CHAPTER 20

Ben

Not long after I agreed to this absurd plan, Olivia and I found an open spot with a small slope. I was trying to ignore how sexy she looked in her borrowed ski gear. I helped her get into her boots and strap on her helmet. When she was ready, Mark would set her up with the action camera on her helmet, but I figured we'd learn without it.

It was a tiny slope, really. Just a bunny slope. Olivia seemed fit enough to handle this challenge.

"Alright, so what you'll need to do first is get your stance right," I said, trying to model how she should set herself. But she just looked at me with an utterly confused expression.

"Stance?" she asked, baffled. "And have you done this before?"

She looked sheepish, like maybe she meant to keep that part inside her head. I bit back a chuckle.

"What? Skiing or teaching someone how to ski?"

"The latter."

I couldn't help the grin that tipped the corners of my lips.

"Maybe. Don't worry about it."

Her face faltered a bit, and I had to fight back a laugh again. She just looked so adorably bewildered right now. Olivia was so far out of her element and, quite frankly, I was a little impressed. I'd hold final judgment when I saw the final product of this whole thing, but she was willing to get out of her comfort zone, and that was a brave start.

"Nothing," she muttered, adjusting her goggles. "I just thought I would be your first."

"This definitely isn't my first time, sorry." I wasn't sure where the teasing tone came from. Something about the sunshine and fresh air was making me feel a little more playful. It was Olivia, too. Somehow she brought out two completely different sides of me—ruthless and critical, and playful and teasing.

"Oh," she said, her voice unreadable. Or was that a hint of jealousy? She stared straight at me, and I wished I could see her eyes. "Tell me about her." It sounded like a dare.

She tried gliding in place and almost fell on her ass. I showed her how to do it.

"I could tell you about him." The shock on her face was clear, and I barked out a laugh. "It was Eric. He sucked, and I laughed at him for hours."

Olivia cracked up laughing.

"I'm just imagining Eric falling flat on his face. I mean, don't tell him I said that. But the thought is hilarious."

She slid her goggles up and swiped under her eyes. The golden flecks in them burned brightly in the mountain air. I held her gaze for a long moment, before she moved the goggles back down and cleared her throat.

"Alright, enough of that. Tell me about that stance thing."

We took about half an hour trying to get the basics down. She wasn't catching on as fast as I thought she would, but I was trying to be patient.

"I'm slipping! I'm slipping!" she cried as she tried to get up a small slope straight on.

"Just have to sidestep little by little up the—Olivia!" I saw her sliding down the hill backward and got a little worried.

We only had about an hour before Olivia was scheduled to interview Henrik, so we had to get her skiing pretty quickly.

I waited patiently as she finally made her way up to the top.

"I don't get it. I'm doing what you said." Her entire demeanor was pure frustration. "Shins forward, hands out, shoulders in front of my hips." She repeated everything I had told her and was gripping her poles tightly.

"And if I want to stop, I have to make a triangle shape with my legs and skis."

A sigh escaped my lips and her face shot at mine.

"That was the basics of it, like I told you thirty minutes ago." I couldn't fight the irritation in my voice.

She matched my tone

"Hey, I'm doing my best here."

"No. You're letting your fear get the best of you." I snapped. I had noticed how much she held back when we first started. "You're even holding the poles like your life depended on them."

"Because Iamscared, Ben. This is literally my first time trying to ski." She forced her voice to be calm. I could see the effort, and I appreciated avoiding a screaming match at the ski resort.

I tried to remind myself that this was her first time trying and since it was summer, the snow wasn't slippery, it was more sticky. On top of that, there were really only a few inches.

"Hey! Not in the face, Scott," Mark yelled nearby. That was probably the most excited I had ever seen him. We turned and saw the crew members happily playing in the snow.

"See, look at that. They're all having fun in the snow because we're at a ski resort. It seems like out of all the people in this place, we're the only ones not having fun."

I let out a long sigh and frowned at her words. It was getting a little tiring, but weren't we having at least a little fun?

"Let's try gliding down again, Olivia," I said, keeping my voice low. I tried to keep all of my frustration out of my tone. But I felt…well, I wasn't sure how I felt.

She nodded and took off. I was surprised to see she successfully glided down the small slope and stop without any issues.

"I…did it," she said, sounding a little unsure. She looked at me expectantly.

"Great. You can do the report now," I said, unclipping my skis. "Send over a draft once you're done."

Before I could analyze the strange feelings swirling in my chest, I left and headed back to my cabin without turning back toward Olivia.