Mistletoe Bachelors (10 page)

Cole reached forward and switched the radio off. He took the book from her and tossed it
into the back seat.
Madison shot him a puzzled look and glanced back at her book. “Hey!”
What was wrong
with him?
“Actually, Madison, it’s not
nothing
.” He turned to look at her. “Why didn’t you tell me
Kurt Davidson is your ex-husband?”
“How did you…?” Madison’s mouth gaped.
Who told him? How long had he known?
“I googled him last night at the hotel.”
“I didn’t mention it because, it doesn’t matter.” Madison’s tone was cool and unfrazzled, but
she fought to control her shaking hands.
So much for getting through the assignment without him
knowing.
“Doesn’t matter? Did Damian know this before he gave you this assignment?” Cole
frowned. He turned the wipers on higher and turned on the defogger to melt the snow on the
windshield.
“No.” Madison looked out the window.
Drop it, please
. The last person she wanted to
discuss this with was Cole. Her ex-husband’s affair had been a newsworthy event or at least the
Journal
had thought so, and she’d had to deal with the embarrassment and questions from
everyone from family to strangers when the news broke. She’d put all of it behind her—sort of.
“Why didn’t you tell him? Why did you accept the assignment?” Cole turned the car onto
the Sea to Sky highway, heading north toward Whistler.
“Because I am a professional journalist, and this assignment will further my career.” She’d
repeated those words to herself many times over the course of the week.
“That’s ridiculous…”Cole took his eyes off the road.
“Cole, watch out!” She put an arm up to shield her face as the car swerved to avoid hitting a
deer dashing across the icy highway.
The car spiralled on the black ice and ended tail up in the ditch on the opposite side of the
highway. A transport truck hit his horn as he narrowly avoided hitting them.
Madison’s head bounced on the dash as the airbag failed to deploy.
Cole swung open the driver’s side door and jumped out of the car. He climbed over the hood
of the vehicle. “Madison, are you all right?” He opened her door and reached in. He unbuttoned
her seatbelt and lifted her out of the car, ignoring her struggles and protests.
“I’m fine.” She wiggled in his arms until he set her on the ground.
His trembling hands rested on her shoulders, a look of concern on his handsome face.
A huge bump formed on Madison’s forehead. “Ouch!” She touched the purple, tender spot.
Her eyes blurred, and she swayed in his arms.
Cole gripped her tight to steady her. “Maybe we should call an ambulance.” He pushed her
hair away from her face to get a better look at the injury.
“No really, I’m fine. Let’s worry about getting this car out of the ditch and back onto the
road.” Madison shivered more from the impact of the crash, than the cold wind. Wet snow
covered her jacket and clung to her hair.
Cars slowed as they passed them on the winding road, but no one stopped.
“Are you sure…?” Cole hesitated, his ice blue eyes filled with worry.
“I’m sure. Let’s flag someone down to help us get back on the road.” Madison’s head
throbbed, and she fought a wave of nausea. She removed his hands from her face and turned her
attention to the traffic.
Minutes later a large four-wheel drive pulled over to the shoulder, and in no time they were
back in the car on the road.
They drove in silence for what seemed an eternity.
“I’m sorry Madison.” Cole didn’t take his eyes from the road.
The speedometer hadn’t gone above fifty since they’d resumed driving.
Madison glanced at him.
He didn’t meet her gaze. His hand trembled on the gearshift.
She resisted the urge to touch him. “I’m fine. The accident wasn’t your fault.” Neither was her
divorce or broken heart.
* * * *

Blake Ford was notorious for being an adventure seeking, risk taker linked to more than
one rocky relationship with female celebrities. Three-time gold medal winner in the Winter
Olympic snowboarding events and owner of a chain of snowboarding shops, Blake was a success
on and off of the slopes. Madison doubted his Christmas traditions would be relaxing or low-key.
Christmas tree decorating and hospital visits to sick children were not on the agenda with this
bachelor.

Buzzing his Penthouse condo three hours later, she wasn’t surprised he was still in bed. He
opened the door in a pair of reindeer printed boxer shorts and nothing else.
“Hi…um…I’m Madison Grey.” Madison’s cheeks flushed.
Didn’t anyone put a shirt on
before answering a door?
Blake blinked and ran a hand through his dishevelled, shoulder length blond hair. He gave
her a confused look.
“From
Women’s World Quarterly
.”
“Okay…?” Blake still looked puzzled.
Oh no.
He had no idea who she was or why she was here.
Typical Ashley
. The young
receptionist couldn’t be trusted with anything. She would have a long chat with her when she got
back to Staten Island. First, giving out her address to a stranger, then dropping the ball on the
assignment.
“Blake, man, go put on a shirt!” Cole appeared in the doorway behind an open mouthed
Madison.
“Hey Cole! What are you…?” Realization dawned on Blake’s face. He turned to Madison.
“Madison—from the women’s magazine.” He pointed to her and snapped his fingers. “I’d totally
forgotten that interview was this week. Wow, is it the twelfth of December already?” Blake
laughed.
“Yes.” Madison pursed her lips.
Sorry Ashley.
Blake moved away from the door. “Come in, please. I’ll get dressed and be right with you.
Cole, help yourself. You know where I keep everything in the kitchen.” Blake disappeared down
the hall.
Cole shook his head and grinned. “The guy can’t even put on some clothes to answer the
door.”
Madison hadn’t been complaining about the view. Blake Ford was an ex-marine and his
chest and
bulging
biceps indicated
he
kept himself in perfect shape. At
least she
couldn’t
complain about a shortage of attractive men on this assignment. She may not be interested in a
relationship, but they were still easy on the eyes. “Thanks.” Madison removed her coat and
walked around the spacious living room. Blake’s winter home, where he spent the majority of his
time had a fantastic view of the mountains. She stopped to gaze out a window.
“I didn’t do it for you, I did it for me. He was making me look bad.” Cole flashed her his
famous grin.
She hadn’t realized she’d missed it until now. The rest of the way to Whistler, they’d driven
in silence as
Cole concentrated
on the
winding roads. Conversation had been brief and
superficial. Madison suspected he wanted to finish their discussion about her ex-husband and
why she’d agreed to the assignment, but he didn’t ask again. The conversation was bound to
resurface, but she was happy to prolong the inevitable.
Blake emerged from his bedroom wearing a dark navy blue sweater and dark brown ski
pants. If possible, he looked better dressed than he had half naked. His long, blond hair was tied
at the base of his neck and the rough stubble on his chin was a testament to his easy-going,
carefree lifestyle.
A tall, thin girl followed him into the living room. Dressed in what could only be described
as a sweater stretched down over her hips and six-inch boots that reached above the knee the girl
smiled and waved to Madison and Cole. “Hi.” She giggled.
“Hi,” Madison said.
Cole stood open mouthed.
Madison slapped his arm.
“Oh, yeah, hi.” He fumbled with his camera bag.
Blake turned to the girl and wrapped an arm around her waist. He lowered his head to her
neck.
The girl giggled and pushed him away. “Call me.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed Blake’s
cheek.
“You got it.” Blake winked and opened the door, ushering her out into the hallway. He
turned his attention to Madison and Cole. “Sorry about that. I would have introduced you but for
the life of me I couldn’t remember her name…
Kimber? Tammy
?” He frowned. “Nope, can’t
remember.”
“Would it be
Holly
by any chance?” Madison narrowed her eyes to a blue pen mark on his
hand.
“That’s it!” Blake’s eyes widened, and he nodded. “How’d you know?”
Madison grabbed his hand and held it up for him to read the scribbled name and phone
number. The ink was already too blurred to pick out the last three digits.
Guess Holly won’t be
getting a call.
“Oh.” Blake laughed and blushed. “Sorry—if I’d known—or
remembered
you were going to
be here today…”
Madison shook her head. “No problem at all.”
Now, how to gently describe this for the
article?
Blake turned to Cole. “Hey buddy! Long time.” The two exchanged a handshake and pat on
the back.
“Too long. What’s on the agenda today?”
“Are you kidding?” Blake feigned a look of shock. “There’s fresh powder on the slopes
man. We are going skiing.” He grinned and clapped his hands together.
Madison’s eyes widened.
Skiing?
She hadn’t skied in years. “I didn’t bring any ski clothes.”
She’d hoped to avoid the sport. “I’ll watch you two ski.”
Definitely the safer option
. She already
had one injury so far on this leg of the trip. She didn’t want to add any broken bones to it.
“No way. These mountains are amazing.” Blake shook his head at her protests. “Up the
stairs, the second door on the right.” Blake pointed upstairs. “In the guest room closet you will
find everything you need.”
Madison sighed and headed up the stairs
.
If she’d learned one thing so far on this
assignment, it was that no one was taking her “no” for an answer.

The ski slopes were warmer than Madison had expected, but she was grateful for the
cashmere sweater she wore under her ski jacket. Her second attempt to convince the men she
would prefer to watch them ski and not don a pair of skis herself had failed. Standing at the top
of a ski run labeled
In deep
, she smiled at the irony. Her legs shook, and the hill looked bigger
from the top. Staring down the icy hill, Madison forced herself once again to remember why
she’d taken this assignment in the first place. Broken bones were
not
on her Christmas list. She
was asking for a raise in the New Year if assignments like this were added to her job description.

“It wouldn’t even be a challenge. I can barely stand on these skis.” She laughed and held up
her ski poles.
“I’d gladly fall behind to watch your sexy ass in those ski pants.” He winked as he took off
down the hill.
Her face flushed as she watched him make his way down the slope, his hips moving back
and forth with expertise. He made it look easy. Maybe she should remove the skis and walk
down the hill. While that would be embarrassing, so would wiping out
.
She weighed her options.
Either way she couldn’t keep standing there. A group of school aged students on a field trip
whizzed by her.
“What are you waiting for? Do you want me to come get you?” Cole called from the bottom
of the hill.
Not a chance
. That was the motivation she needed. She pushed off and started down the hill.
She moved as slow as she could and with caution.
Okay, this isn’t so bad
.
Almost there
. She let
out a breath she’d been holding as she neared the bottom.
“See, that wasn’t so bad.” Cole held out an arm as she approached him at the base of the hill.
An amused smile spread across his handsome features. Behind his sunglasses his eyes glinted.
She caught his arm and rotated as her skis slowed to a stop. “Whoa.” She stumbled and
struggled to balance. “Thanks.” She let go off his arm and moved out of the way as the school
kids ran past on their way to the chair lift.
“Going back up?” Cole pushed off and headed in the direction of the lift.
“Ah, I don’t know…” Madison glanced up the hill. It hadn’t been
that
bad. Maybe after a
few more runs, she’d get the hang of it.
Blake shot down the hill and stopped inches from them. “Having fun yet?” His face was
flushed with exhilaration.
Cole nodded. “Madison’s a little nervous.”
She blushed and shot him a look. “I haven’t been skiing in years.” She shrugged.
“No problem. Come on, I’ll teach you a few basic moves on the Bunny slope, and in less
than an hour you’ll be skiing like the pros.” Blake took her arm.
“I doubt that, but okay.” Madison gave Blake a smile. She turned and stuck her tongue out at
Cole as the two skied away.
He looked disappointed. She’d abandoned him so easily for lessons from his playboy friend.
At the t-bar lift, Blake held it steady as she climbed onto one side. He glanced toward the
chair lift and laughed.
“What?” Madison turned to see Cole sandwiched between two young girls on the chair as it
made its way to the top of the hill. He looked uncomfortable.
Blake shook his head. “I’ll never understand that guy.” He chuckled as the t-bar started with
a jolt.
Madison tore her eyes away from Cole. “What do you mean?”
“You know, he’s hot…”
“He’s okay.” Madison blushed.
Yes he was, but discussing that with Blake might be blurring
the professional line a little
.
“Okay, maybe
you
don’t think so…” Blake pinched her crimson cheek. “But ninety-nine
percent of the women out there do, and yet, the man never gets laid.”
Madison lost her grip on the handle and fought to regain her balance. She hadn’t been
expecting
that.
Talk about crossing the professionalism line. At this point, she knew too much
about him already. She wasn’t sure how much more she wanted to hear. She coughed.
“Sorry, forgot I was talking to a chick.” Blake laughed.
Chick?
“Let me put it another way, he doesn’t date—ever.” He shrugged. “Makes no sense to me.”
“That is strange.” Madison frowned. Her curiosity peaked. “So, you two have been friends
for a long time?” The pair didn’t seem likely.
“Since college. We were roommates.” Blake helped her off of the metal bar at the top of the
learner’s slope. Children and a few awkward adults littered the hill. “He had a girlfriend then, but
since they broke up in junior year, he’s only dated a handful of women, and only once or twice.”
That part wasn’t surprising. He was a player. Just as she’d thought
.
He’d himself admitted
he wasn’t the marrying type.
“I always thought he was upset when she called off the engagement, but I think it’s long
overdue to get over it.” Blake shrugged. “Okay, stand with your feet shoulder width apart.” He
grabbed her shoulders and positioned her on the hill.
Engagement? He’d been engaged?
“Earth to Madison.” Blake waved a hand in front of her dazed look.
“Oh sorry, what were you saying?”
Blake stood back and studied her. He folded his arms across his chest and glanced at her
above his sunglasses. “Do you want to learn to ski or do you want to learn more about the
photographer you think is
okay?”
Madison looked toward the ski slope where Cole dashed down the hill with ease. So, he’d
been hurt. That would explain the aversion to marriage. According to Blake, he wasn’t the
playboy she’d pegged him to be either. Skiing was definitely the safer option.