Smitten at First Sight: A Contemporary Romance Novel

by Astor, Marie

  “Well, you started it.”

  “But seriously, I’ve never skied an incline that steep.”

  “We won’t ski there right away. First, I’ll show you the technique for a steeper terrain, and then, if you’d like we can try something more challenging. At any rate, it will be a good thing to know in case you ever end up taking the wrong turn while skiing off-piste by yourself.” Taylor winked.

  “Well, there’ll be no danger of that; I’ve made a promise, and I always keep my promises,” Maggie joked back – she could not remember the last time she enjoyed flirting with a guy this much.

  “I was just making sure.” Taylor grinned.

  They exited the tram and made their way to the top of the cliff that they planned to descend.

  “First we have to practice turns,” announced Taylor. The playful expression was gone from his face, as was the teasing from his voice – he was all business now, his transformation an instant reminder of how many things could go wrong when skiing off-piste.

  Maggie nodded, full of attention. She liked the way Taylor was in charge without being overbearing – it was a rare trait that few men could manage - Jeffrey certainly never even tried.

  “It’s not that steep here, but here’s how you make a turn on steeper, narrower terrain.” Taylor angled his skis into a tight, razor-sharp turn, making it look as though he had jumped in mid-air, as he completed the turn by willing his skis into a complete halt without any skidding or sliding. “Now you try it.”

  Maggie perched on her skis, attempting to replicate Taylor’s technique, but ended up skidding her turn.

  “You have to start pointing your skis up the moment you start the turn; otherwise, you gain too much energy for the turn. Watch me do it again this time.” Taylor made a perfectly compact turn. “Try it again,” he called out, motioning for Maggie to ski over to where he was standing.

  Maggie nodded, eager to try again. This time she almost got it, but still skidded some of the way.

  “Don’t worry – you’ll get it,” Taylor assured her. “You’re doing way better than most people. It just takes some practice.”

  She tried again, and again, with Taylor by her side at every turn. Each time he would tell her what she was doing wrong without deriding her or making her feel overwhelmed until finally, she got it.

  “You are doing great,” Taylor praised her. “You’re ready to ski the rest of the incline on your own – go on ahead and wait for me by that boulder.” He pointed to a huge rock protruding from the left side of the mountain, about two hundred yards down. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Maggie surveyed the intimidating terrain before her. “It looks pretty steep to me – you said we’d take it slow.”

  “It’s only steep for a few more turns – after that the slope levels out into a really easy ride.”

  “But my turns aren’t perfect yet,” Maggie retorted, suddenly overcome by a bout of nervousness.

  “Maggie, if you want me to be your guide, you have to trust me. Do you think I would do something stupid like take you on a slope you couldn’t handle?”

  She shook her head.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” She did trust him - she just wasn’t sure she trusted herself at the moment. She could certainly handle this kind of incline when skiing the groomers, but wild terrain was a whole different ball game.

  Maggie hesitated for a few moments before beginning her descent. It was one thing to practice her turns with Taylor by her side, but it was quite another to make a continuous descent down this steep incline with him watching her. She knew that he was there to help her, not judge her, but that did not change the fact that she wanted to impress him – she did not want to fall down on her butt and roll down in a graceless mass of snow - she wanted to glide down effortlessly like a pro. Another reason why a girl should never fall for a ski guide, Maggie thought, it starts messing with your head. Well, she could stand there all day, or she could ski the damn thing, and she chose to do the latter.

  Angling her skis, Maggie dipped into the incline.

  She had intended to ski the entire stretch without stopping, but felt her skis skidding out of the control and came to a stop.

  “Are you okay?” She heard Taylor’s voice.

  “I’m fine,” she called back. She was fine – she just needed to regroup.

  Maggie took a deep breath and tried again. Remembering the technique Taylor showed her, she made one razor sharp turn, then another, until she made her way to the huge rock where Taylor told her to wait for him.

  “See? You did great!” Within moments Taylor glided over to her.

  She nodded, still slightly out of breath, but triumphant with her success. “Yeah, you were right – it wasn’t as hard as it looked.”

  As they rode on the air tram, Maggie’s gaze traveled to the cliff that Taylor had suggested to ski before and she was glad to admit that the incline did not look all that intimidating now.

  “If the offer is still open, I’d like to ski that line.” She glanced at Taylor, hoping that he would say yes.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” He grinned.

  “Do you mind if I take a few shots before we go?” Maggie asked. They were about to dip into the incline, and Maggie could not help noticing how striking the view was.

  “I thought you might.” Taylor grinned. “That’s why I wanted to show you this route – this is one of my favorite views. I’ll wait over there.” Taylor skidded a few paces away from her to give her some space – a consideration that Maggie did not fail to notice. Not that she minded his presence – she would be lying if she did not admit that she had enjoyed every moment of their time together.

  She focused her camera and took several shots of the magnificent view that unfolded before her. Then, she shifted the objective on Taylor. He was facing away from her - with his shoulders thrown back and his head held up high, Maggie thought that he looked like he owned the mountain. No, she corrected herself, he looks like he is a part of it; like this is the place where he belongs. Unable to take her gaze off of him, she stole several shots.

  “How is it going?” Taylor called over his shoulder.

  “Great.” Maggie shoved the camera into her backpack.

  “So, are you ready?”

  “I’m ready. You go first – I’ll be right behind you.”

  “You were amazing!” exclaimed Taylor when Maggie swooped next to him.

  “It was amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like it.” Maggie gasped, overcome by the liberating sensation that filled her entire being.

  “How about this time we go next to each other? It’s wide enough here.” Taylor pointed to the wide stretch of snow before them.

  Maggie nodded, her breath quickening as their eyes met.

  Without having to say another word, they plunged down the cliff, their pace seamlessly aligned. The snow rustled underneath her skis as Maggie floated down the mountain, her joy intensified by the fact that Taylor was right next to her to share this magnificent experience with her.

  “You are a natural.” Taylor grinned when they reached their next stop.

  “So what’s next?” she asked, emboldened by Taylor’s compliment.

  Taylor checked his watch. “It’s almost two o’clock - we have time for a couple more runs. It’s easy to get carried away, but once the light begins to change, this will become a completely different place: it’s really sunny today and in mid-afternoon the snow could overheat and begin to shift. Shadows are the worst – they throw you off track, distorting distance and playing all kinds of tricks on you.” Maggie must have looked terrified listening to Taylor’s warnings because he smiled and said, “I’m not trying to scare you, Maggie, but these are things that you should know if you want to continue skiing up here. It’s a lot of fun, but it can also be very dangerous.”

  Maggie nodded, realizing that despite his seemingly carefree demeanor Taylor was constantly paying attention to his surroundings, f
ollowing an intricate set of conduct rules.

  “Thank you for a wonderful day on the mountain, Taylor,” said Maggie when they were finished skiing. She meant every word: she had enjoyed her day with Taylor more than she would have liked to admit, but their time together was coming to an end now, and she did not know how to prolong it. She had asked him out for a drink yesterday, and she did not want to come off as being too forward by asking him again. The ball was in his court now and she hoped that he would act on it.

  “Do you want to go again tomorrow?” Taylor asked, as though reading her thoughts.

  “I’d love to. But wouldn’t that interfere with your practice?” Please say that it won’t, she thought, already regretting that she had not just answered a plain yes. But then she did not want to be selfish and interfere with his training for the documentary – she liked him too much to hurt his plans.

  “I can get a few runs in early in the morning and meet you at noon.”

  She nodded, her breath quickening at the prospect of seeing him again. “I’d love to.”

  “That’s settled then. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the other side of the mountain.”

  Chapter 19

  Maggie had intended to have an early night: she would upload her photos from today on her laptop, do a bit of editing, and head off to bed early after a light dinner, but she knew that her plans were ruined when she saw Bethany waiting for her in the lobby.

  “Before you say anything, I’d like to tell you that I’m sorry,” Bethany started, which was an unusual line opener for her – in all the years of their friendship, Maggie could not remember Bethany apologizing for anything.

  “It’s not your fault that Jeffrey is a liar,” Maggie retorted. “Of course, you could have told me earlier, but then I should have known better.” Strangely, she no longer felt the same anger at Bethany. At first, it had hurt tremendously to know that her best friend kept a secret from her, but now that Maggie had made the decision that Bethany was no longer her best friend, the hurt had subsided.

  “But I was the one who set you up with him and I’m sorry. The truth is, I’m a crappy friend.” Bethany sniffed. “I don’t know how you put up with me all these years, but I just hope that I could somehow make it up to you. And I wanted to thank you for not outing me to Jeffrey,” she added.

  “You talked to Jeffrey?” Maggie felt a new wave of indignation that squashed any inkling of forgiveness that she might have felt. “Did he put you up to come and see me?”

  “No, he didn’t. He tried to get me to talk you, to help him convince you to come back to him, but I said that I wouldn’t have any part of it. And I told Charlie as much.”

  “So why did you come?”

  “To tell you that I’m sorry.” Bethany twisted her hands. “And to warn you. Maggie, Jeffrey is not the kind of guy you can just say no to - he is used to getting his own way and he can get real vicious. There’s nothing he values more than his ego – and let’s face it, you dealt him quite a blow.”

  “I think I know enough about his ego.”

  “Just let me finish. Charlie told me that Jeffrey was so mad after you said it was over between the two of you, he smashed the bathroom mirror in their hotel room. And there is something else…” Bethany lowered her eyes. “Last night Charlie told me about this girl Jeffrey used to date - she was a model, trying to break into acting. Well, she was one of the few girls who broke up with Jeffrey, instead of him dumping her, and he was so pissed about it, he went ahead and badmouthed her all over the industry so that she never got any work again.”

  “Well, I don’t think I’m in any danger of that – I don’t plan on breaking into acting any time soon.” Maggie did her best to sound relaxed, but she was unnerved by the side of Jeffrey she did not know existed.

  “Maybe you don’t, but what about Taylor? I saw the two of you together just now.”

  “It was nothing. I went skiing off-piste - he was my guide on the mountain.” Maggie felt a shiver of guilt. Of all the reasons she had come up with why the two of them should not get involved, she had failed to recognize the most obvious one of all: Jeffrey was producing Taylor’s documentary – the project that meant so much to Taylor and would be ruined if Jeffrey found out about the attraction between them.

  “Come on, Maggie - the two of you were so busy flirting, you were oblivious to everything and everyone around you. When Jeffrey finds out, he’ll be furious.”

  “You won’t tell him, will you?”

  “Of course I won’t, but Jeffrey is a smart guy – he has his own eyes and ears and one doesn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to notice the way you and Taylor look at each other. Are you going to see Taylor again?”

  “We’re supposed to go skiing again tomorrow,” Maggie replied. “But after that, I won’t see him anymore. You are right – it wouldn’t be fair to him,” she added at length – the words were difficult to say, and she had no idea how to go about implementing her resolution into reality, but she knew she would have to find a way.

  “Are you sure that’s such a good idea to see him again tomorrow? Maybe you could cancel - I’m telling you Maggie, you’re playing with fire.”

  “I can’t – I don’t have his number.” And as she said it out loud, Maggie realized that she might have blown the whole thing out of proportion - yes, she was definitely attracted to Taylor, but there was no way of knowing if Taylor felt the same way. Aside from a few furtive glances and flirtatious banter, nothing had transpired between them. There had been no kiss, no holding of hands - Taylor did not even ask for her number or give her his. Who knew how many tourist girls Taylor Denton flirted with each winter? As far as Maggie could tell, this could very well be a recreational pastime for him.

  Taylor Denton checked the messages on his answering machine. There was a message from Shawn asking him if he wanted to join Shawn and Hannah for a bite to eat, and even before the message ended, Taylor knew that he did not. Then there was a message from Ryan asking Taylor to call him back to discuss shooting sequences for the documentary, and Taylor made a mental note to call him later, but not tonight.

  Right now all Taylor wanted was some peace and quiet, so that he could make sense of the way he felt about Maggie Robin. He would be lying if he said that he had not enjoyed every minute of his day with Maggie. He closed his eyes, remembering the way the two of them glided down the mountain together – it made him swell with pride to see her progress so quickly under his tutelage. She had a real gift for skiing, and he could tell that she appreciated the beauty of it, which made sharing his skills with her all that more meaningful. Not that teaching her how to ski steeper terrain had been the only thing on his mind during the day: he had to remind himself several times not to get distracted by how radiant her flushed skin looked from the nippy air and how the bright afternoon sun brought out the flecks of gold in her large, brown eyes.

  Somehow, it felt incredibly easy and natural to be near her. He felt like he could talk to her about anything, and he did. Taylor remembered the way he had opened up to Maggie at the Dusty Boot: he had not talked to anyone about his relationship with his father for a long time, but somehow, the words had flowed out of him like a confession, as he looked into the deep brown of Maggie’s eyes. At first he had regretted his candor, worried that she might pass judgment, but she did no such thing. All Maggie did was listen, and Taylor felt much better for having opened up to her.

  He could not remember the last time he felt this kind of attraction for a girl - truth be told, he probably never did. The way he felt when he was around Maggie was a mixture of ease one felt when talking to one’s best friend combined with powerful physical attraction – the perfect combination. And indeed, it would have been perfect, had it not to been for the circumstances they were in: Maggie was Jeffrey Preston’s ex-fiancée, and Jeffrey Preston was going to produce the documentary that Taylor had dreamed about all his life. It was an arrangement that was awkward to say the least, as Taylor had no doubts that Jeffrey would be n
one too thrilled about him dating Maggie. Not that he cared a rat’s ass about what Jeffrey thought – when push came to shove, Taylor was not one to compromise or look over his shoulder, but neither was he the man who was inconsiderate of others or neglected his friends. Both Shawn and Hannah had smaller parts in the documentary and this was an important opportunity for them, as it was for Ryan – after ten years of making small budget films, Ryan was finally getting a chance to work with a big-time producer, and Taylor did not want to be the one to unravel his friends’ dreams.

  But these matters paled in comparison to the main reason for his uncertainty: the truth was that Taylor simply did not know how Maggie felt about him. He could guess that she enjoyed his company: there was the flirting and the joking around, but he had no way of knowing whether she would be interested in anything more than a platonic acquaintance. She had seemed pretty broken up about Jeffrey the other day, and the last thing Taylor wanted was to be Maggie’s rebound - had it been any other girl, he would have moved on already, but no matter how hard he tried, he simply could not get Maggie Robin out of his mind.

  Chapter 20

  As Maggie put on her ski suit, her thoughts turned to Taylor. Today was going to be the last time she would see him.

  As much as it pained her to admit it, Bethany was right. Maggie had already made a mess of her own life, and she did not want to ruin the lives of those around her. Taylor belonged to a different world, a world that she had no place in and that she would not disturb. Perhaps it would have been better for everyone involved if she had listened to her mother and gone home instead: as it were, the time she had spent with Taylor made it all the more difficult to give him up now.

  When Maggie made her way to the lobby, she did not see Taylor anywhere, so she decided to take a seat in a chair by the fire. It was ten past twelve, and she assumed that he was running a little late.