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One of his eyebrows rose. ‘The water?’ He was obviously curious.
She nodded but didn’t give anything away.
Leo leaned over to kiss her. ‘Your wish is my command. Now, let’s go and have some fun.’
It only took her ten minutes to get ready and have the conversation with Leo’s PA. She switched on the coffee machine while Leo was showering and fired up his computer to check her messages.
Her heart gave a little leap as she noticed the email from Hans straight away.
The email was detailed. It gave her a full outline of what her role and responsibilities would be. They had a clear job description for her with a wide remit, complete with salary and expenses—more than she could ever have imagined. She’d be right at the heart of the championship skiing committee.
But not as a competitor.
Part of it made her feel happy. She’d never have thought they would have considered her in a million years. But the other part of her brain was irrationally insulted. They assumed she’d never get back to professional skiing. Surely they knew she was training again?
Almost automatically her hand started rubbing her leg and her other hand reached for her handbag and froze. She was looking for painkillers. The ones she took every day.
The ones she currently didn’t need.
She stopped and pushed herself up from the chair, filling a glass with water while she waited for the coffee. Taking the painkillers had become automatic.
Except for...now.
She did a few gentle stretches. The truth was since she’d got on her feet again she’d never stopped training. She’d thought she just had to learn to live with pain and medicate it.
She’d never actually imagined that if she’d stopped skiing the pain wouldn’t be there any more. How stupid was that?
The machine clicked next to her and she exchanged Leo’s full cup of coffee with her empty one. She inserted a new pod and pressed the button as she tried to process her thoughts. Was she reaching for something she could never achieve? Was she damaging her body for a dream that would never come true?
Tears pricked in her eyes as she looked out over the snow-dusted city. Out there was a world of possibilities. Maybe she needed to consider her options a little more rationally—take the emotion, history and heart out of things—but could she do that?
Leo appeared at the door smiling, rubbing his hair with one towel, another wrapped around his waist.
He fixed on her with those bright blue eyes. ‘Brilliant, I smell coffee.’ His fresh, clean scent drifted around her as he moved beside her and shot her a sexy grin. ‘So, Anissa. Surprise me. What are we doing today?’
* * *
She was definitely infectious. And he liked it. He liked it a lot.
They started by taking the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty. But one sighting wasn’t enough and Anissa wanted to do the whole tourist thing. So they took the boat to Liberty Island and climbed the stairs to the pedestal, statue and finally the crown.
‘Isn’t it great?’ she whispered as they looked out over New York Harbor and Manhattan.
‘It is, isn’t it?’ he agreed, wondering why he’d never done this before.
She nudged him. ‘It’s freezing today. Do you think the Hudson will be frozen?’
He thought for a second. ‘Parts of it could be—why?’
She smiled. ‘Because it might make where I want to go next even more special.’
‘And where’s that?’
She kept grinning. ‘Not saying. I want it to be a surprise,’ she said teasingly. ‘I’ve checked the directions and I’ll tell you when we get there.’
* * *
An hour and a half later he frowned as he looked at a sign in front of him. ‘You want to go here? Really?’
‘Are you joking?’ She held up her hands. ‘Of course I want to go here.’ She pointed to the river. ‘Look, a submarine surrounded by frozen ice, how cool is that?’ She gestured to the hangar high above them. ‘In there is a space shuttle. Have you ever seen a space shuttle before? Touched one? I haven’t. And I can’t wait.’ She spun around and pointed directly above. ‘And up there, are the old war planes. Don’t you remember that movie? The one where the guy is the last man left in New York with the zombies and he plays golf from the top of one of the war planes?’
Leo frowned, taking a few seconds to place the film, before it finally clicked in his brain. ‘Of course!’ He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. ‘You’re just a big kid really, aren’t you?’
Her cold nose brushed against his chin. ‘Maybe I am,’ she said quickly. ‘Or maybe I’m just reassessing things. Deciding what’s important.’
The look in her eyes as she said the words tugged at his heart. There it was again. The sign that they were on the same wavelength. She lifted her hands and rested them on his shoulders. She licked her lips. ‘Maybe we both need to have a think about things. Tell me more about your chat with Noemi yesterday.’
He rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help it. ‘It was fine. She was chatty. Asked lots of questions. Mainly around when I’d be back.’
Anissa nodded her head. ‘She wants to get to know you better, Leo. It’s a natural response. And I’m glad.’
He nodded. ‘I guess. It was apparently a dream of Mother and Father’s that they would have all their children together around the table at Christmas.’
Anissa took a few seconds. ‘Does Noemi want to fulfil that dream?’
He nodded. ‘But isn’t it too late? They’re gone.’
She gripped his shoulders firmly. ‘But you’re not gone. Noemi and Sebastian are not gone. This is your family, Leo. The people you should get to know. The people you should get to love.’
She was right. He knew she was right. But it just seemed like such a big leap into the unknown.
She kept talking. ‘Christmas is a really special for families. I always love spending this time of year with my mum and dad.’
‘Are you going home for Christmas?’ Something panged inside him. He wasn’t quite sure how he wanted her to answer this question.
She shook her head. ‘I promised
I’d work. I’m going home a few days before Christmas then coming back on the twenty-third. It will be fine. My mum will make Christmas dinner early and we’ll celebrate then.’ She gave a shrug. ‘I always keep my commitments and someone has to work.’
She’d be there. Inside his heart gave a little leap. If he decided to go back for Christmas, Anissa would be there. Somehow that made things not seem quite so daunting.
She tilted her head to one side. ‘Noemi was the easy one to call, wasn’t she? The person you really need to call is Sebastian.’
He let out a wry laugh. ‘How come you never beat around the bush? How come you just go straight for the jugular?’
She laughed too. ‘Because life is too short. And, anyway, you know your brother was angry about the will. I bet he was hurt. He must have spent his whole life working for that position and now he feels as if it’s been ripped away from him and all his hard work counts for nothing.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘What’s Noemi’s stake in this?’
‘She’s a silent partner. But I’m not sure how happy she is about that.’
Anissa put her hand on his chest. ‘You don’t know what else is going on in their lives—apart from the fact they’ve just lost their parents and found out about a secret brother, there could be other stuff.’ She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear as she hugged him tight. ‘Take a breath, Leo. Take a chance. Once they get to know you, they’ll think that you’re great.’
His stomach gave a flutter. He’d never, ever had anyone support him as much as Anissa was doing now. And he wanted to reciprocate. He wanted to do the same for her as she was doing for him.
But that could mean asking her questions she didn’t want to be asked. Asking if her she really could make it back to championship skiing. And right now the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Or damage the most valuable relationship he’d started to form.
He kissed her swiftly on the lips and lowered his voice. ‘Okay, tourist, how would you like to see the inside of my submarine?’
