Connor took a drink of his beer when it came. Whatever he’d ordered for us was good—a rich amber color and not too bitter.
“Darya’s looking good, although not as good as Veena. I’ve only seen Mei and Jia-Li on the Beast a couple of times, but they laid down strong runs. Still, I think Veena has a great chance at gold.”
“I hope so. I shouldn’t care so much, but I want her to win.”
He shook his head. “Don’t feel bad for caring about her. I’ll bet that’s what’s kept you in the game when there were . . . problems.”
“Problems? You mean like puking on your shoes and ending up in the hospital the first day? Or tackling a perfectly innocent snowboarder? Almost losing Veena? Like those kinds of problems?” I closed my eyes at the painful memories.
Connor slid his hand over mine. “Well, you’re still with her, so you must be doing something right.”
The waiter came to take our order. He spoke perfect English, but Connor ordered in German.
I stared at him, my beer halfway to my mouth. “Did you take German in high school?”
His expression was neutral. “Spanish.”
“So how did you learn it?”
He shrugged and looked away. “I like languages.”
Who randomly picks up German? There was so much I didn’t know about Connor. I still had the feeling that something about him was off, but . . . I didn’t care anymore. Shitake.
He ordered something for us that had worst in the name, which didn’t set my expectations very high. But it turned out to be tasty spicy sausage. We also had sauerkraut, which I’d only had out of a jar, creamy mashed potatoes, and thick crusty bread. I was stuffed by the end of the meal.
When the waiter brought the check, Connor and I pulled out our wallets at the same time.
“Let’s split it,” I said.
“I invited you, so I pay.”
“I’ve been getting paid for weeks and haven’t had anything to spend it on.”
He hesitated. “Okay, we can split, but only because I have a surprise for you.”
I tilted my head. “What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
The waiter took our cards. After we signed, Connor helped me out of my chair. “I’ll meet you out front.”
I pulled on my coat and strolled outside. Snow covered the ground in a silvery layer. Couples walked shoulder to shoulder, a few bundled families enjoyed the cool air, and music tinkled from somewhere overhead. Like in Vail, I felt the majestic peaks guarding the town. At least I hoped they were, because I was definitely off duty.
Across the street and down a little was a small park. I wandered over to it. Using my coat sleeve, I swept off a bench and sat. Connor appeared out of the dark. Snowflakes clung to his hair and shoulders, and a secret smile warmed his face.
He handed me a long, padded bag.
“Surprise,” he said.
I knew the shape of the bag well enough thanks to Veena and her friends. A snowboard.
“For me?” My voice squeaked.
He nodded. “You should have your own ride now. You’ve earned it.”
I zipped the case open. The deck was glossy black. Around the bindings, a handgun shot elaborate red roses in curling waves from the muzzle.
I smoothed the surface. “Connor, I love it. It’s beautiful. But I can’t keep it.”
“Why?”
“It’s . . . too much.” The board had to have cost him hundreds of dollars. We weren’t even dating. Were we? My brain was fuzzy with emotion and that strong German beer.
“Would it help if I said I can’t return it?”
“No!”
“Well, I can’t, so it’s yours. We’ll have to adjust the bindings to fit your boots and have it tuned, but she should be the perfect size for you.”
I couldn’t believe he did this. And I couldn’t wait to try her out on the slopes. I’d graduated from bunny to full-on green runs before we left Vail.
“Thank you, Connor. This was incredibly generous.”
He took the board from me, laid her against the back of the bench, and sat close. I ran a hand through his hair, releasing a small snow shower. He kissed me once, and again more deeply, his tongue running against mine. “Nicole. You’ve been the best part about this assignment.”
I pulled away, breathless. “Assignment?”
“As a trainer.”
Assignment as a . . . whatever. When his lips covered mine again, my blood boiled over, and I kissed him back until thoughts of snowboarding and assignments and kidnappers drifted off into the star-streaked alpine night.
Twenty
The next few days were a blur of sleeping, eating, and Veena competing. Darya, Mei, Jia-Li, and Veena moved from the quarterfinals into the finals. Ali didn’t score high enough to move straight through, but she put down good runs in the semis and made the finals that way.
The weather was a champ, snowing a few inches at night and clearing in the morning. The local lifties told us in their excellent English that they’d never seen such perfect weather in February.
I got to try out my new board a few times by sneaking onto unused slopes, but I only saw Connor briefly. When I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling that despite his generosity, sweet personality, and general smoking hotness, I was missing something about him.
To add to my frustration, Brown couldn’t pin anything on the coaches we’d seen eating together. As far as we knew, they’d had an innocent work dinner. Yeah, and Connor and I were just friends.
The night before the finals, I couldn’t sit still. My neck itched and my hands and feet tingled. I was more nervous than Veena and praying a little puja to Lakshmi didn’t help. I called Xene from the bathroom.
“The kidnappers haven’t made a threat since the attempt in Copper Mountain,” she said, “but you are worried about the connection between the Belarusian and Chinese coaches, and you don’t fully trust Veena’s trainer?”
I hadn’t told her I was sort of dating Veena’s untrustworthy trainer. “Also wondering who the mystery man in Copper was, but
