He pointed and I saw three snow cannons pumping out man-made snow. “I can’t believe you did this!” It must have cost a fortune.
“Let’s go!” He sounded as excited as I felt.
We spent the entire day going up and down the slopes, over and over. I absolutely loved having the place practically to ourselves, with the exception of our camera and sound guys. When they picked the crews to come with us, someone had failed to find out whether or not they could ski. They spent more time in the snow than skiing on it. Dante and I had to keep helping them back to their feet. We laughed and skied and laughed some more.
As it started to turn dark, I felt exhausted physically, but emotionally and mentally I was recharged and refreshed.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this way,” Dante said, right before we walked into our separate rooms.
“What way?”
“Sparkly. Alive. Happy.”
He was right, and we shared another one of those emotionally laden moments that scared me like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
“Skiing always makes me happy,” I said, a little too brightly. “I’m glad we came.”
“That’s what I’m good for. You need someone to remind you to not be so serious all the time. To have fun. Life is too short.”
There was no answer to that other than hiding in my room from him. Like the yellow-bellied coward that I was. I took a very long shower, putting on one of the resort’s fluffy white robes when I finished and towel-drying my hair. I wondered whether there was any food in the kitchen as I hadn’t eaten in hours, and was relieved to find that there was. I had started putting together a salad when a large black spider, which bore more than a passing resemblance to a tarantula, began running across the floor.
I screamed and grabbed my salad bowl, putting it over the spider, trapping him in place. I snagged a wooden spoon and climbed up on the counter, not sure what to do next.
Dante came barreling into the room through our adjoining door. If he’d been a cowboy, he would have had his six-shooters out. “What’s wrong?”
“Spider,” I managed, and pointed to the bowl. It barely registered that he too had just come from the shower and only had on a pair of jeans. I had to be terrified if I couldn’t even enjoy his gorgeously sculpted chest and arms.
He immediately relaxed and came into my kitchen, looking at the bowl and then back at me. “How did you imagine this standoff would end?”
“Shh, don’t talk,” I whispered. “He’s the size of your face. I think he might even have a knife. I don’t want him to hear my voice and come back and get revenge by laying spider eggs in my ears while I’m sleeping.”
“I can’t believe you’re afraid of spiders. I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”
“Oh, be quiet, funny man. I need you to do your manly duty and kill the spider, please.”
He went over to the bowl and I closed my eyes. I heard paper towels being ripped, a scraping noise of the bowl being moved and then silence. “All done. You can open your eyes. I have vanquished the spider for you. Quest number three completed.”
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Very sure.”
I jumped off the counter and ran to him, hugging him tightly. He put his arms around me, holding me close. Fear and adrenaline had been coursing through me, and now they were turning into something else.
Something even scarier than the spider.
Chapter 15
I have developed a deep-seated jealousy of your mirror and all the time it gets to spend looking into your eyes.
He didn’t have on a shirt, and there was only my bathrobe between us. I gulped as my pulse pounded all over my body.
Even though my hair was wet, I felt a wave of heat blast through me. I finally looked up at him, and he had a roguish grin that turned my legs to rubber.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.
“Not even sort of,” I lied, and hoped he wouldn’t see through it. This all felt so deliberate, like he knew he made me crazy and he thought it was hilarious.
Dante smiled like he knew something I didn’t, and then said, “I was thinking it would be fun to go swimming. They heated the pool for us. Do you want to come with me?”