5.
The fresh snow crunched underfoot as she walked along the winding paths and down towards the town. It was so cold that it was already starting to freeze and Chloe was glad of her fur lined hat and cape. She pulled it around her tightly and smiled up at the stars. The night was so clear and there was barely a cloud in the sky. The moonlight shone down on her and lit the way, along with the lights that dotted along the sidewalks, letting her know she hadn’t veered off course. Up ahead she could hear sounds of life and of people cheering. Music was thumping softly and it sounded as if somewhere a group of people were either watching a sports game or playing beer pong. Chloe hustled up and started to walk faster. Whatever was going on down there, she didn’t want to miss it.
As she got closer to the town and all of the shops, restaurants and bars came into view, she couldn’t help but smile. It was the sort of place she had always dreamed of visiting but had never had the opportunity. Sure, she had been skiing when she was a kid, but this was different. It was Christmas and the whole town was decked out in thousands of twinkling lights. Trees and Santa Claus’s were everywhere and the whole place felt so magical she could barely put it into words.
Small crowds were outside of various venues and the whole town seemed so friendly and buzzing with life that she couldn’t help but smile and say hello to everyone she passed. Even though there were many places to choose from, her eyes had focused on one place in particular as she had started her walk along the Main Street and she kept her gaze fixed firmly on it as she made her way forward.
The bar was wooden and a lodge itself in style and out the front a small group of girls and guys were drinking and chattering. She smiled as she walked past them and made her way inside and she wasn’t disappointed. Music drifted out from an old retro jukebox, open fires roared in the corners and the low lighting made the bar feel even more welcoming and inviting. Chloe made her way towards the long counter and pulled up a stool. As she slid onto it and began to unwrap her cape she felt the eyes of the room on her. It wasn’t overly busy in there and she was certainly a new girl in town. She could feel how each man in there was waiting to check her out and see what she had on under her fur cape.
As she revealed her low cut black t-shirt and the large swell of her breasts, she looked down to make sure her bra wasn’t showing. When she had dressed that night she had wanted to be provocative, but not slutty, and so she had teamed it with a pair of tight jeans. They clung to her curvy figure perfectly and made her feel so goddam sexy that she couldn’t help but smile as she brushed her long, silky hair behind her ear.
“Hi,” one of the barmen leaned across and grinned. “What can I get you?”
Chloe bit her lip and looked down at the bar menu. She could see lists of wines and champagne, but what she really wanted was a beer. She could tell that the majority of the people in the resort were well heeled and normally this would have made her want to fit in, but she was feeling rebellious.
“A bottle of Bud,” she smiled and the barman nodded and turned to get her, her drink.
After he passed it to her she sipped it slowly and felt herself begin to unwind. It had been a long day and the travelling had taken it out of her, but she didn’t want to miss a moment of her new abode. She wanted to experience it all and make sure that she made the most out of her time there.
She swigged the beer fast and as she felt her eyes starting to droop with tiredness, she was about to call it a night when suddenly she sensed that someone was beside her. They slid onto the stool right next to her and leaned over across the bar to speak to the bartender. Chloe tried to see out of the corner of her eye but her vision was blurred, so in the end she turned to face them and for the second time that day her jaw almost hit the floor.
The man who had come and sat beside her was so incredibly attractive it almost took her breath away. She couldn’t help but stare, her mouth slightly agape, as he pointed to a bottle of vodka on the back wall of the bar and then turned to her and smiled. He caught her, in full stare mode and her mouth hanging open. She snapped it shut quickly and his eyes glistened as he smiled, the skin around the corner of them crinkling slightly.
“Oh…” Chloe whimpered.
She looked down at the ground quickly and wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole.
What was she doing? Why had she stared at him like that?
The man let out a low laugh and she could tell that he was still watching her. Now she had looked away, she couldn’t even remember what he looked like, but she knew he was unlike anyone she had ever seen before. She could feel his eyes burning into her and she knew that she had to look back up and see him… as she turned her eyes upward and they grazed over his tight jeans on wide thighs, his rippling abs underneath a white t-shirt and his huge muscular arms, she swallowed hard. As she moved past his squared jaw and up to his piercing blue eyes her heart almost stopped beating. His hair was a dusky blonde that seemed to catch the light of the fire and she instinctively bit her bottom lip as her mouth gaped open again.
“Hi,” he said almost in a whisper.
His voice was so low and masculine it made her bones shake.
“Hi,” she managed to croak as their eyes locked in on each other’s and they both seemed unable to tear away.
“Vodka, straight up,” the bartender slammed the tumbler down in front of him and broke their awkward moment.
“Thanks,” the guy said as he slid ten dollars across the counter before he turned back to Chloe. “You new here?” he asked.
“Umm,” she stammered. “Yeah, I, well we, I got here earlier today.”
“We?” he asked, looking around the bar as if to try and find who she was with.
“Oh no,” Chloe shook her head. “I’m on my own here… but I’m here in the resort with my family. Last minute Christmas vacation,” she shrugged.
“Nice place to come last minute,” he raised his eyebrows.
“Well,” she found herself trying not to trip over her words, “My dad had to go away so he sent us here… sort of like a consolation prize.”
He nodded and swigged the vodka down in one before he tapped the bar top again and the tender began to pour him another.
She felt uncomfortable, as if she had said the wrong thing and broke his gaze to twiddle with the label on the beer bottle in front of her.
“I’m Finn,” he said finally as he held out his big rough hand and slid it into hers.
“Chloe,” she smiled.
“Nice name,” he grinned at her and raised his eyebrows.
She felt herself blushing and she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“So Chloe,” he continued. “How about you let me buy you a drink?”
Suddenly, she wasn’t so tired anymore.