"Maybe." Rebecca grinned.
Tash tutted. "You have been watching too many romantic comedies."
There was a certain childishness to Rebecca's expression, a naïvety that stirred an unexpected protectiveness in Tash. She felt twenty years older than her, not the mere two years older she actually was. Rebecca was twenty-one but she seemed far younger than Tash had been at her age.
From what Tash had gleaned, Rebecca had seen practically nothing of the world outside her Surrey pony club idyll, private school and holiday villas in Tuscany.
She didn't seem to have a clue just how cruel human beings could be to each other.
Lucky her. Yet the lack of knowledge made her so vulnerable.
How can I hate Rebecca one minute and want to protect her the next?
Tash sighed. This was what dormitory living could do to you. Just the way someone else was breathing or humming along to their iPods could be enough to wind you up after two months of forced proximity.
Mountain Cabin Fever, Holly called it.
Rebecca rummaged in her make up bag for lipstick and applied it. When she smiled at Tash there was a pink smear on her front teeth.
"Wait." Tash touched Rebecca's arm, the cashmere super-soft beneath her fingertips. "You've got lipstick on your teeth."
It's not Rebecca's fault she isn't Sophie.
"Oh, have I? Thanks." Rebecca pulled out her compact mirror and a face wipe to remove the smear.
"Where are Amelia and Lucy?" Tash asked, making her way to the door.
"Already out there." Rebecca pushed her make-up bag beneath her bunk. "Wait for me."
Tash rolled her eyes as she waited, but not so as Rebecca could see. Tash wasn't a total bitch. Being friends with Sophie and Holly seemed to have sandpapered away some of her sharper edges.
But prickles aren't all bad. They keep you safe; just ask a hedgehog.
Had staying in one place for so long turned her soft?
In Chalet Repos' living area Amelia and Lucy handed flutes of champagne to men wearing dark suits and expensive leather shoes. Champagne at eleven in the morning? These guests must be considered important. But suits in a ski resort? Looked like she'd been right. There were four in the group, all with their backs to her. On closer inspection one of them turned out to be a woman in an androgynous trouser suit and a very short pixie haircut.
Tash lingered by the doorway, feeling out of place. Rebecca edged forward, fixed smile in place, trying to make her way to the front of the group. Tash cringed for her.
Could she be more obvious?
Tash decided to skulk at the back of the room, straightening a few faux-fur cushions on the sofas and hoping to be left alone if she looked busy. Delaying the inevitable and much dreaded small talk she'd doubtless have to engage in.
When the cushions were plumped and the throws straightened Tash headed to the fireplace and threw another fresh log on the fire, even though it didn't really need it.
She scanned the room for any other unnecessary jobs and met Holly's eye.
"Tash," Holly called out. "Come over here and meet Mr Campbell."
Why did you have to choose me to babysit this guy? I'm no good at this. No good at…suits. Give me a bar or a club and I can talk for England but not this…
The summons gave Tash no choice but to move reluctantly forward.
He's only a man.
Just a man.
Holly met her halfway and linked her arm through Tash's, as though afraid she was planning to leg it. Tash held her head high. No twat in a suit would intimidate her. Weren't you supposed to imagine people naked to make it easier?
Her stomach twisted over and her muscles tensed. Suits reminded her of officialdom, of all the adults who'd moved her around foster placements, who’d laid down the law and made decisions about her life without consulting her.
"Mr Campbell, this is Natasha…er, I mean Tash." Holly cleared her throat. Her nervousness somehow transmitted directly to Tash's stomach. "She'll be showing you round Verbier and getting you up to speed on all the experiences we offer guests."
Then Holly half shoved Tash towards the tall guy standing nearest them.
Tash looked up, forcing herself to look him directly in the eyes, annoyed by the nerves coursing through her body and determined not to show them.
Remember he's no better than you, just because he's wearing an expensive suit.
She'd expected a plastic man with an inflated ego and a TV tango tan but Nathaniel Campbell couldn't have been further from her imaginings. He had rugged features and was tall, powerfully built, like he'd been designed for the rugby field or maybe even a boxing ring, not an office.
There was a sharp intelligence shining in his flinty blue-grey eyes. A spark of desire tinged with fear sent a shiver of electricity the length of Tash's spine. She'd need to watch her step with this one.
He's nobody's fool.
Suddenly imagining him naked became a much more interesting proposition.
And it did nothing to relax her.
Worse still, as he focused all his attention on her it felt like he might be imagining her naked too.
He had an aura of power, a supreme confidence that Tash had been trying to fake her whole life. The difference was Nathaniel Campbell wasn't faking anything.
Stop acting like a crazed fan and act normal for frick's sake.
"Pleased to meet you." Tash held out her hand, pleased she'd finally remembered how to speak and co-ordinate her limbs. "By the way, nobody calls me Natasha, I'm Tash."
Amusement glinted in his eyes as he took her hand and shook it with a firm grip. Her hand looked tiny in his; she couldn't help staring at his hands. She'd experienced instant sexual attraction before but this was crazy.
Crazy stupid but sort of crazy good too.
It felt like the air had been squeezed out of her lungs. Electricity buzzed through her again but this time it was more of a shudder than a shiver. It felt, bizarrely, like there was no one else in the room. No one who mattered anyway.
It must be his famous charisma.
I'm as bad as Rebecca, I need to get a grip.
"Well lots of people call me Mr Campbell, or Nathaniel, but I prefer to be called Nate." His mouth twitched at the corners into an almost smile.
"And of course we have Mr Campbell's team - Mr Benson, Mr Smith and Ms Miller." Holly gestured to the rest of the group, her cheeks flushing pink as she sipped at her orange juice.
This isn't easy for Holly either.
"Please do call me Nate, we don't need to be formal." Nate turned and smiled at Holly. She received the full wattage of his smile and a pang of jealousy pierced Tash.
Watch it, you'll be acting as bonkers as Rebecca if you're not careful.
Yet on closer inspection his smile was that of a politician's; while genuinely warm and conveying that the recipient was the most important person in the room, there was a detachment in his eyes.
"And you must meet Rebecca." Scott stepped forward, resting