Page 54 of Finding Love on the Slopes

“Why did Curtis think I needed to know this? So I would take you more seriously? To see past the fancy clothes to the super hacker hero beneath? I mean, thanks for telling me, but it doesn’t matter. I didn’t fall in love with you because of your money. As long as you are not a criminal, I don’t care where it comes from.”

“You love me?” Enrique asked.

Throwing a pillow at him, she shrieked, “Yes, you dolt. Why would I say I was thinking of forever if I didn’t love you?”

“I, just… we hadn’t said those words yet. I didn’t know if you were ready. It’s so soon. It seems crazy.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Well, once I make my mind up I am usually committed and go all in. No need to feel pressured to say it back, but now you know. Was there anything else I was supposed to know before making any life-changing decisions about you?”

“Yeah, I imagine Curtis wanted you to know because my job comes with risk. I’m very good at my job and keep myidentity anonymous. Only one other hacker knows who I am, and that’s because we set up a backup system of protection for our families. If we ever need to go off-grid, which does occasionally happen, or disappear unexpectedly, the other will receive an encrypted alert and monitor our families for safety. If need be, get protection for them. Now that my brother Julio is back, we will combine our security services under one company, including hard and soft, physical and digital asset protection and retrieval. That could also increase the risk.”

“Considering what you shared about your childhood, it doesn’t surprise me that your life’s passion is catching the hardest of bad guys and protecting the innocent. I trust you. If my brother gave his blessing, he isn’t worried, and neither am I. Anything else because there is something I am dying to know.”

Laying back on the pillows, Enrique opened his arms and motioned for Leighann to come rest on his chest. She did, folding her arms and looking up into his face as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“What information have you been waiting to pry out of me?” he asked with a smirk, looking down into her mischievous blue eyes.

“How in the world did you and my brother meet, and what made you decide that friendship was possible? You are total opposites, at least at face value.”

Enrique smiled in response to her question and nodded as if he had been expecting her to ask him that. “Funny story actually, to start with, we just bumped into each other.”

She raised a brow at him, and he nodded.

“No kidding. It was in New York about seven years ago. I had just gotten this new car the day before, and I felt a car bump into me from behind while we were stuck in traffic. I was so annoyed that I got out and created a scene right in the middle of the road. Then your brother climbed out, took one look at the damage, and laughed in my face. He told me it was just a scratch, and to be honest, it was… on a four-hundred-thousand-dollar car though. I made such a big deal out of it since it was a limited edition, and it was my very first time driving it since it had been delivered. He wasn’t fazed by my threats to sue him or throw him in jail. Juvenile, I know. He just told me to live a little, and then he went back to his car, grabbed a “Life’s An Adventure” Parker’s Outfitters sticker, and slapped it over the scratch. Then he said, “See? Problem solved. Have a good day.” Then he got into his car while I stood there dumbfounded. The man had just damaged my car and fixed it with an advertisement for his business.”

“Okay,” Leighann laughed, snorting as she listened to him. “That does sound like something Curtis would do.”

“Usually, I wouldn’t let something like that go. Never. But I don’t know why I just stood there and stared at the sticker in disbelief. It was just strange, you know? To meet someone so relaxed and free-spirited while I was uptight and strict with everything. I didn’t see him again for about six months. I was at a café trying to get some work done, and he walked in. I didn’t notice him until he walked up to meand knocked on the table. Then he just went, “Hey man, you remember me?” and sat down in front of me. We talked like I had never talked with anyone besides my brothers. It was easy and casual. To be honest, that was pretty much it. It took me a while to get used to him. He didn’t care that I was a millionaire. I didn’t intimidate him; it was easy and relaxed. He wasn’t based in New York and said he only came every now and then to sort out business. Apparently, another small mom-and-pop ski shop up north had gone belly up, and Parker bought their inventory for his shop back here. It was cheaper to drive up and pick it up himself than ship it, and he was able to scout out the potential for expansion in upstate New York at the same time. Over the course of that small meal, he informed me that I was boring and should live a little. I had just completed a huge job that was going to skyrocket my company to the next level, and Curtis convinced me to go on an adventure between projects. So, I agreed. He said it had to be something totally out of my comfort zone to get my blood pumping and give me a real taste of living. He convinced me to join one of his Grand Canyon expeditions.”

“Wait, one of the trips that takes several weeks to complete?” Leigh asked in astonishment.

“Yep. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”

The laughter that spilled from Leigh told him she had a pretty good idea of just how dumb joining that expedition without first doing his research had been.

“How did that go?” she asked, amusement still bubbling from her as she imagined his discomfort and how much her brother had enjoyed torturing him.

“About as you would expect. I am a city boy through and through. Well, at least I was at that point. I had never done any camping, so sleeping under the stars in a sleeping bag was a life-changing experience. Your brother forgot to mention the total lack of luxury. The view of the night sky without any light pollution had its own life-altering effect, though. It made me feel very small in the universe but also in awe of just how important I must be to be a part of the master plan that made it all happen.

“I still don’t understand how you and Curtis became best friends after that trip. He has taken thousands of people down that river, and he doesn’t have them on a first-name basis in his phone. He would never ask me to give up my vacation time to teach them to ski. How did that bond develop?”

“Oh, you want all the dirty little details,” he said, grinning at her, knowing she must have a clue that there had been a turning point event on the trip and was dying to know what it had been. “If you must know, Curtis saved my life after nearly taking it, and it sealed us as besties ever since.”

“Nice try! I want thewholestory.”

Enrique rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fine, I was tired and a little whiny after hiking down the trail for several hours. I climbed in the boat and let the others do most of the paddling for a few hours.”

“Most of the paddling? A few hours?”

“Okay, okay. All of the paddling and the entire rest of the day. Happy now? I admit I was being lazy, and your brother was having none of it. He called me a Diva and told me I could be a part of the team, or I could swim. I didn’t believe him and just smirked, telling him I had paid him an exorbitant fee for this entertainment, and he was going to earn every penny. The next thing I knew, he had pushed me out of the boat. One minute I was in the boat, a little too warm and very cocky, and the next, I was freezing in the strong current of the river, watching the boat float away. He shouted over his shoulder, ‘I hope you can swim Big City,’ and just kept heading downstream. It didn’t take me long to realize he was serious, so I swam, apologized, and quickly learned my lesson. There is no freeloading with Curtis Parker, and wealth does not factor into his measurements of a man. I was thoroughly water-logged and just a hair away from hypothermia by the time he finally decided to pull me from the water. Let’s just say I grew a lot in those moments and over the course of that trip. When I returned to New York sixteen days later, everyone around me noticed the difference. Your brother and I bonded and agreed to go on at least one adventure each year, but it’s usually two. If he has a trip planned that he thinks I will enjoy or learn something from, he calls me up and invites me along. Other times, I find something interesting and daring that I want to try, and I call him up, and he plans it out. I know I can trust him with my life, so no adventure has ever been too dangerous. If it is something outside of his experience, he eitherpostpones the trip for a year and works to gain the skills needed, or he finds a guide to take us and learns right along with me.”

“What kind of adventure is that? Curtis can do it all!” Leigh asked, astonished that her brother didn’t know something.

“Well, up until my suggestion, he hadn’t spent much time spelunking.”

“Spelunking, as in cave exploration?”

“Yes.”

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