“Ah, here we are.” Beside me, I could hear Ryan breathe a sigh of relief. “Intermediate skiing. You’ll meet on the—”

  “Intermediate?” I thought aloud. Crap. Didn’t see that one coming. Of course it made sense that Jenny would have signed up for the class best suited to her and Bradley, not Ryan and me.

  I stood up straight, trying my best to remain calm and collected. More than that, I had to sound like I belonged here.

  “There must be some mistake,” I said. “I believe we signed up for the beginner level.”

  “Beginner?”

  I could hear the judgment in his voice. Trying to play it cool, I said, “Yes. It’s my son’s first time skiing. I don’t want to leave him all alone his first time out.”

  “I see, Miss Miller,” the concierge said. “I’m terribly sorry about the mix-up. I can switch you over to the beginners’ class.”

  “That would be great.”

  He smiled, but I couldn’t quite tell if it was genuine or not. “You’re in luck. We have three spots left in the class starting in ten minutes.” He pointed across the lobby. “Your group will meet over by the staircase, and we’ll have you fitted for all the proper gear.”

  I thanked the man for his help, grateful that, yet again, I had avoided the need to show identification. It wasn’t until Ryan stopped in his tracks on the way over to the steps that I realized the skewed demographics of our class. I had to be the only one older than eleven or twelve years old. In a sea of children, I looked more out of place than ever.

  “Are you really going to ski with us?” Ryan asked.

  I shrugged. “I guess I don’t have a choice. Will that embarrass you too much?”

  “Probably.” He offered up a smirk to let me know he was kidding—or at least I hoped so. “But that’s okay. Nobody here knows me.”

  That was true. Why couldn’t I think like a ten-year-old? They always made everything seem so simple. Sure, it was going to be mildly humiliating to be the oldest person in the beginners’ ski class by a good twenty-five years, but Ryan was right. Nobody here knew us; what did it matter if a bunch of strangers saw me fall on my butt in the snow?

  Our instructor introduced himself as Remy and brought us over to get our ski equipment, just as the concierge had told us he would. He couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty, still in that awkward, gawky teenager phase, but he was pleasant enough. He didn’t even bat an eye when I explained that no, I wasn’t just here to supervise Ryan. I was here to take the class.

  Though I’d never cared one way or the other about skiing, I had definitely underestimated how difficult it was. I’d figured that I’d need maybe five or ten minutes of Remy showing me the ropes, then I’d be ready to go off on my own. That couldn’t have been further from reality. It took me five or ten minutes just to be able to stand on my skis without falling over.

  “Okay, let’s start with posture,” Remy said.

  It had been a long time since I’d taken any kind of formal class, so it was odd to be back in that student mindset. I tried my best to push any reservations from my mind and follow the instructions just as the kids around me were doing.

  As Remy walked from one student to another, ensuring that we knew how to properly grip the poles, the girls around me whispered to one another about their next family vacation and fancy prep school classes. Though it probably should have, it hadn’t occurred to me that these were the children of the rich people that treated this resort like it was no big deal. Most of these kids would never have to worry about money a day in their lives.

  Luckily, Ryan was his typical self, sweet and talkative, and none of the others seemed to pick up on the fact that he was from a completely different socioeconomic background. More than that, I was glad that he didn’t seem to notice. He was just happy to be here.

  Within a half hour, Ryan was skiing down the smallest slope with ease. I, on the other hand, was struggling a lot with balance. Skiing had sounded so simple the way Remy had described it, and the way Ryan demonstrated it, but it just wasn’t clicking in my head. My lack of coordination was beginning to frustrate me more and more.

  “Ryan, Penelope, Jessie and Olivia, why don’t you head over that way to the intermediate class?” Remy said, pointing at a group a few hundred feet away.

  Ryan looked over at me, and, knowing him, he was feeling bad about leaving me behind. I nodded my head toward the others who were walking over.

  “Go have fun! I’ll catch up with you later.”

  I couldn’t believe it. My son had surpassed me.

  He ran off with the three others who’d taken more quickly to skiing, and I was here with five pre-teens I didn’t know. I had to stick it out, for Ryan. I wanted to be the kind of mom he could be proud of, the mom he wouldn’t be embarrassed about taking skiing with him if he wanted to hit the slopes again tomorrow.

  I went through the motions as I was taught them, but it didn’t seem to stick. I couldn’t even stay on my skis for an extended period of time without falling, let alone ski down the hill. I hadn’t expected to be skiing down the highest, steepest slope within an hour, but I thought I’d at least be able to pass as someone who’d been skiing once or twice before.

  The resort’s on-site spa was starting to sound like a much better way of spending my day than skiing poorly. I’d have taken any of the luxury treatments on offer over falling into the snow over and over again.

  “Tia, your turn,” Remy said. “Remember, keep your knees bent.”

  I focused on pushing myself forward, keeping my legs parallel as he’d taught me. I started down the beginners’ slope, feeling exhilarated for a change with the wind brushing against me. Okay, this wasn’t so bad.

  Then one of the entitled children from my group took a sharp diagonal and cut me off, leaving me no choice but to veer left. Of course, I hadn’t even come close to mastering my ability to stop while on skis, so I landed flat on my back.

  Remy gave me a thumbs-up anyway. “That’s okay! Take a break, and we’ll get right back to it.”

  This was it. I was done. The only things standing between me and the spa were my layers of ski clothes and a walk over to Ryan to let him know where I’d be.

  “You know, you could always try a private lesson.”

  The voice behind me caught me off guard, sending me tumbling over on my skis. I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t quite place it. I brushed my hair out of my face and looked up to see Maxim standing over me, reaching a hand out to help me up.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, though I realized how dumb the question sounded as soon as it left my mouth. He was staying at the resort. I shouldn’t have been so surprised that he was here, decked out in a clearly expensive—and probably custom—ski outfit.

  “I thought I’d go for a leisurely ski,” he said, extending his arm further until I took his hand and was back upright.

  “Thanks. And there’s nothing leisurely about skiing.”

  “Not a fan, huh?”

  I raised my shoulders. “I just can’t seem to get the hang of it.”

  “I can teach you, if you’d like?” I couldn’t read his expression to tell whether he was seriously interested in helping me learn to ski or simply spouting an empty offer.

  “That’s okay,” I said. Like the previous night, a part of me wished that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, that he’d prove that he wanted to spend some time with me. I didn’t want to feel like a burden.

  Unlike the previous night, Maxim shook his head and said, “Come on. I insist. I promise I’m a good teacher.”

  I couldn’t say no to that. Not only could I use the extra help, but I could certainly use a second chance with the man I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

  I looked down the hill to Ryan, who was completely absorbed in his own skiing. As nice as the spa sounded, ski lessons with Maxim didn’t sound half bad either, once I got past the part of telling him how horrible of a skier I was. I wanted him to think I was graceful and coordinated. If I let him teach me, I’d have a chance to see where things stood, but I’d also have to open up to him and let him see my imperfect self.

  Chapter 7

  Maxim

  “Which one is your son?” I asked, hoping to keep things light with Tia after the somewhat abrupt ending of our date the night before. Was that what it was? We hadn’t exactly planned on having dinner together, but we were clearly attracted to one another, and we’d had a nice conversation. I supposed that counted as a date. Though I’d enjoyed myself and Tia seemed to do the same, she’d also seemed distracted. I couldn’t be sure whether her exit from dinner had been an indicator of her lack of interest, or if she’d really needed to pick up her son. I supposed I might never know, but this was a chance to find out.

  I was still surprised that Tia had taken me up on my offer to teach her to ski, but pleasantly so. I waited for an answer to my question. Instead, she stood there, frozen.

  “What? Too soon to meet the kids?” I laughed in case she missed that I was making a joke.

  “I, umm…”

  I was usually pretty self-assured, but Tia made me doubt everything I thought I knew. Perhaps I’d misread the whole situation, that she wasn’t into me and I was making a fool out of myself, standing here on the bunny slope and trying to make conversation.

  “Tia, if you’re not interested in spending time with me, all you have to do is say the word. I don’t want to keep bothering you if that’s the case.”

  “That’s not it,” she said, looking into my eyes for the first time since I’d approached her. “I’ve just, well, you can’t laugh when I tell you.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “I’ve, um, never skied before. And Ryan caught on faster than I did, so he dumped me for the intermediate group.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not laughing at you, it was just the way you said it.” Admittedly, I was surprised that anyone at a resort such as this had never been skiing, but it seemed that Tia was full of surprises. “My offer still stands. How would you like your own private lesson?”

  Tia looked up to me with that dazzling smile of hers. “I’d love that.”

  “Come with me.”

  As I walked with Tia over to the ski lift, we made small talk. It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering conversation, but I wanted to get back to where we were last night, that warmth, that comfort level we’d built up to. I wasn’t sure what had gone wrong, but I was determined not to let it happen again.

  “You know, my son actually met your daughter at the kids’ club last night,” Tia said.

  “Is that so?”

  “Apparently, they watched a movie together and exchanged French fries and grilled cheese.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Lucie got the grilled cheese. She’s a grilled cheese monster.”

  Tia threw her head back and laughed like I’d just shared the funniest joke she’d ever heard. It was refreshing. I was completely and utterly captivated by her. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but there was just something intriguing about her. She was different from the snobby, stuck-up women I was used to interacting with.

  “Ryan had a stomachache last night from all those French fries.”

  “At least you know what your son had for dinner,” I said. “Lucie hardly told me anything when I picked her up last night.”

  “I’m sure she was just tired,” Tia assured me. “I hear those kids’ clubs can get pretty crazy.”

  Now I was the one doing the laughing. It amazed me how quickly we’d gotten back into the rhythm of last night. I just hoped I could keep it up as I taught Tia how to ski. I’d never exactly been trained to teach skiing, so I hoped my years of experience would suffice.

  I didn’t know all of the proper terminology, but I decided my best bet was to just show Tia what worked for me. I was in the middle of showing her how to position her feet when Lucie approached.

  “Is everything all right, sweetheart?” I asked.

  “Everything’s fine, Daddy,” she said. “I’ve only fallen once so far today.”

  “That’s great!”

  Lucie tilted her head to get a clear view of Tia, clearly hinting at an introduction.

  “Lucie, this is my friend Tia,” I said.

  “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she replied.

  I’d never heard Lucie talk so formally, but I figured it was something she had learned in one of her etiquette classes at school.

  “You’re really pretty,” Lucie added.

  Tia’s cheeks turned bright red, and I was sure I felt just as uncomfortable as she did. “Oh, thank you,” she said. “I love your boots.”

  I’d gotten Lucie bright pink, shimmery ski boots last year for her birthday, and I knew the compliment meant a lot to her. She thanked Tia, gave me a quick hug, and rushed back to play with the other kids.

  “She’s adorable,” Tia gushed.

  “I think so, too,” I said. “But I’ve been told I’m a bit biased.”

  Tia pointed down to where Lucie had run off to. “See the boy in the blue jacket?”

  “I do.”

  “That’s my Ryan,” Tia said.

  I chuckled. “Wow.”

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You were right. He is a much better skier than you.”

  Tia playfully elbowed me in the ribs, and I tried to get us back on track with our lesson.

  After learning the hard way that she didn’t know how to stop while on skis, we decided to backtrack and start as if she had just stepped onto the snow for the first time that very minute. I wasn’t sure what her instructor—the actual, certified instructor—had taught her, but I figured I couldn’t possibly make her any worse of a skier.

  I demonstrated different positions, and Tia watched intently. She seemed as though she genuinely wanted to learn, and I could tell it was mostly due to her son. Though I hadn’t known her long, I knew enough to be sure she was a great mother, one who wanted to enjoy the things her son enjoyed.

  When it came time to perfect Tia’s stance, I tried to remain cool and collected as I held my hands on each side of Tia’s waist. I wondered what she was thinking in that moment, but, from behind, I couldn’t see her facial expressions. The warmth of our bodies touching formed an unexplainable connection.

  I hesitated ever so slightly when letting go of her body, but the surge of pride I felt when she successfully made it to the bottom of the slope made up for that.

  Each time we took the lift back up the mountain, we spent the entire duration of the ride talking. It was like second nature, and any awkwardness I’d anticipated had purely been a figment of my imagination. We got along swimmingly.

  The deeper in discussion we got, the more I was able to convince myself that our date the previous night had not ended as badly as I’d remembered. Even if it had, that didn’t matter now. We were here, enjoying each other’s company.

  It turned out that Tia and I had very similar taste—in music, in food, in movies. It had been a long time since I’d met a woman who enjoyed scary movies, let alone one who loved them as much as I did and understood the references I made to them.

  “I didn’t know billionaire bankers had time to watch movies,” Tia said.

  “Well, this one does,” I said. “At least the scary ones.”

  Tia’s laughter mixed with the cold air made for a perfect atmosphere. We were slowly making progress, both with Tia’s skiing abilities and in breaking down the boundaries between us.

  There was something about Tia. I wanted to know more about her—a challenge since she kept things close to the vest. Sure, she answered my questions and engaged with me, but I wanted to delve deeper than scary movies and Chinese food.

  Right when I thought Tia might actually open up to me, a pretty, twenty-something brunette came over to us.

  “Hi, Maxim,” she said, her voice filled with flirtation.

  Though I didn’t recognize the woman, I didn’t want to be rude, so I said a quick hello back to her. Unfortunately, as the face of my company, I had to remain cordial at all times. While, most of the time, that was easy, right now I wanted nothing more than to tell this stranger to leave me alone so that she didn’t scare Tia off.

  The woman didn’t take the hint. “You’re looking good out there on the slopes.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “We’re actually sort of in the middle of something right now, so I really should be going.”

  Clearly annoyed, the woman let out a noticeable huff and walked back toward the group of friends who were waiting for her a few meters away. I glanced over at Tia, who appeared to be unnerved by the interruption.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Who was that?” Tia asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  Tia finally met my gaze. “What?” Evidently, she didn’t believe me, because she followed up with, “If that’s an ex-girlfriend or something, you can tell me. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Honest,” I said. “I’ve never seen that woman before in my life. I’m not a household name or anything, but I get recognized from time to time. Last year and the year before, I made one of those “40 under 40” lists—you know, the most enticing singles in Switzerland, and that sparked some interest in me.”

  “Hmm.” Tia squinted her eyes. “And what about this year?”

  “What?”

  “Didn’t make the cut this year?” she asked. “They found forty singles more attractive and marketable than you?”

  I loved how easily we were able to get back into our little bantering. I found it, along with Tia’s quirky sense of humor, incredibly attractive. “Wasn’t eligible anymore. I turned forty last month.”

  Tia giggled. “Bummer.”

  What had been an unwelcome interruption by someone who clearly wanted her five seconds of fame had turned into a conversation point. I told Tia about some of the crazy encounters I had, making sure to highlight that, as a CEO of a bank and not some actor or musician, it was especially odd that I’d had any of these interactions.

 

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