The Professional Bride: Billionaire Marriage Brokers Book Three (10 page)

Chapter 12

“Are you ready?” Rym called down the hallway where he stood, skis in hand, boots thrown over his shoulder, and his helmet already clicked in place. After a week of nonstop meetings and lectures from Amber on everything from finance to organizing files, both digital and actual folders, Rym was more than ready for a day on the slopes.

Amber was making good on her promise to ski. In fact, it had been on her to-do list every day since they’d talked about it. However, Rym insisted they have at least three uninterrupted hours for her first lesson, and today was the first day they’d been able to work in the time.

“I’m coming.” Amber glided down the hallway in an oversized sweater and a pair of black leggings. She had on thick socks, and a designer coat was thrown over her arm.

“Where’s your ski gear?”

Amber beamed. “Right here.” She lifted her arm with the coat.

Rym rubbed his hand over his face. “That’s it? I thought you said you went shopping?”

Amber’s smile didn’t decrease in size, but it dimmed somehow, like she had to work to keep it in place. She’d been doing that a lot this week, every morning when he reached for the cereal and every evening when he warmed up a can of soup and she ate something that looked incredible. He had no idea how she managed to make the food she did; it looked like the meals the chefs at Iron Mountain created for their guests. It smelled wonderful, too.

She always offered him some and he always declined. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to eat it. It was the principle of the thing. He had to have some say in this relationship or he’d go crazy.

With a heavy sigh, he leaned his skis against the wall and unclicked his helmet.

“What’s wrong?” asked Amber, her molten chocolate eyes full of concern.

“We need to get you proper ski gear.”

“Won’t this work?” She gestured to her clothing.

While it was attractive, and what a lot of women wore to hang around the lodge, it was not at all appropriate for extended outdoor wear.

Rym set his boots by his skis with a thud. “Look, I don’t mean to offend you.” He realized she may not have been the one to pick out the coat. That supervisor that came through town looking like an under stuffed teddy bear in her ridiculous fur coat might have been the culprit. “Or Trish. But you have no idea how to shop for winter clothing.”

Amber’s hands went to her hips.

Before she could go all pancake crazy on him again Rym barreled forward, both verbally and physically. He pointed down at her feet. “Thick socks will help your feet stay warm, but they will hurt inside a ski boot. You need to buy ski socks.”

Amber looked down at her feet. Rym took advantage of her distraction to brush his fingers over her collar bone. “Your sweater is pretty, but you aren’t wearing base layers. You should have at least one, maybe two layers under this.”

Amber shivered, and Rym was suddenly aware that he was close enough to smell Amber’s citrus scent. He’d caught snatches of it before as she’d moved past him in the kitchen. The warm, vanilla-orange smell was full of freshness with a hint of lemon that gave it a teasing bite. He took a deep breath, enjoying the warmth spreading through his chest.

Amber slowly brought her eyes up from the floor until they meet Rym’s. “I think you might have almost complimented me in there somewhere.”

“Did I?” Rym had to concentrate in order to resist the urge to place his hands on her arms. “I didn’t mean to.”

Amber chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d do it on purpose.”

Rym’s head was still a little fuzzy from enjoying being close to Amber, a sensation which was as unsettling to him as the idea that he had been mistreating her. “Have I been that big of a jerk?”

Amber pressed her lips together, and he saw her hesitation to answer. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

Rym did put his hands on Amber’s arms and she stopped talking. Always the professional, except for the whole blueberry pancake thing, Amber had kept her cool when Rym was constantly losing his. He’d snapped at her, taking his frustrations at the situation out on her instead of handling them on his own. 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Finally, Rym had worked out what he wanted to say. “I’ve been walking around in a cloud since Grandpa died. Going through the motions. I guess grieving in a strange way since our relationship was so strange.

“I don’t think I’ve been seeing our situation, or
you
, clearly.” He thought back to those forced smiles and wondered how many times she’d used one to cover up a hurt he’d inflicted. Unintentional as they might be, that didn’t mean he couldn’t bite back his harsh thoughts. He didn’t trust people easily, and yet he’d been propelled into a situation where he had to trust Amber with everything from his bank account information to seeing him in his pajamas. Maybe he’d been testing her—pushing her buttons to see if she’d turn on him. By doing that, he’d been unfair. She wasn’t here to be his dartboard and accept all the pointy words he wanted to throw her way. “I’ll try to pay more attention to things.”

Amber’s eyes warmed. Still, she hesitated.

He supposed he’d done more to earn her distrust than to put her at ease. Well, he still wasn’t ready to throw himself headlong into her “life coaching,” as she called it. However, he could get her ready to ski. Like any good instructor, he’d make sure she had the right gear before heading out to the hill.

He dropped his hands and immediately felt the loss. Shaking it off, he also took off his gator and gloves.

Amber slipped her arms into the ridiculously thin coat. “How long is this going to take?”

“I could spend days shopping for ski gear,” said Rym.

***

Amber’s mouth dropped open. She’d never known a guy to shop for more than thirty seconds for anything. Derik had been so bad he’d walk in and buy whatever was on the first shelf he came to. After two torturous days in the men’s section of a department store, he’d finally gotten his own sense of style. After that, shopping was easy.

Rym already had a style. He looked good in everything he owned, and the few new things he’d picked up—at Trish’s insistence—were easily incorporated into his wardrobe. Trish had thrown out the faded black pants Rym was married in, and Rym didn’t seem sad to let them go.

“Don’t be surprised. There’s a lot of research that goes into shopping for gear.” He ushered Amber out the door and locked it behind him.

“Like what?”

Rym hit the button on the keychain and unlocked the car doors. He held Amber’s door for her before going around to his side and sliding behind the wheel. “Well, there are magazines and websites that compare the different brands. They go over things like number of pockets, quality of material, if the coat has a ski skirt, that sort of thing.”

“Ski skirt?” Amber asked as they made their way down the switchback.

Rym waved at Sven on their way out. “It’s a piece that folds down and has an elastic to keep the snow from flipping up inside the back of your coat, especially in powder.”

“Powder?”

Rym glanced over as if he was checking to see if she was serious. She motioned for him to continue. This was the most information Rym had volunteered about anything, and she was enjoying listening to him. No wonder he was still requested as a ski instructor. Not only did his eyes brighten when he talked about what he obviously loved, he drew her in with his enthusiasm.

“POW days are the perfect days to ski. We get several inches of fresh snow that piles up like powdered sugar piled high on one of your crepes.”

Amber bit her cheek to keep from smiling at the mention of her crepes. She assumed POW was short for “powder” and that you had to say it with the accent on the P like Rym to get your point across.

“We have a joke around here that on POW days people call in sick with
the flurries
.”

Amber exchanged a smile with Rym. “Have you ever had
the flurries
?”

Rym chuckled. “I tried it once when I was young. Unfortunately, I ended up sitting next to my boss on the ski lift.”

“No.” Amber could only imagine the horror. She’d never skipped a day of work in her life.

“Yeah. She completely ignored me, and I spent the rest of the day with a pit in my stomach. When I got to work the next day, I overheard someone ask her how she was feeling. Turned out she’d done the same thing. We never spoke about it, and I never dared push my luck.”

“Skiing sounds like an addiction.”

Rym pulled into a parking spot and said with all seriousness, “It can be.”

They got out of the car and made their way into the run-down building that looked nothing like the upscale boutiques on Main Street. “We’re shopping here?”

“Yep.” Rym held the door open for her and Amber stepped inside the concrete building.

She was pleasantly surprised to see row after row of brightly colored coats and pants. On one side of the store was a wall of hats, scarves, and gloves. On the opposite side was a wall of ski boots. Rows of skis, ranging from tiny skis for two- to three-year-olds to cross-country skis that towered over her head, filled the back of the room.

Amber colored as Rym looked her up and down before heading to a rack in the middle of the store. He pulled out a sapphire-colored coat and handed it to her. “Try this on.”

Amber slid her arms into the coat and sighed. While the coat wasn’t heavy, it definitely had some weight to it. The liner was soft and silky. She zipped up and took a moment to find a mirror. She was expecting something like what Rym wore, boxy and broad. Instead, this coat was fitted and she loved the big hood. The material had a bit of shine—not sparkles, but a sheen that made it luxurious.

Rym showed up with two pairs of black snow pants. One was puffy and the other was thick but looked more like leggings. “Which one?” She pointed to the slimmer pair. “Okay, try those on.”

Amber glanced around. “Where?”

Rym grinned. “Here.”

“What? In the middle of the store?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Slide them over your pants.”

Amber paused.

“Hurry. It’s already after ten, and we have that lunch with the guy from Snowflake Basin.”

Amber groaned. “This is so unladylike.” Pamela would have a fit if she saw Amber trying on clothing in the middle of the store.

Rym laughed. “I’ll be right back.” He took off down another aisle. Amber was grateful he wasn’t there to witness her shimmy into the tight pants. By the time she was done, she felt sweaty.

Rym appeared again with a black helmet, black gloves, and a black circle thing that he called a gator. She put it all on and lifted her hands. “How do I look?”

Rym cocked his head to the side as he studied her. Amber’s cheeks grew warm. She quickly attributed it to the layers of clothing and not to Rym’s appraising stare. “Good.” He cleared his throat and looked quickly away. “I mean, you look ready to ski.” His eyes dropped to the floor. “Crap. I almost forgot the socks. If it all fits well, I’ll meet you at the checkout counter.”

Amber nodded, though Rym didn’t see it, as he was already halfway across the floor. When he got to the counter, he had much more than just socks.

“I grabbed a few things you can wear under your clothes.” Rym rubbed the back of his neck. “Not that I … I mean, you need to layer to stay warm.”

Amber touched his arm. “Thanks.” She noticed he’d grabbed a couple pairs of what looked like long underwear, a couple wide-strapped tank tops, and some long-sleeved shirts as well as the socks. “Do they only come in black?”

“Black or white. Sometimes grey. But I figured these would work with what you already own.”

Amber smiled down at the counter. Rym might have been pushing her away all week, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention. Perhaps there was hope for this marriage after all.

***

Amber paid for her new ski clothes. Before they left the store, she pulled the tags off the coat and put it on. “I don’t think I’ll ever be cold again.”

Rym held out her other coat with two fingers as if it offended him. “What do you want me to do with this old one? Should I donate it?”

“Wouldn’t that be cruel?” Amber joked.

Rym laughed. “I still can’t believe you thought that would keep you warm.” Even though they hadn’t gotten to Amber’s ski lesson, they’d had a good time shopping. The fact that Amber wanted to wear the coat out of the store filled him with pride. It was an expensive coat, but it would easily last her several years if she had it dry cleaned regularly. He frowned. Not that she’d be here for several years. Maybe she’d come back to ski once in a while. That could be cool.

Amber’s phone beeped with a text. Rym started the car and backed out of the parking space. Amber blinked as she looked at the screen.

“Anything wrong?”

“No, just strange.” She continued to stare at the screen.

The longer she sat there without answering, the more uneasy Rym became. “Strange how?”