Page 14 of Snowed In with You

CHAPTER SIX

‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ sighed Lucy as Jonno hugged her tightly, looking tired and harassed. Behind him, Sasha, Maya and Olly immediately fell into the group of clients in a flurry of greetings, handshakes and apologies, but Jonno had ignored everyone else and made a beeline straight for Lucy.

‘Been a tricky evening?’ he asked, swiping the glass of wine from her hand and draining half of it in one go. He waved his arms at the barman and pointed to Lucy’s glass, then held up two fingers.

‘No, it’s been fine,’ said Lucy. ‘Dinner went on forever and I’ve eaten my bodyweight in cheese. The kitchen is still open for you guys, Kristoff is going to get them to bring out some more food.’

‘Thank God, I’m starving,’ said Jonno, glancing over at Kristoff, who was on the phone at the head of the dinner table. ‘What’s he doing?’

‘A conference call with New York,’ said Lucy with a shrug. ‘The wheels of commerce never stop turning.’

‘Condommerce,’ said Jonno, turning to the barman and accepting two glasses of wine. ‘Can you just give us the bottle?’

‘Cheers,’ said Lucy, clinking Jonno’s glass.

‘Cheers,’ replied Jonno. ‘How’s Kristoff been?’

‘He’s actually really good company,’ said Lucy. ‘Not what I expected at all.’

‘He’s a good guy,’ said Jonno. ‘But very much a ladies’ man, by all accounts. I did wonder if he’d take a fancy to you.’

‘It wouldn’t matter to me if he did,’ said Lucy dismissively. ‘But for what it’s worth, he’s been entirely professional. Apart from trying to persuade me to go to some bar up the mountain.’

‘See, that’s how it begins,’ laughed Jonno. ‘Men like Kristoff tempt you up a mountain, and before you know it you’re having sex on a sheepskin rug in front of a roaring log fire. Where’s French Exit?’

‘He sat next to Thérèse for dinner; they’ve been prattling away in French about Titan strategy, so I think she’s in love. Then we got the message you guys had arrived and he disappeared. I thought he’d gone to the bathroom, but he never came back.’

‘Christ, he could give Funsponge Fran a run for her money. Here, have a top-up.’ He slopped another inch of wine into Lucy’s glass, just as Kristoff finished his phone call and stood up. ‘Good, looks like he’s done, so we can get some food. I could eat that dead stag.’

‘Jonno!’ exclaimed Kristoff, sidling over and wedging himself between the two of them so he could wrap his arms around both their shoulders.

‘Hey, K-Dog!’ boomed Jonno. ‘How’s the world of designer cock-jackets?’

‘Always on the up, J-Dog,’ said Kristoff with a grin, as Lucy did a tiny sick in her mouth. K-Dog and J-Dog? She could practically feel her vagina healing over.

‘You need a drink?’ asked Jonno, looking appalled at Kristoff’s lack of beverage.

‘I’m all good right now,’ replied Kristoff. ‘We’ve got a big day planned tomorrow. Maybe you can help me persuade Lucy to come with us to a bar in the mountains. She’s being very non-committal.’

‘Non-committal is Lucy’s middle name,’ said Jonno, chugging down more wine. ‘In fact, she’s—’

‘What’s the bar like?’ interrupted Lucy, before Jonno told Kristoff about her lack of meaningful commitments.

‘It’s great,’ said Kristoff. ‘Run by this guy called Gunther and his family. Very cute, good pizza, live music sometimes, gets a little rowdy once the Jägermeister starts flowing. We all went up there last night, had a great time.’

Jonno turned to Lucy, his brow furrowed in fake confusion. ‘Why wouldn’t you want to go to a place like that?’ he asked, his mouth twitching with laughter. ‘You’ve never said no to a bar before.’ She gave him a tight-lipped grin, imagining all the ways she was going to punish him for this.

‘I can’t really ski,’ said Lucy, plastering on her most charming smile. In reality she’d never skied in her life, even on a dry ski slope, but Kristoff didn’t need to know that.

‘It’s fine, there’s a piste bus,’ said Kristoff. ‘It’s got those caterpillar tracks, so it can take non-skiers up the mountain so they don’t miss out on the party. You can meet us there.’

‘Sounds great,’ said Lucy, not very convincingly. Taking a tank up a mountain sounded terrifying.

‘Excellent,’ said Kristoff, flashing his most charming smile. ‘I’m actually thinking about buying the place, I’ve always wanted my own mountain bar. It’s got a two-bedroom apartment too, so I could work from there during the ski season, get some cool people to run it. Make it the best bar in the Alps.’

‘Is it for sale?’ asked Lucy.

‘Everything is for sale,’ replied Kristoff with a shrug. ‘You just have to name the right price.’