Read Online A Slippery Slope by Emily Harvale - Free Book Online

true to her word – for a few hours at least – and each time Josh
said or did something irritating, she drank her wine and held her tongue, which
was probably why she was beginning to feel rather tipsy.
    ‘Are
we keeping you?’ she asked when Josh yawned and glanced at his watch for the
second time in ten minutes.
    ‘Sorry.
I think I’m still a bit jet-lagged but it is getting late. It’s almost
midnight.’
    ‘And
is that when you turn back into a frog?’
    For
a split second, Josh’s eyes narrowed but he grinned and stood up. ‘Does that
mean that you think I’ve been a prince tonight? Or are we both getting our
stories confused? This has been a wonderful evening, thank you, but I’m afraid
I must go home to bed.’
    ‘I’m
so glad you’ve enjoyed it,’ Lucy said, getting to her feet and gathering the
plates.
    ‘Let
me help you with that,’ Josh offered.
    ‘No,
I’m fine thank you,’ she said, heading for the kitchen.
    Etienne
followed behind her, carrying the empty wine bottles and Josh grabbed the
glasses and turned towards the kitchen whilst Verity gathered up the Chalet
Marianne photographic placemats.
    ‘We
work for you, remember?’ she said sarcastically when she thought Josh was out
of earshot.
    ‘You’re
not going to let me forget that, are you?’
    She
almost dropped the placements on the floor. Her voice must have been louder than
she’d realised.
    ‘I
think I may owe you an apology,’ Josh continued.
    ‘Oh?’
She tried to sound indifferent but her heart was thumping in her chest as she
turned to face him.
    ‘When
Joanna told me that you would be taking her place, I didn’t know what to
expect. My chalet hosts are usually ...’
    ‘Young?’
she suggested as he was clearly struggling for the right word.
    ‘No.
Well ... I suppose they often are but that isn’t what I was going to say.
Experienced. They’ve usually worked at least a couple of seasons for other
companies before they work for me. I was taking a chance on Joanna and Lucy but
at least they’d done a chalet hosting course and I knew they wanted to be
seasonaires, whereas you .... Well, let’s just say that this was a last-minute
decision on your part, and when I found you in bed this morning, I–’
    ‘You
thought I wasn’t going to take this job seriously, is that it?’
    Josh
nodded. ‘I suppose so ... in a way. Yes.’
    ‘And
sarcasm is always a useful motivator, isn’t it?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Never
mind. I assure you that I’ll do my very best – assuming I still have a job,
that is. But whether my best will meet your high standards is a question only
you can answer.’
    ‘If
this evening is anything to go by, I think we can safely say that answer is
yes.’
    ‘So
... are you saying you want me to stay, in spite of the fact that I threw wine
all over you this evening?’
    ‘I
don’t think you did that on purpose. ... Did you?’
    She
grinned. ‘No. But I apologise for that anyway.’
    ‘Just
for that?’ he said with the oddest look in his eyes.
    ‘Are
you suggesting I need to apologise for something else?’
    He
laughed, and Verity thought she’d like to hear that sound more often. He had
the sort of laugh that lifted one’s spirits and made one want to laugh with
him. She suddenly realised that it seemed a very long time since she had
laughed at all.
    ‘No,
Verity, I’m not suggesting that. You can call me a miserable git, a lech ...
and a frog, amongst other things, any time you want.’
    She
blushed. ‘Oh. Yes, okay. I also apologise for that. But you haven’t answered my
question. Are you saying you want me to stay?’
    His
blue-grey eyes looked iridescent as the firelight reflected in them.
    ‘Yes,
Verity. I most definitely want you to stay.’

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
    Verity
wasn’t sure whether she should be pleased or concerned. For the second night in
a row, she hadn’t shed one single tear over Tony and the breakdown of her
marriage.
    Of course, the first night didn’t really