“Hi.” Ashley waved back and scurried away from Chase. She’d almost revealed to him that he was making her fall for him. That would’ve been very stupid of her to share. Maybe he wasn’t a player like she feared, but he was incredibly handsome and appealing and women naturally went after him. That wasn’t his fault. It was on Ashley that she’d been through too many failed relationships to want to go through it again. But there was something special about Chase. She couldn’t deny it, but it made her want to run even faster.
Chase eventually went back to the free weights and the beautiful girl stayed right close to him, flirting unabashedly. Ashley tried to be objective about the one-sided conversation she heard. Chase didn’t encourage the girl, and he did try to move several times, but she followed him like a shadow.
Ashley tried to concentrate on lifting, but she needed to get out of here before she exploded and did something stupid like telling the girl off for innocently flirting. Or worse, grabbing Chase and kissing him.
When Chase was in the middle of a seated bicep curl, she darted out the door and ran down the hallway to the stairs and up the five flights to her room. She made it inside. Had he chased her? She waited by the door for almost a minute. Nothing.
Deflated and frustrated, mostly with herself, she headed for the shower.
Chapter Five
Chase was doing curls one second and the next, the gym door banged closed and Ashley had disappeared. He wanted to run after her, but how low could one man let his pride dip? They’d been close for one moment and then she’d dodged him again.
The brunette who’d interrupted him and Ashley kept flirting unabashedly with him, no matter that he didn’t encourage her. He tried to be nice but hurried through the end of his workout and retreated to his room. With nothing to do, he put on a swimsuit and did laps like yesterday. The pool was soothing, but it allowed his mind to wander for too long. Ashley was at the forefront of his thoughts. He still wanted to know about the Chadwicks and if he was their unwanted brother, but none of them were around, Kris had disappeared, and his mom wasn’t calling him back. He felt strangely distanced from any worries besides how to drop his pride completely and beg Ashely to talk to him. Ashley’s beautiful face and clever comments played through his mind over and over as he swam.
He ate a late breakfast and found his basketball friends. Playing some intense games with them killed a few hours, but then they had to go shower and spend time with their wives. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He wandered through the massive resort, running into the front desk girl, Daisy, and the brunette from the gym, whose name he couldn’t remember.
To his disappointment, he didn’t spot Ashley anywhere.
The storm was incredible and relentless. If Ashley was interested in him, he’d think he was trapped in the most beautiful Hallmark Christmas movie set he’d ever seen. His mom used to make him watch those on occasion. They were cheesy and he liked to tease his mom about them, but the settings were pretty and he secretly didn’t mind the romance.
Everyone at the resort was friendly and no one seemed overly concerned about the storm, but Chase was starting to feel as if they were all in a beautiful, icy prison. Without any time with Ashely, he was more than ready to escape.
At least he wasn’t completely consumed worrying if he was a Chadwick. There was nothing he could do about that until the storm passed and the Chadwicks came to the resort again. Right now, Ashley was all he could think about.
Checking his phone, he was shocked he hadn’t missed a call from his mom, or at least a text with pictures from her and Ned’s latest adventure. She was normally very involved in Chase’s life. The past six weeks, she’d checked in most days with phone or video chats and sent pictures.
He tried her again, but it rang and rang and then went to voicemail. He didn’t leave one. She’d get back to him. She must be busy with her adventuring, and Ned. He smiled. At least his mom had romance in her life with a great person, even if Chase didn’t.
His wandering led him back to the main area. The resort staff had set up a large movie screen and dimmed the lights. With the storm keeping the sky outside pretty dark, The Santa Clause was easily visible. The staff had moved couches and comfortable chairs into place and there was a decent crowd watching the movie. The smell of popcorn and cocoa was soothing, reminding him of Christmas with his mom. This particular movie made him flash back to when he’d first seen it as a young child. He’d decided halfway through the film that was why his dad wasn’t around—his father was obviously Santa Claus. He smiled at the memory. Though he’d been sad when he realized his theory wasn’t true, his mom had made that and every Christmas a magical, fun, and spiritual time together.
He strolled behind the crowd, not sure if he wanted to stay but not sure what else to do. This snow needed to ease up so he could get outside and burn off more energy. He was in a sad state of mind when lifting, swimming, and basketball weren’t enough to keep him calm. Maybe it had been a mistake to come to Mystical Lake. He wouldn’t have connected with Ashley again if he hadn’t come, but apparently she didn’t want to be around him and that made him pretty miserable.
He approached a long table next to the viewing area set up with buttered popcorn and a hot cocoa bar with a variety of toppings. Maybe he’d at least get some hot cocoa and popcorn, take it back to his suite, and watch another Crusaders movie. Alone. It was very telling that he’d rather watch action and adventure by himself than Christmas shows at Christmastime with a crowd. His mom would say he needed to find some Christmas spirit, but it wasn’t fun to be in a crowd by himself.
He fixed himself a cocoa, grabbed a bag of popcorn, told the staff thank you, turned, and immediately spotted Ashley. If a beam of light would’ve come from the heavens at that moment and told him, This is the right one, go for it, he wouldn’t have been surprised.
She was sitting on a loveseat with no one next to her. Apprehension had his stomach hopping. She was so intently focused on the movie. It was like she’d seen him but didn’t want to acknowledge him. Was she avoiding his gaze because she didn’t want him to come sit by her?
He was nervous and keyed up, but he couldn’t reject any opportunity to spend time with her. Maybe this time, she wouldn’t ditch him. He clung to his treats and slowly approached her. She didn’t have any popcorn, only a Styrofoam cup of cocoa in her hands. He stopped right next to her and thankfully she glanced up. If she had ignored him, he may have done something un-manly like crying.
“Is this seat taken?”
She stared up at him. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, but thankfully she said quietly, “No.”
Chase wanted to cheer, but he’d probably dump his popcorn and upset the movie watchers. He was already standing in somebody’s way, but luckily they were too nice to yell “down in front”—or middle, since Ashley’s loveseat was about halfway from the front.
He eased onto the loveseat right next to her. Setting his cocoa on the floor, he offered the popcorn to her.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, taking a small handful.
He ate some popcorn, drank some of the salty caramel hot cocoa, and tried to focus on the movie. He failed. Ashley was right here. She looked good in a long white sweater and tight black jeans, her blonde hair tousled in soft curls. She smelled good, like she should be on a beach, and he wondered if she had a secret longing for a tropical Christmas. If she did, he would happily fly them both to Costa Rica so she could meet his mom and Ned before Chase proposed.