Page 36 of A Winter Wedding Adventure (Adventure Weddings #2)

Mattia was reeling from the range of experiences the night had shot at him: suspense at dinner, wondering whether Kira would talk to him; the beautiful moments when they’d done much more than talk; the sudden emergency; and now, the harsh lighting of a hospital waiting room, seated next to a stranger of few words and many, many muscles.

Kira’s bed friend. Both of them had been her bed friends.

She’d shrugged off all offers of help and waited until first Yolanda and then Alessandra, Joe and their parents had been airlifted from the chalet to Innsbruck to be checked at the hospital.

Only then had she reluctantly showed the rescue officers her scratched and bleeding hands and allowed them to escort her to the helicopter.

Mattia still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to remain standing under the hot, disapproving look from Kira’s ‘friend’ in the helicopter.

Possibly, he should have handed her over to Andreas to look after her, but he was the one who’d held her while she shuddered in the aftermath of giving life-saving first aid.

He didn’t imagine she would run back into his arms, but he would stay until she told him she didn’t want him there – at the very least until she came out of the treatment room.

‘You made the emergency call?’

The question from Andreas broke the silence in the waiting room out of nowhere, making Mattia jump.

‘Yes,’ he managed to answer. ‘She was… busy. It was lucky her phone wasn’t in her room, as it was the only one charged.

’ The way the man looked at him, Mattia felt as though he stood in the witness box.

‘What do you mean?’ Andreas asked.

‘We didn’t have electricity. She only charged hers?—’

‘I mean about her phone not being in her room?’

Mattia’s throat closed and he bit his lip, his mind racing for an appropriate response. ‘Her room was on the wrong side of the building. It’s basically full of snow now.’

He didn’t miss Andreas’s indrawn breath. He might have been a frightening figure, but his obvious concern for Kira settled Mattia’s nerves. But the next question brought a fresh blush of heat to his cheeks. ‘She got out in time?’

Opening his mouth, he grimaced before answering, ‘She wasn’t in her room.’

Andreas’s only response was a tic in his jaw. Mattia looked away, tapping his foot compulsively, imagining various disapproving – or threatening – things that might be running through her friend’s mind.

What he eventually said was nothing like any of the scenarios Mattia had prepared himself for. ‘I didn’t know. About this guy – her ex. I thought she was just scared of commitment like the rest of us. I didn’t realise she’d been hurt.’

‘I’m sure she didn’t want you to know.’

Andreas looked at him askance. ‘Are you giving me sympathy?’

‘You obviously… care a lot…’ Mattia cleared his throat. ‘As a friend.’

‘Of course as a friend. My fiancée is currently on her way here.’

Mattia wasn’t sure if Andreas realised how his chest puffed up when he said that word. He was obviously one of these cavemen who were too scared to admit they wanted love and then grabbed it by the neck when it finally found them.

He probably should have kept silent, but he was tired and high on Kira’s attention to him, so he continued. ‘But she told me about you.’

That earned him a dark look. ‘What are you trying to say?’

He came right out with it. ‘I like her. If things were different…’

Andreas’s expression turned reflective. ‘Are you going to make things different?’

The words gave Mattia a start. He couldn’t change the things that would keep them apart once they left Tyrol. That was up to Kira. And yet…

In a flurry of a woollen coat, scarf and subtle perfume, a woman rushed to where they were sitting, making Andreas leap out of his chair to catch her. The fiancée. She was blonde and pretty, but with a chin that suggested she could keep him in line.

Grasping his lapels, she asked, ‘How is she? Can we see her? I picked Ginny up because she was beside herself with worry. Apparently, their room was completely destroyed, all of their belongings buried under the snow!’

Ginny approached at a more sedate pace, smiling a weak greeting at Mattia. ‘You’re still here, you poor thing. Alessandra texted that she and her parents are settled into a hotel here in Innsbruck. I don’t know how I’ll be able to make it up to her!’

‘She won’t expect you to,’ Mattia attempted, but Ginny was obviously too worked up to take anything in.

Turning to Andreas, she said, ‘I hate to think what might have happened if we’d been in the room, especially after poor Yolanda—’ She cut herself off with a choke.

Andreas’s fiancée drew back with a frown. ‘It’s lucky that Kira wasn’t in the room.’

Mattia’s face heated afresh and he looked anxiously to the double doors Kira had disappeared through too long ago.

‘Very lucky,’ Andreas responded drily, with a look in Mattia’s direction that he felt in his skin.

He was saved by those doors opening, Kira finally appearing with her jacket over her arm and both hands wrapped in bandages. He rushed at her, but unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one with that idea.

The two women wrapped her in a hug before he could reach her.

‘Thank God !’

‘You are everyone’s hero!’

‘We officially need a guide on board for every wedding from now on!’

She met his gaze with a small smile and he felt immediately lighter. The faint rumble of her stomach reached his ears, reminding him of the evening they’d met – grumpy, hungry Kira who’d still saved him from a fridge worse than death.

So, he took a risk. Lifting his brow in invitation, he held out a hand. ‘Come on,’ was all he said, softly. ‘Food.’

While her friends looked on, mouths ajar, Kira’s smile blossomed fully and she came to him, letting him help her with her jacket.

Glancing back at her colleagues, she said, ‘We’ll talk later today, hmm? Thanks for coming.’

‘Always.’

‘Any time.’

Andreas added in a low grumble, ‘Even when we’re not needed, it seems,’ that he probably hadn’t intended anyone to hear.

Ushering her towards the exit, he heard Andreas’s fiancée marvel, ‘Did she just leave with the opera singer?’

‘Reshma said she’d kissed him, the dark horse. I had no idea!’ Ginny added.

‘Pretty sure they did more than kiss,’ Andreas said, ‘since she was in his room when the avalanche hit.’

‘That’s official: mistletoe doesn’t work,’ Ginny declared. ‘They got together even without it and absolutely nothing happened for me while I was stuck in Mayrhofen with a car full of it.’

‘I like your friends,’ Mattia commented as the conversation behind them faded into the background noise. ‘Even if Andreas is a little scary.’

‘He’s really not,’ she said with a snort.

‘You didn’t see him when he worked out why you weren’t in your room when the avalanche hit.’

‘Yikes,’ she said with an apologetic glance. ‘But it’s none of his business.’ She glanced at her feet. ‘I can’t believe they came all this way to check on me.’

‘It’s not every day you narrowly avoid an avalanche by having amazing sex.’

She nudged him with her shoulder. ‘You don’t have to look after me.’

‘I know,’ he assured her, ‘but I like it.’ I like you . ‘You don’t have to hang out with me if you don’t want to, of course.’

‘I know,’ she repeated. After a pause and a tentative glance up at him, she continued, ‘But I like it.’

* * *

Kira stirred from the sleep of the dead, slapping a hand over her ear to shut out the pounding in her head.

Her pillow was soft and the bed incredibly comfortable and warm.

Her subconscious was telling her that she hadn’t a care in the world and sleep was such a beautiful, delicious experience, especially with her body pressed against another, all smooth skin and heady tenderness.

But the other body shifted, first the legs and then a hand nudged her to the side, making her protest the loss of her comfort human, although she was too tired to give more than a forlorn grumble when he got out of bed.

The pounding stopped, but she heard voices and realised it hadn’t been in her head. Someone was at the door. She still wasn’t sure if she cared.

Amidst a rush of Italian that sounded as though it were in double time, she heard her own name and finally roused.

‘She’s here?’ That was a deeper voice, in English: Joe.

‘Why is Kira in your bed?’ If Alessandra thought she was speaking in a hushed tone, she was mistaken.

‘I think the answer to that should be obvious,’ Joe muttered.

‘Are you together ?’

She didn’t need superhuman hearing to catch the strangled sound Mattia made in response.

‘Mattia!’

‘We’ve been through this, Ale,’ he said, his tone pained. ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m all grown up. If I want to have a casual relationship with someone, it’s not going to break my heart.’

Kira stilled, all thoughts of rolling over and announcing that she was awake flying from her mind.

His words didn’t change anything. She’d been at pains to remind him that she didn’t want a serious relationship.

She didn’t want a serious relationship. But…

hearing him say it wrenched at some new, vulnerable growth in the vicinity of her heart.

It appeared he’d learned how to do casual just when Kira was wondering if she could try something a little more intimate.

Who was she kidding? All of their time together had been more intimate than any casual relationship she’d ever had.

Their very first conversation had had more depth than most of the things she discussed with her closest friends.

All the more reason to keep her distance now. If his words could hurt after only five days – words that weren’t unexpected – how much more could he hurt her in the future? It was lucky they’d say goodbye in a matter of days – perhaps even hours.

‘I suppose it’s lucky she’s here, anyway. I wanted to let you know we’re meeting Ginny in the lobby in twenty minutes.’

‘What for?’

Alessandra’s sigh was pained and full of feeling. ‘If there’s one thing I see clearly after all of this, it’s that I want to marry Joe – as soon as possible. I don’t care if it can’t be exactly as I envisioned it. I just want us to finally be a family. Everything else is only a detail.’

Kira heard a light smack that was probably a kiss from Joe and she gagged, thankful they thought she was asleep. The wedding nonsense wasn’t over yet. She hadn’t escaped all the romantic rubbish – perhaps it had even got worse, now they were so desperate to marry.

She’d have to put back on her ill-fitting wedding planner hat and pretend it didn’t all make her uneasy, especially now she’d walked too close to the fire, by starting to feel something for Mattia.

‘Okay,’ she heard Mattia saying. ‘We’ll meet you downstairs then.’ And with a click, the door closed on the bridal couple, leaving her alone with her casual sexual partner .

She heard rustling from the vicinity of the doorway, then a creak that made her imagine him leaning on the door.

‘I know you’re awake, Kira.’

She groaned, rolling over to face him. He was shirtless, his jeans hanging off his hips with the top button undone, barefoot – and utterly delicious, her fallen angel with his dark curls, hunched shoulders and tall figure.

‘How much did you hear?’

‘Enough,’ she said, her voice rough. She hoped he thought she meant about Alessandra’s wishes and not his bald summary of their relationship. ‘I’d better get dressed.’

‘I’m sorry, you’ll have to see Christian after all – unless perhaps he had to go home rather than wait for the rescheduled wedding.’

Oh, Christ, she’d forgotten. But at least the horror at the prospect had paled in comparison to the rest of the wedding disasters and she was so sick of feeling embarrassed and out of place.

‘No such luck. Ginny told me the photographer got stuck at the airport with all flights grounded. I’m pretty sure he’ll still be here.’

‘But we’ll all stand behind you, now we know what happened.’

Oh fuck, everyone knew what had happened.

‘Ehi, carissima,’ he said with a chuckle. She heard footsteps and then a thud and when she opened her eyes, he’d dropped down beside the bed. ‘Your pride is a wonderful, powerful thing, but it’s okay that we know. You’re human like the rest of us.’

‘Sometimes, I think you’re not,’ she mumbled, ‘with your sensitive soul and other-worldly voice. You’re more angel than human.’

‘In that case, you’re lucky angel physiology is compatible with humans, because?—’

She swiped the pillow from his side and walloped him with it before he could finish the sentence. Laughing, he climbed back onto the bed, pinning her beneath him as he leaned down for a slow kiss.

Kira hesitated, wondering if she should let him kiss her now she had an inkling of how bruised her heart would be when they said goodbye, but no part of her truly wanted to stop him.

One soft kiss became several longer ones, her thoughts blurring and her body warming just from the lazy, teasing, coaxing press and tug of his lips.

She darted her tongue out to find his bottom lip and he groaned, allowing the kiss to heat only for a heartbeat before pulling away, resting his forehead on her sternum.

‘Why couldn’t she have said an hour instead of twenty minutes?’

She struggled to sit up, urging him off her. ‘I don’t even know what time it is.’

‘I don’t care,’ he pouted. ‘I was enjoying being human with you.’

He’d made her a little too human, since she could already feel herself cracking. He peered at her, his dangerous, sensitive hearing tipping him off to her strange mood.

‘It’ll be okay,’ he said, obviously not quite understanding her turmoil. ‘You saved someone’s life today. Don’t let that turd Christian make you feel any less than you are.’

She studied him, tracing her bandaged thumb over his cheek. No matter what happened after Alessandra’s wedding, she’d discovered she wasn’t as broken as she’d always thought. There was still life in the old organ taking up space in her chest.

‘I’ll have to try. I’ve spent twelve years allowing him to have an impact on my life. Maybe it’s time I stopped.’