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.