Page 16 of A Billionaire for Christmas

Once she’d had three goes on the chair and a variety of steamy daydreams all about Levi, she was suitably relaxed and horny enough to try the naked sauna.

She took out her phone. How to evidence this?

Molly stepped inside the sauna and regarded the glass door as she closed it behind her.

Even though the lighting was very low, she was casting a rather defined shadow against the door.

She hesitantly threw her towel onto the wooden bench and stood in the pose of the Vitruvian Man, arms and legs akimbo, as she took a photo of her silhouette.

That would have to do. She set the timer to ten minutes and placed the phone on the towel.

She would write a strongly worded entry into Ava’s journal about this.

‘Why spreadeagled? Why? Why do I have to be naked for ten whole minutes, Ava?’ she asked the hissing clouds billowing from the hot coal bed as she poured a wooden ladleful of water over them. ‘Why not seven minutes? Or four and a half?’

She assumed the pose.

Even alone, this felt too risqué.

Five minutes crawled by as she took deep calming breaths in, exhaling as slowly as possible, reassuring herself that all the doors and windows to the lodge were bolted shut.

It’s funny how quickly something bizarre can become quite normal.

She kept her arms and legs stretched wide and let the heat relax her bones.

It wasn’t as terrible as she had first imagined.

In fact, it was positively freeing.

Not that she’d ever become a naturist. She was too prudish for that.

Too British. Although Molly was beginning to appreciate the Scandinavians and their lack of inhibitions where saunas were concerned.

Maybe this could become a thing for her.

She’d certainly never felt this relaxed in her life.

It was sheer bliss. She would happily do this every day for the rest of her?—

Suddenly the door to the sauna swung open.

She gasped in shock.

A man stood in the doorway.

Time stood still as realisation dawned.

It was him.

Levi was standing in front of her, wearing only a towel knotted at his waist. He looked her over with an alarmed expression as she stood, stark naked, arms and legs spread wide. He did a double take. ‘Jesus Christ, not you again!’ he moaned as she let out a piercing scream.

‘Calm down. It’s just me!’ he barked after a few seconds of her screeching at an ear-splitting decibel.

Molly’s scream trailed off. She blinked rapidly. What cruel twist of fate was this? Who had she harmed in a previous life? What bad karma was at play here?

Levi tightened the towel round his waist, his eyebrows knitted together. ‘Mind telling me what you’re doing? Is this some sort of bizarre Satanic ritual?’

‘No!’ Molly’s hands whipped down to cover herself. Had anyone ever actually died of embarrassment? Because if not, she feared she may become the first.

‘Are you breaking and entering?’ he asked. He flicked his eyes over her naked body. ‘You don’t exactly look dressed for it. I hate to imagine where you’ve hidden the crowbar.’

Molly shook her head violently. ‘Of course I’m not! I wouldn’t have the first clue what to steal.’

Levi raised an eyebrow.

‘Well, I would,’ she said, nodding towards a solid-gold bust of Buddha with a ruby for a third eye, right next to where he was standing. ‘But you’re right, I shouldn’t be here,’ she said, panicking. ‘Please don’t tell anybody. I’m so sorry. You see, I?—’

‘It’s not often you hear of thieves taking a quick wellness break before they steal the family jewels. Or is that a thing now? It’s so hard to keep up,’ he said drily. ‘Good mental health is so important.’

Molly felt embarrassment surge through her, bringing her back to her senses. She grabbed her towel to cover up.

Levi remained disgruntled. ‘Bit late for that, isn’t it?’

She grimaced. The mortification of it. My naked body no longer being of any surprise to him whatsoever. Shoot me now.

‘I heard moaning. I thought someone had had a fall.’

Moaning?

Oh my God. He’d heard her on the massage chair. Had she subconsciously manifested him a second time? Perhaps her brain was in urgent need of rewiring.

The timer alarm went off on her phone, causing them both to jump.

Levi screwed his eyes in confusion. ‘Okay. Can you please tell me what you’re doing?’

Did he mean why the Vitruvian Man pose or did he mean ‘doing’ in the wider sense?

‘Never mind what I’m doing. What are you doing here?’ she said, hurriedly wrapping the towel around herself. ‘You have a guest room over at the Cigar Lounge.’

‘And I also own this lodge.’

Have these billionaires never heard of renting?

‘But you’re on holiday. A holidaymaker. Here for the wedding.’

He frowned. ‘I’m staying here with my family, but you knew that, didn’t you?’ In one tiny second, the atmosphere was charged with tension.

‘No! I didn’t. I came here to avoid you, not to be trapped in the same house.’

‘Avoid me? I don’t believe you.’

Molly tried to make sense of what was going on.

She watched Levi sit down on the opposite bench as though it was the most completely normal thing to do when faced with a naked woman who has twice imposed herself on him and should by rights be hauled in front of some sort of civil liberties tribunal.

Levi screwed his eyes. ‘Seriously. What is happening? Are you following me?’

‘What? No! Of course not. I’m a chef!’

‘Yeah, so you said. Winner of the British Bangers Weekly. That doesn’t explain why I keep seeing you everywhere I go. Did Freda invite you? Are you and her friends?’

‘Freda? Who’s that? Your wife?’

OMG. Why would a thing like that come out of her mouth? It didn’t even make sense. A man she barely knew should be able to mention any female name without her yelling ‘Is that your wife?’ like a jealous ex-girlfriend.

‘Never mind,’ he said simply, putting his hands on his hips. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Petra hired me,’ Molly wailed, not proud of the way she was throwing the hotel kitchen manager under the bus, but she was flailing big time.

‘She said it was money for old rope. A few meals here and there and loads of time to myself to relax. And a huge Christmas bonus at the end for basically not doing anything.’ What happened to her filter?

Where was it? Had it evaporated with the heat?

Levi let out a low groan. ‘You’re the chalet chef?’ He sounded incredibly disappointed. He rubbed his hands down his face. ‘But you said you ran your own company.’

‘Am I going to be fired?’

Levi didn’t answer. ‘How did you end up in this chalet?’

Good question.

Molly had no idea where to begin. How could she explain such a chain of events?

That for eight years she had been too busy cooking happily behind the scenes to live an actual life, while Ava went out and dazzled clients?

Or that when they had bought the failing restaurant from Ava’s French great-aunt, they’d left the UK to embark on the adventure of a lifetime?

Or that together they had turned the restaurant around and amassed a small fortune, but Molly couldn’t access any of it because of some ridiculous legal oversight?

And that now it was almost too late, and Molly was in danger of losing everything, and that was why she was standing spreadeagled, naked in his sauna?

‘The family made a special request after I catered a business lunch.’

As though sensing the shift in energy, Levi cleared his throat. ‘And where does my sauna fit in to all this?’

Molly felt her cheeks flame. Her words deserted her. She had no idea how to answer that. Should she reveal just how much of an emotional and financial mess she was in, or would he run screaming for the hills? She suspected her baggage might be too much, too soon.

‘When you feel like being straight with me, I’m all ears.’ He shifted in his seat. He was going nowhere.

She stroked the hair from her face, heat rising from her chest. ‘Toby suggested this. Not the naked part, but he said that nobody would be around until tomorrow evening.’

‘I’m not sure I believe you.’

‘Well, it’s true.’

Levi regarded her. ‘Sit down.’

Molly did as he instructed. ‘I assure you. After the other night, I have no interest in you. I’m just here to work. That’s all.’

‘So our meeting at the Cigar Lounge wasn’t a coincidence?’

‘Yes, it was. Absolutely.’ Molly bit her lips together. ‘However, there might have been some rogue manifesting involved.’

Levi didn’t even try to hide a baffled look. ‘Can you see why it’s incredibly hard for me to believe a word you’re saying now?’

Molly held up her hands. ‘I know this looks bad. But to be fair, I thought you were here on holiday and single . Then that redhead you’re seeing said that you couldn’t resist the hired help.’

‘She said what ?’ Levi said, astounded.

Molly’s cheeks were on fire. ‘I mean, what were you doing kissing me if you’re not even available?’

‘Who are you talking about? What redhead?’ Levi asked, lines creasing his brow.

‘The burlesque dancer. The one full of lip filler and collagen implants.’ How many redheads was he familiar with, for goodness’ sake?

‘She warned me to stay away from you. She more or less implied that you and she are… that you, erm, you are, well, might be intimate with one another.’ Why?

Why are you saying these things? Please stop saying these things.

Levi shook his head. ‘Don’t concern yourself with her.’

‘Why shouldn’t it concern me?’ Molly fiddled with her towel.

‘It shouldn’t concern you because none of what she said is true.’

‘Well, good.’ Molly was furious at herself for sounding so pleased.

Levi picked up on it immediately. His expression softened.

‘She didn’t seem like a nice lady anyway. Very gossipy. If that’s your type.’

Levi tilted his head. ‘You weren’t jealous, were you?’