The Billionaire Athlete’s Christmas Fling - Leslie North Page 0,6

next to her during the descent. They loved her. What had he been thinking, jumping on her with those tweaks about timing during the lessons? She had skills. She had rapport. And clearly, she made people feel supported.

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.

Maybe things would be different at the resort with someone like Tana. As it stood, he couldn’t ski—and watching the people come down the mountains hurt deep inside. Burning jealousy didn’t help, either.

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 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 national 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. “But you should know I didn’t come down here with more tips. I came to see if I could buy you a hot tea.” It would only be the 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 house, 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, the Elk Lodge resort had grown considerably since then. They offered numerous private chateaus 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 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