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their lift passes until they ante up.”
    “The only thing I need is—” He broke off when a tall blonde wearing a blue-and-white Spyder jacket stopped a few feet away. “Christine?”
    She turned, holding a tray from the concession stand, and smiled when she saw him. She looked rested and glowing and somehow even more beautiful today than she had yesterday, which was saying a lot.
    “Hey,” she said. “I was just going to grab a bite to eat before our lesson, but I can’t find a free table.”
    “Why don’t you join us?” He eagerly cleared a place for her to set her tray.
    “Thank you. That would be great.” She sat down next to him.
    Trent looked from her to him and raised one brow. “ ‘Not too bad’? Friend, you need glasses.”
    “What?” Christine blinked.
    “Nothing.” Alec kicked Trent under the table. “Chris, meet Trent. Trent, Chris.”
    “Christine,” she corrected as she shook Trent’s hand.
    Alec cocked his head. “Why not Chris?”
    “I don’t know.” She shrugged, as if the question had never occurred to her. “It’s just always been Christine.”
    “How about Christi?” he suggested with a flirtatious grin.
    “Definitely not.” One of her throaty laughs spilled forth. Their eyes met and heat flared instantly, as it had yesterday. Rather than holding his gaze, though, she looked away and concentrated on unwrapping her turkey sandwich. A little frown marred her brow, as if she were trying to solve a problem. “So,” she said to Trent, “you’re with the ski patrol, I see. I’ve always thought that would be a fun job.”
    “It rocks.” Trent puffed up at her attention, and Alec contemplated kicking him again. “Even if it’s not as fun as what Alec does.”
    “Oh?” She turned to him with a strangely hopeful look. “What sort of work do you do?”
    “Oh, Alec doesn’t
work
,” Trent was quick to put in. “He just plays all day. Isn’t that right, dude?”
    “When people let me,” Alec grumbled.
    “Ah.” Christine kept her face impassive as disappointment filled her. Apparently her losing streak was holding firm and she’d picked another charming user, the kind of man who mooched off family and friends while “looking for work.” She should have expected as much after the scene she’d witnessed yesterday, when he’d sweet-talked that waitress into buying his lunch. How did she let major clues like that slip past her in the beginning, when that was exactly the sort of thing that would drive her up a wall later?
    Alec and his friend talked a bit more while she ate; then Trent stood to leave.
    “Christine”—Trent held his hand out to her— “good meeting you. How long are you staying in Silver Mountain?”
    “Three weeks.”
    “Cool. Perhaps I’ll see you around.”
    “Perhaps.” She looked at him more closely. He lacked Alec’s height, but he had a roguish appeal. And at least this man was gainfully employed, she thought as he continued to hold her gaze and her hand. Maybe her friends would approve of him. Too bad the thought didn’t give her the same zing as thinking about kissing Alec.
    “Excuse me,” Alec interrupted them with a pointed look at his friend. “Don’t you have work to do? I heard a rumor about a poacher in the area.”
    “That’s the forest ranger’s job.”
    “As in the immediate area,” Alec stressed.
    “Oh.” Trent turned sheepish as he dropped her hand. “Sorry. I’ll um, just be going. And, Alec, I was serious about that bar tab. If you need help paying it, just let me know.”
    “Consider that twenty you just lent me a donation to the cause.”
    “Great. See ya at the party Friday night, then.”
    Christine turned to Alec as his friend walked away. He needed help paying his bar tab? Good grief, she really was a “user magnet,” just like Maddy always said. At least he wasn’t hitting her up for money, or a place to flop while he dried out, or help finding a job, or a million other things she had trouble