A close friend of the woman who claims Kobe Bryant raped her says the basketball star asked the woman for a tour of the mountain resort and invited her into his room shortly after he checked in.

Friend and former high school classmate Luke Bray and another friend said a casual conversation between Bryant and the woman on June 30 led Bryant to ask the 19-year-old hotel receptionist and concierge to show him around.

Bray said the woman was working the front desk at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards when Bryant, 24, a player for the Los Angeles Lakers, arrived about 10 p.m. The two had a friendly exchange as the woman processed Bryant's paperwork and handed him room keys, Bray said.

"She said she felt a certain amount of chemistry with him," Bray told The Denver Post.

A short time later, Bryant asked the woman - a 2002 Eagle Valley High School graduate and University of Northern Colorado student - to show him around the resort, said Bray, who has talked at length with the woman during her recent stays with him and his wife, Starlene, also a high school friend.

The woman, flattered by Bryant's offer, accepted. She was on duty but not busy because of the late hour. She was due to go off duty at 11 p.m.

"She said he was just really down to earth, and that he was acting like a great guy," Bray said. "He was easy to talk to."

The two of them strolled around the main lodge of the sprawling 56- room resort. At some point, Bryant invited her into his room, Bray said.

"She had thoughts of declining," Bray said. "But he had been nice. She felt safe about doing that."

The woman told Bray that she soon realized it was nearly time for a shift change and that she had to be back at the front desk to punch out.

"Once she told him she had to leave, his attitude started to change," Bray said. "From there the story gets crazy."