Confessions of a Chalet Girl: by Lorraine Wilson Page B

knickerless to the cooker then?’ he called back, forgetting to keep his voice down.
    That would give Amelia and Sophie a lot to talk about. Although they’d given them a fair bit already. He didn't care. He didn't mind who knew he was with Holly. It was time to realise when he’d got a damn good thing.
    ***
    Catcalls and whistling filled the air of the packed Wonderbar and this time Holly joined in the clamour. As did all the Verbier chalet girls and female bar staff who’d squeezed into the crush, determined not to miss tonight for anything.
    ‘Off, off, off,’ they chanted.
    Some of the guys looked uncomfortable, others were smirking, confident in their ski-toned physique. Scott mouthed the word ‘help’ at Holly but she just grinned back. It served them right. She didn’t feel even a smidgeon of pity for them.
    One by one they took off their shirts and sweaters while the female onlookers wolf-whistled at the toned torsos, made firm and taut by long days on the slopes.
    A few show-offs stripped completely and then streaked round the bar but Holly found she didn’t feel embarrassed or awkward as she might once have done.
    She merely raised an eyebrow as though pretending to be scandalised and walked over to Scott. Throwing her arms around him she claimed him as her own before some other girl took a fancy to him. She buried her face against his bare chest, inhaling her favourite aftershave with a little murmur of pleasure. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of his smell, or of being allowed to touch his chest.
    The bar manager looked a little dazed as he calculated how many free shots he’d have to give away tonight.
    ‘Equal opportunities,’ Sophie shouted over to him and he scurried away. He probably thought he’d be lynched by the female contingent if he didn’t comply.
    The mood they were in, it was quite possible. Girl power was temporarily in force and they planned to enjoy it while it lasted.
    ‘I’m surprised you didn’t hide another T-shirt underneath your shirt,’ Holly murmured into his ear.
    ‘I thought about it. I could break your cover, you know. Tell them you didn’t hand over your own bra. They’d make you do it again.’
    ‘Just you dare!’ She poked him in the ribs.
    ‘Ouch.’ He wrapped both his arms around her, holding her close. ‘Don’t worry. I want you all to myself. You can do a strip for me later tonight as a forfeit.’
    ‘Okay.’ She laughed.
    ‘Are you having fun?’
    ‘Yes, I’m having fun.’ And for once she didn’t wish for a snowdrift to swallow her up. ‘Do you think I’m a proper chalet girl now?’
    ‘No, you’re a Holly,’ he said, holding her in a tight embrace. ‘Refreshingly unique and lovely just as you are. I don’t ever want you to change.’
    Then he kissed her and it felt like they were the only two people in the room, despite the crush.
    ‘So, you’re going to stay with me after the ski season ends then Holly?’ He presented it more as a statement of fact than a question. ‘Switzerland is beautiful in the spring and we can go mountain biking. Didn’t you put mountain biking as an interest on your CV?’
    She playfully swatted him on the arm. ‘No, I did not. And I want to make full disclosure that I haven’t ridden a bike since I was eight! But I’m happy to give it a go. Both the staying on and the mountain biking.’
    And she was.
    Blissfully and unreservedly happy. She knew real life would throw some rocks in front of their skis from time to time but she was sure they’d manage to negotiate them.
    Instead of having her nose pressed up against the glass of the cake shop window she was now very much inside and licking her lips as she ate the stickiest bun in the place.
    ‘Come back to the chalet with me, I’ve a rather urgent matter we need to attend to,’ Scott murmured in her ear, his breath prickling the skin on her neck.
    ‘I know. I can feel the urgent matter against my hip.’ She grinned, surreptitiously