Page 6 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

Glancing at his watch, he realized this would be the last run down the hill. If he was going to get a chance to talk to her again today, this would be the time. So as much as he wanted to watch her ski down just for the sheer beauty of it, he got up from his seat and returned his mug.

Chase found her a few minutes later at the bottom of the hill. She stopped to talk to a couple of parents, then proceeded to hand in her equipment to the attendant at the ski-rental building. The employees at the lodge didn’t have to haul skis and equipment back and forth like some of the other resorts Chase had been to. His grandmother believed in making people’s lives better, and it showed in some of the value-added benefits she provided, which included housing for those who didn’t want to make the commute up and down the mountain each work day, free meals in the canteen, and free use of the slopes in their downtime.

As it stood, he couldn’t ski—and watching the people come down the mountains hurt deep inside. Burning jealousy didn’t help, either. He missed the freedom that came with flying down a hill faster than he was allowed to drive on any highway in the US.

Tana turned, and their eyes met across the churned-up snow. Her dark eyes lit up at the sight of him, her eyebrows lifting. Chase had already planned out what he’d say when they met again, but now all the words flew out of his mind.

She skied over to meet him. Chase had the strange urge to ask her out on a date.

Tana lifted a hand and smoothed down the braid peeking out from under her hat, bringing it around to the front of her coat.

“Hey, Chase.” Her voice was so much warmer than it had been when they first met. “How was the timing on those last runs?”

He wanted to deny he’d been watching but lying wasn’t his thing. “You looked great out there. I mean—the timing looked great. The students seem to enjoy the lessons.”

She gave a shrug, her eyes sparkling. “I bring my best to the slopes. The way you always did.” Tana flinched as she finished the sentence.

The dull ache in his left leg flared in recognition, knowing what she meant. The comment stung. “It was my life—I gave it everything I had.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.” Her eyes flicked down to the snow.

“It was international news. No big deal.” Except the end of Chase’s skiing career had been the biggest deal of his life. It still was, but looking into Tana’s eyes gave him the strange sensation that the accident and his injury had faded into the distant past. Temporary relief but highly welcome. “I’m not here to offer tips, unless you want some. I came to see if you’d like to have a drink with me.” It would only be once, and he wanted to know more about her. “Maybe we could talk more.”

Tana frowned, and for the first time, he noticed the thin scar that cut across one of her cheeks. “A hot tea sounds great.” He heard the rejection in her voice, although it was cloaked with kindness. “But I really can’t. I have an errand to run, and I can’t miss it.”

“Another time, then.” Disappointment dogged him. He pushed it away.

“Another time,” she agreed, her gaze lingering on his face for a heartbeat longer than was strictly necessary. The cold, clear day didn’t feel so cold after all.

Chase headed back to his private residence, intent on solitude, a beer, and dinner. In that order. He didn’t live in the lodge the way his grandmother did. She and his grandfather had renovated half the top floor of the lodge into their own private apartments early on in their ownership of the resort. Both liked being around other people, and it gave them peace of mind about the building itself. Of course, Elk Lodge had grown considerably since then. In addition to the primary lodge, they offered numerous private chalets in the forest overlooking the slopes and a neat set of winter camping cabins.

And then there were the family houses.

Three of them, to be exact. One for each brother if they chose to live there. The houses were perched off the same access road as the lodge and looked down over the property. Jonas had moved into the first one years before. The other two had sat empty most of the time, used only when he and Gabe came home for the holidays.

Chase decided to cut across the parking lot, hoping to miss seeing anyone he knew. The convenient shortcut back to his house was one he’d used a lot lately, even if it did take him past staff intent on decorating everything at the resort to within an inch of its life.

Years ago, his grandmother had issued the edict that there would be no decorating for Christmas untilafterThanksgiving, which meant Elk Lodge quickly transitioned into something out of a Hallmark movie immediately following the turkey coma.

The trees lining the parking lot now boasted swaths of twinkling lights, all in the same classy white, along with oversized ornaments. They’d gone so far as to wrap garland and metallic ribbon around a bower at the edge of the parking lot—the same one Chase had to cross under to get to the path leading to his front door. He would prefer to skip it, but sometimes in life a man had to confront Christmas decorations where he didn’t want to see them. Given everything that’d happened this year, instead of feeling nostalgic over the holidays, he was hoping to forget about it.

Three rows of cars in, he spotted Tana crouched low next to a blue Honda, muttering something under her breath. He’d put five dollars on a series of curse words, her voice rising enough for him to catch some of them. He bit back his smile, realizing she was upset and needed help, not mockery.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, staying back a few feet so as not to scare her. “Looks like you’re having a bit of trouble running that errand, ma’am. Anything I can do?” he offered, teasing her with the ma’am thing to make her smile.It worked.

Tana wrinkled her nose. “Do you have a spare tire? Because this one doesn’t look drivable. Want to give your opinion on this along with a bit of mansplaining?” she teased.

She got to her feet, and Chase moved closer. “Mainsplaining, huh?” He crossed his arms and pretended to scrutinize the tire. It was obvious what was wrong. “Well, since you asked, looks like it might be flat.” The two of them looked down at the ruined tire. “You don’t have a spare in the trunk? I can change it if you want.”

She nudged him with her elbow, her playfulness sending sparks of awareness up his arm at the touch. “Ican change a tire, but unfortunately, that is the spare. And I’m already running late.”

“I have some wonderful news,” Chase said, unable to squash his grin. “I have an entire car.”

“But does it have four usable tires already attached to the car?”

“You’re in luck. It does. How about a ride?”

Tana shook her head. “Sure. I’d love a ride if you’ve got the time to spare.”

---