Holiday Romance Collection - 6 Books Bundle (Erotic Romance - Holiday Romance) (8 page)

      She realized that she’d made him wait long enough, and she better get upstairs to him.  She strode towards the elevator of her apartment building, when suddenly a familiar figure entered the lobby.  It was Evan!

     She rushed into the elevator, and anxiously pushed the button, trying to close the door in time.  She thought she’d be safe from him, but at the last second, he managed to shove his hand in the way, and the doors slid back open.  Evan blocked them open with his body, trapping her from being able to close them.

     “I told you, I don’t want to talk to you anymore Evan!” she glared at him quietly.

     “I know.” Evan said softly, a look of defeat in his eyes.  She’d never seen him looking so pitiful, and it softened her heart.  “I just wanted to get to say goodbye to you, the right way.  You were right to tell me that I’d become too controlling.  You were right to want to make your own choices and decisions.  I shouldn’t have gone crazy the way that I did that night.  I didn’t mean any of those things that I said.  I love you Andie; and I realize now more than ever just how much you mean to me.  Please come back to me, and I promise to always treat you right.”

     Andie looked at the man she had loved for over two years, and found she couldn’t completely close her heart to him.  He looked so genuinely sad, and sounded so sincerely sorry.  She that real tears glistened in the corners of his eyes.

       “I just don’t know, Evan” Andie said, suddenly unsure of everything she’d known only moments before.  “Can you really change that much in such a short time? 
Can I ever really trust you again?”

     “Just take this, and think about it.  I’ll call you tomorrow and we can talk more then.” Evan said.  He handed a small gift bag and left.  The elevator doors closed instantly behind him, and started carrying Andie up to her apartment. 

      She looked in the bag and saw it held a small velvet ring box.  She opened it with shaking hands and saw it held the most brilliant diamond ring she’d ever seen.  A tiny note in the lid of the box said “Marry Me” in Evan’s handwriting.

      As the elevator reached her floor, and the doors opened, Andie just stood there with an engagement ring from Evan in one hand, and a paddle from Ryan in the other.

      The doors closed again, and she looked at her reflection in them and wondered who she should choose. 

Do you like this book? Be sure to check other books in this series

Wrapped up with ribbons - Volume 2

A fresh New Year - Volume 3

When Naughty becomes so Nice - Trilogy

She trudged along behind her best friend, Alondra, heading for her first-ever skiing lesson, still unable to comprehend what had beseeched her when she had agreed to undertake this trip. Sports were not for her, not even in high school had she managed to find a suitable sport, and somehow a sport where she would have to balance herself on two thin strips of wood seemed an even more unlikely fit. But Alondra had requested her presence and company on this holiday, and she had been too concerned about her friend’s emotional state to turn her down. However, had she known Alondra would be as insistent on her participating in all of the local activities, she most certainly would have declined and rather stayed home. But then again, it was approaching Christmas, and she has always believed that no one should be alone around Christmas, even less so in a foreign country.

Setting her resolve, she hiked up the skies again and followed her friend’s trail. She had a lesson with some foreign instructor, who in all likelihood could barely speak English proficiently enough to be understood. Alondra had been insistent on the lessons when Danielle had let it slip that she could not ski, and had professed that she needed to push her boundaries more, that it would be good for her to learn something new. Hence, she found herself kitted to the hilt in rented gear, with her eyes straining from the sheer amount of whiteness surrounding them.

Danielle liked her comfort zone; she saw no need to put herself directly in harm’s way, which was exactly what her participation in sports resulted in.

A few yards on, Alondra came to a marker and slowed down to a halt. Danielle sighed in relief as she caught up with her friend, resting the ends of her skies in the snow as she looked out over the almost flat expanse of snow.  

A group of people moved about slowly on their skies, their exuberance making up for their lack of skill as the started gathering in a group off to the side. A person dressed as bulkily in snow gear approached them and addressed Alondra, from his voice she could determine he was English, and from Alondra’s response it was clear that he was the instructor. He turned his attention towards Danielle, dark glasses covered his eyes and the gear surrounding his face made it difficult to discern his features, however he smiled warmly and indicated for her to follow him.

Danielle took up her position along a group of about ten others, and was shown how to adjust the bootjacks on their skies, and how to fasten them properly ensuring they locked in place. They were then shown how to stand correctly with their knees slightly bend before being shown how to push-off.

Their instructor had a surprisingly calm demeanor with a large English vocabulary, which should not have been as surprising as he had a distinct British accent. However, Danielle was incapable of placing its origin, unlike American accents, which were easy for her to place. He did not have the cockney associated with the Irish nor the drawl associated with the Scottish. However, his pronunciation placed him from somewhere within the
British Isles
, possibly around
London
. He had strong facial features, with his slight stubble indicating dark hair. He was also older than she had expected an instructor of being, having noticed some of the younger employees at dinner the evening before, chatting up some of the girls.

His manner managed to make her less aware of her lack of skills, as she followed his instructions. The others learning to ski were just as wonky on their skies as she was, which made the environment less demanding, more centered on achieving something than competing against each other to see who’s the best.

They were each given a turn to push-off before coming to a halt a few yards down the strip of snow. The push-off hardly posed a challenge; it was stopping that lead to her tumbling in the snow. And Danielle was thankful that her fall was cushioned by soft snow.

Several falls later, she simply righted herself in the snow and remained sitting there, releasing a frustrated sigh when the instructor came up to her. He lifted his dark glasses from his eyes, his gaze capturing hers as he smiled slightly and shook is head, before extending his hand towards her. Enamored by his dark brown eyes she instinctively responded, and took hold of his hand, allowing him to pull her upright again. His hold on her remained until she managed to find her balance, before he spoke up, ‘Slow down, you move too sudden.’

He moved slightly to brush some snow from her suit, his action causing her to become even more aware of his proximity. His hands settled on her hips, before he continued, “move them slowly, sudden movements jolt the skies.”  

    A bolt of awareness shot through her, his touch scorched her through the layers of clothing. The sensations remained even after he had removed his hands, indicating for her to try again.

He guided her through the push-off and the initial turn to slow down, and yet again she made the turn too sudden and forgot to push her weight down and into the snow, causing her to tumble again. Although this time round, she simply remained lying there.

“You should get up.” Her instructor called to her from his position a few yards up.

To which Danielle grumpily replied, “I don’t feel like it.”

“Well you’re blocking the slopes, and in about ten minutes you’ll get run over by the first lot of experienced skiers coming down the slope.” He called back to her, causing Danielle to sit up and look towards him, noticing someone bringing him a pair of skies. She also saw Alondra approaching her. 

“Come on Danielle.” Alondra said halting in front of her friend, holding out her hand for her to take, chirping “It’s not so bad, you’ll get it, eventually.” as she helped Danielle up.

“Eventually being the operative word.” Danielle said as she took hold of her friend’s hand. “Whoever would have though that skiing is so hard, those pictures make it look so easy.”

“It is.” The voice of her instructor came behind her.

“Ha! Not if you’re me.” Danielle threw back.

“Come on, try again,” He patiently invited.

“I don’t want to.” Danielle sulkily professed.

“Come on Danielle.” Alondra jostled her slightly, “How are we coining to go cross country skiing if you give up now?”

“Simple, I’ll stay in our room.” Danielle deadpanned.   

“Come last one for the day, then I’ll let you go.” Her instructor professed.

“Come on Danielle, it’s easy once you get the hang of it.” Alondra injected.

“Funny, I remember a riding instructor saying that to me once, it was also after I had fallen off for the so manyeth time.” Danielle threw back. 

“Well at least here you’re closer to the ground, and the landing is softer.’ Her instructor returned.

“Must you be so optimistic?” Danielle dejectedly returned.

“Hey! That’s why I teach people to ski.” He quickly enthused, “Come I’ll go with you this time.” coming to stand behind her before stepping into his own skies. He placed his hands on her hips holding them firmly. His touch caused a myriad of tingling sensations to spread from the area. “Right, now push-off.” He said next to her ear, causing shivers to run up her spine as she struck off, his actions mirroring her own as he stayed with her for a bit, his hands remaining on her hips.

I really need to get a boyfriend again,
she thought as he moved slightly behind her, her body registering the slightest shift in his body.

“Okay now turn and push your weight down into your heels.” He commanded guiding her hips with his hands. Once again, her movement were too sudden, this time sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

“Ugh!” he grunted as her elbow dug into his side. Moving to keep his weight from pinning her to the ground.

“Oh God! I’m so sorry. See I told you I’m useless at this.” Danielle professed moving to pull away from him.

“Actually you’re not, you just move too quickly, you just need to slow down your reactions. Then you’ll be fine.” he replied, sitting up, pulling his limbs from hers before releasing his skies and getting up from the snow.

“You’re just trying to be nice.” She countered, following his example and releasing her skies.

“I have found it works.” He replied turning towards her, offering her his hand again, “And anyways, you owe me a drink.”

“What! Why so?” She asked in surprise as he pulled her onto her feet. 

“If you fall or run over the instructor, you owe them a drink.” He returned with a boyish grin.

“And just where does it say that?” Danielle requested, once she righted herself, her heart pounding slightly in her chest at the thought of sharing drinks with him.

“The unspoken slope rules.” He professed, “You and your friend can repay me tonight.” He continued, turning from her and gathering up their skies.

Danielle felt her disposition drop slightly at that, and nodded her head slightly in acceptance when he handed her her set of skies. It was not the first time something like that has happened. Many guys had approached her in the past, even whilst they had been at school, as a means to get closer to Alondra.

He offered her his arm as they made their way back up the slight slope to where Alondra stood waiting. His proximity sent her side alight with sensations, tingling in awareness. And although she was warm under her clothes, her cheeks were stinging with the cold and her nose felt frozen.

“Hey, you okay?” Alondra asked as they approached her, she noticed the concern on her friends face and nodded in reply “Yeah, I’m okay. What’s a few more bruises?” Danielle replied, watching as Alondra turned her attention towards her instructor to thank him. Her caramel coloring and dark hair, accentuated her delicate bone structure. In a word, Alondra was beautiful. Drawing male gazes to her by the dozen. Danielle always thought herself a pale wallflower by comparison, because men rarely seemed to take notice of her when Alondra was nearby.