“Sorry about that, I’ll make sure that you get breakfast on the house tomorrow. You shouldn’t have had to wait in the cold for this long,” Ivan said, and I looked at him, meeting his eyes confidently. I was forcing myself to hold his gaze, to keep my chin up even though I was aware of the physical effect he had on my body by just looking at me.
“You don’t have to. This wasn’t your fault,” I said, and Ivan dusted his hands and then stuck it into the pockets of his dark pants. I noticed then that he was too fashionably dressed for a handyman!
“It was nobody’s fault but mine, I should have made sure your cabin was in perfect condition before authorizing giving it to you,” he said. I felt my brows crinkle in confusion.
“You authorized the cabin for me?” I asked, staring back at him and Ivan clenched his jaws. I couldn’t understand why he just didn’t give me an explanation! Why did he enjoy keeping people in the dark about what was on his mind?
“Yes, when you called reception and asked for a cabin,” he said, and I could feel the clogs in my brain working overtime. I was trying to make the connection between a handyman authorizing cabins at a resort, while the obvious truth had escaped my mind. I was too caught up in trying to hate Ivan, to have thought of the first thing that should have struck me.
“You own this place!” I exclaimed, and Ivan said nothing, he didn’t even nod his head.
How was this happening? The person I had traveled all this way to try and interview, was now somehow standing right in front of me, and he was none other than the guy I felt both love and hate towards.
“I’m not proud of the fact right now,” Ivan joked, and finally a soft smirk formed on his face as he turned and looked at the lit fireplace.
“I had no idea,” I said, my eyes were searching his face for an explanation. Ivan Lockner owned the Salthill Peaks ski resort? As far as I knew, it was a family business. How did I not already know this? I’d been to school with this guy!
“Yeah, my family keeps a low profile in the industry,” Ivan explained and then, just as quickly as he had come in, he had started walking towards the front door of my cabin.
I couldn’t say another word as I watched him leave. He was good at that, wasn’t he? He was good at walking away.
But instead of opening the door, Ivan stopped and turned to me, just when I was least expecting it. He fixed his blue eyes on me, with the most intense stare that anyone could give and I felt my mouth run dry at the thought of what he was about to say.
“I’m sorry, Siena. I’ve owed you an apology all these years. I’m sorry if I hurt you that day,” he said, and I felt my stomach drop. I could feel the tips of my fingers shaking with the mix of anger and relief that I was feeling towards him, and then Ivan turned from me again. He was about to leave the cabin.
“Ivan!” I cried, and he looked at me with arched eyebrows. “Do you want to have a drink with me? For old time’s sake?” I said, realizing that was probably the bravest thing I had ever said in my life.
Chapter 6
Ivan
Siena was just as perfect as I remembered her. I watched her now, as she popped open a bottle of red from the stocked bar in the cabin’s living room and poured us both a glass each.
I wasn’t sure if she had forgiven me yet, but all I could tell was that she was being polite. It was more than I expected, and definitely, more than I deserved after the way I had treated her.
After accepting the glass of wine from her, I followed her to the couch, and we both sat down. We both took a sip of our drinks in silence, and when I looked up, I found her staring at me.
“So, you own this place? I can’t believe I had no idea, all these years…” she said and a delightful smile broke out on her face. She had delicate features. The Siena I remembered from school was soft-spoken and too shy to meet my eyes. The years had made her more confident, and now she seemed like an independent career woman. I hoped that she was successful because, despite everything, I wished her well.
“I never tried to hide it, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said, and Siena’s cheeks flushed as she took another sip of her wine. Her hands moved up. She tucked in some stray strands of golden hair behind her ears.
“So you’ve been running the business all these years? After high school?” she asked. I nodded my head. There was no better time than now to come clean with her. I knew that I needed her to know the truth, whether she believed me or not. I needed to get it off my chest.
“My father forced me to take over, he had made all the arrangements and that prom night was supposed to be my last day in town. It had already been planned out,” I said, and Siena nodded her head and looked away from me, her face remained unchanged, almost as though she didn’t much care for my explanation.
“So you came here?” she asked.
“No, I flew to Switzerland. My family used to own a ski resort there, and my father wanted me to learn the trade first hand,” I explained and Siena’s eyebrows arched.
“And you didn’t bother telling any of your friends or me the whole evening that we spent together at prom?” she asked. I recognized the strain in her voice. There was a hint of anger. Did I imagine it or was Siena still resentful about what had happened between us? I didn’t blame her for hating me, but up until now, she had been nothing but polite and friendly towards me.
If she did feel some anger towards me, it had quickly disappeared, because she smiled at me again and her eyes dimmed.
“The world is a strange place, isn’t it? Bringing us together like this after all these years?” she said, and we were looking into each other’s eyes. I was drowning in hers, remembering every thought I had about Siena, fantasies that had never died.
“I suppose it was fate that brought us together. You deserved an apology and an explanation, and now you have it,” I told her, and she smiled again, before taking a sip of her wine. It left a rich red stain on her lips which she tried to lick away, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then.
“You never struck me as a guy who believes in fate,” Siena said as she laughed lightly. Her laughter warmed my soul. We had never had a conversation like this before. In high school, Siena was too shy to talk to me directly, and I was too much of a player to try to have a conversation with her. It would have messed up my image.
“I guess I wasn’t, but how else would you explain this?” I asked, and Siena rolled her eyes like she was making a joke in her head.
“The explanation is simple, you own one of the most talked about ski resorts in the country, and I happened to decide to vacation here before the ski season kicks in and I can’t afford a cabin!” she replied and laughed some more. She had a point, but I believed there was more to this than that.
The fire crackled as it burned. The smell of logs and coal burning filled the room. Siena looked snug. She lifted her legs and tucked them in under herself on the couch, and I couldn’t help but wonder how warm an embrace would have felt right about now.
“What have you been up to? What are you doing now?” I asked, and she breathed in deeply and allowed her gaze to wander like she was trying to think of the most appropriate response.
“Oh, this and that. I suppose I’m technically a writer,” she said. I arched my eyebrows, impressed.
“Have I read anything you’ve written?” I asked. She laughed again.
“I don’t think so. I’m still a struggling writer so to speak,” she told me, and I noticed the twinkle in her gorgeous green eyes. No other woman could have this effect on me. She was the only one who made me feel this way in high school, and it was true till this day. There was something real and honest about Siena, that was unmatched by any other woman.
“Well, I’m happy for you, and I wish you all the success in the world. I’d like to read something you’ve written sometime,” I said and raised my wine glass in the air as a sort of mini toast. Siena smiled and did the same before she took another sip of her wine.
Despite how consciou
s I was in high school, of my reputation as a ‘bad boy,’ when the plans had been made about leaving for Switzerland, I decided that the girl I needed to ask to prom had to be Siena. It was my last chance, and my only opportunity to be with her and I didn’t want to miss it. She looked beautiful that night, in a sea-green dress with a tease of a sweetheart neck. I spent the whole night in awe of her, barely gathering the courage to speak to her.
“I assume business has been good?” her voice cut through my thoughts and I realized she had been staring at me. I felt an incredible urge to tell her everything, to tell her the truth. She seemed like the only person who would understand. I wanted to find a connection with her.
“To tell you the truth, it hasn’t been as you can tell,” I said and tilted my head towards the fireplace. Siena arched her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders.
“A clogged chimney? That’s not a terrible sign. Honestly, I wouldn’t have guessed,” she said, and I leaned forward on my seat, resting my elbows on my knees as I dangled the glass of wine from my left hand. Siena’s eyes narrowed on me, she was paying attention to my every word and to me. It felt like she was the first person who wanted to really listen.
“It is a sign. You don’t have a clogged chimney in a place like this. Something like this would have never happened twenty years ago, under my grandfather’s reign,” I said and sat back, wondering if I had said too much. Siena didn’t deserve to be burdened by my family troubles. She had no obligation to even sit here and keep listening to me.
But instead of being disinterested, Siena leaned forward on her seat, fixing her gaze on me. She looked distressed and almost worried.
“What do you mean by your grandfather’s reign? Who is in charge now?” she asked and I let out a deep sigh. These were things I hadn’t discussed with anyone. I didn’t have close friends anymore. My mother had passed away six years ago, and I had been so immersed in the business that I had cultivated zero relationships. Before this night with Siena, for the past decade, I had never felt the need or found myself in a situation where I could talk to someone this openly.
“Well, technically, my father is in charge, but he delegates it to me. That was how it has worked for the past ten years since I left high school,” I disclosed to her and Siena sat back again, trying to make sense of what I had said.
“So, your father is in charge, and you just carry out his orders?” she asked as I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, something like that except that my father is ill now. He uses a wheelchair. He’s not able to work as much, which means that I’ve started taking on more responsibilities in the past year,” I told her. She nodded her head in understanding.
There was a silence of a few moments between us, while she looked at me with her eyes focused. Then, she smiled softly, an encouraging smile.
“You’ve always been a very smart guy, Ivan. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it all out, bring the business back on track,” she said. I looked at her, and I felt my heart leap. I never considered that Siena would have thought of me as someone capable of running a business. I just always thought that someone like her would look down on me as an arrogant jock.
“Thank you, I’m trying. It’s not easy,” I said. She continued to smile, and somehow, it made me feel better about myself.
“You’ll be fine,” she added, and I nodded my head, glad that I had decided to talk to her.
“So, all these years, you’ve done nothing, but work work work?” she asked and stood up so that she could go over to the bar again. I followed her with my eyes, staring at her ass swinging behind her in her tight jeans. I didn’t want to think about how beautiful her body must have been underneath all those clothes, but I couldn’t help myself. She was just too delicious to resist.
“I suppose I have,” I said. Siena brought the opened bottle of wine back to me. She was standing over me as she poured some more wine into my glass, and I got a whiff of her floral scented perfume, and that mixed with the smell of the fire burning in the room made me slightly dizzy. I still wanted her. Maybe I wanted her more now than I did as a teenager because I had fantasized about her for so long.
Siena poured herself some more wine as well and left the bottle between us on the coffee table. She sat back down on the couch across from me and tucked her legs in under herself again.
“All work and no play…” she said with a light laugh. I took a breath. Since we were being honest with each other…
“Well, it hasn’t all just been business related work,” I said. She looked at me attentively again. I saw her gaze travel quickly down to my right hand. She was looking for a wedding ring!
“No, I’m not married, but I have a five-year-old daughter,” I said allowing the words to hang loosely in the air between us. Siena looked stunned for a few seconds before her green eyes dimmed and a smile flickered on her face again.
“Cora? We’ve met already,” she said and emptied more than half the glass of wine down her throat in a hurry.
Chapter 7
Siena
So Cora was Ivan’s daughter. I should have known that she was the daughter of the owners and not just a random tourist at the resort. Now, the realization that not only was I face to face with the man of my dreams again, but that he was also a father, had an overwhelming effect on me. Flashes of missed opportunities passed through my mind.
Ivan looked sullen as he twirled the wine in his glass, looking down at the rug underneath his feet.
“What happened to Cora’s mother?” I asked, my voice dropping by several notches. If Ivan told me that he was heartbroken by a woman, that he still loved someone else, I wasn’t sure how I would take the news.
“Anna and I were never really a couple. It was a casual summer fling. She’s Swiss. I met her at our resort in Engelberg,” he said. When he said that I had to stop myself from letting out a sigh of relief. That was exactly what I wanted to hear, but why? Why did I still care about Ivan’s personal life? It wasn’t like we even had the possibility of a future together, not after what I was planning to do.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said to him and he shrugged his broad shoulders. My gaze dropped to his solid muscular chest and to the way he was gripping the neck of his wine glass fashionably.
“Don’t be. I’m not. She got pregnant, and we should have been more careful. Anna was never in the position to take care of a child. Besides, Cora is probably the best thing in my life now,” he said looking genuine as an honest smile appeared on his face.
“I believe you. I met her briefly while she was playing in the snow, and she seems like an absolute gem,” I said. Ivan slowly met my eyes with a full dimpled smile. Those dimples! They were still so delicious, and they added a sudden boyish charm to an otherwise masculine handsome face. His face could floor me at a moment’s notice.
I should have known a long time ago that Ivan came from a sophisticated, wealthy family. He had all the right features, with the sharp angular face, perfect white teeth, and he was able to drip of sophistication.
“Yeah, well I’m sorry for unloading all my problems on you,” he said. He had no idea that I was making mental notes of everything he was saying. How impressed was Harvey going to be when I went back to New York, loaded with the most tantalizing scoop about the Salthill Peaks? I could imagine myself writing the article already…
Father and son feud
A business in ruins
Ivan Lockner has a child out of wedlock
“Don’t worry about it. I’m only too happy to listen. You look like you need to lighten the burden,” I said as I softly smiled at him. I was feeling guilt-ridden at the same time as being attracted to him. It was a mix of feelings that I couldn’t quite decipher yet.
My attraction to Ivan hadn’t diminished or changed. He was still the picture of the ideal man for me. However, I didn’t want to forgive him for how badly he had embarrassed me, and how pitifully he had broken my heart. I was thinking that writing an expose on his family,
was my best retaliation. I was a woman on a mission of revenge, and this was my best chance.
“I’m sorry that we never got a chance to talk earlier, or to get to know each other. I was a jerk in high school, and I should have tried harder to be friends with you,” he said, and I felt a tug in my heart. Ivan looked genuinely apologetic as he spoke. It was almost like with age, he was now beginning to regret every bad decision he had made as a teenager.
I was torn between doing the right thing, forgiving him for the way he had behaved, and also trying to remain firm on my path. This article could be a career-changing move. Not only would I prove to Harvey that I was still good at my job, but I would also prove to myself and to the rest of the journalistic industry that I was still an excellent investigative reporter.
“Well, we’re friends now,” I said, and Ivan nodded his head.
“I know it’s a little too late to make amends, but I’m glad you’re giving me a chance,” he said. I wished we had met under different circumstances. I wished he wasn’t Ivan Lockner, and the owner of the Salthill Peaks Resort so that I wouldn’t have this tempting opportunity to screw him over.
“You have nothing to feel sorry about, Ivan. You did what you had to do. You were going to leave for Switzerland the next day, whether we had gone to Prom together or not,” I said. Then he ran a hand through his dark hair. My mouth nearly watered as I followed his every movement. When was he going to stop being so sexy?
“I should have at least told you. You deserved to know why I didn’t kiss you on the dance floor, and why I just left you there. It was unfair,” he continued. I straightened myself on the couch. It felt strange to hear those words from him, the same words I had repeated to myself over and over again through the years. Here Ivan was, finally taking responsibility for his actions, and even now, I was too stubborn to forgive him.
“Forget about it, Ivan. We don’t have to talk about it anymore,” I said, deciding to steer the conversation back towards the inside scoop again. Ivan nodded his head. He looked like he was still in a guilty daze and I smiled at him.
Protecting Her Page 3