Chapter Eight
Leighann looked out the window of Enrique’s SUV as they pulled into the parking lot of Avalanche Crest Ski Resort. Every time she returned to the slopes, she felt at peace, no matter where in the world, but here… it was like returning home. Her heart warmed at the sight of the familiar ski lodge and the pattern of the slopes heading down the mountain. She may have moved to Florida and spent most of her time in the water now, but the ski slopes would always be special, a place she loved and felt she truly belonged.
Enrique pushed the button to turn off the vehicle’s engine, and she sighed in relief. What an awkward drive. It was a good thing it only took twenty minutes to get here from Parker’s Outfitters, or she may have screamed. Much to her dismay, he had insisted on taking his SUV instead of her brother’s borrowed Jeep. When she said they could ride separately and meet up, he disagreed; something about wasted time trying to find each other. She worried this sporty luxury ride wouldn’t be able to handle the rough, icy road up to the private resort, but to her surprise, it managed pretty well.
His car smelled like him, which struck her as odd, given it had to be a rental. The aroma wasn’t overwhelming; in fact, if she was honest with herself, it was quite alluring. It didn’t strike her as… wimpy with fruity, flowery, sweet notes, but it also wasn’t the rich, musky scent of nature and wood that exuded from her brother after a shower. So far, his pleasant scent was the only thing she appreciated about him. If she were looking for a man, which she was most definitely not… especially not this one, she could see herself getting used to burying her nose in his chest just to breathe in the fragrance that put her at ease and calmed her.
Giving herself a small shake, she opened the door and jumped down from the vehicle, circling the back and tapping the button for the automatic tailgate to lift. Enrique joined her just as she reached in to grab her gear bag, poles, and skis.
“Grab your stuff and follow me. If you’re lucky, you’ll have an hour to practice before the slope shuts down for the night.” She didn’t wait for him; she simply turned and marched resolutely towards the lodge.
She greeted several people who were surprised to see her as she made her way through the lodge to the rows of picnic tables covered in thick polyurethane finish, set before a wall of twenty-five-foot-tall windows .
Claiming an empty table closest to the glass double doors leading out to the slopes she dropped her bag on the tabletop and leaned her skis and poles against the table in a clever notch that had been cut into the wood for that very purpose.
“Grab a seat; let’s get geared up. Light is wasting, and the temperature is dropping.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Enrique responded sarcastically, saluting her like a soldier. Like I needed to be told what to do. I’m not a child. He silently ranted.
As soon as his gear was on, Leigh led the way to the bottom of the bunny slope, where he would practice. She had just instructed him to step into his skis when a woman rushed over and embraced her before launching into an interrogation on her visit to Colorado. Enrique, annoyed by the further delay, placed his gloved hands inside the pockets of his coat as he overlooked the skiers on the slopes. The sound of teens laughing hysterically caught his attention. When he spotted them, he saw a boy and a girl laughing as they tried to help their friend up from where they had just fallen and, in the process, slipped and were pulled down to the icy ground themselves.
He glanced back at Leigh, who had ended her conversation with a promise to catch up with the other woman and was lifting her hair up to tie it into a ponytail.
“Aren’t there other slopes around?”
Leighann looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Why this one?” he asked, lifting a hand from his pocket and waving it to indicate the large area in front of him. Light jazz music played in the background from the lodge’s outdoor speakers, and several groups of people huddled around firepits arranged on the outdoor patio area for folks who needed a rest but didn’t want to take off their gear and go inside. “It’s too crowded.”
“What do you mean, ‘Why this one?’ It’s the bunny slope; there is only one. It’s where every beginner learns how to ski before tackling the harder slopes that require the ski lift to get to. What? You want everyone to leave just because Enrique Rodriguez wants to learn how to ski?”
“Preferably,” he replied, and she scoffed, shaking her head. Leigh sucked in a large breath as realization lit up her brain and electrified her cells, rekindling the anger she had felt earlier with him.
“Oh my goodness! Is that what this was? You wasted the entire day, my entire day, just so you could make it to the slope at the end of the day when you thought everyone would be gone. You are a piece of work; you know that, Rodriguez?”
“Believe it or not, you are not the first person to say that to me.” Lifting his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug, he said, “I am who I am, and yet, people still can’t seem to get enough of me, especially women.”
“You are insufferable!” Pulling a pair of goggles out of the pocket of her ski coat and thrusting them forcibly into his chest so he had no choice but to take them, she huffed, “Put these on.” Leigh pulled her own goggles over her head but left them resting on the forehead of her helmet. “Besides, It’s not even that crowded. Most of the skiers have gone home for the day, and this resort, even though it’s smaller, is usually filled to capacity for the holidays. If it weren’t for my brother, you would have never gotten a chance at lift tickets here; they’re sold out months in advance. Try being all high and mighty in Aspen. They will laugh you right out of town; that is the playground for the 1%. Let’s see how you measure up to them, Mr. Bigshot.”
Enrique let out a noncommittal grunt in response and extended his hand to her with the goggles she had just given him. She had been inspecting him from head to toe and sighed when she saw the goggles. “Now what?”
“I’m not wearing these. I agreed to the helmet, even though I signed the dumb waiver saying you and Curtis weren’t responsible if I fell and cracked my head open. These, I will not compromise on.” When she refused to take them from him, a frown reversing the perfect bow of her lips, he pulled her hand out of her pocket and tucked the goggles back inside where she had pulled them from earlier. He reached into the breast pocket of his own coat and placed mirrored lensed aviator sunglasses on his face, throwing a charming smile at her.
“Mr. Rodgriguez, we use goggles for a reason…” She wasn’t able to finish her explanation because Enrique had started making his way to the top of the bunny slope, following the path he had observed the others taking.
Leigh caught up to him in a matter of seconds and watched him carefully as he made slow, awkward progress towards the top .
“Stop looking at me like that,” he grumbled. “I’m not some kid you have to babysit. We haven’t even done anything yet… I don’t need you stuck to me like Velcro.”
“I’m your instructor. I’m supposed to watch you to ensure your safety and monitor your progress. Like right now, you are doing a weird shuffling motion with your feet and are making very little progress for the effort that you are putting in. That was not demonstrated in the video. Instead, you should be making a skating motion with your feet. Thrust one up and out, then pick up the other ski and thrust it up and out like you are skating with really large feet. Use your poles to propel you and bend in the knees and hips a little. Watch.” Leigh moved ahead on the nearly flat path leading up to the top of the bunny hill and then turned. “Well, does that make sense?”
“Yes. I have it. Now move out the way.”
Enrique was much slower than Leigh had been, but over the next ten minutes, he saw how that skating motion was much better than his old man shuffle. His legs were not burning as much, either. Taking instruction from a woman might not be that bad, time would tell.