‘Enjoying a cup of hot chocolate.’
‘Are you a complete idiot?’ He remained standing, his face dark with anger. ‘Have you noticed what’s happening with the weather outside? Or are you in a world of your own? Come on. Let’s go. Now!’
‘Don’t you dare order me around!’
Lucas leaned down, hands flat on the table, crowding her so that she automatically flinched back.
The café was half-empty but the few people there were whispering, looking covertly in their direction.
How dare he stride into this café and order her around like a schoolteacher telling a misbehaving kid what to do? How dare he? And where was the laid-guy who had listened to her rattle on about her life? The guy who had offered sparse but good advice, who had actually succeeded in helping her put her nightmare broken engagement into some kind of healthy perspective? Where had he gone? In his place, this was a dark, avenging stranger bossing her about, embarrassing her in front of other people.
Thanks to her lying, cheating ex-fiancé, she had spent the last two weeks smiling and putting on a brave face to mask her total humiliation. She wasn’t about to let any stranger drag her back to that place!
‘I am not ordering you around. I am very politely but very firmly telling you to drain the remnants of that hot chocolate and follow me out of here. Unless you want to find yourself spending the night in whatever hotel can fit you in!’
‘I didn’t ask you to come flying down here to rescue me!’ Milly snapped, digging her heels in as a matter of principle, even though he was right. She had barely noticed the worsening weather. She should have. She knew all about worsening weather from growing up in Scotland—but she had been lost in her thoughts. ‘And, for your information, it wasn’t like this when I came out this morning.’
Lucas didn’t answer. He pushed himself away from the table with the unswerving assumption that she would follow him, which she did.
‘I haven’t paid!’ she gasped, catching up with his furious stride.
‘There’s no need to pay...’ This from behind her.
Milly looked round, startled. ‘Wh-what do you mean?’ she stammered.
‘Mr Romero is a very special visitor.’ Like nearly every person working in the shops and cafés, the owner of this café was deferential to the wealthy and politely but condescendingly accommodating to everyone else. Money talked.
‘A very special visitor...?’ Milly’s mouth wobbled on the brink of laughter because she wondered what a simple ski instructor could have done to have been awarded the title of ‘very special visitor’. So he might have a handful of rich clients, but since when did their prestige rub off on him? Was he a very special visitor because of the way he looked?
‘Enough, Jacques!’ Lucas forced a smile but he could feel curiosity emanating from her in waves. ‘Naturally your bill will be paid.’ He turned to Milly. ‘Did you have anything else? No? In that case, put it on my tab, Jacques.’
‘Tab? What tab?’
She trailed out of the café behind him. The cable car was still in operation but for how long? Another hour and she might have been stranded downhill, unable to make her way back up to the lodge. ‘I apologise if you felt you had to rush down to find me,’ she offered grudgingly as they began the trip back up the hill. ‘Like I said, conditions were a lot better when I started out.’