Page 43 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

“You’ll see soon enough.” Back when Chase was a little kid, he’d been so anxious to graduate to these hills. He still remembered the adrenaline rush now. It was almost that same kind of day—sunny, crisp, clear. If he closed his eyes, he’d be able to take himself back to his former body and back to those limitless days.

“Let mesee.” Tana jiggled in place, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “Come on. You can’t bring me all the way out here and then not show me.”

“Look,” Chase said, pointing up the slope.

Tana blinked against the bright sun. Chase studied her face, waiting for the moment when she saw her surprise. For when she spotted her daughter.

Chase had asked another instructor for a favor that morning, and now Lindsey came down the slope with the woman, whose cheering voice carried all the way down the hill. The pair steered their way down, successfully navigating the steep parts and the small rises. He had originally thought he might like to do these runs with Lindsey himself, but he’d also wanted to experience watching with Tana. If only he could have made a clone of himself.

“Oh, my gosh! It’s Lindsey,” Tana exclaimed, the excitement in her voice contagious.

Lindsey looked just like Tana, down to the fierce determination on her face and her natural grace out on the slopes. Chase got choked up watching it. He turned to Tana and noticed her cheeks glistening with happy tears.

She stood watching for a few more moments, and then raised her arms above her head and let out a loudwhoopthat he guessed could be heard in Utah.

“She’s so good!” Tana shouted at Chase. “She’s sogood!”

Lindsey whizzed by, waving a pole in the air. “Hi, Mom,” she shouted. “I’m going again! Watch me!”

The instructor followed, waving to them, too.

Tana threw her arms around Chase’s neck and gave him a kiss that was so hot it verged on inappropriate. “You are the best instructor my daughter could ever have. Did you know that?”

“I do.” Chase grinned. Tana’s comment and laughter made him prouder of the accomplishment than anything else he’d done in his life.

“I’m so excited to work with you.” The heat in Tana’s eyes was enough to melt him on the spot. “You’re going to make a great athletic director.”

“I couldn’t do it without you.”

“Pshhh.” Tana swiped at the front of his jacket, then pulled him down for one last kiss. “You can do anything, Chase Elkin.”

Chase was finally starting to believe it again, now that he’d found his footing at the lodge. He’d just been named the director of their new and expanded athletics program. They’d make ski instruction more comprehensive and now offered cross-training classes in the gym. He would oversee all the specialized programs, from beginner development to expert-level training. He couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect job, and that was it—that was the peak of his dreams. That, and having Tana there by his side.

“I heard from Chris Denton this morning.”

"You mean, Chef Chris? I still can’t believe you two are such good friends.”

After the holidays, Chris had contacted him to gauge his interest in investing in a studio that had created a series of video games geared toward the VR market. Hilariously, one of their first releases had been based on Chris’s cooking show where players would compete against him in head-to-head cooking competitions. The game had gone viral on TikTok with players vying to win a cooking lesson on the set of Cooking with Chris.

Now the studio was looking to add more games and Chris had floated the idea of basing one of the games on downhill skiing and they wanted to use Chase. Initially, he’d turned it down, but Chris had been relentless and Chase agreed to meet with the developers. Before he knew it, he was wearing a green suit covered in sensors while they mapped out a series of movements that would take real-life Chase and place him in virtual reality.

Chase wrapped an arm around Tana’s waist, and the two of them stood side-by-side, watching Lindsey come down the hill again. She’d come so far from when he first met her. Tana had been so scared that her daughter would be injured on the slopes, but now her face glowed with excitement on behalf of her daughter. “Beta users are having a blast with my game and they’re supposed to send over the latest version for us to try out. I’m hoping you’ll be impressed.”

“You know I’m already impressed with you.”

Chase’s heart pounded, though he’d been planning what he’d say next for days now. “Well, I hope you’ll be impressed because I’m working hard on another promotion, too.”

“What’s that?” Over at the chairlift, Lindsey climbed back on. Tana searched Chase’s eyes. “Are you looking to take over the Lodge? I don’t think Jonas would like that very much.”

“No. Actually, I’m going to put all my effort into getting promoted from athletic director to dad.” Tana froze for a dizzying instant. If she said no, Chase would sink into the snow and never resurface. “I’m pretty determined to do whatever it takes to get this promotion, if you’ll both have me.”

Tana burst out with a laugh that turned into a cry, and she pulled him down into another kiss. If this kept up, they were going to have to sneak away to their place. It wouldn’t do for them to jump each other in front of all the guests. “If that’s what you want,” Tana said fiercely, “then you keep doing what you’re doing. Because honestly, Chase, the hiring manager in charge ofthatposition is more than halfway convinced.”

“More than halfway?” he mused. “I don’t know if I’ll get the job. Unless—”

“All the way.” Tana kissed him one more time and pulled back, putting space between them and holding her arms up toward the sky as if surrendering to him. “I’m convinced. You’re hired.”

END OF THE BILLIONAIRE ATHLETE’S CHRISTMAS FLING

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