Page 7 of Finding Love on the Slopes

“Good evening,” she greeted, a little too cheerily and a hint of flirtation in her voice. “Welcome to Parker’s Outfitters. What can I help you with?”

He glanced at the nametag attached to her sky-blue shirt.Jenny. She was a cute redhead with a face that reminded him of a porcelain doll. She was pretty, but he wasn’t interested.He came here with a single purpose, and that was to face his fears. He didn’t need any distractions even though his mind was constantly looking for ways to procrastinate initiating this challenge.

“I’m looking for Lee. I was supposed to meet him earlier to begin my ski lessons,” he said, pulling his gaze from her startlingly green eyes to scan the room.

Jenny’s lips parted, but before she could utter a word, she was interrupted.

“You must be Enrique Rodriguez,” a sultry alto voice called from behind him, and a shiver ran up his spine as he turned in the direction of the speaker.

“Hi,” she said, smiling as she stretched a hand towards him. “I’m Leigh. It’s nice tofinallymeet you.”

Initially, Enrique struggled to reconcile his preconceptions with the new information. He studied her face and physique. She had long, straight, golden blond hair with natural highlights falling to her mid-back. Her eyes reminded him of the shallows in the Caribbean Ocean.

She wasn’t tall or short, but about 5’6”, the perfect height coming up to his chin. She had an athletic build, accentuated by well-defined arms outlined in her long-sleeved sweater and toned legs displayed in snug ski pants. Her lips were heart-shaped and rosy pink, with a smile that faded the longer he looked at her.

Leigh dropped her hand and forced a professional smile. Enrique continued staring, puzzled by her familiarity. Despitebeing sure they’d never met, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her and that he would never be able to forget her. She wiped away all of his confusion with her next words.

“My brother told me everything I need to know. Why don’t you follow me to the office so we can get this show started?”

Enrique scoffed, slapping himself in the head. He had finally caught on to Curtis’ joke, but Leigh, being oblivious, frowned at him when he remained rooted in place.

“You’reLee!” he nearly shouted.

“I am.”

“And… You’re awoman,” he stated again.

“Thanks for stating the obvious,” Leigh replied, placing her hands on her hips, showing her annoyance with the situation.

“You’re not justanywoman… You’re Curtis’ baby sister!” Enrique’s announcement echoed in the large room.

“Yes. Yes. And, yes. Is there anything else about myself that you would like to inform me of, or can we get moving?” she asked snarkily.

A woman with a smart mouth, too, he thought as he looked her over once more.

“Curtis told me my instructor was Lee. An Olympic gold medalist. I never thought to ask for a last name,” he said still reeling from the realization that Curtis had played him, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“Okay?” She blinked as she looked at him, trying to suppress her irritation. “You don’t think women can be Olympic gold medalists? Would you like me to prove you wrong?”

That wasn’t what he was trying to say. He wasn’t actually surewhathe was trying to say. All he knew was that he hadn’t been expecting Curtis’ Lee to be awoman!

This whole situation wasn’t what he had planned when he reached out to Curtis a few days ago. But now… this entire thing was going terribly wrong.

Throughout his life, he’d had a complicated relationship with the female gender. His mother, the nuns at the boy’s home, teachers, policewomen, and the gold diggers that constantly chased him.

He had issues with most authority figures but really didn’t do well when it came to receiving instructions from a woman. The one exception being Hannah of course. Curtis knew this. Why in the world would he have set him up like this?

At best, women were a distraction. Like flies buzzing around your head, breaking your concentration, and refusing to leave you alone no matter how many times you swat them away. But this one… this one was different. This woman sent every cell in his body on high alert. She watched him boldly with an arched brow as if she were challenging him. She didn’t seem fazed by his good looks or the expensive appearance he so proudly displayed. She didn’t look impressed by him at all, and it annoyed him.

For the briefest moment, he thought of canceling the whole thing. He wanted desperately to put an end to it, right there and then, and walk out, shedding the discomfort he currently felt like an old coat. With the power and influence he held, he was sure he could find another solution to this problem,or better yet, just wait a few months and do this with Curtis himself. But doing that would no doubt insult Curtis. They had been friends, best friends really, for too long to jeopardize that friendship by disrespecting his baby sister.

He rubbed a hand across his stubbled jaw. “That’s not – ”

Leigh didn’t let him finish. “Are you sure? You’re not the first person I’ve been assigned to teach, Mr. Rodriguez, and you certainly won’t be the last. So, if you’re finished giving me a CliffsNotes version of who I am, perhaps you can follow me to the office and allow me to show you that I’m more than qualified to be your instructor?”

She didn’t wait for an answer. Simply turning on her heel, hair whipping behind her, she walked away, expecting him to follow.

And he did. What other choice did he have? He removed his gloves and stuffed them in his coat pocket before scrubbing both hands over his face as he followed behind her, trying not to notice the sway of her hips or her grace, even when angry. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place and wasn’t sure he was man enough to make the best of it. Not right now, anyway.

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