Page 35 of Finding Love on the Slopes

Soon, there was a steaming kettle of water as well. “Chocolate, tea, or coffee?” he asked.

“Um, chocolate sounds good. There is a full family pack in the second box of supplies.”

In no time at all, Enrique was handing her a metal cup wrapped in a sock and reclaiming his seat at the other end of the couch with his own.

“Now that the most immediate needs are seen to, do you think we should pass the time playing a game or keep telling all our family secrets?”

“How about a little lighter entertainment this time? I vote Blackjack,” he answered with his usual charming grin.

“I don’t think I have the mental capacity to strategize for that. War or Rummy?”

“You really like the children’s games, don’t you?” he asked teasingly.

“I like easy and fun, not all serious and high stakes,” she replied, removing the cards from the mantle where they had placed them the night before and dealing the hand, using the couch cushions between them as a table.

For several hours, they kept things light, enjoying the game’s ease and sharing small tidbits about themselves.

Enrique had always wanted a dog while she had longed for a friendly feline. She enjoyed a refreshing strawberry pecan salad with poppy seed dressing, while he loved a juicy medium-rare filet mignon with al dente veggies. He loved any shade of blue, and she preferred greens.

Enrique liked the modern industrial designs, while Leigh preferred the simplistic, rustic chic look. She argued that his style felt cold and unwelcoming. He said her style often looked secondhand and cluttered. This led to a heated discussion onthe meaning of the word cluttered, as simple minimalist didn’t mean a clutter bug. He finally agreed that what he meant was unorganized with a mixture of textures, colors, and styles, to which she agreed. If not done well, it did look like Goodwill had dropped off random furniture. She asserted that it gave a warm, welcoming feel to a home and invited guests to come in and relax without the fear of smudging a surface. Enrique agreed he could see the appeal if the person living there actually wanted guests to visit. It took Leigh a moment to catch his drift, and then she laughed.

“Don’t tell me the playboy on all the rag covers is antisocial? I don’t believe it! According to the Internet, you attend at least one party a week. How is it that you specifically decorate your house to make people uncomfortable?” she asked, genuinely interested.

“First of all, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. Half of it is straight-up lies, and at least a quarter is half-truths planted and spun for someone’s gain. The remaining quarter may be true, but it is never the whole truth.” He played his next cards, “I’m out. Six for me, four for you. Ready for a different game yet? And I didn’t decorate my house. My interior designer did.”

“No, I like this game; it’s easy. So, did you select anything in your home? Any personal touches?” she asked as she dealt the next hand.

“I handed her an interior design magazine and said, I want this. She gave me some color swatches, and I picked out myfavorites. I also provided her with some family pictures that Hannah insisted we have on display in our homes, and Mika, my designer, saw that it all came together. So yes, I provided the general theme and the photos, and she made sure it all looked good in the end. It is very clean and polished-looking, but I think you would like it if you ever saw it. It sounds cold, I guess it is, but otherwise, it is a pleasant space to occupy.”

“That is what is important in a home: feeling comfortable. Like the space reflects you, and when you arrive, your whole being sighs in relief, and you can just be you.” Leigh played her turn before continuing, “Mika, huh? So, a female interior designer. You just trusted her to make the home of your dreams happen after picking out the basics. So… you don’t hate all women. Should I feel special that I earned your ire so quickly?” She kept her tone light, but her question had been needing an answer for days.

Enrique played his next turn, gathering his thoughts. He knew this would eventually come up. He wasn’t sure now was the time he wanted to face the fire. How much should he say? He liked this woman more than any other woman he had ever met before... besides his sister. At the same time, this was a part of him that very few knew. He trusted Leigh, but did he want her to know this secret? Then again, this whole thing had been about overcoming his fears. Maybe if he didn’t hold his secrets quite so close, they wouldn’t terrorize him in the night… or any time he faced heights.

Chapter Thirty

Taking a fortifying breath, Enrique looked at Leigh; this was not going to be a short answer. “I admit, I do have an issue with women. Not all, but most. I have had a long line of women use, abuse, and eventually cast me aside, so I avoid the female gender the best I can and keep those I can’t at arm’s length. Yes, that is usually done by being a Grade-A jerk. I can honestly say that my sister Hannah, my brother Anthony’s wife, is the only woman I have ever truly loved. I would go to the ends of the Earth for her. Well, and now, my two precious nieces.” Enrique distracted himself with his cards for a moment, then went on to explain.

“To keep things short, my mother was not overly maternal. She was ecstatic when she found out she was pregnant because she thought that would help her keep her man. Then, when she had a boy, that was the icing on the cake. What man doesn’t want a son? I was a trophy for her, something to show off. As I got older, it was all about what I could do for her. There was noaffection, no hugs and kisses, no bedtime prayers. I took care of myself for the most part. When she was in a bad way, I took care of her too. Later, I landed in various boys’ homes, and each one was run by a different woman, sometimes a couple, and each one was determined to straighten the streets out of me. As if I could fear their treatment after what I had already survived at home. It made me more and more hateful, though. Every missed meal. Every closet I was locked in. Every switching. Until all I saw was red every time a woman touched me and called my name. I can’t even describe how much I hated women. All women. My brothers saved me from myself, from jail. Hannah. Hannah saved my life. She loved me unconditionally and taught me what real love feels like. Looks like.”

Enrique played his last cards and looked up, “I don’t hate women anymore. I just… avoid them. I can work with them. I don’t have a problem with women being in charge, Leighann,” he said, trying to clear any misconception she had about him. “I’m just not used to it. In my company, I’m the boss, and everyone does my bidding. The only woman who has had the power to tell me what to do in a very long time has been Hannah. Looking back over my career, I have never had a female boss or even a college professor. Maybe that was God looking out for me, knowing I wasn’t ready. It is statistically improbable, but there it is. I am in a field predominantly run by men. Many colleagues have been female, but in my current line of work, we are individuals working toward a common goal but not actually working together. We maintain a great deal of anonymity,so even if I was working with a woman, I may not know it.” Enrique ran a hand through his hair.

“I treated you badly when we first met. Part of it was purposeful, and part was your interpretation of my behavior, which wasn’t exactly accurate at the time. Still, I took advantage of and built on it when I saw how upset you were getting.”

“But why?” Leigh put her cards down on the couch cushion and gave Enrique her full attention; the cards no longer a buffer for him to hide behind. “What did I do in those first few moments that made you decide to lump me in with the bad crowd? I was genuinely excited to meet you after all these years of Curtis going on and on about you, and then you treated me like a flea that needed to be flicked off as quickly as possible.” Confusion furrowed her brows as she thought back on their first meeting.

Enrique scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling the stubble of his beard. This was going to be uncomfortable. “There is a lot more to this story, but in short, I was surprised, which never goes well and… I was attracted to you.”

“Let me get this straight: you were attracted to me, so you were mean? That doesn’t make any sense! You’re not in elementary school knocking the cute little girl down and scraping her knee because that is better than saying, ‘I like you.’ I need more. According to the internet, you are the hottest bachelor in New York, with new arm candy every month. You like plenty of girls. If you treated them all this badly, you wouldn’t be able to get a date!” Leigh crossed her arms over her chest, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“To clarify, I was never intentionally hurtful to you. I tried to be annoying, maybe push your buttons, but not to hurt your feelings. Curtis would kill me if I did that. I apologize if anything I did caused damage. It was never my intention. Actually, I apologize for all of it, but especially for any pain I caused, including our current situation.”

Enrique adjusted his clothes, swung his right leg up on the couch, and placed it along Leigh’s left thigh, trying to get comfortable before continuing the discussion.

“Listen, all those women in the magazines aren’t real. They are connected to someone or something that needs me, or I need them. Business deals. Those photos are all PR stunts arranged for the women or me to be seen. Yes, I treat them the same way I treated you. Worse, really, because I actually despise the leaches. If they stay in their lane and keep it platonic and friendly, we usually have a good time and repeat the social outings over time. If they are clingy and demanding, the evening is cut short, and I don’t take a call back. Sometimes, I need to get my face in the paper, so I do a second date with an unpleasant woman, and if she takes it as encouragement, things can get nasty. Hence the name-calling in the tabloids. Just last week, I took the wrong woman out for the second time and missed a family communication that I would normally never miss. The attraction I felt for you the first time we met was overwhelming and new. I was trying to figure out what was happening, and you got all bristly. I may have pushed you away a little harder than usual because I was trying to squash my own feelings.”

Leigh could tell this admission was difficult for him. “Did it work?”

“Did what work?”

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