“I saved the best one for last,” I said.

  “Ooh. Tell me!”

  “First you have to ski down this hill using proper form.”

  Tia crossed her arms. “Seriously?”

  “I’m trying to help you.” I laughed. “If bribery is what it takes, so be it.”

  My storytelling abilities must have been stellar, because Tia moved her body with intense precision, taking her time to focus on each move. Before I knew it, she was on her way down the hill, using her poles correctly for only the third or fourth time all day. I followed closely behind, craving her presence.

  “I did it!” Tia exclaimed once I met her at the bottom.

  She jumped into my arms, and I returned the excitement with some weird combination of a hug and a pat on the back. Thankfully, she didn’t notice my awkward reciprocation, instead focused on one thing.

  “Now tell me about that crazy encounter of yours,” she said.

  “Let me start with three words: multi-generational stalker,” I said.

  “I’m hooked! Are you sure that isn’t the tagline for a new horror movie or something?”

  We stopped at the back of the line for the ski lift.

  “Not quite. I wish it were, though. Most of the time I meet someone who recognizes me, they’re extremely pleasant. Maybe they’ll ask for a picture, but that’s it. Honestly, if I had known that I’d be in the public eye when my father handed the company over to me, I’m not sure I would’ve accepted.”

  “You’re just saying that,” Tia said.

  “No, really,” I said. “I enjoy my work, but the idea that I’m treated as someone with some level of importance just because I make a good living is slightly ridiculous to me. Luckily, the recognition isn’t a day-to-day thing, except maybe for places like this resort, since most of these people are from my circle.”

  Tia grinned. “And this multi-generational stalker.”

  “I can’t forget her.” I helped Tia into her spot on the ski lift and took the seat beside her. “Basically, it started back when my dad was the head of the company, and I was still in school. It wasn’t a romantic kind of stalker, or a threatening person, but rather someone who wanted a job from my father. At least that was what they suspected. She’d write him letters asking to be his personal assistant.”

  “That doesn’t sound that creepy—” Tia began.

  “Every week. For nearly three years.”

  “Oh.”

  “One day, the letters just stopped,” I explained. “We still didn’t know who’d sent them, but we figured she’d simply gotten tired of writing, or moved away, or even died. Shortly after my father retired and I took over, however, the letters started again. It was the same thing. All this woman wanted was to be my personal assistant. She was never threatening, or even mean. It was just really bizarre.”

  “Did you get the police involved?” Tia asked.

  “We made them aware of the situation, but since the woman hadn’t actually done anything wrong, they couldn’t really do anything.”

  “So, that’s it?”

  “No. I’m far too much of a worrier, even when there isn’t much to worry about,” I said. “I hired a private investigator to figure out who was writing the letters, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind.”

  “And did they find her?”

  I nodded. “Yup.”

  That answer made Tia sit up straight in her seat. “And who was she? What was she?”

  “She was an ordinary woman looking for a job.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” I chuckled, because I knew how ridiculous this situation sounded. “Apparently, my father and I weren’t the only ones she had written to. She’d written to a bunch of other company CEOs and presidents. And the time gap when she didn’t write? She was working as a secretary at some office job.”

  “Wow. If she didn’t actually stalk you, why do you call her a multi-generational stalker?”

  “I suppose it just sounds more interesting than calling her a peculiar, multi-generational letter writer looking for work.”

  “Hmm.”

  I couldn’t tell if Tia was amused by the story or disappointed.

  “I guess maybe that wasn’t actually that great of a story.”

  “No, I enjoyed it,” Tia assured me. “It just wasn’t the ending I expected. Do you know what happened to her?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” I said. “We put her through training, and now she’s a teller at one of our banks.”

  “Now that was an exciting ending! And a really sweet thing to do.”

  I brushed off Tia’s compliment by telling her I did what any good CEO would do, and she responded by saying that, while that may have been true, I was the only CEO out of the fifteen or twenty the woman had written to offer a helping hand.

  “But, really, have you had any actual crazy public encounters?”

  Laughing, I said, “Tia, I’m the CEO of a bank, not the front man of a rock band.”

  We made our way back over to the spot at the top of the hill that had become ours.

  “So, what other stories can you bribe me with to help me learn how to ski?” Tia asked with a smile.

  I thought for a moment. “Make it down the hill with your knees bent and arms relaxed, and maybe I’ll tell you about the time I saved a prince from a snowdrift.”

  Chapter 8

  Tia

  I was never going to be a world champion, but I was satisfied to finally be at a point in the day where my skiing abilities were no longer completely embarrassing.

  I was glad Maxim hadn’t been discouraged by my abrupt exit from dinner, because things were going surprisingly well today. As hard as it was to admit to myself, I’d completely misjudged him. From the moment I’d first laid eyes on him in the hotel lobby, I’d figured him for an entitled, impatient, selfish businessman. Maybe it was something in the way he’d carried himself, or how the resort staff practically fell at his feet. Nonetheless, my first impression of him had proven to be far from the truth.

  Maxim had been incredibly patient with me, though I hadn’t given him much of a reason to be. Sure, he’d been surprised that I had never gone skiing, but that hadn’t deterred him. It had been a long time since a man had treated me with such consideration. Every ten minutes or so, he’d stop to ask how I was feeling and make sure I was warm enough. He truly was the epitome of a perfect gentleman, and, the sweeter he acted, the guiltier I felt for having judged him in the first place.

  Beyond his manners, he was genuinely interesting. I’d expected to have nothing in common, but we’d managed to find common ground each time our chatting led to another topic. Though I’d already figured out from having dinner with Maxim that he was incredibly interesting, I enjoyed hearing more stories about his travels and adventures.

  It had only taken an hour of Maxim showing me the basics for me to be able to get down the smallest slope without falling over. It was progress, however small, and I was grateful to be away from the class of kids one-third my age. Ryan, on the other hand, was a natural. He had taken to skiing so quickly that, if I hadn’t spent every day with him for pretty much his entire life, I would’ve been convinced that someone had secretly been taking him skiing.

  He and Lucie were blasting down the slopes like they’d been skiing together for years. It warmed my heart to see how quickly they’d taken to one another. It was almost as if it was fate’s way of bringing Maxim and me even closer.

  “The kids seem to be hitting it off,” I said to Maxim on the ski lift back to the top of the mountain. Shivers ran up and down my spine, partially due to the cold weather, and also due to my close proximity to this gorgeous man. I couldn’t have asked for a better skiing teacher.

  “That they do,” he said. “I’m glad. Ryan’s taking good care of my Lucie, which gives us time to get to know one another better.” It was hard not to swoon over him. It was like he always knew just what to say. “So you and Ryan are close, huh?”

  I nodded my head. “He’s my whole world. Everything I do, I do for Ryan.”

  “You really are as sweet as you seem.”

  I giggled nervously. “Not always. And you seem to be pretty smitten with Lucie, as well.”

  “Oh, I adore her,” Maxim said. “Even when she acts like a teenager and wants to wear makeup and stay up too late.”

  “Ah, to be young again.”

  Maxim’s facial expression changed. In a matter of seconds, he’d gone from smiling to furrowing his brow.

  “Honestly, I don’t get to spend as much time with Lucie as I should,” he admitted.

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” I said, though I’d be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t happy that he was opening up to me.

  “It is. I’m so busy with work that I struggle to make quality time for the two of us.” He paused. “That’s what this trip is supposed to be.”

  “Maxim, if you want to spend time with Lucie, I—”

  Maxim held up his hand. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I’m having a great time with you, and I can tell she’s having fun with Ryan. It’s about more than this weekend. She spends three-quarters of her year at a boarding school, and I suppose sometimes I just regret choosing to send her to a school halfway across the country.”

  I hesitated, trying to figure out if he wanted advice or was simply venting to me. “At the risk of overstepping, can I ask why you can’t simply enroll her in a day school near your home?”

  “You’re not overstepping,” Maxim said, and I could tell that he meant it. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to about all these feelings I’ve been bottling up. I’d love to keep Lucie home with me, but I’m afraid she’d just end up seeing more of her nannies than she would of me. I’m away more often than I’m home.”

  “I get it,” I said. “It’s tough being a single parent. I feel the same way you do, like I want to do what’s best for my family, but it’s hard to accept that sometimes means working nontraditional hours and missing out on other things.”

  “I guess you don’t have much flexibility either then?”

  Suddenly remembering that I was supposed to be some fancy PR executive, I bit my tongue and opted not to respond. I’d been talking about myself in terms of my taxi job, but, luckily, Maxim hadn’t seemed to notice. I’d been so caught up in having a real conversation with him, digging beneath the surface, that I’d forgotten that I was playing a role. In this moment, he just seemed so normal, not like someone who owned a banking empire.

  Maxim continued, “Isn’t it funny? We work our way up the ranks for these jobs, and it seems like we should have the authority to create any schedule we’d like, yet here we are, at a ski resort, desperate to spend some quality time with our children.”

  “Yeah,” I whispered.

  I wanted to come clean, to tell him that I wasn’t a PR executive but a struggling night-shift taxi driver. After all, it was clear that, even though our financial situations couldn’t have been further apart, we had a lot of the same problems and guilt. But we’d made such progress today, starting to form a real connection, that the thought of risking it all seemed to not be worth it. Besides, I only had a few more days of playing this character, and everything else I’d told him—my name, my feelings—was real.

  “Can I confess something?” he asked.

  “Sure.” The ski lift came to a stop, and Maxim reached out his hand to help me out of my seat. The touch of his gloved hand sent a shockwave throughout my entire body.

  “I think that Lucie resents me for being away for work so often,” he said. His words weren’t as surprising as his tone, as if he was sharing his deepest, darkest secret.

  “I’m sure she understands,” I said. “Your hard work is what pays for all of the nice things she has. It pays for her school and vacations and clothes. Being a parent is one of the toughest jobs of all—I’m a walking example of how hard it can be—but we need to remember to give our kids credit, too. They know that we have to balance a lot of different things at once.”

  We walked over to the edge of the hill, poles in hand, my grip firm just as Maxim had taught me.

  “You’re probably right,” Maxim said.

  “Gee, thanks.” I elbowed his arm playfully, knowing full well that his poor word choice had nothing to do with the advice I’d given him. It was definitely time to lighten the mood.

  Before Maxim had a chance to ski down the pathway, I picked up a small handful of snow and threw it at him. It hadn’t exactly been a snowball, but it was close enough. The look on his face turned from confusion to excitement, and I knew it had been the right move.

  Maxim let out the most beautiful laugh I had ever heard, deep and throaty and genuine, and reached toward the ground.

  That was it. We threw snowballs back and forth at one another, tripping over our skis as we tried to dodge the other’s efforts. It had been a long time since I’d been able to let loose like this.

  By the time we decided to call a truce, my ribs hurt from laughing so much. I plopped down on the snow, and Maxim collapsed beside me.

  “Thank you. I needed that,” he said.

  “Me too.” There were dozens of people around us, but all I saw was Maxim. We were like two kids, naïve and young and getting to know each other for the first time. This man I’d thought would be a pompous, arrogant know-it-all was simply a hardworking single father just trying to find balance in his life.

  Maxim stared right into my eyes, sending my heartbeat into overtime. “In all seriousness, though, thank you. I don’t really know any other single parents I can talk to about this, so it’s nice to finally have someone to talk to.”

  “I know the feeling,” I said. The words came out flirtier than I’d meant them, but neither of us seemed to mind. I wasn’t sure what exactly was brewing between us, but I’d decided to let my inhibitions go and see where things went.

  A kiss on my head reminded me that there was, in fact, a world around us, and I looked up to see Ryan standing over me. Lucie stood next to him, resting her head on her dad’s shoulder.

  “Still falling?” Ryan asked, sending him and Lucie into a frenzy of laughter.

  “Very funny,” I said. “We were just taking a little break.”

  Maxim nodded. “Your mom actually isn’t half bad.”

  “She isn’t half good, either!” Ryan crowed. He followed it up with, “Just kidding, Mom. We saw you ski down the hill without falling!”

  “Are you already done for the day?” I asked.

  Ryan and Lucie looked at each other. “We were wondering if we could all go to lunch together,” Lucie said, glancing back and forth between Maxim and me.

  The smile on Ryan’s face told me that he wanted this lunch just as much as Lucie did. While it would be nice to spend some more time with Maxim, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, though I couldn’t put my finger on one particular reason. Maybe it was because I was actually falling for this guy, or maybe I was worried about Ryan or me slipping up about my life back in West Virginia. Nonetheless, I looked to Maxim for an answer.

  “As long as it’s all right with Tia, it’s fine by me,” he said.

  The kids cheered and jumped up and down, snow falling off the bottoms of their ski boots. Not wanting to be a stick in the mud, and glad to see Ryan so happy, I agreed.

  Maxim suggested we try a restaurant right across the street from the hotel, a small bistro he and Lucie frequented on their visits, and, knowing nothing of the area, Ryan and I had no objections to that plan. Though I’d only known Maxim for a day, at the very least I knew that, wherever we went with him, we’d never have trouble getting a table.

  Ryan and Lucie walked with their arms linked back to the lodge to return their skis. It was adorable to witness. I snuck a peek over at Maxim, who seemed to be equally charmed by their instant friendship.

  Maybe Ryan had the right idea. He and Lucie were from two completely different worlds, and neither of them knew it. All they cared about was that they enjoyed each other’s company. It didn’t matter to them that Lucie had visited more places in her nine years than Ryan would probably ever get to see in his entire life. Had it really taken my ten-year-old son’s example for me to consider the idea that maybe I could befriend someone from a completely different social circle, just as he had?

  Putting aside Maxim’s wealth and social standing, there were some things we had in common. We were both single parents doing the best we could for our kids, and we both struggled to balance work and raising our children. Even if a relationship wasn’t in the works, maybe a friendship could blossom.

  Either way, I’d come out to the slopes this morning dreading the day, and I was leaving with a full heart. Ryan had spent the day getting to know a new friend, and I had done the same. On top of that, Ryan befriending Lucie had worked out well in that I would be able to spend more time with Maxim while spending more time with my son. What more could I ask for?

  Lunch was an experience in and of itself. Ryan was curious about Maxim, the only man he’d ever seen me with beyond the maintenance man in our apartment building, and Lucie appeared to be just as curious about me.

  “Where exactly is West Virginia?” Lucie asked. She was absolutely adorable.

  I pulled up a map of the United States on my phone and zoomed in to show her. “We’re that state right there,” I said, pointing with my fingernail.

  “You’re not near the water.” She sounded disappointed for us.

  “We’re a solid eight-hour drive from the beach. But we have some lakes and state parks near us, and they’re kind of neat.”

  “Do you live near the water?” Ryan asked Lucie.

  “We live on the water,” she said proudly. “Exactly twenty-six steps from our front door to the lake.”

  “Wow! Awesome!”

  That was how the majority of our lunch conversation went. Just as Maxim and I were getting a feel for one another, Ryan and Lucie were doing the same. It was sweet, actually. They listened intently to one another as they discussed their very different lives.