Page 21 of Mountain Security

Alex’s voice faltered when it came time to introduce the third man. Yvette almost laughed, he was so transparent.

“… and this is Ry Harrison, our medic.”

Does he really think I’m going to embarrass him in front of their boss?

“MademoiselleLegrand.”

Yvette flashed the man her best smile. “A pleasure to meet you. Please call me Yvette.”

Ry’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he realized she wasn’t going to say anything. Alex, too, flashed her a relieved smile.

“Have you been to the top?” Beau said. “We got a call that it was getting windy up there. We need to make sure everybody’s okay getting down.”

She didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“Alex is teaching me to ski, so we’ve been touring green slopes.”

“Good for you, Yvette,” Beau said, his gruff expression breaking up into a smile.

Moments later, the men were gone. Alex watched them go, a wistful expression on his face. It took her a moment to realize what was going on.

“You want to go with them.”

“What? No. I’m good. I’m having fun. I swear.”

“You know what?” she said, emptying her hot chocolate and throwing the cardboard cup in the trash. “So am I.”

That got her another one of those incredible smiles.

* * *

Alex

As the day went by, his respect for Yvette grew.

He liked that she was giving it her all.

He’d taught enough people to ski to know that, when she’d first put on her skis, she’d been scared. Her breathing had been rapid, shallow, her movements jerky. For a second, he’d been tempted to stop the exercise and bring her back down.

But she hadn’t only gotten over her fear, she’d gone in with everything she had.

For someone so capable and sure of herself, Alex knew it couldn’t be easy, giving up control to someone else. But she’d done exactly that, listening carefully to each and every one of his instructions.

And every time she’d fallen, she’d gotten up again.

He looked at her now.

Fuck, but she was easy on the eyes.

And the way that ski suit fit her every curve … He’d never before spent so much time wondering what was under a ski suit. It was driving him crazy, thinking about it.

“What do you want to do now?” he asked.

She looked momentarily crestfallen. “Do we have to go down already?”

Alex laughed. “Only if you want to. But if you want to do a bit more …”

“Let’s do another few runs. I think I’m just about starting to get the hang of this,” she said, getting up quickly. She winced as her shins hit the front of the boots, and he knew she must be in pain, but the wince was gone as quickly as it’d come. “I’m good to go.”

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