Page 38 of Need You
“Thanks.” The compliment delighted her. Compared to him, she was overdressed in a white fit-and-flare dress from her summer Every Day collection. In LA, she could eat a hotdog at Pink’s in the dress and not stand out. In Glory Junction, it looked like she was trying too hard. But she’d wanted to be—and feel—attractive. For Colt. For herself.
He stood up and wiped the back of his shorts with his hands. “So, where do you want to go?”
“I want to take you somewhere nice ... a token of appreciation for taking me rafting. Any suggestions?”
He thought about it a little. “The Four Seasons has a good restaurant.”
“Perfect,” she said, and expected him to go inside to change.
Instead, he led the way to his truck and helped her in to the passenger seat. It made no difference to her. While the shorts had seen better days, Colt wore them better than most men did designer suits.
He drove them up the mountain, passing two of the smaller resorts. “I heard somewhere that you don’t ski. That true?”
“Yep.” She laughed at the look he gave her. She knew that most people moved here for the skiing.
“Hannah doesn’t ski either.”
Delaney hadn’t known that about her friend. “But Josh does, right?” With his injured leg she didn’t know if he could.
“All Garners do, have since we were old enough to walk. How come you don’t?”
“It wasn’t something my family did. Too expensive, I guess. And when I got older and could afford it . . .” She trailed off because she realized she didn’t know why she’d never learned. “I suppose I never had the time.”
“You should add it to your list of new things to try.” He pulled in to the ornate gated entrance of Winter Bowl and followed the signs to the hotel.
“I hope we can get in without a reservation.”
“It won’t be a problem.” He pulled up to the entryway of the mammoth lodge, which looked more like expensive apartments than a hotel, helped her out, and tossed his keys to one of the valets, saying something she couldn’t hear. It appeared as if they knew each other.
He put his hand at the small of her back and guided her inside the lobby to the restaurant. She’d eaten here a few times before with Robert, yet the views out the huge picture windows never ceased to amaze her. The sun shimmered off the blue green waters of Lake Paiute, thousands of towering pines stacked up the mountainside, and the lush peaks of the Sierra Nevada rolled out like a life-size mural. The snowless ski runs now played host to daredevil mountain bikers, who took the lifts up and traversed down the rugged trails.
“Good afternoon, Chief,” the maître d’ greeted them. “Will you be dining with us this afternoon?”
Colt nodded. “Could we have a window table?”
The maître d’ scanned the half-full restaurant, grabbed two menus, and showed them to their seats, a spot with one of the best views in the house. In the distance, Delaney could see a group of paddleboarders on the lake—another thing she’d never tried—and boats of various sizes. She thought about the town’s motto: “Welcome to Glory Junction, where life is always glorious.” Sitting across from a man who was as outrageously sublime as the great outdoors, she’d have to agree.
“This okay?” he asked.
“Are you kidding? It’s better than okay. You come here a lot?” He seemed to be more than familiar with the hotel and she doubted he got a lot of police calls here.
“My family does a fair amount of business with the resort. We refer them and they refer us. It works out well for everyone.”
It had never occurred to her before, but an adventure company offered luxury experiences the same way the Four Seasons did. The same way she did with her clothing.
“How about you? You come here a lot?”
“Not a lot, but I’ve been a few times before. We used to stay here when we were building the house.”
“They say a construction project can kill a marriage.” He let the sentence hang, but it was evident he was fishing for the reason she and Robert had broken up.
“It wasn’t what killed ours.”
“No?” He raised his brows in question.
She’d never told anyone about her ex’s unacceptable proposal and she wasn’t about to tell Colt Garner. “We grew apart.” A hundred percent true. Robert had accused her of losing interest in him and she hadn’t been able to refute his charges. They’d become more business partners than soul mates. “What about you? Were you ever married?”
“Nope. Never got there.”
