Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Bianca

Focusing on the excitement of seeing Felix—feeling his arms around her—Bianca pushed aside any nagging feelings of guilt. Curiosity is all it was. She’d been curious about Gio’s comment ever since he first made it on the slopes. The wine had just given her the courage to ask. That’s all it was.

“What happened?” she asked, pulling away from him so she could see his eyes. “I thought you said you wouldn’t make it up tonight.”

“Babe, I was waiting for my driver when I called you.” Felix’s playful smile warmed her. It’s what she loved most about him. She always told him she could totally picture what he looked like as a little boy. Despite his rugged features, he still had such a baby face. “I was this close to just telling you, but I knew how disappointed you were about me not making it up yesterday. I wanted to do something special.”

Bianca turned to the mariachis who hadn’t stopped playing. One moment she was smiling so big she nearly laughed, and then just like that the feeling was gone and her stomach dropped.

Andy, Felix’s publicist, waved at her from where he stood near the back of the car, talking on his phone. She turned back to Felix, fighting the scowl that threatened to replace her happy face. “Why is he here?”

“He’ll only be here for a couple of days. Just so you know, the media knows I’m up here and they’re already on their way. In fact, there was already one van parked outside the gates when I drove up.” Felix wrapped his arms around her waist, and she couldn’t help smiling and touched his lips with her finger. He kissed it then continued, “He’s here to handle the first few exchanges with the media, and tomorrow morning, I’m scheduled to make an appearance at some local charity thing.”

Bianca couldn’t help feeling disappointed, and apparently, she was no good at hiding it either. Felix kissed her forehead and then quickly began explaining. “It’s in the morning. I’ll be back before lunch, and then we’ll have the rest of the day together. I would’ve said no, but Andy thinks it’s best if I voluntarily do photo shoots for all these vultures. Says they’ll be less persistent about getting that first photo of me up here if I offer it up front.”

Bianca shivered. In her haste to get to Felix, she’d run out in only her pajamas, barely stopping to put her snow boots on.

“C’mon, let’s go get you a jacket,” Felix said.

She wrapped her arms around his big arm, leaning her head against him and for an instant had a flashback of touching and holding Gio’s arms on the slopes when she was first showing him how to stand. Again, she tried shaking the thoughts away until Felix brought them right back. “So, did Gio get the hang of snowboarding?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “He got pretty good actually. He wanted to race.”

Felix laughed. “Aw, shit! Were you guys out there all day?” Gio stood just inside as they walked in, making Felix’s smile even bigger. “Hey, Brotha!” He pulled away from Bianca to reach out and clap Gio on the shoulder then shook his hand. “Sorry it took me a minute to get here, but I hear you had fun on the slopes today.”

Gio glanced at Bianca with a smile. “Yeah, she got me up there. And did she tell you what a badass I was?”

Bianca laughed now. She was glad there was no awkwardness. She didn’t know what she was thinking. These two had been friends for years.

“Yeah, well, just wait ’til tomorrow. Your ass is gonna be laid up all day. Did you take some aspirin already?”

Gio shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Dude, take some. I’m not shitting you. You’re gonna be hurting bad tomorrow.”

Gio assured him he would. Bianca walked away to grab her heavy jacket, beanie, and gloves. She wasn’t sure how long the mariachis would be there, but it was freezing out there.

They stood out on the porch, having another glass of wine and listening to the musicians play a few more songs. Felix held her close, whispering again and again how much he’d missed her. Then Gio joined them as promised after Felix had insisted he have a few drinks with them before going to bed.

At first, it seemed Gio was a little uncomfortable, but within a few minutes, he was laughing at Felix’s stories about the old days.

When the mariachis wrapped it up, Felix walked away and down the cabin steps toward them to pay them. He also needed to talk to the driver who was driving them back to the restaurant where he’d found them.

Bianca glanced back at Gio, and to her surprise, he smirked playfully. “You happy?”

She smiled, nodding and feeling a little embarrassed about how obvious she was. Being in Felix’s arms again, hearing him tell her he missed her went beyond making her happy.

Felix walked back up the stairs of the cabin, immediately pulling Bianca to him. “So, tomorrow,” he said, leaning against the railing and wrapping his arms around Bianca’s middle so that they were both facing Gio. “I figure there’s no way you’ll be up to working out, and I gotta make an appearance at least once at the festivities they’ll be having all month for USASA Nationals going on.”

“What is that?” Gio asked.

“Snowboarding and skiing championships.” Felix paused to kiss Bianca’s temple then took a drink of his wine. Bianca was already tensing up, listening to him talk about making appearances. She wondered if he’d noticed and that’s why he paused. “Anyhow, tomorrow they’re having this thing at one of the bars up here. It’s pretty cool. They have bands and shit. I’ll have to schmooze a little, but Ray and Ignacio will be there. And Andy,” Felix made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he hooks you up.”

Bianca fought the urge to roll her eyes, knowing exactly what that meant. As if Gio needed any help getting hooked up. The guy would probably have them lining up as soon as he walked in the place. To her surprise, Gio’s only response was, “And Bianca?”

“Oh, she’ll be there too, right, babe?” She glanced at him, smiling with a nod. “But she’ll probably be with me while I’m schmoozing. So I just meant you’ll have Ray and Iggy to hang with while I do my rounds.”

Gio nodded, taking a drink of his wine. Bianca stared at him, wondering what to make of the fact that his only concern about tomorrow’s plans was whether or not she’d be there.

They called it a night after that last drink. Andy had long ago made his exit to his own private cabin on the compound but had reminded Felix of their early morning appointment.

The extra glasses of wine Bianca had in honor of Felix’s unexpected arrival had done just the opposite of what a few calming glasses usually do—they made her anxious. She had butterflies in her stomach, just thinking about their first night together in weeks.

As soon as the door closed behind them in the massive room Felix called the master bedroom, he pulled her to him, sinking his tongue deep in her mouth then moaned. “Damn!” he said, pulling away then looking deep in her eyes without saying anything for a moment. “I had a really long day. I need to shower, but, uh,” he tugged at her pajama top, “you’re not gonna need these. The heater is on, and I promise I won’t let you get cold tonight.” He kissed her again, this time a little harder with his tongue exploring her mouth wildly. “Take ’em off, and I’ll meet you back in my bed in ten.” Breathlessly Bianca nodded as he walked away slowly.

She giggled as she fumbled with the buttons on her pajama top then decided to just skip the whole process and pulled the top over her head a little too fast. With her head in a fog and feeling so heavy, Bianca nearly tumbled onto the bed, making her giggle even more. She managed to get her balance back and stepped out of her bottoms and panties then crawled into the gloriously comfortable bed. She slipped under the silk sheets and lay back onto the many down pillows.

After this morning’s disappointment, Felix had more than made up for it, and soon he’d be making love to her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes barely able to believe how wonderful this day had turned out. Heaven. Heaven is what this felt like.