Mills and Boon Christmas Joy Collection. Liz Fielding

the guys who ran the toboggan course. Nate had been on one of the US teams at the winter games last year, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew Carter.

      “Hey, Lindsey,” Nate said, smirking. “Couldn’t believe it when this player said you were meeting him.”

      Lindsey rolled her eyes. Well, what could she say in her defense? Carter was a player. That was why she was struggling so hard to make sure that she didn’t attach too much importance to their one night together. Maybe if she was able to keep it to just that one night it might be okay. They could flirt and tease each other outside the bedroom and she could pretend that nothing had changed between them. Even though she knew that everything had.

      “You’re preaching to the choir, Nate. I know better than to get serious with a guy like Carter.”

      “I’m standing right here, you know,” Carter said.

      She winked at him. “I guess you are sort of charming and cute. That’s why all the girls like you.”

      “We can’t all be the Ice Queen,” he muttered under his breath. “So are you ready for this?”

      “Let me get you guys set up,” Nate said.

      He walked away, leaving them alone for a minute, and Lindsey noticed that Carter looked a bit ticked off.

      “You okay?”

      “Yes,” he said after a long silence. “I just don’t like you thinking of me as a player. That’s not what I am with you.”

      She smiled, because he sounded so sincere. “I don’t believe it’s something you get to choose. You are just naturally the kind of man that all women are drawn to.”

      “Even you?” he asked.

      Especially her. “Of course.”

       11

      CARTER CHECKED INTO one of the residences at the resort that was away from the main building but still close enough that he could drop in when he needed to. It had been five days since he’d seen Lindsey and gone tobogganing with her. He’d contemplated buying a condo in Lindsey’s development. It would have been an investment, and he did like having his own place to stay. But he had opted not to. He didn’t want to push her too much. He’d been flying back and forth between professional engagements, his home in California and Park City.

      He changed into some casual boarding clothes, grabbed his snowboard and headed out. He was dying to get on the slopes. He’d taken a few runs over the past few days. Not tricked-out ones as he did on the half-pipe but runs down the mountain. God, there was nothing like that feeling as he barreled down it.

      He was almost to the ski lifts when he stopped and thought about Lindsey again. As if she was ever far from his mind. He knew she loved skiing the way he did snowboarding. So he went to the rental shop, stowed his board and got himself a pair of skis. He’d tried skiing maybe twice and decided he’d liked the solidness of the board beneath his feet better.

      But he was going to have to sacrifice that to make sure Lindsey knew he was serious about helping her. He’d signed up for her afternoon lesson, which had already started, so he had to hurry to join the group.

      He saw the look on her face when he showed up.

      She forced a smile onto her face, saying, “Looks like we have a star in our midst. This is world champ Carter Shaw.”

      The kids all turned in his direction, and one boy, who was about eight, grinned up at him. “I wanted to snowboard, but my mom said no.”

      “Mom said you had to do the same thing as me and Kylie.” The girl who spoke looked about two years older than the boy and, if he had to guess, Carter would have said she was his sister.

      “Yeah, you’re right.”

      “I like snowboarding but I’m a novice at skiing,” he said to the kid. “We can learn together.”

      “Cool. I’m Jackson,” the boy replied.

      “Jackson, do you want to show Carter what we’ve learned so far?” Lindsey asked.

      “Sure.”

      Jackson was an enthusiastic teacher for someone who wasn’t sure he wanted to learn how to ski. For the duration of the class, he was Carter’s shadow. Not that he minded. He followed the kid and caught up with him.

      When they were all set to take their first runs down the very small slope they’d been practicing on, Carter noticed that Lindsey looked a little pale.

      Was she going to ski?

      Jackson went first and looked over at him, showing off a bit as he slid down the slope and fell on his backside. One of his sisters rushed over to help him up but he pushed her hands away.

      “I’m fine.”

      Carter used his poles and skied over to Jackson. “Dude, you did great.”

      “I didn’t. I fell.”

      “Everyone falls,” Lindsey said. “I crashed big time. The key is getting back up.”

      Carter looked at Lindsey, realizing again how brave she was. “It’s not easy to do, but I bet next time your run will be even better.”

      Jackson nodded. Another kid called for Lindsey and she turned away to talk to the student. “Not everyone gets it the first time,” he told the boy.

      “The other kids seem to,” Jackson grumbled.

      “I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Jackson,” Carter said, leaning down to look the kid straight in the eye. “I’m a slow learner. I have to practice something ten times more than other people before I finally master it.”

      “Really? But you’ve got gold medals and X-Energy girls hanging around you. Doesn’t seem like you have any problems,” Jackson said.

      “Dude, those girls get paid to hang around me,” Carter replied, realizing that the women might attract older men to the sport but were sending the wrong message to younger ones. “There are a lot of things in life, not just skiing or snowboarding, that are hard. Some of them are going to be a breeze for you and other things will be a breeze for your friends or your sister and will take you longer to master.”

      Carter put his poles in one hand and held his other out to Jackson. The kid reached up, and Carter pulled him to his feet. “I’m a little worried about my first run down the slope.”

      “We can go together,” Jackson offered.

      “Deal,” Carter said. He glanced over Jackson’s head and noticed Lindsey watching him. He winked at her.

      She shook her head at him, but mouthed her thanks. “You guys ready to take your run?”

      “We are,” Jackson said.

      Carter stayed close to Jackson as they got to the top of the slope. Lindsey skied up next to them and smiled, but he noticed the tension around her mouth. He wondered if just being on the skis was rattling her.

      “Give yourself a minute to look down the slope,” Lindsey said. “Remember where you fell?”

      “Yeah.”

      “This time in your mind picture yourself going straight past there,” she said.

      “I will. Ready, Carter?”

      “I am.”

      Together they took off down the slope, and it didn’t really take Carter any time to adjust to having two skis under him instead of his snowboard. Lindsey had given them the basics, but more than that, just knowing the kid and Lindsey were watching was enough to make him want to do a little better.

      The entire class was at the bottom of the small slope, and he looked back up at Lindsey.