Satin on the Slopes

Chapter 1

For a moment I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the three men in front of me. For starters there was supposed to four of them and that was the first bad sign. My previous clientele was never late. Then I noticed their cars. All of them were reasonable, all-wheel-drive SUVs and cars. All of these cars were meant to get up and down the mountain, not attract attention or profess financial gains. And the men themselves weren't wearing fine suits with gleaming shoes. Oh no, they were bundled up from head to toe with bright jackets, thick mittens, and funky toques. I felt like I had leapt into a new world with them.

"Good morning, gentlemen," I greeted, walking from my small sedan across the parking lot to the SUV they were unloading. The cute booties I was wearing had nearly no grip so I ended up shuffling my way across the ice.

"Good morning," one of them replied with a massive smile that consumed his face. The others ignored me and continued on with their unpacking.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. This wasn't the introduction I was used to. I was used to my fiancé throwing his arms around me and all of his teammates teasing me. I had been family with the hockey team. Here, I was just doing a job for people who didn't care about me. And wasn't that what I wanted?

"You're going to be cold," one of them commented, bringing me back to the snow covered parking lot.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking down at my coat and scarf. Sure, the satin shirt I had worn beneath my jacket wasn't the most sensible, but it was one of my favorites and I had used it as a confidence booster. No one would see it under the thick jacket that reached my thighs. Plus, I had an adorable, paisley scarf tied around my neck and thick mittens on my hands. "I would be sweating in the hoc...on my other locations in this."

The snowboarder caught my fumble. "This isn't a hockey rink. This is a mountain," he said. "But since you can't pick up your rebound from the ice I guess we'll have to do." When he grinned at me I couldn't tell if it was meant to be playful or sinister.

"I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern," I said tightly.

Not much was said after that and I was thankful. The men agreed to meet me on the hill, at a portion of the terrain park that had been sectioned off. I went back to my car and loaded my shoulders up with my hefty camera bags. I had rarely done any shoots outside of the hockey rink since I had started my business. I had little idea how to work with natural light and cold lenses, but it couldn't be that hard. I had always been told that I was a natural, I'm sure I would pick it up quickly.

By the time I had made it to our assigned meeting spot I felt like I had worked up a sweat despite the frigid air that was blowing in my face. Still, I pretended to be unbothered when I saw two pairs of skeptical eyes on me and one gaze that was holding concern.

"Frozen yet?" the ruder one wondered with a single raised eyebrow.

"Not yet," I replied, forcing the best smile I could. "I don't think we have been properly introduced. My name in Penelope. The snowboard magazine that is doing a column on you guys is short a photographer so I'll be doing taking over your photoseries."

"We know who you are," he stated, "How could we not know? Penelope Jones, the most gorgeous sports photographer...and recently single. But I don't imagine that you know us. This is Graydon." He indicated the one I had pegged as the sweetheart, the only one who had been remotely nice to me. "He's Jackson" A mitten was jabbed at the unassuming second man. "I'm Tyson."

"It's so lovely to meet all of you," I said with a glowing smile still on my lips. I had to do this. I had to get through this. I couldn't rely on money coming in from a famous fiancé anymore. "I thought there was going to be four of you today."