And afterward, when he was afraid it might be awkward, she’d simply smiled and walked away.
At the time he’d thought he was the luckiest guy on the planet.
He’d found someone exactly like him. Her working day was almost as long as his, she was a perfectionist, a talented chef and devoted to doing everything she could to help grow the business at Snow Crystal. A workaholic who wasn’t interested in a relationship.
He hadn’t looked deeper. Her wild, passionate nature had stopped him seeing how guarded she was.
Stepping out of the shower, he knotted a towel around his hips and opened the door.
There, exactly as he’d left them, were his wet clothes.
Assuming she’d forgotten, he picked them up and carried them downstairs only to see her fast asleep on the sofa, the mug of chocolate cooling on the floor beside her, untouched.
Frowning, Sean walked across and studied her for a moment. Considering how hard she’d worked, the hours she put in, it was hardly surprising she’d fallen asleep, was it?
She was obviously completely exhausted.
>
Her dark lashes were the only smudge of color on her pale face.
Deciding that if he left her there she’d wake up with backache, Sean scooped her up in his arms.
She barely stirred.
Wishing it had occurred to him when he’d built the lodge that one day he might one day need to maneuver up the narrow staircase with a woman in his arms, Sean carried her carefully and lowered her onto the bed.
Then he pulled the white cover over her, switched off the lamp and walked away.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“IT’S BEEN SO long since we managed Sunday breakfast together. We love it when you girls find time to join us, don’t we, Alice?” Elizabeth, the boys’ mother, slid a stack of freshly cooked pancakes onto a plate and put them in the center of the scrubbed kitchen table. “Sit down, the three of you. What a wonderful party. I haven’t enjoyed myself that much for years. Élise, you did us proud, sweetheart. You must be exhausted after all that work and excitement. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Yes.” And she’d woken in her own bed even though she knew that wasn’t where she’d fallen asleep.
Sean must have carried her.
If she hadn’t been so stressed about it she would have smiled because she knew he would have struggled to do it without banging his head.
Why had he bothered to come to her lodge when he could have just walked away?
And why had he asked all those questions? All he’d needed to know was that she didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t need to know the reasons why.
“It was a great party.” Kayla had brought Maple with her and she cuddled the dog as she sat down at the table. “I talked to a million people and my face hurts from smiling. It’s going to be great for the business. Is there anything I can do to help with breakfast, Elizabeth? Can I cook something?”
Brenna pulled a face and Elizabeth smiled nervously. “You just sit there, dear. I love cooking and we all know it’s not your favorite thing.”
“What she means is you are truly terrible at cooking.” Élise poured coffee into mugs and set them on the table. “What? Why are you all looking at me?”
Brenna grinned. “Because you don’t know the meaning of the word tact.”
“I speak the truth so none of us is poisoned. At cooking, Kayla is truly terrible but at organization and marketing—” She lifted her mug in a toast. “She is a genius. To Kayla.”
“To Kayla,” Brenna said and Kayla grinned as she lifted her mug.
“To us and to teamwork. The summer hasn’t been awful. We’re still in business. Here’s to a brilliant winter with masses of snow and more bookings than we can handle.”
“Talking of winter, I spent some time with Josh last night.” Brenna added maple syrup to her pancakes, missing the look Kayla sent Élise.