Page 23 of A Winter Wedding Adventure (Adventure Weddings #2)

Kira’s frustration awoke in full force the following morning as she drank a coffee and scrolled through various weather reports, while pretending she wasn’t urgently looking out for Mattia.

She wished Ginny had never said anything about the weather.

While it was possible the wedding planner had been right that Kira couldn’t ruin the wedding – even if she was awkward around the guests and had kissed the singer – the spectre of heavy snowfall hung over her consciousness as profoundly as the guilt at kissing Mattia.

No matter which way she looked at the reports, taking the group off-piste for a more adventurous tour was too dangerous today.

Managing risks, planning contingencies and dealing with sudden changes in conditions were part of her professional skill set, but the knowledge that she was heading for the slopes with a man who was supposed to get married tomorrow weighed on her.

With a pent-up sigh, she closed down the browser, tapped on the green telephone icon and scrolled to Andreas’s number.

‘Hello?’

Tugging the phone from her ear in surprise, Kira bit back a grumble before forcing herself to respond. ‘Uh, hi Sophie.’

‘Is everything okay with the Lee-Martinelli wedding?’

‘Yes, for Christ’s sake!’ she snapped. Kira could almost hear Sophie blinking on the other end of the phone call. ‘This isn’t about the wedding. It’s about skiing, which is why I called Andreas.’

‘Oh, I— Of course. Sorry, Kira. I’m just nervous about this one. We haven’t used this venue before and winter weddings have a few more variables – even before we add skiing.’ Kira could hear the grimace in Sophie’s voice.

‘Ginny is working on the wedding variables and I’m in charge of the snow-related ones. Can I talk to Andreas? I assume he’s there with you.’

There was a rustling sound and Kira had the uncomfortable thought that Sophie might have still been in bed – his bed. It irritated her that his new happiness with Sophie brought into stark contrast her own isolation.

‘Yes, just a sec,’ Sophie said. ‘He went to get more wood for the stove. Andreas?’ She heard a muffled, ‘It’s Kira.’

‘What’s up?’

I have a really bad feeling about this wedding . ‘Have you seen the avalanche reports this morning?’

‘Not yet. But the warning level must be high where you are.’

‘They’ve raised it to level four. We won’t be leaving the prepared slopes.’ Unfortunately.

‘Good call.’ In typical Andreas fashion, that was all he said initially. ‘Was there something else?’

‘No,’ she replied, equally sparse with words.

‘Is… everything okay with you? With the wedding?’ he asked warily.

She’d never been more relieved that Andreas didn’t know about that day twelve years ago.

He assumed she had the same opposition to weddings in principle that he’d had – until Sophie.

Andreas had been even more upset by the merger between Great Heart and I Do, but admitting he loved Sophie – and finding that love returned – had mellowed him much more than she’d expected.

She sighed. ‘They’re getting married tomorrow. It shouldn’t, but it’s changing my approach to risk management.’

‘That makes sense,’ he agreed evenly. ‘But you know Toni’s gone over our insurance arrangements carefully. You’re covered. The client decided on this.’

‘I know, it’s more the feeling,’ she grumbled. ‘A wedding . A once-in-a-lifetime thing, full of wild superstitions.’

‘I thought you didn’t buy into all that?’

‘It doesn’t matter what I think. I’m responsible for getting the groom to the altar tomorrow.

’ As well as not losing it when she saw her ex and definitely not kissing any more members of the wedding party.

Not that there was anyone else she wanted to kiss.

‘It’s a nightmare. I’d rather be taking clients across the Grand Couloir right now.

’ She wouldn’t. The avalanche warning for Mont Blanc must be through the roof, but he should see through her hyperbole to the truth of her discomfort.

‘I understand but remember, on the mountain, you’re in charge. If you’re not comfortable with the risk, don’t let them take the risk.’

‘Right,’ she agreed, trying to muster his confidence. ‘But I reserve the right to kill Willard later for creating this wedding monster.’

Andreas chuckled and there was a soft click over the line that Kira realised belatedly – in horror – was a smacking kiss, probably against Sophie’s forehead.

‘Good luck surviving the wedding, Watling.’

‘Thanks,’ she said drily, ending the call. It had better not come down to a matter of survival. Although if she died before the wedding, she’d never have to see Christian again.

Speaking of survival, she noticed Mattia striding into the dining room, headed straight for the coffee machine. With a quick glance to check that, of the two other people in the room, neither was paying attention, she hurried up to him, placing a hand on his back to get his attention.

He jumped, knocking over the wire rack holding the coffee pods.

‘Ahi!’ He also studied the room with a furtive glance as he popped the pods back into the rack.

Kira helped him, both of them pausing when her fingers brushed his hand.

‘Is this what Austrians call coffee?’ he said, clearing his throat and drawing his hand away slowly.

‘It’s what George Clooney calls coffee,’ she quipped weakly.

‘Ah, he’s not Italian. That explains it.’ He managed to press the pod into the machine and looked around for a cup. Finding only a mug, he set it underneath and pressed the espresso button, his frown deepening as he watched the coffee emerge from the spout.

‘I need to talk to you,’ she said under her breath.

When he looked up to meet her gaze, her muscles turned the consistency of the froth. One look at his sharp jaw, the silver cross dangling from his ear and his dark eyes under impossible lashes seemed to turn her into a liquid.

‘Now?’

‘Yes, now,’ she said, annoyed that the bright glint in his eye was making her thoughts veer off course. She beckoned for him to follow her out of the room.

‘Bene,’ he said with a nod and knocked back the espresso before trailing after her.

It quickly became apparent to Kira that the hallway would not be an appropriate place to discuss not kissing.

Footsteps sounded on the floor above and the staircase creaked.

Grasping the front of Mattia’s shirt – another silky button-down with a fussy, paisley pattern that had no right looking so good on him – she tugged him towards the end of the hallway, searching for somewhere out of sight where they could talk.

One door led to the kitchen and another to an extra set of bathrooms, but there was one more door. With the creaking getting louder behind them, she grasped for the door-handle, expecting it to be locked. But the door swung open. Without thought, she dragged Mattia inside with her.

She vaguely registered a storage cupboard with a small window, dimly lit shelves and wooden crates. But before she could even gather her thoughts, her brain shut down and her body came to life.

Because Mattia’s palms had settled on her cheeks, his fingers in her hair, and his face was so close, his gaze on her mouth. And then he was kissing her.

Oh… boy. She hadn’t imagined it. The man could kiss. If yesterday’s had been a rehearsal, this one was the main performance. His mouth was hot and tasted of coffee, his lips drawing her out while the pressure built to an irresistible level.

The wanting, the adamant brush of his lips over hers, sent Kira reeling, her brain running after her in confusion. With a hitched groan, he deepened the kiss and all of her nerve endings stood at attention.

She felt his soft hair under her fingers, although she didn’t remember lifting her hands to his head.

His arm curled around her waist, which she was grateful for, as she was struggling to remain upright.

The shelf behind her dug into her back, but she ignored the slight pain, urging Mattia closer.

He was leaned over her, his mouth hot and open and firm on hers, his chest heaving against her.

Breaking the kiss audibly, he dropped his mouth to her neck and she couldn’t hold in a breathy squeak of shock. Letting her head fall back, she lost her footing and shot out a hand, knocking over an empty crate with a thud.

The sound startled Mattia and he reared back, catching her on the chin with the top of his head. She yelped and fell against the shelf when his hold on her loosened. He fumbled to catch her.

‘Aaaccidenti!’

Kira shot out a hand to press over his mouth, glancing at the door with alarm. She heaved in several deep breaths, gathering her scattered wits.

‘What was that for?’

He peered down at her with adorable earnestness. ‘For?’

She licked her lips, still seeing stars. ‘Why did you kiss me?’

‘Why… Wasn’t that why…?’ He flushed, his cheeks turning bright pink and his neck bobbing as he swallowed. ‘That wasn’t why you brought me in here?’ he asked in a small voice.

Kira snorted as she swallowed a laugh. ‘No.’

‘Ah.’ Even that short syllable, his voice thrumming with embarrassment, had baritone intensity to it. ‘I didn’t quite mean for it to— I shouldn’t have assumed— Anyway, what did you need to talk about?’

His brow was pinched and she wished she could reassure him. Don’t apologise for one of the hottest kisses of my life. You had a much better idea for what to do in this cupboard.

But she had a job to do. ‘Actually, I needed to explain about yesterday – that it was a mistake. I shouldn’t be…

We shouldn’t… I could get in trouble for kissing you.

I’m here in a professional capacity. Your friend is my client.

I know I’m not very good at this wedding stuff, but kissing a member of the wedding party is really against the rules. ’

His expression sobered. ‘That makes sense.’

‘And besides,’ Kira continued, ‘we’re only here for another two days and you told me you don’t do casual, so…’

He nodded firmly. ‘Yes,’ he said with a nod for emphasis that seemed to be for his own benefit.

‘I was also hoping you maybe wouldn’t mention it to Alessandra?’

He laughed, loudly enough that she considered pressing her hand to his mouth again, except that he looked so inviting with that wry smile on his face, the feel of his mouth on her fingers wouldn’t have helped her focus on her job.

‘Don’t worry. Alessandra has enough on her mind right now. There is no way I’d add to her stress.’

‘Right,’ Kira responded, suddenly glum. ‘I should get going.’

‘Yes, right,’ he repeated, not meeting her gaze.

She wanted to kiss him goodbye, even if it was just on his cheek, but it had never been clearer that kissing was a bad idea. ‘I’ll go out first. You wait a few minutes in case someone sees us.’

His only answer was a nod and a pained grunt. He must have been imagining being caught with his tongue down her throat too.

Slipping out and closing the door quietly behind her, she was relieved to find no one in the hallway. Pausing for a few breaths to let the adrenaline and endorphins rushing through her system circulate a few times, she gave herself a shake and headed for the stairs.