle grinned and relaxed into the ride. It was like the snowboard was doing all the work and she was just along for the fun of it. It was over all too soon, though, and she coasted to a stop.

“That was great!” she said when James smoothly stopped exactly parallel to her. She threw her arms around him. “You’re the best!”

James returned her squeeze. “Are you kidding? Days like this are what I live for.” He pulled his goggles up on top of his knitted cap and unbuckled himself from his board.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”