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A glance in his mirrors and Nicholas pulled out onto the road and headed downtown. “Is it warm enough in here for you?”
“Yes. The heat feels divine.” She held the palm of her hands in front of his heat vents, then rubbed them together. “Thank you for asking.”
“No problem.” The traffic light turned red and he stopped. A string of shoppers swarmed in the cross walk in front of them, reminding him that he still needed to do his own shopping. Thankfully, Christmas was still three weeks away so he still had time.
“They’re having their Christmas party kind of early, aren’t they?” Anna asked.
Nicholas glanced over at her. “I guess they have it the first week of December every year because a lot of them take off early to go and be with their families. My uncle is a real stickler for family, and he pretty much insists that they do.”
“Oh? Does your family live around here?”
From the corner of his eye, Nicholas saw her brush something off of her skirt.
“Only my uncle Tony and his children do. My parents and siblings live in and around New York.”
“I see. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
“Four brothers and three sisters. I’m the oldest.”
“Really? Interesting. I’m the oldest too.”
Nicholas wondered how old Anna was but he wasn’t about to ask. A long time ago, he’d learned the hard way to never ask a woman’s age, and he wasn’t about to do it now no matter how curious he was. “How about you? Do you have any family here?” he asked.
“No. They’re all in California.”
“California?” He glanced over at her and looked back at the road. “How did you end up here?”
“Actually, it’s the other way around. I stayed. They left. I was born and raised here in Colorado. My business was thriving when they all decided they were tired of the snow and cold. So my parents decided to retire and move to California, and when my sisters and their families went out for a visit, they all liked it so much that they moved out there too. I, on the other hand, stayed here.”
That intrigued him. “Are you sorry you didn’t move out there with them?”
“No-o. Not at all. I love it here. I can’t image living anywhere else. Christmas without snow, um, not for me.”
He laughed.
“Besides, I love to ski. It’s one of my favorite things to do. When I get a chance to head up the mountain, I go.”
Nicholas checked the traffic before shifting lanes. “I’ve never been snow skiing before.”
She whipped her head his way. “You haven’t? They have ski slopes in New York, don’t they?”
“Oh yes. In fact, New York has more ski slopes than anywhere in the US. But, my family wasn’t big on snow skiing, so I never went either. None of my friends skied. They were more into boating. Same with me.”
“That’s a shame. Not about the boating, I mean. About snow skiing. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Well, maybe you could take me sometime.” Sometime soon. Somehow until that moment he hadn’t been at all bothered by the fact that in the next week or so, he would be back in New York.
“Maybe I will.” Her smile made him glad he had asked even though skiing was likely to never happen as he didn’t know just exactly how long he would be here in Colorado. With that thought, he took a breath and realized he needed to not get too attached to her. They lived worlds apart, and it would do him good to remember that. Tonight would be enjoyable to be in her presence, and if the opportunity presented itself during his time here, maybe they could see each other again. But this needed to stay light and fun—no strings attached. Nicholas glanced over at her and smiled to himself. Keep it casual. That shouldn’t be so hard to remember, right?
♥ ♥ ♥
Anna’s fear about being out of place with her costume was put to rest the instant they walked through the lobby toward the elevators. Three other ladies dressed in princess-style ball gowns stepped into the elevator. Two of them had on sparkly masks. One of the three men with them was dressed like a pirate, the other a gangster, and the other had on a Phantom of the Opera costume.
Before she and Nicholas got there, the door closed the six people inside, so they waited for the next available elevator and stepped into it. “Seven, please,” Nicholas said to the man pushing the elevator floor buttons.
“Same as us,” the young man dressed as the Hulk answered. He scanned Nicholas from head to toe. “You must be heading to the Vitale’s party?”
“Yes we are,” Nicholas answered for them, smiling at Anna as he did so. “It looks like you guys are too.”
