Blame It on the Champagne by Nina Harrington Page B

you tie a parachute to your back and jump off a cliff
and hope the chute slows you down before you hit the ground?’
    â€˜Not quite, but you have the general idea about controlling the
descent with a canopy.’
    She inhaled slowly and decided to break the bad news all at
once.
    â€˜I am really sorry, especially since you stuck your neck out
for me yesterday, but I have vertigo on a stepladder and have to pay people to
climb up and clean my bedroom windows because I can’t lean out and do it
myself.’
    She shook her head slowly from side to side. ‘I don’t do
heights.’
    His hands stilled and he looked at her, eyebrows high.
‘Seriously?’
    â€˜Seriously.’ She nodded very slowly, up and down. Twice.
    â€˜Oh—’ he sniffed ‘—not a problem. You can jump onto my harness
and I can fly you down in tandem. I do it all the time and you don’t weigh a
thing. Wait and see, you’ll enjoy it. But er...’ His gaze scanned her from head
to toe and then back up again and there was just enough of a cheeky grin on his
face to make her want to cover her chest with a cushion. ‘You might want to
change your clothes. Have you brought any ski wear?’
    She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to one side
before replying. ‘Strange. As a matter of fact, I have not. You see, I packed
for a business trip. Fancy that!’
    * * *
    An hour later, Saskia had changed into cold weather
layers, survived being driven by Rick to a ski lift at breakneck speed and then
a hair-raising trip trapped inside a glass-sided gondola which took twenty
minutes to climb up the side of the valley wall.
    The good news was that Rick had kept her talking and focused on
him for the whole journey and she had not lost her breakfast as the gondola slid
up the loose cable, juddering along every pole before coming to a gentle swaying
halt at the top.
    It was almost worth it for the views. Stepping out from the ski
station, Saskia was hit square between the eyes by a panorama of the
snow-covered mountains on each side of the valley that was so breathtakingly
lovely that she forgot that she was supposed to be scared for all of five
minutes—before she turned around and saw Rick talking to another man carrying
another huge backpack.
    â€˜Saskia, come and meet Jean Baptiste Fayel. Jean is one of my
winemakers I was telling you about who we are going to showcase in the London
store.’
    A handsome fair-haired young man stepped forward. If Saskia
thought that Rick had a firm handshake then Jean Baptiste was trying to do a
fine job of shaking her arm out of its socket.
    â€˜Great to meet you, Miss Elwood.’ He grinned, still shaking her
hand. ‘Rick has told us all about the fantastic plans you have to serve our
wine. We’re really excited.’
    â€˜Leave the poor girl alone.’ Rick laughed and shook Jean by the
shoulders before turning to Saskia. ‘Jean is getting married this afternoon so
we thought that it would do us good to escape away from the mayhem back at his
house and get into the air for a few hours.’
    This was the bridegroom?
    Saskia turned back to Jean with a smile. ‘Congratulations. How
wonderful.’
    He blushed slightly, which was very charming. ‘Thank you, and
of course you’re invited to the wedding. Nicole and I would love to see you
there. Rick has given us a lifeline to a great opportunity. And that is
something to celebrate.’
    Saskia flashed a glance at Rick, who nodded slowly.
    She had been ambushed! Any chance of doing
work was now completely out of the window!
    â€˜I’m looking forward to it,’ Saskia replied with a smile.
‘Thank you.’
    â€˜Excellent,’ he replied and then nodded towards the cliff and
checked his chronometer. ‘If you’ll excuse me, my future bride has a house full
of guests who cannot start the eating and drinking until I get back. See you at
the