The President's Daughter

“But would you have shared a room with him?”

“Are you crazy? Of course not! I’m not going to bed with some guy just because—” She stopped her tirade and shrugged her shoulders. “I just didn’t think this was going to be a trip about sex.”

“It isn’t. It’s about skiing.”

“For you, maybe.”

“For me, definitely. Do you think my dad would have agreed to let me come if he’d thought I’d be sharing a room with some guy?” She made a face, hoping to lighten Trish’s mood a little.

Trish chuckled. “He doesn’t have to worry about you, not with two chaperones following you everywhere you go.” She nibbled on a piece of toast before adding, “Wow. I just realized. That could really cramp your social life if you were seriously involved with someone.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll probably end up single for the rest of my life.”

Trish gave her a devilish grin. “Either that, or have an affair with one of your guardians.” She glanced over at the other table where Ron and Nick were eating. “If I were in your place, I would definitely be tempted.”

Ashley replied, “Ron’s just getting over a painful divorce. I don’t think he’s ready for another relationship anytime soon.”

“Not Ron, you idiot! Nick. I bet he could teach you all kinds of things.”

“The thing is, Trish, I think you’re supposed to like the guy before you decide to have an affair with him. At least that’s always been my take on the matter.”

“What’s not to like? Don’t you just adore his eyes? And the way he looks at you, as though he can read your very soul? Not to mention that body? Sometimes I have this urge to walk up and just stroke his backside in unabashed admiration, you know what I mean?”

Unfortunately Ashley had just taken a sip of coffee when Trish nonchalantly threw that suggestion at her. She almost choked when the liquid went down the wrong way at her gasp.

“Trish!” she finally was able to hiss, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Well, it’s the truth. I’m not really into body building and stuff like that, but I have to admit that I’ve wondered what that man would look like in the buff. I have a hunch he would be all burnished muscle and sinewy strength.” The expression she got on her face was embarrassingly dreamy.

“Could we change the subject now?” she asked, with more than a hint of annoyance.

“Sure.” Trish waved to someone and Ashley glanced around. Joe, Derek and Craig had just walked into the room. Trish jumped up. “I’ll go see what happened to Erin. See you later.”

Ashley took the opportunity to make her escape. She gave a brief wave to the others before she hurried toward the door. She would return to the chalet long enough to gather her skis and poles before she headed up the mountain.

Just as she reached out to push on the door, a masculine arm reached past her shoulder, swinging it open for her. She didn’t have to look around to know that Nick Logan had joined her.

This was just great. She wouldn’t be able to look at him without thinking of Trish’s ridiculous comments. She glanced over her shoulder at him and forced herself to smile.

“Thank you.”

His expression didn’t change. Since he’d placed his sunglasses over his eyes, she couldn’t visually gauge his reaction to her politeness, but his answer came readily enough. “Don’t waste your breath, Ms. Sullivan. No one else is around to hear it.”

It was that very trait that she found so offensive. She was trying to be nice, for heaven’s sake. His response was to be sarcastic.

She decided to retreat into silence.

Even that wasn’t good enough.

“Yeah, that’s much better,” he drawled, matching his steps to hers. “I’m familiar with your silent sulks.”

She would not dignify his sniping with a reply. Not even one.

They gathered their equipment and returned to the ski area.

There were eager skiers everywhere this morning. Clouds were beginning to form just above the mountains to the northwest of them. From the looks of things, it could be snowing by noon. If there was a storm coming, she wanted to be off the slopes before it hit.

“Hey, guys, wait up.”

Derek and Craig hurried toward them, carrying their equipment. “What’s the hurry, Ashley?” Craig asked. “Couldn’t you have waited another few minutes for the rest of us? I thought this was a group experience.”

She could feel her face heating up. “I’m sorry, Craig. I guess I wasn’t thinking.” She glanced toward the darkening sky. “I didn’t want to miss out on skiing today, and those clouds are certainly beginning to look threatening.”

Nick nudged her. “Here comes our ride,” he said, suddenly lifting her onto the seat and swinging around to sit on the other side of the bar. Ashley was so startled that she almost lost her poles. She looked back and saw Derek and Craig putting on their skis.

“That was rude,” she muttered. “We could have waited for them.”

“Yes, we could have. However, if you’re serious about getting some ski time in today, we needed to get moving. This may be our only chance before the storm hits.”

She frowned. “Not necessarily. I’ve skied when it was snowing. There’s no reason to—”

“Do you enjoy arguing, or is it just with me? You find fault with everything I say.”

“I just find you unnecessarily rude, that’s all. This is supposed to be a fun trip, but you’ve certainly managed to take all the fun out of it…for all of us!”

A burst of swirling snow blew past them, and she ducked her head to get away from the stinging spray.

“I had no idea I had enough power to ruin six people’s vacation time. Damn, but I’m good.”

When she looked at him he was staring ahead of them, watching their progress up the mountain. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

He still didn’t look at her. “I should hope not. I’m the guy with no sense of humor.”

Ashley had never felt so much animosity toward another person in all her life. If she’d thought she could do it, she would have shoved him off the lift right then and there.

They reached the top of the lift. She got herself ready and eased off, moving through the snow. Only then did she realize that the gusts of snow-laden air blowing around her were not recirculating snow that had already fallen. This was new stuff coming down, growing thicker by the moment.

“Let’s go,” Nick said brusquely.

“I’m waiting for Derek and Craig. They’ll be here shortly.”

“Ashley—”

She looked away from him. “If you’re nervous about the weather, go ahead. I’ll meet you at the lodge.” When he didn’t say anything, she casually turned her head and looked at him. She was a little alarmed by how fast the snow was falling. He was covered by snow and she was already having a little trouble seeing him. His expression was blurred. She adjusted her goggles and looked around.

There they were! Craig and Derek joined them. “Joe had the right idea. He said he was going to wait to see what this weather was going to do. I don’t like this at all,” Derek said with more than a hint of uneasiness.

Craig shoved forward. “Last one down the hill pays for lunch,” he hollered over his shoulder.