Jonathan followed and reached for his skis. ‘Where are you staying?’
Skis resting against her shoulder, she said, ‘In town…La Massana.’
‘Same here, except I’ll bet your hotel is a bit nicer than the apartment I’m in.’
‘My boss chose well.’ Even though she’d felt uncomfortable, it wasn’t because he was a hard man to talk to. He was easy-going, friendly, conversational. It was what was going on in her head that was the problem. ‘I have some extra time as a holiday but I’ll switch accommodation then, so it’ll be a bit of a downgrade.’ She pulled on her gloves and picked up her poles. ‘I’d better get going, work on the article.’
‘Listen, about the article…I often wear a camera on my helmet to record some of the action on the slopes – call me a typical bloke but I enjoy watching the footage, especially when I get into the black runs. If you like, I can show you some of it, and you could interview me, maybe give you more to write about.’
Lydia didn’t think it was necessary at all but being one to over-research and gather as much information as possible, she found herself agreeing and they swapped numbers. Perhaps talking to a pro, someone with community pull and the charity work he did, she’d have an extra edge with this piece.
Jonathan zipped up his jacket. ‘How does tomorrow night sound?’
The way he was looking at her was anything but platonic, but for the first time, Lydia didn’t feel guilty. ‘Tomorrow night sounds perfect.’
She smiled at him as they went their separate ways. It wasn’t that she knew Theo had cheated on her that had made her agree to seeing Jonathan – somehow that little fact seemed like old news, so far away was her old life with him in England – it was more that she’d been through all the grief and emotion with Connor, culminating with the night they slept together, and now she felt as though it was time to give herself permission to move forwards.
*
‘I can barely watch!’ Lydia had her hands across her eyes, fingers parted just enough to watch Jonathan executing a smooth finish to the black run which, even from the comfort of the hotel sofa the next evening, could best be described as terrifying. ‘You made it.’ She sighed with relief.
‘I’m sitting beside you.’ He laughed hard. ‘Of course I made it.’
‘Now do you see why I’m no skier. Most people would watch and not have a problem. Still, at least I’ll have plenty of adjectives to describe it in my piece. Do you mind if I mention you by name?’ She was excited about putting the entire article together. All day she’d been interviewing people about snowshoe walking and mushing, and participating in both activities herself.
‘Of course not. Always good to keep my name out there. I’m lined up to do another charity event in Hertfordshire later this year.’
Lydia wondered whether she would be sent to cover it. She hoped so.
As Lydia spent more time with Jonathan, the inevitable comparisons between him and Theo began to creep in. They were similar with their air of confidence, their love of sports, and yet they were different in their mannerisms and appearance. She liked the way Jonathan’s lips pulled to the side when he thought about something complex or when he was trying to use the right words to explain skiing techniques and intricacies.
Jonathan was handsome, so was Theo, and both men turned plenty of heads without realising it. And even though she barely knew him, already she could tell that Jonathan had what Lydia would describe as a laissez-faire attitude to life. Theo had always been very focused on his career path: where he wanted to be in two, five, ten years from now.
‘Anyway, enough about the black runs.’ Jonathan sat at the other end of the two-seater sofa, one foot across his opposite knee, and brought Lydia back to the present. ‘Tell me about mushing.’
‘I really had no idea what to expect but I have to say, I totally loved it.’
‘See!’ He playfully pinched the top of her knee in a pincer grip. ‘You love the speed.’
She wondered if he knew what effect his touch had on her and if he did, whether he’d still do it. ‘I was safely in the sled with someone else in control. I didn’t have two skis strapped to my feet.’
‘How long did you go out for?’
‘Almost an hour, I think the guy knew I was enjoying myself. I just tried to forget that he could leap off the back at any second and my fate would be in the hands, or paws, of those dogs. It was faster than I thought but thrilling.’
‘And what about snowshoeing?’
‘It was okay.’
‘Ah…reading between the lines, you mean dull.’
‘Compared to mushing, yes. Totally. But it’s all good for the article.’
‘I’m sure it is.’
A silence hung between them and when Lydia noticed Jonathan’s gaze drop to her lips more than once, she suggested they go down to the bar for a few drinks. She could do with a glass of red wine and she was hungry, and from the speed of his answer Jonathan was thinking along the same lines.
Over a couple of bottles of red and a beautifully cooked steak they talked more about Andorra, La Massana and some of the other countries Jonathan had skied in.
