Playing for Hearts (50 page)

Being related to his sponsor sat wrong with him, and the guilt by association troubled his sleep. He pushed off the slope, leaning low and gaining speed. No one paid his way because of a deal made on his behalf.

The fact that the money came for marrying Dana felt too much like a payoff for him to be comfortable with the arrangement. He stabbed the ground with the end of his pole, shifted, and pushed off. He used the powder to gain speed. What kind of father paid someone to take his daughter off his hands?

Snow clung to his goggles. He ignored the harsh conditions affecting his visibility. Trees were on his left, and the chair line was on the right. He could close his eyes and know the trail without spotting the land markers.

A burst of speed pushed him to the last crossover, and he put his skis together and rode to the finish line. Cheers from the fans gathered behind the fenced area knocked his wayward thoughts of how his life sucked at this moment away. He skied his way to the barrier.

He'd never forget where he came from and where he was now. His fans came first, because they'd gotten him this far. Without their dedication, their hope of him succeeding, pushing him forward to be the best, he'd be just another guy wearing a pair of skis. They made him the athlete that he'd become. He never wanted to disappoint them.

He pushed his goggles over his stocking hat and smiled. “Hey, ladies … ”

Camera flashes blinded him. He held out his hand and moved along the fence. There was no reason to see their faces. All his fans expected the same thing, whether they were single, married, divorced, female or male. He acknowledged them all, gave them a little more of himself that they could take away with them and in the end, he was left alone, unsettled and missing a true relationship.

His real fans were sitting in classrooms, dreaming about someday winning their own gold, or at home watching television, cheering him on. It was the people who he'd never know or meet that inspired him. It all came back to the start, because he was the kid who'd sat at home, staring at the flight of the professional skier, dreaming of the day he would be old enough to be that famous, that good, that much of an idol.

“Thank you.” He raised his hand, pushing away. “Everyone ready to cheer on the U.S.A.?”

“U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.,” the crowd chanted.

He waved, holding up one finger to show he'd earn the number one spot. Then he turned and skied toward the lodge. He had the rest of the day off, and a soak in the hot tub sounded better than winning the Olympics right now. His shoulder ached, and he knew the tension he was under wasn't helping anything.

Even though the time clock put him right on target today, he'd felt stiff on the turns and had put too much distance behind his strokes. He spotted a crowd at the back door to the lodge and skied faster. Normally, he snuck inside past the retailers during the day to escape the guests staying at the lodge for the season, but the crowd gathered around the door would make that impossible today.

He skidded to a stop. The group was too large for him to see what was drawing everyone's attention. He nudged the guy in front of him. “What's happening?”

“The chick in one of the booths kicked everyone out.” The man shrugged. “I'm buying a new pair of gloves, so I hope she opens up soon.”

A sinking feeling came over Juan. “What's the woman look like?”

The man raised his brows. “A real looker. She's the reason why I came down to buy the gloves. It's not as if I need a new pair, if you know what I mean.”

Juan exhaled. “What color hair?”

“Blonde,” the man said.

Juan clicked off his skis, picked them up, and pushed his way through the crowd, excusing himself the whole way. At the back door, he stopped in front of an angry woman with gorgeous blonde hair who glared at him. Moreover, his wife's displeasure seemed personal.

He widened his stance, blocking the others from view. “Hey, what's up, babe?”

“Don't ‘babe' me,” she whispered harshly. “This is all your fault.”

“What did I do?” he said.

“As if you don't know.” She leaned forward, until the top of her head was level with his chin. “Kiss me, dammit.”

He chuckled and meant to step back, more amused than concerned, but she grabbed his jacket and pulled him toward her. Their lips collided, and he winced. She definitely had a temper.

When she continued to press her pursed lips against him, he dropped the skis and took her in his arms. If she wanted to kiss in front of the crowd, he wouldn't turn her down. But he wasn't going to let her bruise her lips to prove a point.

He cupped the back of her head, cradling her in his hand, and leaned her backward. Her mouth opened in surprise, and he took control of the kiss. A real kiss, not some assault.

He enveloped her bottom lip, then moved to capture both before pulling away slightly and then diving back in. His soul smiled when her mouth softened and her neck arched. He held her in place, tilting his head, wanting to revisit the taste that had driven him crazy last night. All he could come up with was she reminded him of a cool breeze coming off the ocean on a summer day.

Rejuvenating.

Tempting.

Exhilarating.

He swept his tongue along hers until her fingers dug through his insulated jacket to his arm. Only when he supported her full weight did he straighten and pull away from her lips without letting her go.

Dana stared drunkenly up at him. Her gaze no longer shot daggers, but had gone all soft and dreamy. He leaned back down.

“How about we unlock the door and let the guests inside,” he whispered into her ear.

She nodded, but otherwise made no move to address the people waiting behind them. He slipped his hand into her coat pocket. Empty.

Juan kissed her lightly, switched his holding arm, and dug into her other pocket. His fingers curled around the set of keys. Sweeping up her hand, he walked her to the door while he fiddled with the keys.

When he found the right one and opened the back door of the lodge, his wife still hadn't snapped out of the kiss, so he pulled her to the side to make way for the people hurrying inside the building. He nodded and smiled at the curious looks and blatant snickering.

Once the last person left him alone with Dana, he turned and slipped his hand behind Dana's neck. He wanted another taste.

“Get your hands off me,” she said, jerking away from him.

“Whoa … ” He raised his hands. “You asked me to kiss you. Babe, you were right there kissing me back and liking it.”

“So?” she mumbled, pacing in front of him.

He was missing something. “You enjoyed it a lot.”

“Shh.” She swiped the air with her arm, cutting him off. “That's not important.”

The hell it wasn't. He gazed out at the ski slope, running back through the last five minutes and trying to understand what was going on. He was clueless. The only thing he knew was that Dana loved to pace. She paced any time she was angry, nervous, or confused.

“I can't do this.” She stopped walking, and planted her hands on her hips. “It's over.”

“What's over?” he asked.

She frowned. “Us. You and me. Our marriage.”

Shit. Something big did happen?

“Talk to me.” He stepped forward.

She stiffened, lifting her chin. He ignored her attempts to push him away. She was talking about ruining everything. He wasn't asking for a lifetime. He only needed her to pretend to be his loving wife for four weeks.

“Everyone is laughing at me.” She rubbed her lips together and looked beyond him. “Four people this morning informed me that our marriage is a joke, including one of your teammates.”

He brushed her hair back from her cheek. “Who?”

“Curt Balden.” She glared at him. “Not only him, but probably every woman you've slept with since arriving at the lodge. Trust me. They're not shy about alluding to the fact that our marriage is a sham, and you'll never settle for one woman. Curt told me that he bet another teammate a thousand dollars that you'd dump me within a week. Do you realize how that makes me feel, because I know you don't want to be married to me?”

“Wait a minute, I — ”

“Stop.” She shook her head. “I don't want to hear anything you have to say. I need to fix my life and get back on schedule. I can't have everyone talking about me.”

“I agree.” He picked up his skis. “I'll take care of it. No one will say another word to you about our relationship.”

Dana hurried to keep up with him as he walked toward the lodge. “You're going to fix this?”

“Yeah.” He held the door open for her. “You're my wife.”

She moved around him and planted her hands on his chest. “Wait. You can't act all macho and expect me to trust you.”

“Yes, I can.” He inhaled deeply and relaxed. “I know this isn't easy for you, but no one — not my fans, my teammates, or your father — are allowed to upset
my
wife. Got it?”

Her mouth formed a perfect O. He grinned. She flipped emotions faster than the weather, and he had to admit, he liked that. She kept things interesting.

One to always push his luck, he decided to go for the finish line. “When do you get off work?”

“In two hours,” she said.

He peered over at the clothing shop, packed with customers. “I'm going to host a hot tub party at the room and invite a few of the guys over.”

“Oh,” she said. “I'll hang out in the lounge and … ”

He lifted her chin. “I want you there with me. Once the team accepts you, everyone else will too. You'll see. Just relax, and be yourself.”

She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “Okay, but no more kissing me.”

He chuckled. “You kissed me first, remember?”

“I thought it would show everyone that our marriage was real, I didn't mean anything by it. You're the one who actually kissed me back. You were supposed to keep your mouth closed.” Her gaze dropped to his lips.

“How about we go with the flow? If we're getting along and I kiss you, you let me,” he whispered. “I mean, we wouldn't want to argue in front of my friends, right? That's what this is all about … proving our marriage is real and saving face.”

“Okay,” she said.

He swallowed. “Good.”

She backed away. “No tongue though.”

“Whatever you want, babe,” he said.

“And no calling me babe.” She whirled around and hurried to the shop.

He stood watching her retreat. Damn, his wife had a tight ass. She had no idea how much he loved a challenge, and he looked forward to making her change her mind.

Along with the surprise of how much he wanted Dana, he had to admit he'd pegged her wrong. He had no idea why Colton Reese's daughter wasn't sunning it up in some resort half way across the world, and instead was the distributor and saleswoman at the lodge. That wasn't a sign of a spoiled lady. She was hardworking and from what he could see, she wasn't afraid of putting in time to make an honest living for herself.

Juan sat on the edge of the hot tub, directly behind Dana, his bare legs pressed against her shoulders, cradling her between his legs. The hot water she was sitting in paled to the heat coming off Juan's body. Every so often, he'd brush her wet hair off her forehead, her back, her neck. His hand hadn't left some part of her body for the last twenty minutes.

As she'd finished with her work for the day, she'd grown angrier at Juan's attempt to undermine her authority. He couldn't tell her how they were going to run their faux marriage. He'd distracted her from her main goal of organizing her shambles of a life.

But from the moment she'd walked out of her room in the bikini, determined to show him what he couldn't have, he'd acted all dominating and possessive. He hadn't let her out of his sight all night. Nor would he allow any of the men within arm's reach of her. If her back weren't turned toward him, she'd nail him with a go-to-hell glare, but there was no easy way to deflect his attention without causing a scene.

Damn him.

Even now, his hands were doing delicious things to the back of her neck. Not to be sidetracked by her husband, she said, “So, Curt, how do you manage your schedule — all the practices, real life activities — and still call Boulder your home?”

“I'd have to ask my manager.” Curt laughed. “He tells me what to do and where to go, and how to handle everything.”

Dana sighed. The shaggy blond hair and quick dimple impressed other women, or so she'd heard during the season, but the dude wouldn't be able to make his own breakfast if left on his own. How was she going to learn anything about approaching sales outlets about a new product if she only hung around jocks?

Travis Darrow flung his arms to the side and pulled himself out of the water. Lanky and tall for a skier, he was the quietest out of the four men who'd joined Juan and her tonight. Joe Bloom, a huge flirt who hadn't stopped winking at her, and T.T. Tibens, who'd disappeared ten minutes ago to grab something to eat out of the fridge, completed their little party. Not that she'd call sitting in hot water being stared at all that exciting.

“So, how did you guys meet?” Joe winked at Juan.

Okay, maybe Joe had a tick and he wasn't putting the moves on her.

She relaxed. “We met — ”

“Months ago.” Juan put both of his hands on her shoulders and massaged her muscles. “That's the reason I've been so distracted this season. I couldn't stand to be away from her, so when she talked her dad into letting her run his shop at the lodge, my life straightened out. I finally had her to myself. We were going to wait until after the Olympics to get married, but love comes first. My girl is the most important thing to me. I wanted to make it permanent — “ his hands stilled on her “ — and yesterday, we made it official.”