“My brother had other ideas about what I should be doing with my life.”
Anna blinked. Jonas seemed like the type to have lots of thoughts about what other people should do, but it had clearly gotten Gabe’s goat at this meeting. For a horrible moment, she thought Jonas might be talking about her—maybe he’d discovered the truth about the two of them. That would be bad. That was not something she wanted for Elin or Gabe. Any of them. “Really?” Her tongue felt dry. “He wanted you to—what, to do something else?” She should be straightforward—is this about me? But it felt wrong to ask. Selfish.
“Yes. Jonas’s expectations are as high as they ever were in my family, and now…” He let out a huff. “Now, I know my business will never be enough for them. I thought if I showed them I was happy, they would change their minds. Clearly, that’s not going to happen. I’m still a disappointment.”
Anna reached out and took his hand, and he squeezed tight. It kept her grounded, though the rest of her seemed unsettled. Unmoored. “I don’t think that’s true,” she finally managed. “Chase looks up to you. He spent a good chunk of our lesson talking about how smart you are.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re not the outsider. You just have a different outlook on life. They want to be here at the lodge, and you want something else. It doesn’t mean your family thinks less of you.”
He stiffened, cutting a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. “How can you be sure of that? You don’t really even know my family.” That hurt. It was true, yeah, but that was probably why it hurt so much. “My job has never been good enough because it’s not here. My girlfriends have never measured up to my grandmother’s standards.” Gabe stared straight ahead, and Anna’s heart threatened to break for him.
The comment stung because it lumped her in with all the other girlfriends Gabe had brought here. How could Anna ever begin to fit in here? She could barely ski. And she definitely couldn’t pretend to be from a wealthy, stable family. Okay—she could pretend that, but eventually, the truth would come out.
Or maybe it wouldn’t because they wouldn’t be together. They would return home and keep working together at a careful distance. As professionals. And she wouldn’t get to fall into bed with him again. She would not.
The trick was to stay focused.
What she would do was work extra hard to win the family over tonight. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d felt like a complete imposter while doing a job, but no matter what she felt, she’d do the job to the best of her ability. Beyond the best of her ability. That was how she’d positioned herself for this moment, hadn’t she?
Anna took a deep breath and reached for Gabe. She held him close and kissed his cheek.
He laughed. “What’s that for?”
“I know what I know,” she told him. “You’re good enough for your family. More than good enough. If you want to do something different, then that’s up to you.” His muscular shoulders felt good in her arms. “But in the meantime, you know what we’re going to do?”
“What?”
“Be the best-engaged couple at this resort.”
Gabe’s hand came up, and he stroked the side of her face, his eyes finally landing on hers. They flicked down over her lips and lingered there. “How should we do that?”
“Oh, I’m not sure,” she said primly. “Do you think we should practice first? Do some exercises to get closer together before our next public appearance?”
He made a low noise in the back of his throat. “I can think of a few exercises for that.” His gray-green eyes warmed. “I have to warn you, though—they involve significantly less clothing.”
“Try me,” she said, all too happy when he took her up on the offer.
13
When they climbed out of bed an hour later, Gabe felt closer to Anna. Much closer. It still stung, the way she’d brushed over his worry about not belonging with his family, but it stung a lot less. He’d take that for now.
They stepped into the shower together, and he tried to put his heart back inside his body as he ran the washcloth down her curves, circling her breasts and tickling her hips. She leaned back against him, her head on his chest. “No more,” she said. “Or I’ll be too tired to go to dinner with you.”
“With me, Jonas, and Chase,” he said, clearly not entirely over her earlier defection to his family’s way of thinking.
She stiffened. She hadn’t been prepared for this extra performance. “I didn’t know we were going to dinner with them tonight.”
He worked the shampoo through her hair and helped rinse it out again. “Well, that’s what we’re here for—family dinners.” Gabe turned her to face him, but her dark eyes slipped away from his. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face toward his. “You’ve been amazing at the dinners. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” She smiled, the nervousness disappearing from her face. But it didn’t disappear from her body. Her shoulders seemed tense as she dried her hair and put on her makeup. If she didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t press. Not when they were about to walk out the door.
The hotel’s restaurant was on the opposite side of the building, a five-star affair with low lighting and white tablecloths.
“Is your grandmother going to eat with us tonight?” Anna murmured as they breezed by the hostess.
“No. Jonas sent a message saying she was still too tired.” Gabe squeezed her hand. “I thought you had a good time with Chase and Tana today.”
“Of course,” she said as if she was trying to convince herself, too. “It was a great lesson, and they’re good teachers.”
“Then—” It was too late to finish the question, so he stopped himself. They had come to the round table where Tana, Chase, and Jonas were waiting. Jonas and Chase stood up to shake hands with him. It was all very formal. Tana came around to embrace Anna, and then they all took their seats. “Lindsey’s at a friend’s house,” Tana said, explaining her absence.
“Now that the lovebirds are here, we can order,” Chase said, shooting Anna a wink.
She laughed, the sound too loud and bright for the moment, and an intense awkwardness flooded over Gabe. “What are you going to have, Jonas?”
“Steak,” his brother’s answer came without a second’s hesitation. “It’s my favorite thing on the menu.”
“You don’t want to broaden your horizons?” Chase needled. “Anna did. She’s basically never been skiing before, and she spent a good two hours on the slopes today.”
“Will I lose all my credibility if I also order steak?” Anna asked, her smile too full. Almost forced.
Chase and Jonas chuckled, seeming not to notice.
“Because it sounds good after all that exercise.” She glanced at Gabe as she said it, her cheeks going pink, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what she was trying to do. Could his brothers tell? That was the key at this moment.
Tana said something about roast chicken, and the rest of them chattered about it until the waiter came back and took the orders.