Blurb

She’s here for her Christmas holiday

But she might find more than just snow!

A baby is not even a part of the deal,

If only plans worked all the time!

Training the rich to ski and landing hot ski bunnies at every turn is my passion

This season again I am all ready for my next set of girls at Aspen

But one look at Bea and I realise, I’m in trouble…

Her beautiful looks, and those perfect curves steal my heart;

And one hot night of passion,

Leads to more than what I bargained for.

I am not sure I’m even ready for…this baby.

Chapter 1

A Few Weeks Before Christmas

Cameron

Traveling as a ski instructor all across the country, from peak season to peak season, was pretty much my dream job, and the most exciting life I could have picked for myself. I had loved to ski since I was a child, competing in Colorado competitions and really throwing myself into it. When it came to choosing a career, ski instruction was already in my blood, having started doing it when I was a teenager. I fell into freelance travel instruction on a whim, with my best friend Glen, and haven’t looked back ever since. This time of the year was my favorite, though, because we were instructing at St. Regis, one of the premier and oldest ski resorts in all of Aspen. This place had it all, from the ski bunnies to the top-notch services.

“Try not to be your normal self this time,” Glen whispered as we walked toward the Resort Manager, Pierre Bellsworth. “Remember where we are.”

Bellsworth was a tall man with perfect hair, perfectly groomed eyebrows, a perfectly pressed, extremely expensive suit, and a nervous twitch that I always found it hard to not chuckle at. We were only going to be at this location for a month, but they were desperate to have us here, the resort being three times as booked this Christmas than others. That was good for us since it meant we would receive extra-large bonuses before we left.

“Mr. Bellsworth,” I said, reaching out my hand for him to shake. “It’s so good to see you. I can tell this last year has treated you well.”

“Mr. Phase and Mr. Young,” he said, shaking my hand and nodding at Glen. “We’ve missed you here at the resort. Let’s just say my instructors never quite match up to your expertise.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied. “We do our best to make sure that all your clients are well taken care of and have an absolutely amazing time on the slopes.”

“And that is why I always book you well ahead of time.” He smiled nervously. “They are setting up your lodgings, and the front desk will have your keys in just a few minutes. Please feel free to grab a drink at our Shadow Mountain Lodge.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied, nodding my head and turning to walk away.

I walked swiftly across the floor, trying to get out of the way of the massive influx of guests entering and exiting the lodge. I looked around at the ornate décor and marble floors that created a warm, but grand appeal to anyone entering the resort. What I loved most about this place was the concierge service that took care of everything, including delivering the guests right to us at the top of the slope. There were no worries for us at this resort.

Glen and I walked into the lounge and took our seats at the bar, ordering two beers and relaxing into the chairs.

“You handled that well,” he said, nodding.

“I’m growing a bit, I suppose,” I replied with a chuckle. “Besides, I have to know how to handle all aspects of this, so when you finally find that girl you’ve been looking for and decide to bolt on me, I can continue on.”

“Pfft. Although that sounds nice, I don’t even know where to start.” He laughed.

“Look around you,” I replied. “This place is packed full of hot little ski bunnies, ready to let go on their vacation away from reality. Take your pick, bro.”

I met Glen at a ski instruction conference when I was just twenty years old. That meant we had been putting up with each other for eight long years, something that was a feat for me, since I tended to be a bit of a loner. He was smart, attractive, with a square jaw line and that toothpaste commercial smile, but his heart was soft like cotton. He had gotten on a kick about finding true love, and I was just trying to ignore it.

“Yeah, they’re all absolutely gorgeous,” he said, showing signs of thinking too much. “But don’t you think that we’re getting too old to be sleeping around? I mean, I’m really starting to think that it might just be time to start thinking about settling down. I just want—”

“Glen,” I said, interrupting and smiling over at a hot girl in the corner, who was flirtatiously twirling a cherry from her drink around in her ruby red lips. “If you acted as much as you thought, you’d have women begging you for your attention. I can promise you, now is not the time to settle down. It’s just the beginning of the Aspen snow season, man, and I’m looking at my future right now. At least, my very near future in my suite. What do you think? You think I can bag that in under an hour?”

“You’re seriously hopeless.” He chuckled, looking over his shoulder at the girl in the corner.

“Hopeless, but man, I have a good time.” I laughed, slapping him on the back and starting to walk over to the girl.

She was sexy, with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and big pouty lips that she had put my favorite color of crimson lipstick across. Freckles speckled her cheeks and nose, and she was wearing stretch pants and a very low-cut sweater. Her snow boots came up to her calves, and white fur fluffed out at the top of them. She was the definition of snow bunny, and I could feel the vacation vibes emanating from her as she sipped her drink and smirked at me.

“Hey.” I smiled. “Would you mind if I sat?”

“Not at all,” she said in a soft, sexy tone.

“I’m Cameron,” I said, reaching out my hand.

“Myra,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“That accent,” I said, holding onto her hand. “Very southern.”

“I’m on vacation.” She giggled. “I’m from Alabama. Huntsville to be exact.”

“Well, I love a girl with some southern charm,” I flirted. “And how are you enjoying your time here, Miss Huntsville, Alabama? A bit colder than Alabama, I’m assuming.”

“I thought I was going to freeze.” She laughed. “I find it much more enjoyable to be inside with a hot bath and a fireplace.”

“Even though I’m a ski instructor and tend to find my enjoyment in the snow,” I said. “Being in a hot bath next to a fireplace with you sounds much more appealing.”

We sat there talking for a while, and the martinis were definitely flowing for this sexy girl. Glen tapped his watch every time I looked over at him. At exactly fifty-eight minutes before my hour was up, I figured I had lost my bet, but I’d already invested too much time to not see it through. To my surprise, just as that thought crossed my mind, Myra leaned across the table and perched her lips next to my ear, grasping onto my thigh.

“Why don’t you come up to my room and let me take care of you?” she whispered, grasping onto my cock.

“I like the sound of that.” I smiled, glancing over at Glen.

I stood up, adjusting myself, and handed the bartender my card, telling him to leave it with the guy at the bar and he would sign for the drinks. I reached down, took the girl’s hand, and pulled her toward the elevator. She stumbled a little and giggled before climbing in the elevator and biting her lip. She watched me walk in, shaking my head and laughing. As soon as the doors closed, she was on me, her lips crushed against mine, her hand rubbing heavily against my hardening package.

We stumbled out of the elevator and to her room, where she tossed open the door and walked inside. I closed the door and locked it behind me. She tossed her bag on the floor and pulled her sweater over her head, laughing. She beckoned me toward her with a curl of her finger. I smiled and did as she asked, closing the distance between us. She kissed my lips a few more times and unhooked her bra, letting her big, fake tits bounce out. Slowly, she lowered herself to her knees, looking up at me as she unbuckled my pants and let them fall to the floor. She pulled my boxers down to my knees and tightly grasped my hard cock.

I groaned and threw my head back as her big lips slid over the tip. The feeling of her warm tongue swirling around the head shook me to the core. She slid her mouth down and around the shaft, pushing her head all the way to the base before pulling her head back. The suction in the back of her throat threw me completely off balance. I groaned loudly, looking over in the full-length mirror, and I watched her titties bounce and jiggle and my cock slide in and out of her mouth. My hands went down to her hair, and I pulled it back into a ponytail, holding tightly as she slobbered hard on my dick.

“Yeah,” I groaned.

She looked up at me, her mouth curving into a smile. She reached her other hand up and rolled my balls around in her palm. I could feel the heat in my stomach beginning to build, watching this sexy-ass redhead deep throat my cock over and over again. She lunged forward, taking it all into her throat and pausing at the bottom, rolling my cock around in her throat. I thrust my hips forward, holding onto the back of her head, and listened to her moan as I took charge of the situation and started to fuck her face.

I put one hand down on the dresser beside me and grabbed onto her hair, pushing her down and pulling her back up, watching as her eyes watered and her lips moved from smiles to completely full of my dick. She reached her hands down and grabbed her tits, her muffled moaning turning me on even more. I could feel my cock swelling in her throat, and the heat in my stomach turned into a blazing fire.

I spread my legs farther apart and let her take back over, putting my hands on my hips and focusing on the feeling of my cock deep in her soft throat. Her head bobbed up and down fast and deep, and I dug my fingers into my skin, waiting for the release that was coming soon. Just when I thought I had a couple of minutes still, she started to lash her tongue up and around my shaft, focusing in on one spot right under the head where the nerves were raw and ready. I groaned, reaching down and grabbing the base, watching as she pulled her mouth back and lifted her big tits in the air. I started to stroke my erection with my hand, her slobber providing more than enough lubrication.

“Come on my tits,” she moaned. “I want to feel it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, fisting my cock hard.

My hand slipped down one last time, and I grasped tightly to the shaft and growled loudly. Hot streams of my seed shot out in layers over her bouncing tits. She moaned loudly, her red lipstick smeared across her mouth, and rings of the crimson left at the base of my dick. I stroked it for a bit longer, getting the last drops dribbling down her neck. I let out a deep breath, relaxing my shoulders and shaking my head with a smile.

“That was amazing,” I whispered, pulling up my boxers and pants as she stood to her feet and walked into the bathroom.

“Why don’t you stay and take a bath with me,” she said, smirking. “There is definitely more where that came from.”

“Aww,” I replied, groaning. “That sounds amazing, but I have to go to work early tomorrow. Why don’t you give me your number?”

I was lying. I didn’t have to go to work, but I always made it a point not to stick around too long during these things. She pouted and walked over, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. As she handed it to me, I gave her a fake pout back and kissed her on the cheek. She walked me to the door, and I climbed in the elevator, leaning back against the wall as the doors slid shut. I smiled to myself and looked down at the paper. I shook my head and crumpled it up, tossing it in the small wastebasket in the corner of the elevator.

Ski Season had officially begun.

Chapter 2

Bea

I pulled a pot from underneath the cabinet, set it in front of me on the counter, and dumped six cups of water into it. My phone was pressed between my shoulder and my ear, and I listened to Hailey talk about her date two nights before while trying to get dinner started. My boyfriend Grant would be home soon, and he hated it when dinner wasn’t ready when he walked through the door.

Grant and I had been together for three years, and although he was a bit hard to deal with sometimes, he was a decent man with a good job and a future. I learned to deal with his rough edges, knowing that he worked hard and just wanted certain comforts that any person would want. I was a freelance writer, so I was able to move my schedule around, making time to take care of Grant, which I had to admit was almost like a full-time job. He had a serious temper, and I found it easier to just do what he wanted, rather than fight through one of his explosive tantrums. We didn’t live together, per se, but he came to my house for dinner whenever business didn’t interrupt, and it had become a routine of ours.

“Why don’t you come out with me tonight?” Hailey really wanted to see me. “It’s Thirsty Thursday at the pub we used to go to. We can relax, let our hair down, and have a few drinks.”

“Aww, I really want to see you.” I sighed. “And beers do sound amazing, but Grant and I have plans already. I’m cooking dinner as we speak, spaghetti, meatballs, and garlic bread with his favorite kale salad.”

“You are aware that Grant has two hands and a brain, right?” she asked. “He is more than capable of cooking his own dinner for once.”

Hailey had never liked Grant, especially after the Christmas incident two years ago where she walked in on him berating me for messing up the ham right before dinner. No one else noticed the different glaze, but he was furious. He was under a lot of stress because that was the year that his boss came to dinner. Either way, she pretty much wrote him off at that point. But as much as I loved Hailey, I knew I had to be faithful in my relationship with Grant because we were together, and it seemed like something that wasn’t going to change.

“Hailey,” I said with a sigh. “I know he is capable of doing things himself. I just want to stick to my word.”

“You mean so he doesn’t treat you like a child again? I’m sorry, Bea, I know we’ve had this conversation before.” She sighed.

“Then just let it go,” I replied, not wanting to argue.

“All right,” she said. “Letting it go. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“For sure,” I replied.

I hung up with Hailey and tossed the phone on the counter, finishing getting dinner ready. I wanted it all to be ready and on the table when he arrived. By the time I was nearly done putting the last touches on the table settings, Grant walked through the door, putting his briefcase down and taking off his jacket. I smiled and walked toward him, readying myself for a kiss. Instead, he looked over at the table and tossed his jacket in my arms, completely ignoring my ploy for affection. I hung up his jacket and sighed, figuring he was just preoccupied from just getting off work. I walked up beside him and looked down at the spread.

“I made your favorite,” I said, beaming. “And it just got off the stove, so it will be deliciously hot.”

I looked back at the large dish of spaghetti still steaming in the pan, lying next to the crispy garlic bread, and two individually plated kale salads with my homemade raspberry maple dressing. My stomach growled slightly, and I realized I had been so busy at work earlier, and then panicked to get dinner ready when I got home, that I hadn’t had anything to eat except for a piece of toast that Grant hadn’t wanted before he left for work. Either way, I was proud of my hard work, and I hoped that he would enjoy it.

“Yes, it takes a gourmet chef to put together spaghetti and meatballs,” he said with a smirk, sitting down at the table.

I ignored his comment, but not the hurt feeling in my chest and crossed around, sitting down in the seat on the other side of the table. I held the bread out for him, but he ignored me, going for the spaghetti and meatballs. I set it down and waited, picking at my salad.

“How do you like it?” I asked.

“You know,” he said, wiping his mouth. “This reminds me of a lesson I learned at work today. So many people come to my office, so proud of a project that they put together, a project that is absolute shit in my opinion. But today, watching Marcy Bower from marketing beam about her work during our conference, I realized that not everyone is me. Not everyone can work hard and produce brilliant work. I had to learn to humble myself a bit and give them props for a job well done, even if it was something I could do in my sleep. So, thank you for dinner, Bea. You did a lovely job. I can see you are very proud of yourself.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a putdown or a compliment, but it didn’t feel good in the least. We sat silently eating, with Grant occasionally asking me a question, but cutting me off before I could fully answer it. I sipped at my glass of wine, watching him across the table, texting away on his phone. He was completely in another world, lost in the digital conversation he was having with God knows who. Every once in a while, he would smirk or chuckle at the person on the other end of the phone before glancing up at me and tossing his phone to the side, just to pick it back up when the little chime would come through. I was eating dinner to the sound of cellphone rings, but I kept my irritation at bay and just enjoyed my dinner. When his phone rang, I glanced up, watching him answer.

“Hey there,” he said, chuckling. “No, no, you’re not pulling me away. I wasn’t doing anything of importance. Yes, that does need to be taken care of… Absolutely… All right then, give me ten or so minutes, and I’ll head over there.”

I looked up at him and watched as he took a big swig of his wine and wiped his mouth. This was just like him, always leaving in the middle of the dinner or shortly thereafter, especially lately. He took in a deep breath and stood up, straightening his clothes and glancing over at me.

“Sorry, love,” he said. “Work calls. Like always. I promise this weekend, we will have some time, just you and me.”

I smiled and tilted my head upward, ready for that kiss I’d been after since he got here. Instead, he leaned over and kissed my forehead before turning and grabbing his coat. He smiled at me with that charming smile that had hooked me in the first place and walked out the door. I jumped slightly as the front door slammed shut, the rush of cold air from outside hitting me in the face. I sighed and filled my wine glass, looking out the window across the room. There were small snowflakes lightly falling from the sky, and the window was fogged from the temperature difference. It looked like it was going to be just another quiet night with me and my thoughts. I was actually getting pretty used to it. but I was still unsure of whether he was completely telling me the truth or not.

I shook my head, trying not to question his integrity. I had fallen for Grant a long time ago, with his pretty eyes and English accent. I had agreed to be in a relationship with him, which was a huge move for me. Doing that, I knew that I couldn’t question him, or have any ideas that I couldn’t trust him because trust was the foundation of a relationship. With Grant, if you didn’t have trust, you were pretty screwed because he came and went as he pleased, with little to no explanation. I had known that from the beginning. It was only now starting to get to me a bit because he no longer made the effort to spend time with me like he used to. It was more than a little bit frustrating.

I sat there at the table and finished my dinner, and the bottle of wine, for that matter. When I was done with my food, I took my glass of wine and walked over to the doors leading out onto the terrace. I wasn’t about to go outside. It was winter in Basalt, Colorado, which meant temperatures were below freezing. I didn’t have a huge place, but like so many others in Basalt, my windows spanned my living room, from floor to ceiling. I had an amazing view, which was why I chose this place to begin with. It was white outside, and I knew that skiing had begun, bringing tourists to the area. I, myself, had never skied before, but I loved the winter wonderland around me. Luckily, I had a job that allowed me to work from home, so I didn’t have to deal with the whole issue of driving in the blustery conditions, unless, of course, I ran out of wine. Then, it was definitely worth an emergency trip.

I sighed, taking the last gulp of my warm, red cabernet and walking back to the table. I started to pick up the dishes and take them to the kitchen, scraping Grant’s half-eaten plate of mediocre spaghetti into the trash. As I washed the dishes and put away the leftovers, I thought about the future, knowing I had reached a point in my life where I was tired of searching.

I had a great job, that I had managed to become extremely successful at, and an amazing house. My boyfriend wasn’t always such a dick, and I knew that this was probably the best that it was ever going to get for me. I was never looking for a fairy tale, but I was looking forward to the day when Grant finally proposed and I could start building a family. This house would be a lot nicer with the sound of little feet slapping the wooden floors.

When I was done cleaning up, I sighed and walked into the living room where I flipped off the lights, turned on the gas fireplace, and snuggled up on the couch with a warm fleece and some old black and white movies. This was the part of the day I really enjoyed, whether Grant was there or not. I could finally relax.

Chapter 3

Cameron

It was Saturday, easily the busiest day of the week for instruction. Glen and I had a couple of classes the day before, but nothing too strenuous, and I spent my night sipping brandy like an old rich man by the fireplace in my room. I thought about picking up another girl at the lounge, but figured I should pace myself instead. This morning was extra cold on the mountain, but I loved it, every single bit of it. Glen and I were setting up for our first class of the day, getting the seats ready in the small building at the top of the hill where we taught basic safety and technique before trying it out with our students in the white stuff outside. We still had a couple of weeks before the Christmas crowd got here, but the classes were already booked solid. Knowing Glen and I would create happy guests, the hotel manager had requested that the front desk clerks recommend our classes first.

“So,” Glen said, putting down the folders on the desks. “How did things go with that redhead the other night?”

“Oh, you know. I wooed her with my charm.” I laughed. “She was really hot, though, with her big fake tits, freshly purchased snow gear, showing me that she wasn’t a professional skier by any means, and a body that was perfect. No doubt she was someone’s arm candy back at home, but that is none of my business. I simply did what I could to show her a good time and give her a pleasant memory to take home. I’m a hero, really.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yep,” I said, writing our names on the chalk board. “These women are missing something in their lives, and I offer them a bit of the unexpected. I bet you, they all go home feeling refreshed and a hell of a lot more confident. If any of them do have boyfriends off the slope, they should probably thank me for sending their women back more vibrant than ever.”

“Oh, I see. So, you save relationships now. Well, the girl the other night looked like the kind of girl that you would quickly get over after screwing.” He chuckled.

“That’s why I got a blow job, took her number, which I promptly disposed of when I was out of sight, and dipped out,” I said. “Sure, she will think of me for a couple of days, maybe even hope that I’ll call, but in the end, she’ll realize it was for the best.”

“I think you’re giving these women a bit too much credit for thinking of sex from the male perspective,” he said. “We’re pigs. Most women are not. Mind you, I’m saying most. I’ve met a few over the years who are more distant than we are, which is both frightening and refreshing at the same time.”

“You can’t be too careful with these girls on vacation. They’re looking for a good time, but they teeter on the edge of wanting more. I’m always courteous and gentlemanly, but I’m not here to find a wife, unlike some partners that I have.” I darted my eyes over to Glen. “Besides, they’re looking for something that I’m more than happy to give to them. Just another reason why you can call me a hero.”

“But what if you catch feelings?”

“I won’t,” I said pointedly. “But if I did, I’m under the comforting protection of having a career where I honestly will never have to see this woman, or any of the women, ever again. It’s not likely in the sea of people in this town, or this country for that matter, that fate would align it so that we all ended up in the same place, at the same exact time, ever again. And if we did, my feelings would obviously have dissipated again, being worn down by time and the comforting bosom of the ladies at the next resort on our list. Seriously, you put way too much thought into all of this. Can’t a guy just get his dick wet, and go on with his life?”

“Sure, sure.” Glen laughed. “Go to town. Just don’t get frostbite.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I scoffed, standing up and putting on a professional face as the door to the building opened and the first of my students began to enter.

Most of the beginner ski instruction went to early twenty-something girls from places like New York City and Southern California. They were there on their mommy and daddy’s dime, taking a fun-filled Aspen vacation because that was where all the rich people flocked when it became winter time, and they wanted the appeal of the mountains, but the luxuries of home. They were always giggly, flirty, and barely any of them actually ended up skiing more than once while they were on vacation. However, from the number of pictures that they took and posted on their Instagram pages, it would seem that they spent the whole weekend swerving down the slopes. I didn’t care either way. I was there for the money, not to find the next Bernard Russi, ready to train for the Olympics.

When everyone had been seated, I noticed four chairs at the back that were empty, but paid for. I wanted to wait longer, but with the number of classes they had stacked on our shoulders for the day, I didn’t have that luxury. Glen took the lead, introducing us and diving right into an overview on safety. I sat in the background, perched slightly on the edge of a desk, following along with the syllabus that the resort had requested that we use. Of course, safety was paramount to the hotel while we were there teaching, especially with the kind of money floating around the place.

Just as Glen was walking toward the chalkboard, the door flew open, and the four missing students came galivanting in the place, quietly giggling and apologizing for being late. They took a seat in the last four chairs, and I smiled uncomfortably, realizing it was Myra and three of her friends. She smiled at me, and I cleared my throat, glancing over at Glen to see a small smirk on his face.

“So, you see class,” he said. “If you want to stay warm, make sure to keep your hands and other parts dry. We wouldn’t want any cases of frostbite.”

He laughed jokingly, looking over at me and then walking up to the chalkboard. He was such an ass, but I knew there was no way I could get out of the taunting that was sure to ensue by Myra showing up at the class. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed that on the roster, but at the same time, until that moment, I had a hard time even remembering what her name was. In reality, what I remembered was her big, plump, crimson lips wrapped around my cock. To me, there was really no reason to dwell on the other details.

The entire rest of the class couldn’t have been more awkward if I was standing naked in front of the class. Myra and the girls were giggling and obviously talking about me, and I had to present information to them that was actually important if they wanted to try to keep their skis under their bodies. On top of all that, Glen kept teasing me with sly whispers about being a hero and rescuing sad rich girls in sexual distress. I couldn’t wait until the class was over and I could get out of that situation. I knew, though, there was a very good chance that I wasn’t going to get to leave without having to talk to Myra at some point. This was supposed to be an excellent way to start my vacation, not a bowl full of drama.

We finished up the class inside of the building and headed outside into the snow to work on minor techniques for the upcoming ski down the bunny slope. We showed everyone how to plant their feet, how to bend and move without lifting their legs, which was common since our natural reaction was to try to walk, and then had them perform the movements as we helped them get them right. I stood there staring around, trying to figure out where to start, wanting desperately to stay away from the gaggle of Myra and her girls.

“Hey,” I said, grabbing Glen and whispering. “I’ll cover the bar tab next time we go if you will help the redhead and her friends.”

“What’s wrong? Did your super powers wear off?”

“Come on man, please,” I whispered.

“Next two times at the bar,” he said, negotiating.

“Fine, whatever, just do it.” I sighed.

“Pussy.” He laughed.

I couldn’t help but notice that Myra looked disappointed that I didn’t make a beeline for her and her friends. That was exactly why I sent Glen over. I didn’t want to lead her on in any way further than I felt I might have already. She was being flirtatious, batting her eyelashes and biting her lip, but at the same time, I could see the look of wanting hidden behind her stare. I needed to nip that in the bud, and fast.

When it was time to send the class on their way, pushing down the bunny slope, I stood at the front, giving everyone a positive affirmation before they lunged forward down the mountain next to the little kids speeding past. When it was Myra and her friend’s turn, I let the three friends go first and smiled as Myra struggled toward me.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said, lightening the burning in my chest.

“Aww, that’s too bad,” I said. “I hope that you had a good time.”

“It was an amazing time.” She smiled. “I guess I was just wondering if I would ever see you again.”

“Myra,” I said kindly. “I had an amazing time the other night. You’re quite the woman. That being said, I find it best for both parties, that when I meet someone out here that is on vacation, I don’t get too involved. I travel from place to place, and you’re going back home. It would never truly work out in the end.”

I stood there staring at her, trying to read her face through the scarf and goggles. Finally, she nodded and smiled, relieving the tension in my chest. I let out a deep breath and smiled at her.

“I understand.” She laughed awkwardly. “I mean, I live in Southern California. I’m miles and miles from where you would ever be.”

“I’m glad you understand,” I said. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, sad, or even unwanted in any way. You’re a gorgeous woman, and I’ll be kicking myself in the weeks to come for not spending more time with you.”

“You’re sweet,” she said, relaxing her shoulders. “No, I promise. You’re absolutely right. There’s no way to make this work. I really did have a good time, though. Hopefully, we’ll run into each other again out here.”

“That would be amazing.” I smiled, feeling a lot less awkward. “Now, are you ready to give this bunny slope an Olympic gold run?”

“Hardly.” She laughed. “But here I go.”

I stood back and smiled at her, watching her push off and down the mountain. When she was no longer looking at me, I wiped the smile from my face and shook my head, realizing I needed to be a bit more cautious. I turned and started back toward the building, looking up to see Glen standing with his arms crossed, smiling.

“Shut up,” I said, looking at him.

“You are quite the hero.” He laughed.

Chapter 4

Bea

Saturday was one of my favorite days, the one day a week that I made sure I had no writing quotas to meet or projects to turn in. I usually spent the day reading or catching up on house work that I had neglected. I was a ghostwriter, which meant that I had to write stories for a publishing company that I would never see my name on. I was okay with that, though. I never did like the limelight too much anyway. Today, I was reading a romance novel, preparing for a book I was starting on Monday in the same series. Romance was never my favorite genre of books. I was more the fantasy or science fiction kind of girl when it came to reading, but research was research, and at least I got to do it in my fleece pajamas by the light bouncing off the glistening snow out the window.

I knew in some ways, freelancing held me back, keeping me from really moving forward in life when it came to relationships and friends, but I was happy being on my own. I was never the girl that liked to be in front of everyone, and I got terribly nervous talking to my bosses. Now, when I had to speak to a client, it was through email or chat, which was much less intimidating. All in all, I loved my career, and I loved that I could spend my afternoons reading other people’s work and get paid for it. It was something that kept me on this crazy six day a week, fifteen hour a day job schedule.

As far as the love story was concerned, it was dreamy and sweet, with a hint of sarcasm, which was my specialty in these types of stories. I had to get down the writing style of the last author so it seemed like the books fit together well. The main character of the story, the strong male lead, was handsome, rugged, sweet, and a little bit wild. He treated women like gold, especially his sudden love interest. The way I imagined him handling her fragile sensibilities and typical, female-character emotional issues, made me slightly jealous of the type of man that existed in the confines of those pages. I knew it was just a book, but thinking about my love status and the fictitious hunk of man-love in the book, I wished that Grant was a little bit more like him.

Grant was hard-skinned. He rarely ever showed affection and wasn’t comfortable with hugging and holding hands, those things that make a girl feel special. I tried to be understanding. He came from a very businesslike family, wrought in handshakes and head nods. He had a mother who was more worried about the club members than putting him to bed on time. His nanny was very professional, that typical award winning English nanny, so hugs weren’t her forte, either. I just wished that he would loosen up a bit, even maybe want to hug me or show me affection. To be honest, sometimes it worried me since I was planning on one day having a family with this man. We had talked about children a couple of times, and he discussed it like buying a horse, making sure that they were born and bred for success. I had told him I didn’t want a nanny, but he brushed me off, calling me absurd and telling me that we would talk more about it when the time came. I just let it go, though, knowing he would probably not even be around enough to pay attention to me raising the child over a nanny’s care.

I shoved the thoughts to the side when I heard a key in the front door. Grant was coming over to hang out for a while, like he had promised. When he walked through the door, though, dressed to the nines, I could tell he had a different definition of hanging out. I put my bookmark in the book and walked across the room, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. He looked at me, confused for a moment, staring at my sweatpants and warm socks.

“Darling, why aren’t you dressed?” he asked. “I told you I would be here to spend time with you this weekend. Are you sick?”

“I thought by spending time with me, you meant curling up and watching a movie, not going out on the town,” I said. “Besides, the weather is supposed to be terrible.”

“Oh, come now,” he said. “Go get dressed. Don’t be absurd. You know what I think about sitting around wasting my time watching pointless movies.”

“It’s not about the movies,” I said softly. “It’s about the time we spend together.”

“Which can be done at the Divinci Club where I booked us a table for the night,” he said, starting to get irritated and looking down at the book. “So, this is what you do when I’m not here, sit around reading smut all day.”

“You know that’s not what I do,” I snapped back. “That book is for the project I start on Monday.”

“Oh, yes, your little writing career,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess you might as well get it out of your system while you are still able to.”

“What?” I asked. “My career is actually a career. Last time I checked, I make very close to what you make a month, from my little writing career.”

“Yes, Bea, you make good money now, but we both know it’s not sustainable.” He sighed. “Anyway, get your things. We should be going.”

“No,” I said, taking a deep breath and deciding to stand up for myself. “I want to spend time with you alone, not with some rich, snooty people.”

“Those rich, snooty people pay my bills,” he said. “And award me the luxury of taking my girlfriend, who doesn’t appreciate anything, out to a nice restaurant.”

“I appreciate everything you do,” I said, pausing as his phone began to ring. He looked down and hit the ignore button. “No, please. By all means, answer your phone. I’ve never stopped you before.”

“Is this what happens when you read romance? You become indignant and disrespectful?”

“I am neither of those things,” I replied. “I just want you to bend to what I want for once.”

“Oh, you mean all those nights I come here to eat your mediocre meals, listen to you talk about your meaningless ‘career,’ and just smile along with it?”

“You asshole,” I muttered. “I work hard to make sure you have a nice dinner, even after I, too, have worked all day.”

“Yes, it must be so difficult to work in the next room over from your bedroom,” he scoffed. “Listen, are you coming or not?”

“No,” I replied, folding my arms in front of me.

“Fine, but it is the last time you will ever be offered,” he replied.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I don’t want to be with you anymore,” he replied, walking toward the door. “We are through. The fun has worn off, and I’m tired of your games.”

“You don’t mean that,” I gasped. “After all these years? We were planning a family.”

“Yes, well, I don’t think you are quite up to standards to be the mother of my children, or my wife, for that matter,” he replied, opening the door. “Have fun with you romance novels.”

With that, he walked out, slamming the door behind his arrogant ass. I stood there with my mouth hanging open, shocked at what just happened. I sat down on the couch and looked around, waiting for the rush of emotions to take over, but they never did. I should have been bawling my eyes out, completely heartbroken, but the tears never came. In fact, beyond just the lack of sad feelings, I felt almost a sense of freedom.

I felt a break in the chains that were binding me, like I could now take a deep breath. I thought for so long, that if the time ever came where Grant and I didn’t make it, I would be completely inconsolable, dreaming of a life that I would never have. Instead, I was almost relieved that it wasn’t going to be the life that I would have. I didn’t want to be stuck in my home, wondering where my husband was, trying to console a child that missed its father. I didn’t want to be a lonely housewife, doing laundry, cooking dinners, and dreaming of a life I once had.

I got up and walked into the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of wine and uncorking it. At first, I took a swig straight from the bottle, staring off in disbelief of how the events of the evening had just transpired. I did not see that coming at all. I grabbed a clean glass and poured myself a large helping of wine and then turned and walked over to the patio doors. I stood there for a moment and then opened them, stepping out into the snow in my socked feet, making sure that I was not dreaming. I felt the snowflakes falling on my face, and I closed my eyes, smiling for just a second before the chill of the wind pushed me back inside. I pulled off my socks and ran over to the fireplace, pulling them up to warm them.

As I sat there smiling, I soon felt the weight of the last three years hit me right in the face. I had been so intent on having that picture-perfect family, I had left the “perfect” part in the background. I had ignored every snide comment, every grab at my arm a little too tight, and had justified Grant’s constant downgrading of me as a person. I had let him control my emotions, my heart, and my mind for so long that I didn’t realize that what he was doing was wrong. Grant was just like his father, arrogant, rich, and thought there was a specific place for a woman. No wonder Grant’s mother drowned herself in the banter of the women at the country club where they lived. She was trying to make herself feel better. I had always thought his father was a pompous man who abused his wife, but I had completely blinded myself to the realization that Grant was the same exact way.

I shook my head and turned around, catching the reflection of something glimmering in the glass front of the fireplace. I stared over at the lights I had carefully strung across the deck, providing a beautiful backdrop to the enormous tree I had sitting in the living room. God, it was almost Christmas, and now, I was going to have to spend it alone. It was the worst feeling I had felt in a very long time. Christmas had always been special to me, a time with family and friends, but just a few weeks out, everyone else had already made their plans. My parents even had decided to go away for the holiday since I was being forced to spend it with Grant’s boss and his wife.

I stood up and walked over to the couch, throwing myself down and staring at the lights on the tree. I picked up my phone and scrolled to Hailey’s number, but I tossed my phone next to me on the couch. I wanted to tell her everything that had happened, but I knew that she would just give me something along the lines of, “I told you so,” and then try to get me out to the bar. I was not at all feeling like forcing myself to socialize. I let out a deep breath and pulled the blanket over me, reaching for the romance novel. Tonight, I would focus on me and get lost in a romance that I knew was just fiction, but made me feel a hell of a lot better about being alone.

Chapter 5

Cameron

Sunday had been even busier than Saturday, which was strange in my line of work since Sundays were usually the days these people traveled back to their lives and their jobs. Maybe the ultra-rich had the comfort of knowing their billion-dollar estates would still be there on Tuesday. We finished up the form portion of our class, and I headed inside while Glen saw everyone off down the mountain. I needed to straighten up the classroom and get it ready for Monday’s classes. I really liked having a partner in this business. It kept me from working even more hours than I already had to. I really was hoping that Glen wasn’t serious about this whole settling down thing because I wasn’t looking forward to doing this on my own.

Though I did enjoy my quiet time and having my space to come and go as I pleased, it was nice to have him there to talk to. On top of that, he had my back more times than I could remember, keeping me out of trouble and harm’s way. If it weren’t for him, I would end up in a lot stickier situations than I already ended up in. Case in point, Myra from the day before. I actually had seen her in the lobby, collecting her things before leaving earlier in the day, but I had ducked into the conference room and waited until she left, not wanting to deal with a teary goodbye on her part. Luckily, she looked just fine, almost excited to be leaving, which made me think she had more than just sand and surf to go home to. Girls like that always had complex lives, and I was not the guy that wanted to deal with complex.

I collected all the folders and put them back in the box at the front and pulled out the intermediate folders. The class the next morning was not for the bunny slope, but they still would take a class here before we headed up one level for the skiing. No matter what level they were, we were required to go over safety measures before teaching them some new techniques to help them move up to the harder slopes. This was my favorite class to teach because they weren’t just there to look pretty by the fire, yet they weren’t advanced enough to be snide and know-it-alls. As I set the last of the folders out on the desks, Glen came through the door, knocking his boots on the rug.

“It’s really coming down out there.” He chuckled. “It’s nice actually working in a place where the snow is not man-made. I hate the sound of the blowers on the slopes. It makes it less relaxing.”

“Agreed.” I sighed. “I just wish I had time to do some skiing every once in a while.”

“We will,” he said. “There are always a couple of days leading up to Christmas where our schedules aren’t as tight.”

“True,” I replied, tossing him his wallet and keys.

“Hey, let’s go to the lounge after this and get some drinks,” Glen said, smiling.

“Hell, I’m down,” I replied. “I could use a big glass of whiskey and some hot girls to warm me up after a day like this, especially now that I know Myra and her friends are gone. That nearly ruined all my fun. But you always have one clingy one per trip so hopefully she was it, and I can move on. She was pretty cool about it, though, at least after I explained it to her.”

“That’s probably because you are a complete asshole.” Glen chuckled. “Girls love assholes. She will be thinking about you for weeks after this.”

“That’s fine, as long as it’s in the comfort of her sunny, Southern California surf bungalow.” I laughed.

We finished up in the classroom and skied down the mountain, landing at the bottom and sending our skis to our rooms with the concierge. I loved that perk of working there. It always made me feel way more important than I really was. We took off our jackets and walked into the lounge, not surprised at all at how packed it was. The crowd was a mixture of good-looking men, all trying to pick up good-looking women. I had to say, I was a bit disappointed in how many men were there, especially since I knew the majority of them had really deep pockets, something that clearly attracted women like these. However, I was happy to sit down, listen to the band play, grab a beer and a whiskey, and scope out my surroundings.

Glen and I took two seats at the end of the bar and ordered our drinks, sitting there looking up at the muted television screens. I took in a deep breath and let it out, glad to be done with such a crazy weekend, though there didn’t seem to be any let up in sight. I looked over at Glen to find him staring off into space, obviously overthinking things like he always did.

“You gonna zone back in, or should I leave you with your thoughts?”

“Oh, sorry man,” Glen said, taking a sip of his beer. “Just thinking. That’s all.”

“All right,” I sighed, turning to him. “I’ll bite. What’s up?”

“I was just thinking about the future,” he said. “You know, maybe having a family one day. Do you want one?”

“A family?”

“Yeah, you know, your people,” he said. “A wife, some kids, a regular job where you have like a house and car and all of those things. Maybe take a family vacation every year, celebrate Christmas with them, instead of alone in a hotel eating whatever the hotel prepared for Christmas dinner. An actual life. I know, I know. You don’t want to hear about it. You are perfectly content with your rock and roll lifestyle. I just figured that it couldn’t last forever, and I want to be happy when this part of my life is done.”

“I don’t know, man.” I laughed. “I think I could keep doing this for a very long time.”

“You say that.” He chuckled. “But I remember a time when I was the one dragging you out every night. I was the one talking about doing this, doing those girls, and just living my life on the road until I was old and gray.”

“Yeah, I remember that, too. So, what happened?”

“I don’t know, man.” He sighed. “I just woke up one day and started thinking about it.”

“Is this like a midlife crisis thing?”

“I sure hope not.” He laughed. “I’m only twenty-eight. That would be too short of a life for me.”

I sat there listening to Glen talk about the future, about family, and about settling down in life. It was not what I wanted to hear after a long, hard day while sitting at a bar, looking at all the sexy women around me. The real answer behind all the teasing was no, I hadn’t thought about, nor did I want to think about it. My life was easy, carefree, and exactly how I wanted it. I had a ton of friends with wives, and while there was a small percentage of them that were blissfully happy, the majority of them were miserable. They didn’t choose their path well, and now, they were stuck, married to really big bitches and finding every excuse to get out of the house. I didn’t want to be tied down like that, and the fact that I hadn’t met a single woman that would make me want to be tied down didn’t help me see his point of view on things.

As I sat there listening, but not really listening, my eyes wandered to the other side of the room where a big-tittied, buxom blonde was standing with her girlfriends. She was staring right at me, whispering to her friends and then looking over and smiling. Now, normally in this situation, I would grab Glen and get him laid, too, but the last thing I wanted was for him to accidently give any of these girls the wrong impression. Instead, I was going to use this opportunity to my advantage.

“Hey, Mr. Married with Children,” I said, slapping Glen on the back. “While this conversation is riveting, there is a sexy blonde across the room making eye contact with me. So, if you could kindly hold that thought, or not, your choice. I’m going to go over there and not get tied down, unless she’s into that kind of thing.”

He laughed as I chuckled at my own joke. “Go get ‘em, buddy.”

I picked up the shot and took it to the head, and then I grabbed my beer and made my way over to the blonde beauty. She was wearing a tight pink tank top, white skinny jeans, and pink snow boots, fur and all. I could see her hard nipples through the tank top, and my dick twitched just thinking about fucking those tits. She smiled, and her friends raised their eyebrows, walking away, giggling.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Cameron.”

“Well, hello, Cameron,” she said flirtatiously. “My name is Bambi.”

We sat and flirted relentlessly, our legs intertwined, and stuck in the corner of the lounge, oblivious to everyone else around us. She was so sexy, and I think the fact that she saved me from a forever conversation made her even sexier than before. Her name was Bambi, and Bambi was about as smart as you would imagine her to be, but I had zero interest in her brain that night. In fact, I had zero interest in her brain any night, and I really wasn’t concerned with anything she actually had to say. I was an ass, but not usually that much of an ass. I didn’t know what came over me. I usually treated every woman I met like a princess, even if I only planned on knowing them for an hour or two. It was the right thing to do. My thoughts were drawn from that, though, as Bambi laid her hand on my thigh and leaned into me.

“Why don’t you take me to my room where we can be more comfortable?” she whispered. “I have a bottle of Cristal, all lonely upstairs.”

“I like that idea.” I smiled. “Let me just go talk with my buddy for a second, and we can be on our way.”

She nodded her head, but as I pulled back, she leaned in and kissed me deep and hard, pulling my bottom lip into her mouth and sucking on it. I lingered there for a moment, trying to get my footing. My mind immediately went right where she wanted it to go, my dick. I smiled charmingly at her and stood up, adjusting myself so I didn’t run into someone with my boner. I shook my head, walking back over to Glen, who was still lost in his own little world of families. I pulled my coat from the chair, bringing him back to the present.

“Things are going well, I presume?”

“You could say that.” I laughed, looking back over my shoulder.

“There are a million girls in the room, and you manage to pick out the fakest bimbo in the bunch.” Glen chuckled.

“They are the most open, the most non-threatening, and usually take the least amount of time to get naked,” I replied. “Needless to say, I won’t be settling down tonight.”

I winked at Glen and threw him my wallet for the drinks I promised to buy, before walking over and lifting Bambi up out of her chair. As we walked away, I looked back over at Glen who was shaking his head, but smiling. Nope, no settling down in my future, even if that meant I lost him as my partner.

Chapter 6

Bea

My fingers were moving twice as fast as they normally did on the keyboard. I had started the new project, a romance sequel, and with my current mood on relationships, when they asked me for a “sarcastic but in the end, a Prince Charming” type of love story, I knew I would be perfect for it. The ideas were flowing so fast that I wrote the plot outline in about three minutes before jumping right into the whole story. It wasn’t often anymore that my creativity was sparked, especially since I never had time to write anything for myself, but today, I was feeling the vibe with this book.

Hailey had called that morning, and I told her I had some news, so she said she would drop by when she was done with work, leaving me a perfect stopping point for the day. Otherwise, I would keep going, not sleeping at all. Until then, I just put my nose down and worked hard, glad that my thoughts were not swimming around Grant and the fact that I was going to be the old, lonely spinster for Christmas. I just wanted to have a normal life, with a normal relationship, and a Christmas surrounded by snow, Christmas lights, and people that I loved. I sighed to myself, realizing that wasn’t going to happen this year and that I better just start hoping for a good change over the next year, so the next Christmas can be better.

My thoughts shifted when a knock came to the door, and I glanced down at the time. I had been writing all day, not even realizing how late it was getting. I got up from my desk and walked out to the living room and across to the front door. Hailey smiled and held up a bottle of wine as she walked inside.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” She laughed. “But it’s not often you have something to tell me, and wine goes well with bad news and good news.”

“Too true,” I replied. “This is why you are my best friend.”

I walked in and grabbed some glasses, tossing Hailey the corkscrew and waiting for her to fill our glasses. We wandered into the living room and sat on the couch, the fireplace roaring. Hailey looked around the room and smiled, glancing over at the view from the windows.

“Seriously, you have like the best place ever.” She smiled. “You are like, my life goal.”

“Oh, God.” I laughed. “If your goal is to be a lonely, hermit, single woman, then we have to talk.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “Grant came over last night. We were supposed to have me and him time, but to him, that meant he wanted to go out to some fancy club. To me, that meant curled up in front of the fireplace watching movies. Well, one thing led to another, and we were arguing as he berated me for being a writer, a woman, a person even. Then, when I said I wasn’t going to the club, between the ringing of his phone, he broke up with me and walked out the door, taking all my ideas of the future out with him.”

“I’m sorry, Bea,” Hailey said sympathetically.

“The thing I realized was, I wasn’t even sad about it,” I replied. “I didn’t shed one tear, until I realized what I just got myself out of. Damnit if I didn’t see how badly he treated me until he was gone. Then came the depression, thinking about the Christmas I had to spend alone, and the fact that I will always be the single old lady that never finds a husband. That was what hit me the most, the desperation of it all.”

“Well,” Bea said, taking a deep breath. “I think you are better off spinstering it with me, than spending another day letting ‘Old English’ berate and beat you down until you turned into the woman he wanted. Come on. Finish that wine and get dressed. We’re going shopping.”

“Now that is the kind of demand I can fold to.” I laughed. “Thanks for coming over, Hailey. And thank you for not telling me ‘you told me so.’”

“Well, that will come later,” she replied. “I’m gonna hit you with some love and empathy before I remind you how smart I am, and how you should always listen to me.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yep.” She laughed.

I finished my glass of wine and went into the other room where I changed my clothes and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. The weather was cold, but the snow wasn’t falling for the time being, so I wrapped a scarf and heavy wool coat around me, and Hailey and I made for the car. She was driving her four-wheel drive that day, and I hadn’t dug my car out from the garage in a month, so she drove us out into town. First, we stopped for dinner, eating at one of my favorite places, Angelo’s. I used to eat there all the time, not really enjoying cooking for one, and using it as an excuse to get out of the house. Since Grant only ate at upscale restaurants, I hadn’t been there in years. Just the familiarity of it all felt good in my chest, and I started to remember how behind the girl looking for love, there was someone completely content with doing her own thing.

“So, I was at work today,” Hailey said, munching on a breadstick. “And I told my coworker, Brian—you remember Brian from the office party last year?”

“Was he the one with the thinning red hair and complete inability to hold his tongue when it came to socially appropriate comments?”

“You mean, was he the one that told you he wanted to grab onto your ass? Yeah, that’s him.” She laughed. “Anyway, I told him I thought you were going to say Grant and you were done, and then, oh my God, let the vultures descend. He immediately begged me to set you two up. I told him no. He was still on the hook for the Christmas Party. He moped all day, trying to make me feel guilty, but instead, I felt creeped out.”

“Gross.” I chuckled. “Thank you for the backup.”

“No problem. It’s my job.” She laughed.

“Ugh, Christmas music,” I said, listening to the loud speaker over the restaurant.

“What, you love Christmas,” Hailey said with shock. “You are like the female Santa Claus. I’m pretty sure you would just keep a tree decorated in your house all year if it wouldn’t make you look like the creepy woman in the dead of summer.”

“I know,” I replied. “I just am not looking forward to spending it all alone. That’s all.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be alone,” Hailey replied. “I already canceled going to my parents’ house.”

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah,” she scoffed. “I’d choose you any day over their questions on my single status and my mother’s weepy toast about the future. You know, the one she gives at every holiday?”

“That thing needs a serious revamp.” I chuckled. “She’s the only one that gets choked up over it anymore.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said, laughing. “My father just sits there, falling asleep with his champagne in the air.”

“Well, that’s awesome,” I said, smiling. “I’ll cook dinner, get some alcohol, and we will make the best of it!”

“I was actually thinking something else,” she said. “I was thinking that I take you somewhere for Christmas. Make a new tradition, get out of that house that makes you think of Grant, and let loose.”

“Okay,” I replied. “I’m intrigued. Go on.”

“Let’s go to Aspen,” she replied. “I have a friend that has a reservation at the St. Regis that can’t go, and I told him to hold off on canceling. I may just take his reservation. We can ski, drink alcohol, and open presents in the suite he reserved. It comes fully stocked with a Christmas tree in every room.”

“I love it,” I replied. “I need change, and that is definitely a change.”

I felt lucky to have a friend like Hailey. We had been friends pretty much our entire lives, and though we were two completely different people, we really did work perfectly together. One was always strong when the other was weak, and we never let each other get weepy and depressed. She was a light in the dark for me most of the time, and always told it to me just how it needed to be said. Most people would shy away from that, especially when they just wanted to be self-loathing, but in the end, it really was the best thing for me. As much as I loved my career and my little house, those walls could start closing in on me fast. She always pulled me out before they collapsed. This time, it was most appreciated, and I was getting excited about the thought of vacationing in a winter wonderland like Aspen. I had always wanted to go, but never actually had anyone to go with.

“There will be a lot of single, rich men there, too,” Hailey said through a full mouth of salad. “I’m totally ready to hook me an old rich man.”

“You, my friend, are disgusting.” I laughed.

“What? Am I not a catch?” She smiled big, ranch dressing on her lips and spinach in her teeth.

“I mean, I think it’s sexy.” I giggled. “The last thing I need is some man that thinks he can turn me into his arm candy.”

“No, no, you are looking at it all wrong,” she said. “You turn one of those men into your arm candy. You are successful and gorgeous, even in your striped pajamas and wool socks. Any man would be more than lucky to have you as you are.”

“Well, the last thing I want to think about on my Christmas vacation, after breaking up with my boyfriend, is other men,” I scoffed.

“First of all, he broke up with you, let’s keep the facts straight,” she pointed out. “And there is one stipulation for us going on this trip.”

“Okay, now that you have pointed out the painful and obvious,” I replied. “What is this stipulation?”

“You get over Grant by sleeping with another man,” she said. “Something unexpected and wild. That is exactly what you need.”

“If it gets me a vacation in Aspen, they better line up.” I laughed.

In reality, I had zero interest in making any love matches, even if it were just for the night. I knew, however, that Hailey was not going to let it go unless I agreed, so I appeased her. I was also not looking to get in an argument over sleeping with a random stranger in the middle of the restaurant, so I knew just saying yes would handle all those issues. I would just simply go to Aspen and not sleep with anyone. I mean, what was she going to do? In the meantime, I was pretty excited, and my mind was already off Grant and my lonely spinster Christmas. This was the perfect opportunity for me to break out of my shell, do something crazy, and just have a good time. I mean, I would never see any of these people ever again, except Hailey, so what did I really have to lose?

My hopes were that I would go, get refreshed, get inspired, and come home with a whole new view on life, something that resembled being a happy, successful woman for once. I sat there thinking about the whole trip, smiling, knowing that I was about to get a break from the norm. I was about to turn this situation into a gold mine for my life.

Chapter 7

Cameron

I stirred my drink, staring down at the bubbles that were surfacing. It had been a long day already, and it was only half over. I sat there at the bar, not wanting to move, just wanting to go climb into a hot shower and then collapse in my warm bed. But I wasn’t done yet, and that was weighing heavily on me. I didn’t know why, but I was not in the mood to deal with the normal resort people that day, and even the girl that was currently walking toward me was of no interest to me. I took in a deep breath as she approached, mustering my last bit of energy. She was going to want to talk, and I was not in the mood for talking.

“Hi,” she said happily, sitting down next to me. “I’m Amanda. I’ve seen you in here the last couple of days and thought I’d come talk.”

“Hello,” I replied, uninterested. “Cameron. I’m Cameron.”

“Nice to meet you, Cameron,” she said. “My friends and I saw you and your friend out teaching on the slopes yesterday. That is such an awesome job. I would love to do something like that.”

“Mm hmm,” I said, not paying her much attention. “It’s a pretty cool gig.”

I did not want to talk to this woman at all, but I was cornered. She was hot and everything, exactly the kind of girl I would approach when I was on the hunt, but at that moment, I was just trying to relax. It was my few minutes of alone time before being thrown back into another beginners’ class with a million giggling rich girls. Seeing there was really no way out of this, and not wanting to hurt the girl’s feelings, I turned toward her and listened to her talk about coming from New York, the snow, and all the other things I heard on a normal basis. As she spoke, I kind of tuned out enough to not hear every word she was saying. I picked up my drink and took a sip, glancing over at the main doors to the hotel as they opened.

My heart did something strange. It pretty much froze. In through the door came walking one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had beautiful, long, brown hair that I could see tints of red in as she walked through the streams of sunlight in the lobby. Her eyes were strikingly beautiful and a light green. She looked excited but shy, walking across the marble floors with her friend leading the way. I was so taken aback from her, I didn’t even hear the girl in front of me asking me a question.

“Earth to Cameron.” She giggled. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” I stood up and looked out into the lobby. “Um, yeah. I’m sorry. I have to go. It was nice meeting you, though. I hope you have a great time here.”

“Uh, okay,” she said, looking out where my attention was drawn. “Bye, then.”

I had to talk to this girl, this beautiful, brown-haired vixen that just walked straight into my life. I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to the bartender, telling him to keep the change. I gulped the last of my drink and then walked forward into the lobby. I looked around at the front desk but didn’t see the girl anywhere. The lobby was pretty much completely empty, everyone either in their rooms or out at the slopes. I walked toward the doors to the outside but stopped, hearing the bell on the elevator ding. I ran over, stopping as the elevator doors slid shut, my eyes grasping at the image of this girl standing in the elevator, talking to her friend. She didn’t see me, but I most definitely saw her. I hadn’t ever been completely enamored or knocked off my game by anyone like that before. I had to find out who she was.

Maybe I was crazy for chasing after this girl. Maybe it was exactly what I was trying to avoid, but at that moment, I really didn’t care. I just wanted to meet her. I turned around and looked at the lobby, trying to figure out how I could find this girl. I started to walk over to the reception desk, ready to use my clout at the resort to get the information out of the woman behind the counter. If that didn’t work, I would resort to using my charm. Before I could get there, though, Glen stepped out of the lobby bathroom, drying off his hands. He tossed the paper towel in the trash can and walked over to me.

“Hey, man, I was looking for you,” he said. “They canceled the next class because the snow was getting too thick up there.”

“All right,” I said, staring off at the desk and around the lobby.

“Uh, you okay? I saw you talking to that cute girl at the bar.” He chuckled. “I figured you’d be deep in seduction right now.”

I stood there thinking, formulating, and not paying a damn bit of attention to Glen, or anyone else for that matter. I had never been that enamored by anyone, and I knew that was a sign. I had to talk to this girl. For all I knew, she could be a complete wacko, but it took a lot to knock me off my game, and she had done it in two seconds flat. For most guys, that would cause them to run in the other direction, but not me. For me, that was a challenge, a challenge I was more than ready to accept. I stood there, just staring at the front desk, with Glen talking, but me not hearing a word that he was saying. Her green eyes were burned into my memory, as was the generous and sensual curve of her lower back, and the way her breasts bounced naturally up and down as she pulled her suitcase along.

“Hello,” Glen said waving his hands in front of me. “Earth to Cameron. Come in,”

“Huh?”

“Dude, what’s going on?”

“I seriously just saw a woman that stopped me in my tracks,” I said, shaking my head. “She was tall and curvy, with reddish brown hair, and her eyes, man, her eyes were this light green, almost like a cat. She was incredible looking, but by the time I got out here, she was going up the elevator, and I lost her.”

“Wow, she sounds incredible,” Glen said. “Though, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this bent out of shape over a girl before. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, taking a deep breath. “She just caught me off guard. That’s all.”

“So, did you hear me about the classes?”

“Yeah, no classes today,” I said, bringing my attention back. “That’s too bad, really. At the same time, man, I was dragging myself through the day today. I don’t know what it was. I just couldn’t pick myself up.”

“Until you saw the green-eyed cat lady.” Glen laughed. “Maybe I should find her and pay her to light a fire under your ass every time I need you to be somewhere.”

“Ha-Ha,” I replied.

“You want to grab a drink?”

“No, I kind of blew off the girl that’s sitting in there at the bar to chase down the mystery girl,” I said, making a whoops face. “I should probably stay away from her for now. She was pretty put off when I just stood up and walked away.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Glen said, laughing. “All right, well, I’ll catch up with you later tonight, okay? Maybe you can get some skiing in later. I know you wanted to do that.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, staring out the front doors. “If you need me, I’ll be up in my room.”

“All right, man,” Glen said, turning and walking away.

I sighed and looked around, deciding that a drink in my room and maybe some Thursday afternoon television might be what I was looking for. I took the elevator upstairs, the smell of strawberry and lavender body spray wafting into my nose. I wondered if it belonged to the mystery girl, and if when you got close to her, her skin smelled sweet and comforting like that. I reached my floor and stepped out, walking down the hallway to my suite. Once inside, I took off my shoes and snow layers and put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved Henley that I pushed the sleeves up on. I walked over and plopped down in the chair that faced the fireplace and the television.

At first, I just sat there, not wanting to crowd my mind with images from the television. Instead, I let the vision of the girl run over and over again in my mind, wondering what I would say if I actually caught her. She looked different than any girl I had ever hit on before. There was an air of confidence to her, like she wasn’t afraid to be who she was, like she wasn’t the girl to fall for silly tricks like the ones I usually played. What if that were the case? What if I were to make a complete fool of myself in front of her? I sighed and turned on the television, sinking down in the chair and surfing through the channels. Maybe Glen was right. Maybe I should watch the drifts and go out skiing. It would clear my mind. Obviously, I was letting this girl get to me, and it was very much unlike me.

I sighed and switched off the television, not seeing anything worth capturing my attention. I looked at the weather report on my phone, and it said that the winds should be tapering down soon. I walked over and looked out the window at the mountain just outside. I could see almost all the way to the top, so I assumed that they would open back up the slopes soon. That was good because they already canceled the classes, which would give me the entire afternoon off. It had been a long time since I was able to actually enjoy skiing. I smiled a bit and shook my head, glancing down in the courtyard before turning to walk away. I stopped, staring down at two girls standing there talking, one of them being my beautiful redhead. I watched her for a moment, telling myself to move, to run down there. I had to talk to her. I knew I wouldn’t let it go until I actually did.

I turned and jogged across the suite, slipping my shoes on and grabbing my ski jacket, stuffing my keys into my pockets. I left the room and jogged down to the elevator. I pressed the button, but the elevator was moving super slow, and my impatience got the best of me. I pushed through the stairwell doors and raced down the stairs as fast as I could. I was only five floors up, so it shouldn’t take too long to get to the bottom. When I came out of the lobby doors, I stopped and put my hands on my knees, panting wildly. I laughed at myself for being such a fool and then shook it off, pushing through the crowds and out the front doors. I looked up at the resort, trying to find my room, and took off down the path around the side to the courtyard.

When I got there, though, no one was there, and all that remained of my mystery girl were tracks left in the snow. I looked all around to make sure she wasn’t playing somewhere in the snow, and then dropped my hands to my sides, realizing I had forgotten my hat. I pulled up my hood and shivered, shaking my head and heading back inside. I knocked the snow off my now-wet tennis shoes and stood there staring out at the mountain. I had to find this girl. It was no longer an option.

Chapter 8

Bea

“So, we should figure out what we want to do,” I said, in awe from the luxury of this place.

I looked around the courtyard and smiled, the snow laying in puffs of white all around us. The trees twinkled in the sunlight, and I could see the fog at the top of the mountain beginning to clear. It was absolutely stunning in every way; even more impressive than any picture I had ever seen of Aspen. Now, I was starting to understand why everyone flocked here. It was a little, winter wonderland paradise. I couldn’t even start to imagine how much the place we were staying in cost, especially since everyone I saw was decked out in designer clothes and wearing jewelry I had only seen on television. Hailey didn’t mind spending that kind of money, though. Not only did she have a very lucrative career in investments, but she was the child of a billionaire, and her trust fund made it so no one in her immediate bloodline would ever worry for anything. Couple that with the fact that she was the investment queen, and I was pretty sure this was being paid for by the interest she made off of just a couple of her recent investments.

“Well, I think today that we should go into town and check out the shopping,” she said. “I hear that the shopping in Aspen is amazing. Then tomorrow, I definitely think that we should go skiing. We really can’t come to Aspen and not go skiing at least once. I mean, I’m sure plenty of people do, but that would be silly. Besides, I think the wind on your face and the rush of gliding down the mountain would be good for you.”

“You do realize that I’ve never been skiing before, right?”

“Meh, that’s just the details,” she said, shaking her hand.

“Okay, but we’re going to need some instruction before we go gliding down the face of a mountain,” I said, laughing. “I’d like to try to stay on my feet and not break my neck on this vacation.”

“Well, we came to the right place, then, because I’ve heard they have some of the world’s best instructors,” she said, smiling. “We will be snow bunnies before we know it. We can buy some snow gear to stay warm while we’re out in town today. Besides, I don’t like renting gear. It’s like renting shoes at the bowling alley. It freaks me out. We live in a ski town, too, so if we love it, we can use our gear at home. If we hate it, we can just stick it away for our next Aspen vacation.”

“I’m pretty sure I will never be rich enough to afford to come here again.” I laughed. “But thank you for this. It’s really beautiful here, and I am already starting to feel lighter in the chest.”

“Good, that is the whole point of this entire thing, to help you clear your mind and see that Grant was probably the worst choice for you to make,” she said, smiling. “But come on. Let’s go inside, pick up some information for the instructors, have a drink, and then we can head out to the town and do some shopping.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said.

We slowly made our way back to the front of the hotel, and I couldn’t help but notice how just being around the corner of the building, surrounded by nothing but white, made me feel a million miles away from all of my problems. I knew people didn’t really come to Aspen for the quiet, but I was definitely finding the places where I could find solace if I needed it.

The entrance to the resort was gorgeous, with high ceilings and marble floors. The décor was modern, but warm, and I gawked at the elegance of the place. The rooms weren’t really that different, either. The beds were large and soft, with the best quality sheets and linens. Our room was a suite with two bedrooms and a common area. Both bedrooms had their own fireplaces, and the common room had one as well. Luckily for me, they were gas fireplaces because I had never been very good at starting a fire. The people walking around us were all decked out in the most fashionable snow gear, and the women wore full-on makeup to go ski. I didn’t see the purpose in that, especially since if I were to attempt it, by the end, I would look like a raccoon.

We walked up to the concierge desk and were greeted by an older gentleman with a nice smile. He tipped his head at us as we were walking forward and typed just a couple more things before stopping. Hailey took the lead and smiled back.

“Hi,” she said happily. “We were wondering if we could get a list of your ski instructors, so we could pick one and schedule a class?”

“Absolutely.” He smiled, pulling out a sheet of paper and setting it on the desk. “Just so you know, these two at the top, Glen and Cameron, are our specialty teachers. They offer the best classes and the most one-on-one attention. They were booked through Christmas, but it looks like there were two cancellations for tomorrow’s class. Would you like me to schedule you in?”

“That would be fantastic,” Hailey said. “Could you charge it to the room?”

“Of course,” he said. “So, you will meet here at the specified time on this card, and the concierge service will take you to the lifts and get you up to the building at the top of the bunny slope.”

“That is perfect,” she said, taking the card.

“And please, do take care to use our services when you are finished skiing.” He smiled. “We will meet you at the bottom of the hill and take your equipment back, polish it up, and have it sent to your room.”

“That’s awesome,” she replied. “I heard that you guys did something like that. Thank you for your help.”

“And you have a lovely day,” he said, nodding at me.

We turned and made our way to the lounge, which wasn’t very busy at all. The music playing was soft and instrumental, and the lounge itself was covered in dark mahogany and glistening marble. I almost felt nervous that I was going to hurt something, so I walked carefully up to the bar and sat down next to Hailey. We ordered two glasses of house red wine and sat back, relaxing our shoulders.

“So, how are you feeling so far?”

“Well, I’m no longer worried about being alone for Christmas,” I said. “That alone makes me feel so much better. As far as Grant is concerned, it’s a little confusing, I guess. I can see now what kind of damage he was doing to me, the abuses he was putting me through. I’m relieved that I’m now out of that situation and that I didn’t end up making a lifelong choice with him. At the same time, I feel like I’m a little lost. I don’t really remember who I am. I have been Grant’s slave for three years now, and then, poof, I have to remember what it’s like to be me again. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

“I think that is natural,” Hailey said. “I mean, even in the best relationships, when they are over, you are left with a bit of an identity crisis, and with this one, he sucked the life right out of you.”

“Yep,” I replied, sipping my wine. “But all in all, I am fine. I definitely will use some of this time for some soul searching, but I am much better than I ever thought I would be if Grant and I broke up.”

“Good,” Hailey said, drinking her drink. “Now, all we have to do is get some warm clothes for skiing and get out on the slopes in the morning.”

“I’m not sure if I am too excited about this,” I said, laughing. “But it’s vacation, so I am open to trying just about anything.”

“And don’t forget your promise to find yourself a hunky skier and shack up in the light of the fireplace.” She laughed.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’ll get there.”

We finished up our wine, talking about the people in the hotel, what we were planning to do while we were here, and the guys she planned on searching out as well. I almost forgot that Hailey was single, too, which made this a single girls’ weekend. I was hoping she would find herself a guy and forget all about my promise to hook up with someone. It just felt like the complete opposite of where I had been, but maybe that was point. Maybe that was what it would take to do a complete reset on my life. I sighed, thinking about it, never having been the girl that just randomly hooked up with men. Hailey had a great personality, but I was the brooding author, too shy to really talk to anyone, and from what I’ve found out, society only finds brooding authors to be sexy if they are men.

I took the last gulp of wine and set down my glass, looking at Hailey. She was already dressed to go, but I wanted to freshen up just a bit after the drive to Aspen. I looked down at my watch and then back at her.

“I’m going to run upstairs and freshen up before we go,” I said. “Give me like ten minutes, and I will come back down, and we can jet out of here.”

“Sounds good,” she said, ordering another glass of wine. “I’ll be right here.”

“Cool,” I replied, getting up and grabbing my coat from the back of the chair.

I walked out of the lounge and across the marble floors to the elevators. I pressed the button and waited, smiling at the other guests as they exited the adjacent elevators. The door opened, and I climbed inside, turning around and looking up as the doors began to close. A man walked in front of the elevators and stopped, looking around like he’d lost someone. I thought about opening the doors so he could get inside, but I was frozen in place. This guy was probably the most attractive man I had ever seen in person. He had a definite ski boy look to him, but at the same time, was incredibly masculine. His hair was black and shaggy, and his eyes were a sparkling light brown. The contrast was almost breathtaking, just like people told me about my eyes. He had a strong, muscular physique that filled out his Henley. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, and I could see tattoos covering his arms.

I had always thought a muscular man with tattoos was extremely sexy, but on him, it was like ten-fold. The doors squeezed shut, and my body relaxed. My shoulders pushed back against the mirrored walls. I hadn’t been taken aback by a man like that ever in my life. Sure, when I met Grant, I thought he was extremely handsome, but nothing that stopped me dead in my tracks. I almost had to assume that someone that good looking had some sort of major character flaw. They never were handsome and amazing at the same time. However, with the feeling bubbling up in my chest and the heat between my legs, I was starting to think that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to hook up with someone on this trip after all. Maybe I could even catch Mr. Tattoo’s attention.

Chapter 9

Cameron

It was Friday and the start of another very busy weekend. My first class was one of the more extensive ones. It was a beginners’ class, but we took more time with them, really getting them acquainted with the equipment, how to wear it, and what to do while on the slopes. Most of the class was actually held outside, since they would be putting on and taking off their skis the whole time. It was a cold class, but nothing I wasn’t used to since at most of the resorts, we did the entire thing outside. The class had filled up after two people canceled the day before, so I didn’t have to make any adjustments, which was a good thing since I was a bit sore from heading out to the slopes the whole day Thursday. It had been a while since I had been out like that, and my body definitely let me know how it felt about it. I had come back and taken a hot bath, but I still woke up with sore muscles.

“So,” Glen said, pulling the box of equipment across the snow. “Did you find that mystery girl from yesterday?”

“Yes and no,” I said. “When I went upstairs, I looked down in the courtyard, and there she was. I threw on my shoes and coat and ran out there, freezing my ass off. However, by the time I got there, she was gone, and I didn’t see her anywhere inside. I ended up going back to the bar and having a drink before heading out when the wind died down and spending the evening skiing.”

“Is that why you look like you are about a hundred years old today?”

“I guess I should have stretched beforehand,” I said, laughing. “But it didn’t help, anyway. I pretty much thought about that girl the entire time I was out there.”

“Uh oh,” Glen said, smirking. “A girl that has finally gotten to you enough for you to think about her more than just the typical time.”

“I don’t need your hell.” I laughed. “It doesn’t mean anything, besides the fact that she was pretty, and I am attracted to her.”

“Sure,” Glen said. “I mean, I chase down girls and think about them for hours because I’m just attracted to them.”

“Shut up,” I groaned. “She is not the typical girl. You didn’t see her. I can promise you, if you had seen her, you would have been bounding out into the snow after her, too.”

“No, probably not.” He laughed. “But I do wish I had been able to see you out there freezing your ass off, chasing a ghost of a woman through the snow. I have to admit, it warms my heart a little to know that maybe, just maybe, you aren’t a complete and total douche bag from hell.”

“Don’t count on it,” I said with a smirk.

We finished setting up everything just as the group of beginners made their way up from the bottom of the hill. One by one, we helped them off the lift, instructing them on where to go and how to set up for the class. Everyone had bright and shiny new gear, and most of them had bright and shiny new snowsuits. I was assuming neon was in fashion these days because the class looked a bit like a group of highlighters in the snow. The only exception were two girls, and I could only tell they were girls from the shape of their bodies, standing in the back row. They were completely bundled up from head to toe, including shaded goggles for the sun. At least their outfits were neutral colors. Otherwise, the brightness of it all might have blinded me. I looked over at Glen as he looked over the troops, shaking his head and lifting his shoulders. As usual, he started the class out, and I stood by, lifting up gear as we explained each piece and the purpose of those pieces.

“So, this is the latch that you will slip your boot into,” Glen said, holding up the boot. “Don’t do it yet. Just watch. We will get to all of it very shortly.”

The girls in the back were struggling to bend over or grasp anything because they were dressed like the little boy from A Christmas Story. I tried my best to hide my smirk and chuckle as the shorter one almost fell over, reaching for the taller one and nearly taking them both down. They looked so ridiculous bundled up like that, but I assumed they were probably from somewhere warm and had been bamboozled by the local shops into buying everything in the store for their probably one trip down the bunny slope. It must be nice being that rich that you can spend that much money on completely unimportant items of clothing, just to never wear them again. At least they didn’t have their cellphones out, not that they could press the buttons with the thickness of the gloves that they were wearing.

The wind had died down a lot since the day before, and I felt like if I had been bundled up like they were, I would be sweating to death by now. However, I guessed that I was used to the frigid temperatures, and some even worse. I can vividly remember a time where we were hired by the National Park service to come out for a week straight and give safety lessons to skiers who trekked to Denali to brave the natural slopes. It was definitely the most gorgeous place I had ever skied, but damn if it wasn’t bite through your jacket cold out there. After the first day, I had them take me to the closest town to get a temperature-rated coat and snow pants. That was what these girls looked like, except their movements were going to be very restricted because of all the layers. At least if they took a fall, they would just roll down the hill and not get injured.

When it came time to help everyone with their movements, Glen sent me over to the overstuffed girls, laughing at me as I tried to help them through their clothing. The short girl was hopeless, and had gone into full out laughing mode, sitting down in the snow and telling me to just help her friend. I shook my head and laughed, trying not to make them feel silly.

“What are your names?” I asked.

“I’m Hailey,” the one on the ground said.

“I’m Bea,” the tall one replied with a giggle.

“Are you girls from California?”

“No.” Bea laughed. “Believe it or not, we are from Colorado. You would think with the way we are dressed that we had never felt cold weather before.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything.” I chuckled.

“At least I won’t be cold when I go inside,” she said, a smile in her voice, though I couldn’t see her lips at all.

“All right, show me how to put on your skis,” I said, standing back.

She slipped her feet right into the latches, but grunted and giggled as she strenuously bent at the waist and clicked the straps in place. She then stood up and grasped onto the poles to keep her balance. We went through several different motions, her arms going in all the right places. She was actually pretty good at this, and I was a little surprised they were taking a beginners’ course.

“So, have you girls skied before?”

“Maybe when I was a kid,” Bea said. “Believe it or not, we live in a ski town, but work is so crazy, and until now, I didn’t have skis.”

“Oh, well, what do you do?”

“I’m a writer, a ghostwriter actually,” she said.

“What is a ghostwriter?”

“I write books for a publishing company, for authors that aren’t actually authors but want to publish a series of books,” she explained. “I sign my rights away to the material, and then the client purchases it.”

“That’s interesting,” I said. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

“Apparently,” Bea said, laughing.

“All right, Hailey,” I said, reaching down and helping her to her feet. “Your turn.”

Hailey was a bit more challenged by bending over, and her movements were a little jumbled, but they were good enough to make it down the mountain without breaking her neck. At least, I hoped they were. Part of me was curious what Bea looked like, since she sounded really sweet and probably around my age. However, her full-on mummy suit kept me from seeing more than her cheekbones, which was unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on the way that you looked at it.

“All right,” I said, looking back at the rest of the class. “Are we ready to make a run down the bunny slope?”

“Yeah,” the class said enthusiastically.

“You ladies want to go first?”

“Sure,” Hailey said.

“Why not? If we fall, we will just lay there as cushion for the rest of them.” Bea laughed.

Hailey situated herself at the edge of the hill and pushed off, letting out a little squeal as she went down. Not long after, Bea let loose, showing me really great form as she pushed through the white fluff, moving her skis back and forth. I was impressed at how quickly she seemed to catch onto everything. The ski down the bunny slope was the last thing they did with us for the day, so I liked to make sure every one of them made it down the hill safely. I felt that it was a testament to my teaching skills if they didn’t fall or lose a piece of equipment on the way down. My first two were a success, and I smiled as they reached the bottom and celebrated, ramming into each other with their cushioned suits and falling backward.

Everyone laughed as they went down, and I stood there waiting for them to clear the bottom before sending the next skier down. Bea threw her head back and pulled off her beanie and goggles, laughing wildly as she tried to climb to her feet. I stood there, slightly taken back, squinting my eyes down at the flashes of red glimmering in her hair. Her smile was bright and big, and she looked absolutely gorgeous surrounded by all the snow. I stopped the next skier for just a minute and moved to the edge of the hill, taking a closer look. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Bea was the girl that I had seen in the hotel the day before. I had spent the entire morning with her and didn’t even know who I was talking to. God, I was such an idiot. I had totally missed my chance, though I did get to talk to her for a little bit.

I looked back over at Glen, and he looked at me confused, walking over and putting his hand on my shoulder. He looked down at the girls as they dragged themselves off the bottom of the slopes and to the sidelines. He turned back to me and cleared his throat.

“You all right, buddy?”

“That was her,” I said, shocked. “That was the girl from the courtyard yesterday.”

“The ones stuffed like sausages?”

“Yeah.” I chuckled.

Glen laughed and moved down the line, double checking everyone’s skis and poles. One by one, the rest of the class went down the mountain without one incident of failure. My mind, though, was somewhere else at that point, and I was anxious to get down to the bottom myself and find this girl. By the time the last of the skiers had reached the bottom, Bea and Hailey were gone. I pulled my goggles down and clipped into my skis, taking off down the slope before Glen could stop me. I was going to find this girl.

Chapter 10

Bea

We scooted off the end of the slope, laughter filling our stomachs. We grabbed each other’s hands and pulled ourselves to our feet. I glanced back up the hill, looking at the tall, muscular guy that I had seen just the day before, standing outside of the elevator. It was Mr. Tattoo, and his name happened to be Cameron, my ski instructor. I looked back at Hailey, who was waiting for me, and smiled, making my way over to the bench and letting the concierge service take my skis. I actually really like skiing, but I knew that if I wanted to really enjoy it, I would have to lose some of the layers. I was barely able to control my movements and just kind of floated down to the end and fell over. I had to admit, though, it was fun, and I hadn’t laughed that much in years. I really loved having Hailey around to lift my spirits.

We walked back up to the resort and inside, taking off our jackets and the rest of our layers and giving them to the concierge to send up to our rooms. We then headed over to the bar and sat down at the end, ordering Irish Coffees to warm ourselves up and relax. My cheeks, since they were pretty much the only things showing outside, were red and tingly as the heat from the building washed over me. I was glad I hadn’t brought all my layers into the bar, or I would be sweating like an animal.

“So, what did you think?” Hailey asked.

“I actually think that I may really like skiing,” I said with surprise. “Though next time, I am going to do my snow pants, an under shirt, a sweater, and one of the lighter jackets. I was like the damn Stay Puff Marshmallow Man coming down the bunny slope. It was a good thing that there were no kids there this morning.”

“Yeah, we would have either scared them half to death, or they would have chased after us, thinking Frosty had finally come back to life,” she said, laughing. “All in all, though, I could totally see me and you hitting the slopes back home on the weekends. Maybe we’ll even meet us a couple of handsome men to take out with us.”

“You are always thinking about men.” I laughed. “I will be perfectly happy taking myself to the slopes and enjoying the day whizzing down the mountain. Thank God for ski lifts, though. I couldn’t imagine going up and down that mountain without it. Then I might not think that skiing was that fun after all.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed. “I could totally see us making it halfway back up and just collapsing, deciding it was better to freeze to death than keep going up the mountain. I am glad we decided to buy gear, though. We may actually get some use out of it back at home. It makes going back to the grind seem a bit more exciting than before.”

“You act like our vacation is over.” I laughed. “It’s totally only day two. We have lots of skiing time left.”

“Yes, we do,” she said, clinking her coffee mug against mine.

“So, the instructor, Cameron, I saw him yesterday when I was getting in the elevator to go up and get ready for shopping,” I said nonchalantly.

“He was nice, and I loved his tattoos,” Hailey said.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’d have to say that he is probably one of the hottest men I have ever met up close. If you thought he was hot in his ski gear, you should have seen him in jeans and a Henley. His muscles filled out, like, the entire thing.”

“Uh oh, sounds like someone has a crush.” Hailey snickered.

“No.” I blushed. “Can’t I just think a guy is, like, super hot? Besides, I don’t have a chance in the world. Have you seen the kind of girls that are floating around this place? They are like supermodels.”

“Girl, you are freaking gorgeous,” Hailey said. “And on top of it, you are smart, hardworking, and you have an actual personality. Those hookers have daddy’s money and really good plastic surgeons.”

“Still, they are much hotter than me,” I said. “And I am terrible when it comes to talking to guys. I get all kinds of out of sorts, and can barely put a sentence together. I have never been the girl that could pick up men.”

“You picked up Grant,” Hailey pointed out.

“No, he picked me up.” I laughed. “I just talked about random nonsense the whole time, and luckily, or not depending on how you look at it, he found me charming.”

“You are charming,” she said, smiling. “And it looks like you are going to have your chance to talk to Cameron, after all.”

We looked up at the entrance to the bar and watched as Cameron walked inside, ruffling his black hair with his hands and pushing up the sleeves of his sweater. He was so handsome, with his snow pants lingering on the edge of his hips and his smile the perfect Colgate-commercial white. The suspenders to his pants were off his body and laying to the side, giving him the appeal of a hot fireman. Immediately, I could feel the heat push into my cheeks, and I fanned myself, trying to slow down my heart rate. Hailey looked over and pushed my mouth closed, a giggle coming from her chest. Cameron walked over to the bar and nodded at the bartender, reaching across and taking the bottle of beer from his hand. He took a sip and set it down, turning and looking around the room. Finally, his eyes landed on me and Hailey, and my heart skipped a beat.

Our eyes locked, and I gasped slightly, trying to find my footing as his mouth curled up into a smile. I grinned back and then looked down, grabbing my napkin and fiddling with it as he pulled himself away from the bar. Hailey looked at me confused.

“He’s coming,” I said under my breath.

“Perfect,” she whispered. “Just be your amazing self. You will do great.”

I looked up in panic as Hailey picked up her mug and walked off, Cameron getting closer by the second. I could feel the sweat in my palms start to rain down, and I grasped my mug with two hands, turning back toward the bar. What was I supposed to even do? I hadn’t talked to another man in three years, let alone in a situation where we were probably going to be flirting. I took in a deep breath as he walked up next to me, the smell of his cologne seeping into my brain and making me hazy.

“May I sit down?”

“Sure,” I said, looking and smiling.

“You are Bea, from my class, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied, swallowing a drink of my coffee. “It was a really great class. I think I might pick up skiing when I get back home.”

“Well, you seem like a complete natural,” he replied with a smile. “I am glad I could give you the confidence to actually get on the slopes. I’ve been skiing for a very long time, and I couldn’t imagine my life without being able to escape to the snow.”

“So, you have been instructing for a long time?”

“Since I was about nineteen, back at home in Vermont,” he said. “I started skiing when I was a little kid and just really caught the bug for it. I competed, I trained, and then I realized how much I loved it when there wasn’t any pressure on me to be the best. So, I quit competitions and started teaching. My buddy Glen and I created our freelance company, so we pretty much get to ski almost every week of the year.”

“That’s awesome,” I replied. “I stay at home all the time in my home office. I wish I had chosen to travel more. I mean, with my job, I can do it anywhere in the world that has internet. For some reason, though, I decided to settle down in my own home town.”

“Well, I am sure you are amazing at your craft,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with settling down. I’m sure the Mister is happy to have you home.”

“Oh.” I laughed. “There is no Mister. just me.”

“I see,” he said, smiling.

“How about you?”

“No.” He chuckled. “It’s just me and my skis, and Glen, of course, but he’s my best friend, so I don’t mind having him with me.”

“Hailey has been my best friend for many years,” I said. “She is the whole reason that I am here for the Christmas holiday.”

“Nice, you took a girls’ trip,” he replied.

“Kind of,” I said. “My boyfriend of three years and I broke up, and she thought I needed a vacation.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said kindly.

“It was for the best, trust me,” I said, laughing awkwardly. “We were not really meant for each other, and he was a big douche bag.”

“No one likes a douche bag.” He laughed.

Cameron was really sweet, and I couldn’t help but notice that he actually paid attention to me when I was talking. He actually acted like he was interested in what I was saying, and that, in itself, was a completely new experience for me. Not to mention the fact that he was incredibly handsome, which made it a lot easier to sit there and stare into his gorgeous eyes. We continued to talk until it was dark outside.

“Well, I think I’m going to head upstairs and get changed so Hailey and I can lounge around and feast on room service,” I said, smiling.

“May I walk you upstairs to your room?”

“That would be nice, thank you,” I said, handing my mug to the bartender and grabbing my coat off the back of the chair.

Hailey had already gone upstairs, and the bar was starting to fill up, so I figured it was the perfect time to make my exit for the evening. We walked slowly across the marble floor and over to the elevators, talking about the time he spent in Denali teaching safety to the adventurous skiers out there. I thought about the bunny slope I had just been down and couldn’t even start to imagine just randomly skiing down something like that. However, the thought of seeing such an amazing place made me a little jealous.

“I would love to travel,” I said. “Alaska has always been on my list.”

“It truly is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been,” he said as we climbed into the elevator.

“Floor five,” I said, watching as he leaned over and pressed the button, the muscles in his arm tensing and then releasing.

“There was part of the trip where they took us ice fishing, and I actually saw a moose and a bear,” he said. “It was like being inside of a National Geographic film. I’d love to go back there sometime just as a tourist so I can really see the land.”

We got off the elevator and walked down the hall to my room. I stopped and turned toward him, smiling. I reached up and kissed him gently on the cheek and reached for the door handle.

“I had a really nice time,” I said. “Thank you for teaching me how to ski and then keeping me company.”

“Do you think that I could get your number?” he asked, with a strangely shy tone to his voice. “I mean, I’d love to take you to dinner while you are in town.”

“Well, I think that we should leave it up to fate,” I said with a smile. “When we run into each other again, we will know that is the perfect time to go out.”

With that, I walked into my room and shut the door, standing there with my head pressed against the wood and butterflies lighting up my chest. Wow. Just wow.

Chapter 11

Cameron

I stood there and watched as this captivating woman closed the door. While I would have loved to go inside and continue forward with our conversation and obviously more, I was okay with the fact that she was making this a little harder than most girls that I met. There was something about her that made me want to try harder. There was an innocence about her eyes that made me know that she was guarded, having been burned by this ex-boyfriend. Though I knew this was not about being long-term, I wasn’t against drawing this out past one date, and that was something completely new for me.

I stood there by her door for a little while, my body leaning against the wall and my eyes blankly staring down the hall. I was replaying every way that her lips moved as she talked about her life back home and her dreams for the future. She was incredibly intelligent, I could tell, but she didn’t rub it in people’s faces at all.

After about ten minutes, I decided that I should probably head back down. Not only was it slightly creepy that I was still standing there, but I knew that Glen would be waiting for me with some choice words on how I just dipped out on him and left him to clean up alone from the class. Hopefully, when I told him about how I was feeling, he would cut me some slack, playing on his whole “happily ever after” mentality. There wasn’t a girl I considered my happily ever after, but Bea had definitely caught my attention in a way that I had never experienced before. I had been traveling a long time and had met a lot of different girls, but there was something different about this one, something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

I turned and walked back toward the elevators, jumping onto one that a couple had just exited. The doors shut slowly, and I leaned up against the wall, crossing my arms in front of me and letting the smile that had been simmering below the surface finally come out in the open. When the doors opened, I got out and walked over to the bar where Glen was sitting, waiting for me to come back. He had actually walked in before I left, but he had sat down, seeing me talking to Bea, giving me a chance to talk to the girl I had been obsessing over for two days.

“Thanks for leaving me completely alone at the top of the mountain to put everything away,” he said, sipping his beer. “Was it worth it? I mean, I saw you talking to the girl.”

“Dude,” I said, letting out a deep breath, “It was more than worth it, no offense. There is something crazy special about that girl. She is a hell lot sexy, totally into me, but she is like a normal human being. She has dreams, aspirations, can hold a conversation, knows where Alaska is.”

“Wow,” Glen said, laughing. “That is way above the curve for ski resorts.”

“I know, right?”

“So, did you bang her?” he asked. “I mean, if you did, it must have been like the best ever because you were up there for like fifteen minutes at the most.”

“No, I did not bang her,” I said, laughing. “What are you like fifteen? We had a really good conversation, talked about like everything we could in that little span of time, and then I left her at her door.”

“You mean she turned you down,” he said, smiling.

“Yeah,” I replied chuckling. “But I was strangely okay with it. She thinks that if fate wants us to go back out, we will run into each other again.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I feel like maybe it’s time that I started to manipulate fate a little bit,” I said, laughing. “I mean, I can’t just meet this girl and then leave it up to chance. It just can’t happen.”

I sat there looking around the room at all the women that were coming into the bar. There were some hot ones, but every time I started to check one out, Bea would pop into my mind. Her fair skin, striking eyes, and perfect body were giving me chills down my spine. All I wanted to do was go knock on her door with champagne and strawberries, but I knew that she wouldn’t appreciate it. This girl was different than any other girl I had ever met. She was more down to earth and appreciated something like getting to learn how to ski. I had never felt appreciated before, except by the women I pleasured late at night in the resorts I stayed in. This was a completely different kind of feeling. She actually listened to what I was saying when I was talking, and she could tell that I was doing the same thing. That, in itself, was a huge deal since I was usually zoned out half way, just waiting for the moment where the woman would invite me back to her place.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her off my mind. I could see Glen watching me struggle, his eyebrows furrowed together. It was like the wires weren’t connecting in my brain, and I was having a very difficult time being the carefree guy I usually was. There had never been a girl that had caught my attention to the point where I was no longer able to just let it go when I got turned down. Normally, I would just brush it off, figuring there were plenty more where she came from, but not with Bea. This was something completely different. I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize a tall, hot brunette had walked up to us. I shook my head as Glen elbowed me.

“Huh?”

“I said, ‘hi, I’m Sylvia.’” She giggled. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and sit with us, or I could buy you a drink, and we could talk.”

“I, uh, I have a drink,” I said, sounding completely idiotic. “I mean, thank you, Cynthia.”

“Sylvia,” Glen said, clearing his throat.

“I mean Sylvia,” I corrected myself. “Thank you, but I am going to just spend the evening with my best friend tonight.”

“All right,” she said, slightly snobbish.

She turned and walked away, going back to her friends and whispering. They all looked over at me with nasty looks, and I turned back to the bar, not giving two shits whatsoever. I had never turned down a girl like that before, especially not one as hot as her, but my head was somewhere on the fifth floor, floating around the suite with Bea. How was I supposed to hit on someone else when I couldn’t even keep my mind on them for more than thirty seconds? This chick had really gotten into my head.

I looked up at the bartender and nodded, signaling for another beer. When he came back, I ordered two shots of whiskey and passed one to Glen. He raised an eyebrow at me and picked up the shot, throwing it back and slamming it down on the bar at the same time as me. I breathed deeply, feeling the warm liquid flow down my throat and into my chest. I needed to calm the hell down. That was what I needed to do.

“So, what’s going on?” Glen asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You just turned down a hot girl and then pounded down whiskey like you were soothing the pain.” He chuckled. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I just don’t feel like dealing with women tonight. My head is swimming, and my mind is way too busy for me to be attentive enough to score with some girl. I’d rather just relax and then go up and get a good night’s sleep before we have to start all over again tomorrow, but with a ton of classes.”

“Oh, because for a second there, I thought maybe this Bea chick had turned you off to all the others,” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t be crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “I just need a break. That’s all. I mean, my manhood is going to be exhausted if I keep this up, and that isn’t going to bode well for me if I actually do land Bea.”

Glen looked over and shook his head, smiling as if he knew something I didn’t. I rolled my eyes and went back to watching Sport’s Center on the muted television. When I was done with my beer, I paid the tab and stretched high in my chair. If I was going to sit around and watch television, I might as well do it in my room with sound and a fire.

“All right,” I said, yawning. “I’m going to call it a night.”

“Bro, it’s like eight,” he said, laughing.

“I know, I’m just not feeling it,” I said, standing up. “I’ll see you on the hill in the morning.”

“All right,” he said. “Try not to think about your new girlfriend too much. It makes you grumpy.”

“Try to get laid, you might actually get back in touch with reality,” I snapped back, smiling as I walked away.

I took the elevator up to my floor, staring at the fifth-floor button. All I would have to do is press it, and I could show up at her room with a cheesy smile. I shook my head, practicing restraint, and got out on my floor and made my way to my room. Inside, the fire had been started by the maid, and I changed my clothes, putting on flannel pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. I sat down in the chair and flipped on the television, going from station to station, trying to find something other than Christmas movies to bide my time. I settled on the Hunger Games, but only made it halfway through before I started to yawn.

I turned off the television and the lights and climbed into my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin and turning over on my back. I stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows of the flames dance across the ceiling of my bedroom. There was no denying it. My mind was hellbent on staying completely focused on Bea. She was so beautiful and so sexy that I couldn’t help but want her. This want, however, was different than the others. It was like it went beyond physical attraction, and I found myself thinking about just sitting around talking to her and finding out more and more about her.

This was so stupid. I couldn’t go and get attached to some girl at the resort when we were both headed in different directions after the new year. I was going to upstate New York, and she was going back to her home somewhere in Colorado, making anything more than just a few hot nights almost entirely impossible. But there was no denying it. I wasn’t going to be able to stay there, knowing she was so close, and not see her again. I needed to come up with a way to “run into her” without her knowing that it was completely planned. I wanted her to think that it was fate bringing us together, even though I didn’t believe in fate.

I sat there for most of the night thinking about Bea, formulating a plan to get close to her once again.

Chapter 12

Bea

After gorging ourselves on room service, including an excess of desserts, we polished off another bottle of wine, and I wandered back to my bedroom, passing out face down in the bed. The only thing I remembered from falling asleep was wrapping the huge, down comforter around my body and sighing as sleep took me. It was not without dreams, though.

I opened my eyes to find myself standing in an embankment of snow, wearing nothing more than a flowing, white silk gown. My feet were bare, and the wind blew my hair around me wildly, but I didn’t feel a bit of the cold. I stepped forward, looking through the swirling snow and out over the edge. I gasped, realizing I was at the top of Mount Denali, looking out over the beautiful landscape of Alaska. Above me, the night sky was alive, moving and glimmering from the colorful waves of the Aurora Borealis. I couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was, and I reached out, touching a fluttering cloud as it passed by the mountain top. I took in a deep breath and turned back to where I came from, wondering what I was doing all alone on top of this mountain. It was the same feeling I often had standing in my living room back in Colorado, looking out at the world from behind my windows, feeling completely alone.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and I jumped back, peering into the drifting snow. Slowly, someone began to walk forward, and my heart raced, not knowing where to go or where to hide. From the swirling snow drifts came Cameron, walking forward in nothing more than his snow pants, the suspenders swinging at his sides. His upper body was bare, and his muscles rippled in the wind. I stood and watched as he made his way toward me, stopping just inches away and reaching out, grabbing my shoulders. He pulled me into him, leaning down and pressing his mouth against mine with a lust more intense than I had never known before. I whimpered in his arms as the wind blew wildly around us.

When Cameron pulled away, his eyes pulsated like the lights in the sky, and he reached down and scooped me into his arms, cradling me tightly and staring deeply into my eyes. He turned and walked back toward where he came. As the snow cleared, I could see a large, four-poster bed with the same down comforter that I had curled my body in when I went to sleep. Carefully, he walked through the snow, gently laying me down on the bed and running his fingers up to the ties that held my dress on my shoulders. He untied each one and walked around to my feet, pulling on my dress and watching as the silky satin moved down my body, leaving me lying naked on the bed.

Cameron pulled off his pants, and I watched as they fell down around his ankles before he crawled onto the bed and up toward me. Slowly, he inched his way forward, reaching for my thighs with his hands and pushing them apart, his body lowering down onto the covers and his head landing right above my pulsating mound. His eyes shimmered, and he licked his lips before pulling apart my folds and moving his tongue through my wetness. I gasped, unable to make any sound other than that, feeling the pressure in my stomach and chest scream out. His thumb rubbed hard against my clit, and his mouth ran circles through my lips. I could feel the warmth of his tongue above all other sensations, and the heat in my face glowed brightly.

I laid there staring up at the ribbons of color flowing across the sky, feeling myself move in waves closer and then farther away from orgasm. I reached my hand down, feeling the soft, silky curls in my fingertips as he continued to eat my pussy hard and fast. As the winds shifted, I looked down as Cameron lifted his head, pulling himself over top of me and pressing his mouth wildly against mine. He pulled my arms up over my head and held my wrists tightly. He pulled his head back and stared into my eyes as his hips thrust forward, and he entered me, his cock being bigger than I could have possibly imagined. My mouth opened to moan, but nothing came out, starting the pleasure and suffering all over again.

Over and over, he pushed his hips toward me, his huge dick thrusting in and out of my body, the heat in my stomach beginning to rise. I breathed heavily, feeling his hands gripping down on mine and our bodies smashing into each other. Finally, I was able to let out a sound, and my voice carried across the skies, interrupting the flow of color in the night sky. He growled into my ear, and I felt his huge shaft massaging every inch of my pussy. I pulled my legs up in the air and arched my back, knowing I was getting closer and closer. He let go of my hands and sat up, pulling my hips toward him and thrusting hard and fast, our skin slapping together with each push.

I looked up at his eyes, darkened with lust, and could feel myself reaching the point of explosion. He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his chest contracting and his strong arms pulling my hips toward him, pushing his dick deeper inside of my body. As his hips cascaded against my clit, my head flew back, and I breathed in deeply, watching the waves of snow drifts swirl wildly around as the heat in my stomach exploded. Echoes of pleasure washed over me, and I closed my eyes, unable to comprehend the feeling which I was having.

When I opened them again, my body collapsed in the bed, and I looked around, realizing I had woken from my dream. I sat up in the bed, breathing heavily, sweat peppering my forehead. Cameron was gone, left behind in the dream I had just had. I let out a deep breath and let my arms fall down to my sides, falling backward onto the pillow. I had just dreamt that I was having sex with Cameron, and for the first time in my life, I had a full-on orgasm from a dream. I looked around the room, almost embarrassed for the acts that I had performed in my head, knowing that unless I was screaming in my sleep, no one else knew of my fantasy.

I pulled myself from the bed and walked into the adjoining bathroom, splashing water on my flushed face. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and my body was shaking from the pleasure. I grabbed my clothes off the edge of the bed and pulled them on, moving back to the bedroom and slipping my boots onto my feet. It was still dark out, but it was late, so I knew the resort would be incredibly quiet. I tiptoed out of my room and took my jacket, gloves, and hat out of the pile and carefully left the hotel room. Once in the hall, I pulled on my layers and headed to the elevator, pressing the button and climbing inside. As the elevator moved down, I looked up at the numbers, wondering which one belonged to Cameron and what he was doing right at that moment. He was probably asleep, like I had been before his intrusion into my dream world.

I stepped out into the lobby and nodded at the receptionist, who smiled kindly and watched me walk toward the doors. The cold air hit me hard in the face, unlike my dream where it felt like nothing more than cotton falling from the sky. Flashes of the dream kept moving across my mind, and I walked around the resort to the courtyard and took a seat on the covered benches. I looked up at the mountain in front of me, the slopes illuminated, but the lifts frozen in time. Everything was absolutely silent, almost painfully so, and then I looked up, watching small snowflakes begin to fall from the sky. As they hit my warm, flushed cheeks, they melted, leaving tiny flecks of water on my face. For the first time in a very long time, I actually felt like myself again. I hadn’t been at peace like that since long before Grant came into my life.

There had actually been a time where I thought for sure that Grant was the peace and love that I was looking for. I was pretty sure that I had stayed so long in the relationship because I was craving that family, that bond, the things I should have known I would never get from him. Still, I had gotten so used to him, so used to the feelings that swirled through me when he was around, that I found it hard to break away. I was certain that him breaking it off from me had been the best thing that had ever happened to me. Finally, I had permission to go running in the opposite direction, finding a safe place on my own.

When I got to the resort, I never thought I would meet anyone that I could actually have a conversation with, much less be madly attracted to at the same time. I literally thought it would be a nice, quiet getaway, far from the hustle and bustle of real life. I didn’t really think that I would find someone I wanted to sleep with, much less find myself enjoying him as a person as well. However, there I was, having sex-filled dreams of him and running outside in the cold night air just to try to get him off my mind. It seemed completely wild, and it wasn’t like me at all.

Thinking about it, though, it was really nice to have Cameron in my head instead of Grant. Next to each other, Cameron seemed like the man in the romance novel, while Grant was just the asshole ex with an axe to grind. I chuckled to myself, realizing that I had turned my life into a storyline for a love book. It definitely made everything seem more exciting, but I also knew I needed to pull myself back into reality.

I sat there on the bench for about forty minutes, until I was so cold that I was shaking. The sky was starting to lighten, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until the sun began to come up over the mountains. I stood up and stretched, listening to the light chirping of the small birds nested in the trees of the courtyard and beyond. I turned and walked back toward the resort and inside, stopping at the small concession station at the front and fixing myself a hot cup of coffee. It wouldn’t be long until the early bird skiers woke up and made their way out to the slopes, getting in a few good runs before the masses flocked through the snow. I wondered what it was like for the people who lived in Aspen to constantly be plagued by tourists, to always be shoveling snow, and to feel like they were in a perpetual loop of winter. I knew that it wasn’t always cold and snowy there, but I liked to think of it that way.

I took my coffee and headed back toward my room, figuring I would take a shower and change my clothes before coming down to breakfast. For the first time in forever, I actually felt like joining the masses and being part of a group instead of hiding out upstairs, ordering room service. I figured that Hailey would sleep in, especially knowing how much more wine she consumed the night before than me. It was pretty certain that she would be nursing a hangover all day. Hopefully, though, I would be able to explore, maybe even running into the hot man from my dreams.

Chapter 13

Cameron

Was it weird that I woke up before the sun and sat at my window, staring at the empty slopes? Not that weird. I used to do it all the time back home. What was weird was that the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes was Bea. I imagined her soundly sleeping, wrapped up in her blankets in her suite, the little tufts of snow falling outside of her window. I knew how quiet it was on the other side of the glass. I used to sit there and take in the silence just before the early birds would take the slopes. It was a time for me to clear my mind, prepare for the training that I was facing, and move forward without fear or caution. It was probably my most favorite time of the day, and I often thought about it when things got hectic or out of control in my life. There was definitely no time for those kinds of things in the regular world, but as I sat there watching the sky lighten and the sun begin to peek through the crevasses of the mountain, I felt a renewed sense of self.

After the sun had come up, I jumped in the shower and went downstairs, grabbing a bagel and some coffee from the breakfast bar. I then made my way up to the fifth floor and stood out of sight, waiting for Bea to come out. My plan was to casually bump into her as if it were an accident. Like I was helping the hotel deliver a bagel to someone’s room on the fifth floor. I wasn’t sure if it would work, and most likely, she would see right through it, but I had spent enough time sitting around and thinking about her. I had to see her, even if it meant forcing fate’s hand.

I stood there for quite a while, eventually drinking most of the coffee in the cup. I leaned against the doorway, standing up straight every time I heard the creak of a door or the ding of the elevator. What if I was standing here, but she had already left her room before I got there? It would be pretty awkward for her to walk up behind me and see me creeping around her floor. I wasn’t spying on her, but I knew that it would be what it looked like from the outside perspective. I started to worry about it more and more, second-guessing myself and jumping every time the elevator made a noise. What was I doing? I was standing in the hallway of a girl I had met one time, waiting for her to come out of her room so I could ask her out. Since when did I become such a pussy that I couldn’t handle just doing it the right way?

I sighed and looked down at the cold bagel and empty coffee cup. I turned and tossed the cup in the trash and set the tray by the trashcan, holding the bagel in my hand, figuring it was probably going to be my breakfast since I had just chickened out of my plan. Besides, even if she did believe it, there was nothing saying she would actually agree to go to breakfast with me. I sighed, deciding to take the elevators on the other side of the floor since they came down near the lounge. As I started walking down the hall, Bea’s room door flew open, almost hitting me in the arm.

“Oh my Gosh,” Bea said, racing out and grabbing my arm. “I am so sorry, sir, I wasn’t…. wait a minute.”

“Oh, hey,” I said, trying to act surprised. “I was just coming up to deliver this bagel to room 514 for the kitchen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they had some call outs this morning, and I happened to be standing there,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Interesting.” She smiled. “I wasn’t aware the maid service got room service, too.”

“What?”

“That room left early this morning.” She chuckled. “I was coming in from a morning stroll when they were leaving. The maid is in there right now, cleaning.”

Just as she said that, the door to 514 swung opened, and the maid pushed the cart out, waving at the two of us. I smiled and held up the bagel, watching as she turned and walked down toward the elevators. I put on a huge, fake grin and looked at Bea, who looked more amused than angry.

“Okay, I lied,” I said. “I wanted to see you, so I thought I could just ‘bump’ into you when you came out. It was a terrible cover… obviously. I just really wanted to take you breakfast. I didn’t think you would say yes after making the whole comment about fate.”

“So, you decided to try to cheat fate,” she said, shaking her head and smirking. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure,” I said, leaning in.

“I don’t believe in fate.” She giggled. “I just wanted to see if you would actually still be interested after I didn’t invite you back into my place. It seems that you have exceeded my expectations, and I give you extra points for the little flair you gave with that creativity.”

“I’m sorry, I, uh, I am such a nerd, and I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to do this,” I said. “I have been on the road for such a long time that actually courting someone… it’s a little…”

“Courting? In your travels, did you realize it’s not the 1700s?”

She laughed, holding her stomach and closing her eyes. I chuckled, feeling completely embarrassed. When she opened her eyes, she smiled and gave me a pitied look. She took in a deep breath, propped the door open with the stopper, and stepped out into the hallway. She reached up and pushed a piece of my hair out of my face and retracted her hand quickly, her cheeks blushing.

“Sorry, I, uh, it’s an old habit,” she said, shaking her head.

“It’s okay,” I said, laughing. “Waiting in the hall for a girl is not an old habit.”

“That’s good.” She smiled. “Otherwise, you might be branded a stalker.”

“Yeah, not what I was really going for there.” I laughed nervously.

I reached over and tossed the bagel into the trashcan in the hallway and dusted off my hands. An awkward silence fell between us, and I wanted to kick my own ass for being such a numbnuts. My whole life, I had been able to talk to people, never getting clammy or shuddery, but with this girl, I couldn’t seem to get out a sentence without pausing. I didn’t know what had come over me. It was like I was a different person, sent back to when I was an awkward teen, thinking about asking out the head cheerleader. Even then, though, when I was standing in front of her, I had all the confidence in the world. This girl just had a way of making me stumble over my words whenever I was with her. I looked up and noticed her watching me fight with myself, an amused look on her face.

“Why were you up so early?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said with blushed cheeks. “I had a dream and woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. So, I got dressed and went out to the courtyard. It was so peaceful and so quiet. I love that feeling, when it’s first thing in the morning after a big snow and the birds aren’t even awake yet. It’s beautiful and makes me wonder if there was ever a time humanity was so still and quiet.”

“I did the same thing, only from the comfort of my windows in my room.” I chuckled. “I’ve spent many a morning on the slopes, though, just listening to the silence around me, watching the snow shimmer in the reflecting light as the sky lightens. It’s almost humbling, and I am able to really clear my head.”

“It sure is beautiful,” she said, taking a deep breath and a step toward her door.

“Listen,” I said, reaching out to touch her hand. “I may have gone about this the wrong way, but the truth is, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left you right here. When I’m around you, I’m just not the guy that I had grown accustomed to being. I am shaky, stuttering, and can’t seem to put a sentence fully together to save my life. I figure, if it is something that is getting to me that bad, then I needed to just act on it. I’m not used to women getting to me like that. So, please, come to breakfast with me. Let me get to know you better and show you who I am. I know this is temporary, but I can’t really think of any other reason why I should just leave you alone.”

“Wow,” she said, smiling. “That was good. You had it together on that one.”

“You like that?”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “All right, I’ll go to breakfast with you. If you could, though, just wait here for a few and let me get out of my pj’s and brush my teeth first.”

“Okay,” I replied, just then realizing she wasn’t dressed for the day. “I’ll be right here.”

She smiled as she shut the door behind her, and I leaned back against the wall, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Well, that didn’t quite go as I thought it would, but at least, she was going to have breakfast with me. She was a sneaky little thing, making me obsess over fate and then telling me she didn’t believe in it after all. I should have come up last night when I was yearning to, but maybe this had turned out exactly how it should. In my head though, I had a much smoother setup planned. She runs into me, laughs in a giggly way, I charm her with my smile, and off we go to have breakfast on the terrace.

First of all, she was not the kind of girl you would find giggling over a guy. Secondly, I couldn’t pull out my charm around her to save my life. And third, who would eat breakfast on the terrace when it was like fourteen degrees outside? So, I didn’t really plan this out that well, but at least, I put some kind of thought to it. These days, I’d been living my life kind of on a whim, without much thought. I thought it was important to put thought into Bea. She was special.

I was drawn from my thoughts as she walked out of the room wearing jeans, a sweater, and a pair of black and white Chuck Taylor’s. She looked beautiful and adorable at the same time. We went downstairs and got a table at the restaurant, ordering two mimosas and relaxing.

“Don’t you have a class this morning?” she asked.

“Glen is covering it for me,” I said, smiling.

“Oh, so you got your business partner in on this covert operation?” She laughed.

“Yeah, well, behind every great man is a great woman.” I chuckled.

We spent the rest of the morning talking and laughing, getting to know each other better. She had a spunk to her that I hadn’t noticed before, but it seemed to light up the entire room. When we had finished breakfast, I walked her to the elevator, pulling on my coat, ready to get up the hill to my job.

“Thank you for breakfast.” She smiled. “Hopefully, it won’t be too long until you stalk me again.”

“I mean, I can have that arranged.” I chuckled. “When will I see you again?”

“I’ll come find you for a private ski lesson.” She smirked. “I want to see if you are as good of a skier as you say you are.”

With that, she climbed into the elevator, and I stood there smiling at her until the doors had closed. I was definitely on cloud nine.

Chapter 14

Bea

I had to admit, breakfast with Cameron was definitely unexpected, but not at all unwanted. After the dream I had the night before, I was terrified that I would get all clammed up seeing him, but with his adorable shyness kicking in, I felt compelled to be sarcastic and assertive. It actually worked out pretty well, and I got to spend my morning with a handsome guy, eating delicious food in the restaurant. I really didn’t want the date to be over, but I knew that I needed to end it and remind myself that I was only here for a limited time, and that getting too attached most definitely would be a bad thing. So, I said goodbye, meaning it when I told him I would come find him for a private ski lesson, and headed back up to the room.

When I got upstairs, I found a note from Hailey, telling me to meet her in the lounge when I got back so we could go out into town and do some shopping. I swore that girl had a serious shopping habit, but I didn’t mind at all because if I had that kind of money, I would have a shopping habit, too. I took off my tennis shoes, pulled on my black leather boots, and grabbed my jacket and scarf on the way out the door.

Just like she said she would be, Hailey was sitting at the bar, drinking a mimosa and chatting up the cute guy behind the bar. I shook my head and laughed as I approached, finding Hailey to be so fun and outgoing, something I wished I could be all the time. I stood next to her and smiled as she gulped down her drink and winked at the bartender.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Sure am,” she said.

“You have a shopping problem,” I replied. “I love it.”

“Ha! I love it, too.” She laughed as we walked through the building. “So, I saw you with Cameron this morning in the restaurant.”

“Why didn’t you come say hi?”

“You guys looked so involved in conversation, I didn’t want to break it up,” she said, smiling as we climbed into a cab.

First, we went to the coffee shop in town and got some coffee, something I was starting to feel like I needed after the long night that I had. Then, we went from store to store, perusing the shelves and giggling every time we saw a celebrity walk by. This place was definitely a celebrity haven. That was for sure.

“So, I heard you mumbling loudly in your sleep last night,” she said. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “I don’t remember it, though. I just woke up in a cold sweat. It was very strange.”

“Don’t you hate that?”

“Yeah,” I said, chuckling nervously. “Really sucks. So, what are we shopping for today?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “Some new clothes and maybe some gifts to send back to my parents so they aren’t too pissed at me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was the needy friend.”

“Don’t apologize. You saved me from their yearly wrath.” She laughed. “I did not want to go over there at all. So, what happened this morning? Did he knock on the door?”

“No.” I giggled. “It was actually kind of funny. I walked out in the hall to see if there was a paper to read, and when I opened the door, I almost knocked him over. He gave some excuse about bringing a bagel up to the room next to ours. The thing was, I had been up before the sun, and I knew that the people had left, so I called him out. Just at that moment, the maid walked out of that room, and he gave in and told the truth.”

“Which was?”

“He had been waiting there all morning, waiting for me to open the door.” I laughed. “He was going to do that whole act, just as an excuse to ask me out to breakfast. At first, I was going to put him off again, but he, like, opened up to me and told me how nervous I made him and how much he wanted to take me to breakfast. I mean, how could I refuse?”

“That is really sweet.” She smiled. “What did you guys talk about?”

“Pretty much everything,” I replied. “He is a lot sweeter than I thought he was going to be. It isn’t often that you find a hot guy that is also charming and open like that. It was really refreshing. I actually really enjoyed eating with him.”

“That’s nice,” she said, being standoffish.

“Okay,” I said, standing in front of her. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she said. “What?”

“It is not nothing when you answer me with, ‘that is really sweet’ and ‘that’s nice.’ So, spill it. What is it that you want to say about this situation?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I mean, I love that you are finding this connection with anyone other than Grant, so I don’t want to ruin it but…”

“But what?”

“It’s just that you should be careful because Cameron is a hopper,” she said, shrugging.

I immediately heard what she was trying to tell me, and my mind went a little hazy. I had gone out to breakfast, let my guard down, told myself to not get attached, and there I was, spilling my guts to my best friend like some lovesick puppy. Maybe she was right. Maybe I picked the wrong guy to get over Grant with. I was never the girl that could separate her feelings very well, which was probably why I had an entire collection of chick flicks at home, waiting for another broken heart. At the same time, I wanted to believe that after Grant, I had learned my lesson and at least built up some kind of wall, even if it was made of paper and not stone. I didn’t want to think I was the girl that would fall for anything just because it felt like I was in a real-life romance novel.

I took a deep breath and picked at the fuzz on the sweater on the rack in front of me. Hailey was holding up clothes to herself in the mirror, and I felt like a complete idiot. She looked at me in the mirror and sighed, turning toward me.

“Look, all I’m saying is this guy goes from town to town, working,” she said. “That is his career. He doesn’t have a home base, he has been doing this a long time, and I doubt that he is magically ready to just settle down. I just don’t want you to fall for him. I know how sensitive you are right now. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You know I love you like a sister.”

I nodded my head up and down, thinking about Cameron and about what Hailey was saying to me. For some reason, I understood everything that she was saying, but I still couldn’t imagine staying away from him. It just seemed too difficult. Grant had really taken a toll on me, but what she wasn’t realizing was that I wasn’t brokenhearted about it at all. I felt freer now than I ever had in my entire life. I felt free to feel or not feel anything I wanted for anyone. I felt free to have my heart broken or to break someone else’s heart. I also felt free to have an adult relationship where I knew that the end was near, but the time leading up to it could be absolutely amazing.

I wanted to feel that rush again, that rush you had when you were with someone and you wanted to be nowhere else. When your heart palpitated in your chest just thinking about them. All the sweet emotions before eventually they wore off, leaving you with just what you had built in the in-between. Maybe it was reckless, but it was exactly what she had set out to do before booking this trip. Only now, she was having second thoughts, realizing that my heart may indeed get dented.

“Look, Hailey,” I said, smiling. “I appreciate your concern, your care, and your love for me, but I assure you that I am in no way worried about the outcome of all of this. I do not think for one second that I will get attached enough to have my heart broken, but if I do, then so be it. Maybe it will be good for me. Maybe it will be the replacement heartbreak for the one I never felt for Grant. I am honestly not worried about any of it. I am having a good time, for the first time in my entire life. You have given me something that is priceless, a newfound freedom that puts me in control of my own heart, and I promise I am never going to waste it again.”

“Well,” she said, chuckling. “That was quite the speech. I am so happy that you feel that way. I wanted that for you for a very long time. Do you know what I think you should do?”

“What?”

“I think you should sleep with him, get everything you can out of it, and then don’t leave him your number,” she said, smiling. “Do what men, including him, have done to women for years. Take control of your sexuality, do what you want to do, and go into it with no thought of ever carrying it on past this vacation. Then, you are protecting yourself, and at the same time, getting that feeling of freedom out of your system, so you can go home and be more productive than ever.”

“I like that idea,” I said, thinking about it. “I think that is actually a brilliant idea.”

“Good,” she said, tossing me a sweater. “Then let’s get you ready for it.”

I smiled and watched her walk off through the shop, stopping and staring at myself in the mirror. I could do this. I could be the girl that took what she wanted and left. I could be in control of my emotions, right? In reality, I felt strong and powerful in that moment, but it was different when I was sitting in front of him, looking into his soft brown eyes. When he stuttered, or stammered, when he opened up in a last-ditch attempt to get me close to him, I pretty much folded inside, wanting to be close to him. Just during breakfast, I thought about my dream, about standing on the top of Denali with Cameron and sitting there before sunrise, listening to the silence with each other. I had taken more from my dream than just amazing sex. I had taken the desire to be alone with that man, just the two of us, far away from everything else. Really being with him on a level I wasn’t really sure I was ready for.

My thoughts were interrupted by Hailey, who was calling me over to look at a new pair of snow pants. I sighed and smiled, looking at myself in the mirror one last time before walking over to her and giving my opinion. While I was there in body, my mind was somewhere else, combing the quiet of the morning snow and searching for a reason behind my intense reaction to this man. Either he was going to be the answer to my freedom, or a shot fired in the dark, striking me right in the heart. Only time would tell.

Chapter 15

Christmas Day

Cameron

Bells rang out from the adjoining church just a mile or so down the road, waking me from my sleep. I laid in the bed staring out the window, watching the morning snow float slowly past, melting as it touched the warm glass of my room. It was Christmas morning, but for me, there was no excitement to open presents, no one waiting for me out in the living room, and no big feast prepared. It was no different than any other Christmas I had spent on the road, but for some reason, I felt cold on the inside. I turned over on my back and pulled my arms over my head, stretching long and hard. There was nothing better to do than go downstairs and start my Christmas morning off with a nice, stiff drink. It had become kind of a ritual for me on holidays, something to start my day on a better note than loneliness.

I got out of bed and got dressed in a pair of jeans, my tennis shoes that I barely ever wore, and a warm sweater. I brushed my teeth and tousled my hair, spraying on just a bit of cologne, just in case. When I got downstairs, there was a light humming of Christmas music over the speakers and just a few people in the restaurant drinking coffee and talking lightly. Those were usually the older folks, the ones that enjoyed Aspen during the holidays and had little to no family to go home for. I walked into the lounge and sat up at the bar, smiling at the bartender and ordering a beer.

“I’m sorry you have to work on Christmas,” I said, passing him a twenty for the beer. “Keep the change.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said with a smile. “I extend my apologies to you, as well.”

“Thank you,” I said, taking my beer and standing up.

I walked over to the window and watched as two or three people skirted down the mountain, taking advantage of the empty slopes on Christmas Day. The crowd would be back, bright and early the next day, ready to ski in their brand-new clothes and with their brand-new equipment. It was always crazy between Christmas and New Year’s, and today was one of the few days I got to relax. It was a shame I was feeling a bit melancholy. I didn’t have anyone to celebrate Christmas with, and though normally it was Glen and I going it alone, he had taken a last-minute flight back home for the holidays, missing his family and deciding it was important to spend more time with his mother and father since they were getting older. I couldn’t lie. I understood completely how he felt, but going home for me wasn’t something I really had any interest in doing. So, there I was, sitting at the bar in Aspen, spending Christmas with a cool bottle of beer and probably many more to come.

I drank some more of my drink and moved back over to the bar, pulling up a seat and looking at the muted television. A Christmas Story was on, and I smiled to myself, remembering how Bea looked when she first came to my beginners’ class for skiing. I didn’t even know it was her, she was bundled up so tightly, and then the laughter that came from her chest echoed through the whole mountain, making anyone in range smile at her light and love. I looked up at the bartender as I finished my beer.

“Will you have to work all day?” I asked.

“No, sir.”

“Please, call me Cameron,” I said, smiling.

“No, Cameron, I am the day shift,” he said. “It usually gets pretty busy in here when everyone is done with family and needs a drink. They have a night crew coming in for that. We all drew straws to see when we would work.”

“That stinks,” I said. “If you are going to work, you should at least be given a decent money shift.”

“Just part of the job.” He smiled. “What about you? What are your plans for the day?”

“Well, so far, I am planning on continuing to drink these beers and keep you company.” I laughed. “I travel, so I am usually never in my hometown for Christmas. I am used to it, but with my buddy being gone, I have decided that this is as good a day as any to drink my way through the jingling bells.”

“If I didn’t have to work, I would join you.” He laughed.

“I appreciate the sentiment.” I smiled. “I may take a slight break, halfway through the day, and take to the slopes for a couple hours, but that really depends on how many whiskeys I decide to have between beers.”

“Well, here is your first,” he said, pouring me a shot. “This one is on the house. A Christmas gift from us to you.”