Chapter 4

4

T he next day on the mountain was hard for Noah. He couldn’t focus on anything without Jessa crossing his mind. He even saw streaks of a purple ski jacket and thought it was her on several occasions. Joke was on him though; several women seemed to wear the same purple jacket.

He sighed and made his last round down the slopes, clearing the runs for the day, half expecting her to come barreling into him again. Then he went into the staff ski locker area to store his skis, switching his ski boots out for snow boots. When the last of the staff loaded onto the gondola, he leaned back in his seat.

“What’s going on with you today, man? You seem distracted,” Jeff said.

“Oh, I don’t know. Just tired, I think.”

“Tomorrow is your day off?”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, and I’m looking forward to it.”

“You never enjoy time off,” Jeff said. “Ten bucks says you’ll be on the mountain by noon.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Nah. Not this time.”

Unless a purple coat wearing beauty makes her way up the mountain and needs a ski lesson.

He shook the thought away.

The gondola arrived at the base of the mountain near the resort and they got off.

“All clear,” Noah said. The person operating the gondola nodded and shut it off. “Have a good night, everyone.”

“See you tomorrow,” Jeff said, laughing as he walked away.

“No, you won’t!” Noah shouted back.

But instead of going to his truck, he veered toward the resort entrance, as if his feet had a mind of their own, and stepped inside. He looked around, not sure exactly where to look. He doubted she would hang out in the lobby.

Wintervale was a small town, but the resort was primarily tourists. Locals rarely hung out here unless they had family staying there.

Noah walked to the front desk and smiled at the staff before entering the back area where the office was located. His brother Jackson sat at the computer playing a video game.

“Hard at work, I see,” Noah said.

Jackson chuckled. “I’m bored and didn’t feel like going home yet.”

“Want to hit the bar with me?”

“Sure. The Range?” Jackson asked, mentioning the local bar in town. He exited his game, stood up, and pulled his jacket off the back of the chair, sliding his arms into it.

“No. I was thinking we’d get a drink here.”

Jackson paused. “Here?”

“Yeah. You know, the bar in the resort that we own.”

Jackson only blinked at him. “But we never drink here.”

Noah sighed. “Do you want to get a drink or not?”

Jackson set his jacket back on the chair. “Yeah, sure.”

They went over to the resort bar and found two barstools open at the counter. Dixie, the bartender, walked over and smiled at them.

“Hey, guys. What are you doing here?”

Noah smiled. “Hey Dixie. Just getting some drinks.”

“Here?”

Jackson chuckled. “That’s what I said.”

“Why is this such a hard thing to believe? We own this place. It’s profit in our pockets,” Noah said, exasperated.

Dixie raised an eyebrow and rested her elbows on the countertop before leaning across the bar. “Who is she?”

“Who is who?”

“The girl you’re hoping to see.”

Jackson turned to look at Noah with a raised eyebrow. “Is this true? Are we here for a girl?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Can’t I just want to get a drink at my place of business?”

Jackson snorted. “No. Because it’s not normal. Our stomping grounds are at the local bar with the locals. Not at the resort bar with the tourists.” He held his hand up just as Noah was about to speak. “Yes, we own the bar, but it doesn’t matter. We don’t hang out here.”

Dixie stared on with amusement on her face.

Noah rolled his eyes again. “Could I get the beer on tap?”

She nodded and looked at Jackson, who requested the same. They watched her fill the glasses and set them down in front of them.

Dixie raised an eyebrow. Noah sighed.

“I ran into her in the lobby, then at the New Year’s party, and again on the mountain yesterday.”

Jackson leaned back. “Wow. So there is a girl.” Then he looked around. “Is she here?”

The moment of truth. Noah looked around for the first time now since they had sat.

His heart spiked when he spied a woman with dark hair, but it immediately plummeted when she turned around and it wasn’t her. Several more quick scans of the bar proved she wasn’t there.

He turned back to the bar and took a long drink of his beer. “She isn’t here.”

“The night is young. She could still come in,” Dixie said before walking away to help another customer who had sat down.

Noah could feel Jackson’s eyes burning into him, but he tried his hardest to ignore it. When they continued to sit in silence, Noah eventually rolled his eyes and turned to face Jackson.

“What?”

Jackson shrugged. “I’m just surprised you’re interested in a tourist. That isn’t like you.”

But what he really meant was, I’m surprised you’re interested in a tourist after you had your heart stomped on by another several years ago.

The last time Noah had fallen hard for a woman was three years ago. A tourist had come through, and the love bug had bitten him. The woman could do no wrong in his eyes. He tried to make the long distance thing work, but in the end, neither of them was willing to give up the life they currently had to be near the other person. It lasted a year before they went their separate ways.

He didn’t harbor any bad feelings toward her. How could he when he wasn’t willing to move to her? But it hadn’t made it any easier, so he swore up and down he’d never fall for a tourist again.

Noah had only gone on dates since then with women in town. But the problem with a small town was there weren’t many people to date. Eventually the well ran dry until someone new moved there. Noah had been prepared to spend his life alone since he had never seen himself leaving the area.

And now he was doing exactly what he told himself he wouldn’t do. He was interested in a tourist.

But he was only trying to chat with her. That was all. He wasn’t trying to date her.

He sighed and drained his glass.

“I hardly had it stomped on. Besides, I’m just being friendly. Seeing how she’s doing after she had trouble getting off the mountain yesterday.”

Jackson huffed out a laugh. “Uh huh. Whatever you feel the need to tell yourself.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Says the man who has been pining after the same woman since they were children.”

Jackson had been in love with a woman he grew up with since they were kids. Everyone could see it but the two of them. He always denied it, but Noah knew the two of them would end up together at some point. It was only a matter of time before they got their heads out of her asses and saw it themselves.

“We’re just friends.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you feel the need to tell yourself.” Noah cracked a smile.

Then the air shifted, and Noah knew Jessa was in the bar without even looking. A warm feeling crept up his back, and he turned toward the entrance. Her eyes found his just as quickly, but darted away.

She turned toward her friend and said something before they both made their way over to a table at the back end of the room and sat down. Jessa’s hair was in loose waves down her back, which she was now raking her hands through to cover the side of her face.

Jackson bumped Noah. “Is that her?”

Noah nodded. “Yep.”

“Dude, she just avoided you like nobody’s business.”

“She sure did.”

Jackson laughed. “What happened up there?”

Noah smiled. “She can’t ski very well and ran into me. Took me out.”

Jackson chuckled. “Damn. How fast was she going?”

“Fast enough.”

“Are you going to go over there?”

Noah looked toward the women, who were focusing extremely hard on their menus. Megan glanced up and immediately looked down before hiding her head behind her menu to speak to Jessa.

“I’m not sure. Seems like they are trying hard to avoid me.”

“She’s probably embarrassed.”

This only made Noah smile more. “Probably.”

Jackson waved Dixie over and then motioned to Jessa and Megan when she approached. “Noah wants to buy them their first round.”

“What are you doing?” Noah asked.

He smirked. “Helping you.”