“Yes, we’re friends, and we work together. We have been friends for a long time now,” even the words tasted bad in my mouth. I didn’t like lying, but I also didn’t want to be fodder for the gossip columns.
“Hmm, well, when you want to upgrade, let me know, okay?”
I gave her a nod just to acknowledge her. “I have got to go. Enjoy the party,” I said, making my way back to the prettiest woman in the room.
“That looked rough,” Melinda winced.
“She has her claws out tonight, ready to use.”
“Meow,” Melinda mocked, clawing the air.
“It's funny to know until she sinks those bad boys into my chest and rips my heart out or something.”
“You’re so dramatic,” Melinda ducked her head to enter the ski−lift, and when I settled in next to her, I laid the bar down to keep us safe, and then we slowly descended. It was a beautiful evening for a gala like this.
I sipped the punch and puckered my lips. “Holy shit, that is a ton of vodka in there.”
"What? I told them to….” Melinda sighed, and in unison, we both said, “Mary.”
Mary could be a little heavy-handed … though I suspected mainly because she wanted to see people toppling over in the snow. Her sense of humor was…well, it was very Mary. I’d gotten to know her over the past year and, looks aside, she was a nice woman. If you managed to earn her trust and she let you in—so if only a little bit—she could be both fun and sweet.
“This gala is magical. How did you manage to get twinkling lights on these lifts?”
“It’s a secret that I’ll never tell.”
“I want to kiss you so bad.”
“Chris—”
“I know. I know. I can't. I want to, though. I really want to.”
“I do, too,” she admitted. “It's hard. I didn't think it would be.”
“Why can’t we tell people again?” I asked. I knew the answer, of course. The ski−lift stopped just then, and I held out my hand to help her out. Her luck, she would fall.
“We’re getting good press right now. People are talking about the resort, so let’s keep it that way. When they start talking about us …who knows what they’ll dig out, or what angle they’ll take?”
I wasn’t ready for anyone to know about my brother, so I nodded, walking to the SUV limo we had waiting. We drove by the chalet we stayed at that one night I showed her the rink. She blushed and looked away from me. I knew that face. It was the face of someone who knew a secret and didn’t want to tell me said secret.
Game on.
The rink came into view, and the doors had been replaced with new ones, but now they were wide open. I got out and held my hand out, helping my lady out again. It wanted to slip my fingers between hers but pulled them away before anyone could see.
“This rink is amazing,” Melinda gawked as we entered.
“Why are you shocked? You decorated it.”
“It’s different now. People are here.”
We’d covered half the rink with a wooden floor so people could walk on it. The other half could be skated on, and on the left-hand side, people could rent skates. To the right, hot chocolate and champagne were served, and the whole place was decked out like a winter wonderland.
"You’re impressive,” I said. “I know I've given you a hard time, but I couldn't have done any of this without you.”
“Yes, you could.”
“No, no, I couldn’t.”
“Melinda!” her name rang loudly, and when I spotted the speaker, I couldn’t help but smile.
