List of Secrets

CHAPTER TWO-3

On day three, Donny asked again, and she said yes. He beamed at her. “Great,” he exclaimed, as their session for the day was winding down. “Pick you up at six?”

“Sounds great,” she replied, and gazed at him with those sparkling green eyes.

He escorted her back to the lodge, and they parted ways to prepare for their date.

She showered, toweled herself dry, and thought about him while she pondered what to wear. “Dammit, I like him,” she sighed. That part sucked. She didn’t often meet interesting men. But he’d been involved, so he had to go. No exceptions. End of story. Pull it together and get this done.

Meanwhile, Donny had also showered, and was pulling on form fitting jeans and boots. “She is amazing,” he murmured to himself as he chose and put on a sweater that brought out the gold flecks in his hazel eyes, then turned to the mirror to make sure his hair was perfect. He’d felt the electricity surge between them on day one, when he’d placed his hands on her sides to try to help her feel what she needed to do when traveling down a slope to be able to turn. Since then, the days with her had flown by much too fast. But she’d finally agreed to spend time together as man and woman rather than instructor and student.

He grinned as he brushed his perfect white teeth. He wanted her, badly. And he had no idea what was driving it. All he knew was that he just had to see her, even if only once, out of that blue suit and in his bed. But hopefully more than once. He felt a real connection forming, and he didn’t want it to be just another one-night stand. He’d done enough of those, especially with Olympics groupies back in the day.

His conscience mocked him. After everything you did, you don’t deserve a normal life, or a real relationship.

“No! That is ancient history. I’ve changed. I’m not that guy anymore!” he told himself out loud as he stared into his own soul in the mirror for a long moment.

Donny broke out of his reverie and glanced at his watch. “Gotta get moving, I’m gonna be late,” he chided himself. The fifteen-minute drive back to the lodge left him with exactly three minutes to spare. Promptly at six p.m. she came down the staircase of the lodge. He offered his arm, escorted her to his car, then opened the door for her. She entered with a surprised expression.

“What?” he asked. “Everything all right?”

“Fine,” she told him. “Just trying to remember how long it’s been since a date opened any doors for me.”

He shut her door, walked around the car, and got in. “Well, darlin, that’s a damn shame,” he smiled and kissed her hand before starting the car. “Do you like steaks?”

She gave him one of her rarely used genuine smiles, and replied, “Love steaks.”

“Then I know just the place.” He winked at her as he started to drive.

Twenty minutes later saw them seated at a cozy candlelit table for two, next to a window where they could watch the snow falling softly in huge swirling flakes. He noticed her gazing at them. “They make for great skiing. Not too wet, not too dry, and if you fall, it doesn’t hurt quite as much. Unless you’re hauling a*s down the mountain,” he grinned. “Then any fall hurts.”

She grinned back, sipped her wine. Dammit, Donny. Why do you have to be so handsome, so charming, so nice? She sighed very quietly to herself. That makes this a lot harder. Be conceited or something. Please.

The cooked to perfection steaks arrived in short order, and she purposely kept the conversation light as they ate. “Hmm, this is fabulous,” she nodded in approval as she savored the first bite. “Yeah,” he answered. “Best steakhouse in all of Colorado, if you ask me. But even better than usual, because of the company.” And he picked up his glass and raised it to her. She blushed, picked her glass up as well, and they toasted.

By the end of the meal, she knew she was in trouble. She really, really liked Donny. And that had been completely unexpected, the total opposite of the Judge. He’d been a self-absorbed a*s since day one; as a result, she’d had zero difficulty following through with ridding the world of him. But Donny was different. Her resolve was beginning to waver in a huge way.

He dropped her back off at the lodge after dinner, and she had fought the urge to invite him up. Instead, she gave him a small kiss, nodded and smiled when he ended their evening with, “I had a great time. See you tomorrow for another lesson?”

Now she paced back and forth in her room. Emotions. She’d not taken those into account in all this. Dammit.

She’d call her best friend. Her best friend always had stellar advice, especially when it came to men. She dug her cell out of her purse, dialed, and waited.

“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “I need your advice.” And she told her best friend about Donny, how cute he was, how nice, that she was starting to fall for him.

“So, what’s the problem?” came the reply. “He’s single, you’re single, have fun with it.”

“You really think I should?”

“Look, it’s not that big a deal. If you can’t decide right now how far you wanna put yourself out there, then don’t. Keep it light. You can circle back to it later. It’s not like you don’t have other things to focus on, you know.”

“You’re right, that’s true.”

A laugh. “Of course, I’m right. Go with your gut here, is what I’m saying. No need to make a life-altering decision right this second.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep you posted. Love ya.”

“Love you too, girly.”

Yeah, she thought to herself as she hung up, undressed for bed, brushed out her hair. Don’t have to make this decision right this minute. Really not any set timeframe driving all this, to be honest. It’s all as fast or as slow as I choose. So, I can postpone for now, see where this goes with him.

She pulled out her little notebook, considered. “Well, well, Mr. Norton,” she murmured with a smile as she erased numbers beside the two names to change the order. “Looks like you’ll get to go next instead.”

She climbed into bed, turned off the lamp. Her phone buzzed. She picked it up from her nightside table and checked her text messages.

Sweet dreams, beautiful. See you in the morning. – Donny.

She smiled as she faded into sleep.

* * *

* * * *

Day four in Vail, and her mood had changed. She’d decided to allow herself to explore these feelings, had shelved her original plans for him until further notice. It was the first day to get off the practice area and hit the slopes together. They chatted companionably as they rode the chairlift up the mountain to the beginning of the ski runs. Given that she’d severely understated her skiing ability, she had to pretend the green route scared her a bit. Donny was encouraging and gentle, never leaving her side, and when they reached the bottom, he gave her a megawatt smile and a big hug.

“You did great!” he exclaimed. “Wanna go again?”

“Sure,” she responded, caught up in his enthusiasm. They rode the chairs again, re-ran the green route at a pace that allowed for conversation. She honestly could not recall the last time she’d had so much fun with anyone. When he mentioned dinner plans, she readily accepted.

“Where would you like to go tonight?” he asked her. “Italian?”

“What about your place?” she countered. “If that’s okay.”

He took her hands in his. “That is definitely okay with me.”

As before, he dropped her off at the lodge, with plans to return at six p.m. to retrieve her for their night out together. She headed to her room to make sure her appearance would leave him breathless.

* * *

* * * *

Landon secured his overnight bag in the storage compartment then settled into his window seat in row four for the long flight to Turkey. He was very excited to finally be making this trip; he hoped to expand his set of contacts in the region that would give him a huge advantage in importing Oriental and Persian rugs into the United States. Even as a child he’d been fascinated with other cultures. No surprise then that the import/export business was what he’d chosen to pursue, since it allowed him to experience little slices of other lives apart from his own.

He took the few minutes of time available before cell phones needed to be turned off to peruse his email. Nothing new had arrived that he needed to deal with. Good. That meant he could relax and enjoy his travels. Not to say a plethora of messages wouldn’t be waiting for him once they landed. But for now, at least, he could wind down and get some sleep.

Veronica popped into his mind. He smiled ruefully. She was beautiful, no question. There just wasn’t any spark, unfortunately – not from his side, at least. He sighed. He supposed he could have continued seeing her, but he’d felt dishonest at the mere thought of it. So, he had disentangled himself as gently as possible the previous evening. No point in proceeding down a path that didn’t lead to someone he’d want to spend a lifetime with.

Someday I’ll meet her, he thought to himself as the plane pulled away from the gate. Someday.

* * *