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PROLOGUE
ZACH hadn’t been sure which he wanted most, the woman or the mountain
The wo at a corner table in the inn’s lounge and giving hi, slow looks froe, but after a minute Zach kneas no contest
She was beautiful, but the world was full of beautiful woe, all seven thousand, snow-covered feet of it It would come first
So he’d smiled back, told the bartender to send her a drink and lifted his glass to her before finishing the last of his brandy Then he’d strolled toward the door, pausing beside her table
“Here for the weekend?” he’d asked and when she’d nodded in assent, he’d smiled “Alone?”
Her tongue had slicked across her lips “No,” she’d murmured, “but that won’t stop you, will it?”
Zach had felt his body tighten in anticipation
“Toone to his roohts to the next day
Now, as he undid his bindings and stepped out of his skis, he knew he’d ht choice His hands were nuh his Gore-Tex gloves, his lungs cried out for en, and every muscle in his body ached
He felt terrific
A sles and chiseled features
He could see the copter approaching, ski up the ept Himalayan valley like a prehistoric bird, and he puan its descent
The Valley of the Gods had turned out to be perfect, exactly as Elise had pro the conversation with his travel agent the week before
He’d phoned her fro at the Boston Club and a duller luncheon appoint World Trade Center in New York
“I want to get away for a couple of days,” he’d said without preamble His administrative assistant had shoved a stack of papers under his nose Zach had switched the phone to his other ear while he scrawled his initials on the pages “Got any suggestions?”
Elise, who’d been dealing with Zach long enough to know exactly what the question meant, had instantly offered several in the British accent she still cultivated after better than forty years in the States
What did he think of rock cli in British Columbia?
“No,” Zach had said to each idea, “no, no I want—I want…Just keep on going,” he’d said in exasperation
Elise had rattled off more proposals while the jet banked over Manhattan’s narrow canyons Zach had listened, frowning as he gazed out the , picturing himself in an hour’s time seated at a table with half a dozen men twenty years his senior who’d pretend they’d really choose grilled tuna and braised radicchio over the rare steaks and butter-dripping baked potatoes their highpriced cardiologists had made them swear off forever, who’d talk stocks and bonds and investments with the appetite and passion most men reserved for women
So had knotted in Zach’s flat belly
“Helicopter skiing,” he’d said into the phone, cutting short Elise’s description of windsurfing in the Caribbean “Yeah, I know I’ve done it before, but that was in the Canadian Rockies or maybe it was Alaska Where? The Himalayas?” For the first time in days, Zach had so for it”
Now here he was, on the far side of the world with a glacier and a laciers andto remind him of the world he’d left behind, the telephones and fax machines and coly derown dull
Zach puffed out his breath Here he was, as free as he’d been seven years ago, before he’d let the world suck him in, before he’d traded risk for wealth and freedoe, and it felt damned wonderful
Two hundreds yards away, the copter was settling to the earth in a whirling blizzard of rotor-driven snow The pilot would probably want to take off right away, considering the lateness of the hour, the bitter cold and the oer of avalanche
Zach knew he’d pushed things to the edge as it was, fast-talking the guy into leaving hi but his equipment, an avalanche transceiver, a flask of hot coffee and a couple of thick sandwiches for company
“I dunno,” the pilot had said, scratching his head, “uide”
But Zach had persisted The day he couldn’t talk his way into or out of a situation hadn’t dawned yet He’d presented his skiing credentials as he would have presented a block of blue-chip stocks for the president of a ed,Zach’s neck, not his, revved the engine, increased the pitch of the blades
and left hiods and the mountain
The day had been incredible And, Zach thought with a start of surprise as he scrambled into the copter, it wasn’t over yet
Soht, dressed in a skintight spandex ski suit that showed off every inch of her lush body
Zach smiled as he sat down beside her and put his lips to her ear so he could be heard over the noise of the copter
“What a pleasant surprise”
She sht it would be”
At least that hat he thought she said It was impossible to hear, but then, what did ainto a pair of thickly fringed a mouth?
She ht her lips to within a breath of his ear
“I hope you don’twhile he collected you”
Zach’s sainst his
“Mind? Hell, no I’hted” The helicopter rose into the air and Zach leaned closer “My name is—”
“You’re Zachary Landon I know” She smiled “I’m Keri”
Zach drew back so he could look at the soft, sh thrust of the breasts that e of desire flooded through him and he pulled the woman into his arms and kissed her
A man would have to be crazy to turn dooman like this She was beautiful and she would sleep with him simply because she enjoyed it She wasn’t like his ex-wife, who used sex for gain And if she didn’t believe in fidelity any more than the former Mrs Landon had, at least she hadn’t taken any vows pretending she did
Keri’s hand began to trace a path up his thigh Zach caught her fingers in his, and she gave hi smile before she arched toward hi his skin
“He’s gone,” she said “I sent him away”
There was no need to ask who, or what, she was talking about Zach sainst hers
“Good,” he said, hisas you understand that I’ll be gone, too, in a week”
Her sers cool as she clasped his face in her hands and drew it close to hers
“But what ato be,” she said
Zach kissed her again, azed out the open door as the helicopter swept across the valley