Secrets of a Chalet Girl:. Lorraine Wilson

was going to be a long night.

      She tried to keep the smile in place as she pulled a card out of the bag. Sophie and Tash cheered.

       ‘Kiss the sexiest man in the room.’ Fantastic! Not much better than having to flash a crowd.

      Flora bit her lip as the girls grabbed the card before she could toss it back in the bag and pick again. Why couldn’t she have picked a drinking challenge involving cocktails? Now that was a Dare she wouldn’t mind.

      She caught Holly’s eye, trying to smile but her cheeks ached with the effort. She didn’t want to be a buzzkill. Pippa looked shattered and had made it clear she hated leaving baby Lexie in Steve and Scott’s hands for the evening but she was making an effort. As for the others, well, you couldn’t share a room with three other girls and not realise fitting in wasn’t just preferable, it was a matter of survival.

      “I’ll need another Mojito if I’m going to do it,” she squeezed her eyes shut.

       You can do this Flora, pretend you’re in a film. Act the part. You came to Verbier to have fun so how about you fricking well get on with it?

      The Mojitos and Cosmopolitans consumed so far this evening certainly helped.

       I was supposed to get married tomorrow.

       I need another cocktail.

      “So, who is the sexiest man in the room?” Sophie spoke too loudly, swivelling round on her bar stool and almost falling off. Holly laughed, putting an arm behind Sophie’s back to steady her.

      The stocky barman winked at them as he served their drinks but Flora’s mind flickered instantly to the gorgeous looking man still glued to his BlackBerry. Apart from the whole phone addiction thing, something about him initiated warm stirrings in parts she’d thought had iced over permanently.

      She hadn’t been able to properly put him out of her mind since they’d arrived. He’d been on his own, leaning nonchalantly against the bar, focused on his phone and looking very scrumptious. When he sensed her checking him out, he’d looked up and given her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. His eyes were a rich dark blue and they crinkled at the corner when he smiled. It was then she’d felt that…not-at-all-unpleasant stirring thing…

      Instead of maintaining eye contact he’d gone straight back to his BlackBerry, so maybe he hadn’t felt what she had if his phone was a bigger draw than she was in her sexiest dress.

      So, kissing that guy had its attractions. But walking up to him and kissing him without any prelude? She needed to be a hell of a lot drunker than she was.

       Although, I could always just kiss him on the cheek like I’m greeting him and then claim mistaken identity.

      As excuses went it was so lame it needed a walking stick. But in the absence of any other plan it was going to have to do.

      “I think she already has someone in mind,” Sophie slurred. “What fun.”

      Flora guessed she’d seen the involuntary flutter of her eyes towards the end of the bar and cursed herself for being so easy to read.

       People who know you this well should be banned. Or at least banned from giving you stupid Dares.

      This was what came from sharing a small dorm room. You all got to know each other way too well…

      “How old are we?” Flora rolled her eyes, trying to look dignified but fearing she resembled a nervous horse.

      “It might be fun,” Holly said, smiling at her. “You might even enjoy it. And it’s better than having to take your bra off in public, trust me!”

      Tash narrowed her eyes at Flora. “You must make it a proper snog. No pecks on the cheek allowed. If you fluff it we’ll make you do the Wonderbar Dare instead.”

      Flora shuddered; she knew Tash meant business.

       Mental note to self - don’t let Tash anywhere near my hen party preparations.

      Not that she planned on getting married.

      Ever.

      Oh sod it. She was delaying the inevitable. It was only a kiss for goodness sake. Time to woman up. She took a quick sip of the cocktail that’d appeared in front of her – Sex on the Beach instead of the Mojito she’d asked for. Maybe it was an omen. Not that there were many beaches around here, except if you counted the lake shore beaches.

       Stop faffing about, Flora.

      “Okay, I’m doing it,” Flora announced, and the girls whooped in unison as she clambered carefully off her bar stool. Falling flat on her face and flashing her knickers would not be a good look.

      To cheers of “Go Flora,” she made her way through the crowd to the end of the bar, clutching the velvet strap of the beaded evening bag she’d designed herself tightly, more for something to hold onto than anything else. Inexplicably she couldn’t remember what to do with her hands when she walked.

      She had a prickling sixth sense feeling she was being watched. Oh yes, that would be because she was being watched.

       Nice evening Holly. I’m here to celebrate you getting married by making a complete tit of myself. Nice.

      Her mouth felt dry and her brain woolly as her target came into view. He was still texting on his phone.

       A quick in and out, before he knows what’s hit him. Then a very swift exit from the bar…

      Before she could move he looked up and they both stared, a flash of connection passing between them. It felt like the world around her was melting away, leaving only her and BlackBerry guy in the bar.

      He smiled again, a devastating smile. She froze, fear and adrenalin pulsing through her, competing for control.

       Go now. Quick. It’s only a kiss!

      Only a kiss? Huh. And he was only the sexiest man in the room. And the girls were all watching her.

      So, no pressure then.

      Someone shrieked behind her and Flora looked back to see Sophie, Amelia and Tash falling about laughing, clutching each other like schoolgirls. They would pay for this. Pippa and Holly were also smiling but in a ‘sorry it’s you but glad it’s not us’ way.

      They clearly weren’t sympathetic enough to save her.

      Was this what all bar hook-ups were like? Perhaps there was some kind of special code she should know about? Who knew, one raised eyebrow and you might accidentally agree to re-enact ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’!

       You’re acting remember, just do it!

      She closed the gap between them, hands trembling as she leant forward towards him, rising up on tiptoe so she could whisper in his ear. She desperately hoped he spoke English. The vast majority of Verbier residents did, to her surprise. Her French wasn’t up to more than ordering food or asking where the loos were. It hadn’t been an issue up until now given Scott only marketed Chalet Repos in the UK.

      The scent of him momentarily distracted her; it was citrusy, clean and masculine.

       Concentrate Flora!

      “I’m really sorry but I’m afraid I have to kiss you,” she whispered in his ear, aware of how close their bodies were. “I promise you I’ll go away immediately afterwards.”

      Then she sent her inhibitions flying and went for it, meaning to kiss his cheek and sod what Tash said but instead BlackBerry man turned his head and kissed her fully on the lips. Before she could register the feel of his lips on hers he was tasting her and teasing her and her lips responded to him, obediently, unthinkingly… it felt like she was falling down into another world – Flora in Wonderland.

      Christ,