right then, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t break my heart. I just didn’t think I could survive being broken by him again. Especially now. The way I felt for him was so much the same and yet so different than the first time. It was more intense.
“Your boyfriend is very sweet,” a blonde woman said.
I turned to look at her. I was going to correct her but figured it was a waste of breath. “Is that your son?”
“It is. He thinks he is five going on twenty. I love that he is independent, but it makes me crazy at the same time.”
“Independence is a good thing,” I told her, even though I really didn’t know.
“My husband, his father, is overseas. He’s been there more than he’s been here. He’s so used to being the man of the house it can make him seem a little obstinate.”
“He seems sweet,” I said.
“Your boyfriend seems sweet. How long have you two been together?”
“Uh, not long,” I answered. I didn’t want to explain our complicated relationship.
“Are you here with your kid?”
I smiled. “No, no kids. I work for the resort.”
“Oh. Does your boyfriend work here as well?”
It was cute. She didn’t know who he was. I knew he would be amused by that. “Yes, he does.”
“That must be nice. I can’t imagine what it would be like to not only have my husband in the same country let alone working together.”
I smiled again. “It’s nice.”
I felt like a fraud. There was nothing to do for it.
“Can we take a picture?” the boy asked.
“Absolutely,” Chase answered, waving to the volunteer with the polaroid camera.
The two posed with the completed snowman before Chase gave him the picture. When he turned to look at me, all I could think about was getting the man in bed. I was one of those women. I was turned on by a man showing good father skills.
I was hopeless.
Chapter 45
Chase
Her smile lit up my world. I took her hand in mine as we meandered back into the hotel to check out some of the games that were set up in the ballroom. The change in temperature had me stripping off my jacket. I wasn’t used to wearing a jacket unless I was on a ski hill.
I didn’t spend a lot of time outside, but when I did, I didn’t mind a little chill. It made me feel alive. That was one of the things I missed about Boulder when we moved to Malibu. I missed being cold. It was crazy, and my family couldn’t understand it, but I felt like the cold invigorated me.
“Warm?” I asked her.
“I’m good,” she answered, her green eyes bright. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold outside. She had never looked prettier. Her coat hugged her body, giving her a perfect hourglass figure. She was wearing a cute white knit cap that perfectly framed her face.
“Want more cocoa?”
She leaned closer. “Would it be bad if we snuck into the lounge and got a hot toddy?”
“It would not be bad. It’s for health purposes, right? We need to get our body temperature up.”
“Yes, I like the way you think. We’re warming up.”
“You sure gave those kids hell in that snowball fight,” I teased.
She softly giggled as we walked toward the lounge. “I can’t help it. I can be so competitive at times. I don’t know what comes over me. I feel like a bull with a red flag being waved in front of it. No mercy.”
“You’re a vicious woman. Remind me not to wear red around you and to never challenge you to anything.”
“Hey, that one little kid totally deserved what he got.”
“I agree,” I told her. “You nailed him.”
“I don’t think his mom was very happy with me.”
“I think his mom wanted to shake your hand,” I replied.
“I think a lot of the kids wanted to shake my hand. He was kind of a bully.”
“Yes, he was.”
We got our hot drinks and meandered around the ballroom watching the kids play games. We went into one of the conference rooms that was being utilized for the craft part of the fair. I cringed at the sight of the clutter and mess. The volunteers were struggling to keep things clean, which was expected, but damn, to see it in person was alarming.
“They seem to be enjoying themselves,” I commented.
Harper was watching the kids. “Yes, I think so. It’s a good balance. Some kids seem to prefer quiet activities and then you have those kids outside that are borderline