Sweet Treasures

by Debra Ullrick

  “Me either.”

  “Well, we’ll have to change that then, won’t we?” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

  “Sounds like a great plan to me.” Her smile melted his heart. “What number?” she asked since she was closest to the control panel.

  “19th floor.”

  Anna pushed the 19 button and stepped back alongside him. She gazed up at him and smiled that sweet smile that turned his insides to mush and had him wanting to kiss those luscious lips of hers.

  Nicholas pulled Anna into his arms and gazed down at her.

  She slipped her arms around him and nothing could hold back the happiness forming in his heart. “I’m having a great time, Anna. Thank you.”

  “No. Thank you. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Your family is amazing. Makes me miss mine even more.”

  It saddened him to hear the nostalgia in her voice. Nicholas glanced at the control; ten more floors to go before they reached the 19th floor. Since they were alone, he decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

  Looking down at her, he locked gazes with her. Smoky blue eyes peered back at him.

  For a brief second, he allowed his eyes to drift toward her lips, but only for a second before they were back onto hers, seeking permission.

  Her eyes lowered and her lips curled into a timid smile. What a breath of fresh air Anna was. Most of the women he had dated were more of the take charge sort, asking him out, making the plans without consulting him at all, and making the first moves. Anna, however, allowed him to lead. Being an old-fashioned sort, he found he liked that more than he had realized he would.

  Slowly he lowered his head and sought out her lips. His heart melted at not only their softness but at her response as he brushed his lips across hers gently as well. A moment and he deepened the kiss. It didn’t take long before he found himself lost in the feelings of the sweet lady in his arms. She followed his lead and matched his every move.

  Something stirred inside of him.

  Something he had never felt before.

  He had kissed a lot of women in his time, but no one’s kiss had ever affected him like Anna’s.

  A ding echoed in the small confines of the elevator, and he wasn’t at all pleased with its timing. He didn’t want this kiss, their first kiss to end, even though he knew it had to when the door opened. Reluctantly, he raised his head from hers and stepped back.

  Taking her hand, he led her out into the lobby and over to the enclosed observation deck. Opening the glass door for her, they stepped out onto the deck that overlooked the city. It was a good place to cool down. It wasn’t a cold place, but it was definitely cooler than the room where his uncle’s party was being held.

  Several couples and even a few families lingered about on the deck. Nicholas led Anna to a spot that was far enough away from the others so they could have a moment alone. The truth was, he wanted her all to himself.

  Standing at the rail with his arm around her waist, they gazed down at the city and the lights.

  “Don’t you just love all the Christmas lights?”

  Denver’s lights were nothing compared to New York’s, but he wouldn’t tell her that because he knew he was biased. He loved New York at Christmastime. He loved New York period. “They are nice.”

  Turning so her back was on the railing, she looked at him. “I’ve never been up here or in this building before.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. If I would’ve known this place was here, I would’ve come here a lot. How is it that you knew about this place and I didn’t?”

  Nicholas shrugged. “Easy. My uncle. His office is in this building. He comes up here quite a bit to think.”

  “Oh. That makes sense.”

  They stood there gazing at each other. Neither of them saying anything for a few minutes. As if she’d caught a sudden chill, Anna shivered.

  “You cold?”

  “A little. But I hate to leave. I love it up here.”

  Nicholas pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, willing his body heat into hers.

  She tilted her head up at him. “Mmmm, you’re nice and warm.” Her eyes drifted shut as she let out a dreamy sigh of contentment.

  Nicholas glanced around the observatory. Since no one was paying any attention to them, he leaned over and kissed her while her eyes were still closed.

  As much as he hated to, a few minutes later, he led her back to the elevator. Back on the 7th floor, they exited the elevator, strolled through the lobby hand in hand back into the banquet room.

  “Ah, there you are, Nico. I wondered where you had gone to.” Tony looked over at Anna. “Do you mind if I steal my nephew away for a few minutes?”

  Anna glanced up at Nicholas. “No, not at all.”

  Nicholas leaned toward her and spoke in a tone meant for her ears only, “Don’t leave the ball, Cinderella.”

  “I make no promises. Especially if you aren’t back here before the stroke of midnight,” she whispered back into his ear.

  He pulled back, chuckling. With a wink and a nod, he took one step, stopped and angled himself slightly toward her and said, “I promise I’ll be back on time, Cindy.”

  Uncle Tony looked over at Anna and back at him with a frown. “Cindy? I thought her name was Anna.”

  “It was a joke, Uncle. She knows what I mean.”

  “Oh, okay. Sorry to take you away from your date, but there’re some people I want you to meet.”

  “No problem.” He followed his uncle across the room even though where he really wanted to be was with Anna. In the far corner, three men watched as they headed toward them. “As outgoing as Anna is, she won’t have any trouble entertaining herself until I get back.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Anna watched Nicholas until he was out of sight. His poor uncle thought he had her name wrong when Nicholas called her Cindy. If she would have thought fast enough, knowing Cindy was short for Cinderella, she should have said no problem Mr. Charming. But she hadn’t. The temptation to flee and leave one of her heels behind before he came back ran across her mind. But she decided against it and instead wove her way through the maze of tables, stopping every so often to talk to some of the others guests.

  “Anna.”

  Anna turned to find his Aunt Savia striding toward her.

  “My friend Loretta…” Savia pointed toward a group of women. “The one over there wearing the I Dream of Jeannie costume.”

  With no trouble, Anna spotted the costume and when the woman turned, she recognized her immediately as one of her regular customers. Anna waved to her. Loretta smiled at her and did a finger wave back. Within a second the other three women standing with her looked over at Anna.

  Anna smiled again and waved at all of them.

  “Loretta tells me you own that quaint hot chocolate shop downtown. Is this correct? Sì? No?”

  Though her Italian was a little rusty, she understood that sì was yes in Italian, so Anna responded using the same word. “Sì. I do.”

  Savia clasped together her well-manicured hands covered with sparkling diamonds. “Meravigliso! I come to your place Monday then. To place an order.”

  It would indeed be meravigliso--wonderful--to see Savia again. Anna liked her. “I would love that. Not because of the order, but it would give me another chance to see you again.”

  Savia patted Anna on the cheek with her soft hands. “I like you. I wish our Nico didn’t live in New York.”

  “New York?” Anna titled her head. “I thought Nico, I mean Nicholas, lived here.”

  “No. No. No.” Savia waved her hand. “His practice is in New York. My Tony, he need his help with a case, so Nico, he come to help him. Such a good man that boy is.”

  Anna’s heart dropped into her heels. “Oh.” Pulling herself together, she smiled and said, “That’s really sweet of him.”

  “That is our Nico. Anyone need help, he come. No matter what.” Her love for her nephew was evident in her tone and
in the softness in her eyes. “Well, amica mia, I need to go tend to my guests. I see you Monday, sì?”

  Amica mia. My friend. It blessed Anna that Savia considered her a friend. “Sì, amica mia.”

  With another pat on the cheek, Savia turned and walked away, greeting several guests as she headed to wherever it was she was going.

  Even though Anna felt extremely blessed that she had made a new friend, knowing Nicholas lived in New York and wasn’t here to stay, ebbed away at her Christmas cheer.

  Though she barely knew Nicholas, she liked him and even wondered if he might be the answer to her prayers for a soulmate. But… like a glass ornament slammed onto a hard surface, that notion shattered into a thousand tiny pieces with two tiny words. New York.

  His practice was in New York, and her business was here in Colorado. There was no way for the two of them to work out. New York City would be an amazing place to visit, but she couldn’t move. She loved Colorado. Loved her clients. Loved all the amazing friends she had made here. Loved the two-story house she had grown up in at the foothills. But even more important than all of those, she couldn’t bail on the people who depended on her here.

  With a heavy sigh, Anna searched the room until she found Nicholas still talking to the men. Not knowing how long he would be, she decided to step out into the lobby for a few minutes.

  Outside the elevator, she turned left and headed around the corner over to the wall of windows. Arms anchored across her stomach, she stared down at the city below and all the twinkling Christmas lights that normally brought such joy to her. This time, however, they didn’t appear as bright as before or make her feel as giddy as a child on Christmas morning.

  “There you are, Cinderella.”

  Her heart paused at the sound of his voice. It took a moment for it to get back into rhythm again. When it finally did, she turned around.

  “I thought you had left the ball after all and I was going to have to put out an APB on you.” Nicholas strode toward her with that smile that turned her knees into melted chocolate. However, now she hated the feeling because it reminded her this was only for a moment, not forever.

  Not wanting him to see her sullen mood, she smiled back at him. Right there and then, even though she was sad that he would be leaving, she made up her mind to enjoy his company while he was here. She would just be careful not to get too attached to him. If she wasn’t already.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Anna sat in church, but unfortunately her mind wasn’t on the sermon. It was on the man sitting next to her. Before he had taken her home the night before, Nicholas had asked where she went to church and had invited himself along. She couldn’t refuse his invite. Despite the fact that he would be leaving, she really wanted to enjoy his company while she could.

  “And you young single people…” Pastor Shane’s words snagged Anna’s attention away from thoughts of Nicholas and plopped them on to the pastor. “If you’re praying for a spouse, wait for the one God has for you. A lot of people have jumped into marriage without ever seeking God’s will and lived to regret it. So even if it means waiting longer, trust me, it’s worth it when you marry the person God intends for you.” His gaze went down to his wife Avery sitting in the front row. Anyone who knew Pastor Shane knew how much he loved Avery and how much Avery loved him.

  Anna wanted that kind of love, if and when it ever happened.

  Pastor Shane finished his sermon several minutes later.

  When the last worship song ended, as they made their way out of the church, they stopped along the way and Anna introduced Nicholas to some of her friends.

  Saying her goodbyes, she headed out to his car.

  Inside his vehicle, he turned toward her. “Would you like to have lunch with me?”

  Before today’s sermon, she would have said yes right away. But now, she wasn’t sure whether she should. Was spending time with someone God could not possibly be intending for you to have a lasting relationship with smart? Was it what the older generation called leading someone on? Moreover, could she spend time with him and not risk getting her heart more broken than it surely already would be when he headed back to New York?

  Truthfully, there were so many questions swirling in her, that she couldn’t find a definite yes or no anywhere.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Nicholas sat there, waiting for her answer, and feeling a bit uneasy as to why the answer was taking so long. Had the pastor’s message affected her the same way it had Nicholas? Though he doubted anything could come of their relationship other than friendship, he still wanted to spend time with her. Was that so wrong? Unsure of the answer to his own question, he decided he needed to have a long talk with God about Anna. He’d never met a woman he liked as much as her.

  Taking her silence as a no, and with a heavy heart, he started the car. “That’s okay. I’m sure you’re busy. I’ll just take you back to your shop to get your car.” He glanced over at her to gauge her reaction.

  She angled herself in her seatbelt toward him. “Oh, okay.”

  Well, that wasn’t the response he hoped for, but he would do whatever she wanted.

  “Or maybe,” she said, sounding less than sure of herself. “Would you like to come out to my house and have lunch there? I have some leftover lasagna that needs eaten up. I always tend to make too much and end up eating it for days. But, if you don’t care for leftovers, then we can grab a bite somewhere else.”

  Now that was a lot closer to the response he had hoped for. “Leftover lasagna sounds great. I can eat it hot, cold, anyway it’s available. Nothing better.” He patted his stomach.

  “Me too. The only thing I don’t like eating cold is cold gravy.”

  “Yech. Me either.” Chalk up two more things they had in common. “My uncle Tony loves it though. It grosses Aunt Savia out. She can’t even stand to watch him eat it.”

  “I don’t blame her.” Anna chuckled. “I really like your aunt and uncle. They both seem really sweet. Did you know that Savia is coming to my shop tomorrow? I hope she likes it.”

  “What’s not to like. Especially if you’re there.” Oops. Nicholas knew he should’ve left that last part out. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression until he had a good heart-to-heart with God about her.

  “That’s really sweet of you to say.” She smiled and settled back into the seat. It didn’t take long to get to her shop.

  Once there, Nicholas opened the door for her and let her out. Then he opened the driver’s side door of her car and waited until she was inside. “You want to give me your address in case I lose you?”

  “I won’t let you lose me.” She angled a grin up at him, and his mind snagged on her words and struggled to catch up with her next words. “I’ll keep my eye out for you and pull over if I have to.”

  “Oh. Okay then.” He nodded and closed her door.

  Not having an address or knowing his way around Colorado, Nicholas followed closely behind Anna as they headed out of town toward the foothills. About twenty minutes later, she turned into a driveway of a large white, two-story house with a bright red door. It had several long thin windows on both levels, a massive brick chimney, and an attached three car garage. If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a small pond off to the left of the house.

  Pine trees, aspen trees, and several other kinds of trees surrounded the place. Their branches were weighed down with snow. In fact, snow covered the entire area except for the driveway, the sidewalks, and a wide path that went around the side of the house. There had to be a good two feet or more of snow. It amazed him how one area would be blanketed in snow and another area only a few miles down the road had very little if any snow at all.

  The garage door opened, and Anna pulled inside. He parked outside the garage right behind her.

  They both got out, and she walked toward him, closing the garage behind her using a touch pad outside. She stepped past him and looked back at him.

  Her white coat, white pants, and whit
e mittens blended in with the snow. The only thing that stood out against the snowy backdrop was the brown fur around her hood and knee high boots, the little splotches of blue and purple in her mittens, and her long brown hair and beautiful face.

  A face he wanted to kiss again and again.

  But he wasn’t sure if he should or not until he had his long talk with God. “Nice place you have here.” On puffs of white his words floated out of him and vanished. “I can’t believe how much colder it is here than at your shop.” He glanced over at her.

  Only thing was, she wasn’t facing him but looking around her property.

  “You have quite the drive every day, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said, looking back at him. “But it’s worth it.” Her attention shifted back to her property. “I love this place. It was my folk’s house. When they moved, I talked them into letting me buy it. I still can’t believe it’s mine. Well.” She chuckled. “Mine and the bank’s.” Suddenly she stopped and ducked forward a bit.

  Nicholas followed her line of vision. “What are you looking at?” he asked.

  Anna pointed toward the trees. “There.” She peered up at him. “Do you see them?”

  Nicholas strained to see what she was looking at. “I don’t see anything.”

  She stepped closer to him. “Right there. Between the two big pine trees. A bull with a nice rack on him.”

  “Where?” He glanced over at her again and then back to where she was pointing.

  In the trees, something moved.

  The elk’s head shot up, and he looked over and right at them. A second and the animal jerked around and took off into the trees. Several cow elk followed him. “Wow, that was amazing. I’ve never seen elk in their natural habitat before.” No wonder she didn’t want to leave this place. He didn’t blame her. From what he’d seen so far, he wouldn’t want to either.

  As much as he wanted to stand there and admire the scenery, his body told him he needed to do otherwise. Cold seeped through his clothes and all the way into him. He rubbed his hands together.