NathanThe walk up the small flight of stairs to Mark’s office was the longest one of Nathan’s life. He could feel Holly’s hand in his, but he still had to keep looking back and making sure she was real.They stepped into the office, and Holly closed the door behind her.“Are you really here?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice and eyes. “I thought you said you didn’t think this was going to work.”“It wasn’t the way things were,” he told her. “But, I made changes. I hope I haven’t missed my chance.”“No.” She shook her head and smiled. “You haven’t missed it. But I need to know you aren’t going to leave again. That we’re not just going to end up in the same place as before.”Nathan reached into the back pocket of his Santa costume and pulled out a piece of heavy paper. He handed it to her.“This says you’re the owner of Elements Computer Technologies,” Holly said, reading the paper. She looked up at him still confused. “I thought you were always the owner.”“No. Paradigm was the
HollyHolly Jones pulled out a red pen and started grading.“Did you seriously bring your grading with you?” Aliyah asked, turning to look from the road to stare at her friend.“Yes. And pay attention to the road, please,” Holly replied, motioning to the twisting mountain road in front of them. “It’s snowy and this pass is always slippery.”“Yes, Ms. Jones,” Aliyah replied, sounding like one of their second-grade students. “You know this is supposed to be a vacation, right?”“Yes.” Holly circled and marked the writing assignment of her student in front of her. “But, I’ll feel like I’m on vacation when these are done. I only have a couple left.”Aliyah shook her head sadly. “You work too hard.”“You work just as hard as I do,” Holly replied. She slid a finished page back into her folder.“I’m not the one grading papers right now,” Aliyah said, turning on the windshield wipers to brush away the big snowflakes. It was snowing harder the closer they got to the ski resort.“That’s because
NathanNathan’s phone buzzed like an angry hornet on the leather seat. Nathan didn’t even glance at it. He kept his eyes on the road. Snow flurries danced in front of his headlights as he sped along the dark road toward the ski resort.The heated seats kept him more than comfortable. The engine hummed with power as he shifted into a lower gear to accelerate up the mountain road. Behind him, two black SUVs struggled to keep pace with his silver all-wheel drive Ferrari.The phone continued to buzz and he continued to ignore it as he focused on speed and taking the turns. He pushed harder, taking the icy turns just a little bit faster. The car slid, but he stayed in control.He was on vacation now and there was no way he was going to let anyone ruin that for him.It had been a rough month. He needed this.He took the corner and the ski resort came into view. It was only then that he stopped driving like a madman. Blue Aspen Resort and Spa was one of his favorite places to ski. He’d skied
Holly“Is that your stomach?” Holly asked. A low grumble filled the elevator.Aliyah shifted her feet uncomfortably. “Yeah.”“Are you okay?” Holly asked. Beads of sweat popped out on Aliyah’s forehead and she looked pale. Her beautiful skin was usually a rich milk chocolate, but right now, she looked like she’d been Photoshopped into black and white.“My stomach,” Aliyah whispered. She swallowed hard and stared at the elevator buttons, willing the elevator to get to their floor faster.When the silver doors opened, Aliyah bolted, leaving behind her bags as she sprinted down the hallway. Holly put Aliyah’s bag over her shoulder and followed behind at a much more human pace.“Wow,” Holly said, coming in the front door of their hotel room.It was bigger than her apartment.The style was elegant western. Wood furniture with rustic accents decorated the living room, but the main appeal was the huge windows overlooking the ski slope. It was too dark to see the full view, but Holly could tel
HollyHolly stretched out in the soft bed and sighed with contentment. There was something magical about not waking up to the sound of an alarm clock. She snuggled into the fluffy comforter for a moment, enjoying the dark silence of the hotel room.Then she remembered that she was going skiing today. With a grin, she threw back the covers and got out of bed. The floors were heated and she nearly moaned with delight. She’d gotten so used to keeping her apartment cold to keep the heating bill down, she’d forgotten how nice it was to wake up and be warm.In the next bed over, Aliyah slept. She still looked pale, but better than the death-warmed-over look she had last night. The poor thing had spent most of the night in the bathroom dealing with the aftermath of food poisoning.No more gas station sandwiches for either of them.Holly tip-toed to the bathroom and enjoyed the heated tile floors in there. If she ever built a house of her own design, heated tile floors in the bathroom were de
MerryweatherThings were going well, Merryweather thought to herself. She busied herself behind the Ski Shoppe counter, making sure things were just so. She liked it when things were how they were supposed to be.She looked out and watched as the man found his way to the lift.The smile between them told Merryweather she was on the right track, but that they needed more time.Well, that just meant that Merryweather had to use some magic. She'd start small.Something to keep them talking. Something to give them the time they needed to find the love within them.HollyHolly turned to see the man from last night. Or at least, she was pretty sure it was him. It was hard to be sure with the dark sunglasses over his eyes.Either way her stomach did an excited flip-flop. The guy was cute.“Sure.” Together they glided out after a ski chair and waited for the next one to pick them up. Holly was grateful she managed to sit down on the chairlift seat gracefully. She only clattered her poles a li
NathanHe wasn’t quite sure why he invited her to ski with him.Maybe it was her smile. Maybe it was how easy it was to talk to her. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe it was the fact that she rocked the snow-bunny look.Whatever the reason, he was glad he’d asked her.They did three more runs, taking Lovely Lady twice and then Dragon Tamer. She kept pace with him easily. He was a decent skier and had taken lessons from some of the top names in the sport, yet she moved with an effortless grace that he admired.Plus, the conversation on the lifts was the best he’d had in weeks. She didn’t talk about mergers and expense reports. There was no mention of board members and equity payments.Instead, they talked about books. Her tastes were wonderfully eclectic, ranging from romance to science fiction and then to political thrillers. It seemed there wasn’t a book she hadn’t read. They talked about plots and stories. They connected on characters and laughed about things they’d read.It was one of the
NathanThe snow was falling hard enough that the restaurant didn’t have many patrons. It was on the top of a mountain. The only way to get to it was by chair-lift or a snowmobile. As such, they practically had the place to themselves.“Just wait until you try their hot chocolate. It’s amazing,” Nathan told her. “You’ll love it.”“I can’t wait,” she replied with a grin. “I love hot chocolate. It’s one of my favorite drinks in the whole world.”They left their skis outside and hung their jackets on a wooden peg inside the heavy front door. Warmth from multiple fireplaces made the room comfortable after the cold outside. Yet another Christmas tree sat in a position of honor. Nathan ignored it.The restaurant was styled like an old log cabin. The furniture inside was rustic, but the windows were huge. The hostess sat them at a small table in front of the main window overlooking the ski basin.“Wow,” Holly whispered. She sat staring out the window at the incoming storm over the craggy peak