The Billionaire's First Christmas - Contemporary Romance (7 page)

“Hey there,” she said, coming
closer.

“Hey.”

“Are you ready to do my bidding for a
day?”

“What does your “bidding” entail?” I
asked her.

“We are going to spend the day doing
all things Christmassy,” she said. I felt the trepidation in my
stomach begin to spread across the excitement, swallowing it whole
and leaving me only with the dread.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,”
I said.

“Why?” she asked. “You obviously
already re-arranged your schedule so you could be here. Don’t back
out now, please.”

I realized something new right then,
when I looked into her eyes I could hardly remember the word, “No.”
I usually didn’t do anyone else’s bidding unless it was beneficial
to me. This was not going to be beneficial but I still couldn’t
turn her down.

“Okay,” I said, “What’s first?” I was
sorry I’d asked.

“Ice-skating,” she said with what I’d
only have to describe as an evil grin.

“Oh no… I don’t think so.” I said it
steadily without a trace of the anxiety I was feeling coming
through.

“Did I say no when you sent me an elf
costume to wear? Did I balk at wearing it to the office
even?”

I’d never been ice-skating in my life.
I looked over towards the pond at the people sailing across the ice
and a few of them making their way across like a newborn deer and I
knew which one I was going to look like. This is why I hadn’t felt
anxiety in years. I didn’t set myself to do things that would make
me look like a fool… ever.

“I don’t know how,” I said at last. I
hadn’t wanted to admit that, but maybe it would make her change her
mind.

“I’ll teach you,” she said. Then as if
that had settled it she asked me, “What size skates do you
need?”

“Robyn, really…”

“Come on Aaron, live a little. I’m not
asking you to risk your life. I think you’ll like it, but if you
don’t at least you tried it and you know for sure,
right?”

“Eleven and a half,” I said. I suppose
she was right. I might come off the ice with a bruised ego, but I’d
live. I did always think it looked like fun. I reached for my
wallet but Robyn was having none of it.

“Huh uh, I’m the boss today, I’m
buying.”

That confused me more than the
ice-skating. I always bought no matter where I went or who I was
with.

“I really don’t mind…”

“Listen, I don’t care if you are one
of the richest men in the world. This entire day is my treat, okay?
Stop resisting everything, you’ll never have any fun if you don’t
relax.”

This was all so strange to me. For
years now, when I took a woman out I made the plans and I paid for
it all. I’ve never even had a woman offer to decide what we should
do or where we should go, much less take out her wallet. I knew I
was defeated.

“I’ll try.” I intended to try, but I
definitely couldn’t make her any promises.

She grinned and said, “That’s the
spirit!” Everything she did was with such passion. I was realizing
that it was hard not to get caught up in it, even for me. Her
energy was all positive and it just drew me in. I watched her go
and get our skates and pay for our passes. She smiled at every
person she passed and they all smiled back. It would be impossible
not to. Her smile was infectious. I was quickly discovering that
her attitude was too.

She came back with the skates and we
sat down on the bench next to the ice-rink. While I changed out of
my shoes and into the skates I watched the people on the ice
falling and laughing. I saw the couples holding hands and the
parents chasing their children. I knew Robyn was right, I did
things that made me comfortable and that mostly made me happy, but
I really didn’t know how to do things that were purely for
fun.

“Ready?” she asked with a
smile.

“As I’ll ever be, I suppose,” I told
her. She giggled, like a schoolgirl and stood up. Then she reached
out for me and my adventures on the ice began.

Robyn, it turned out was a fabulous
ice-skater. She turned around backwards, facing me and took both of
my hands. As soon as she pulled me onto the ice I felt like the
world was falling out from under me. I was concentrating hard,
trying to pretend like I did this all the time when all I could
think about was that if I fell; I was going to take her down with
me. I pictured myself, crushing this delicate girl and being unable
to get enough traction to get back up. The thought of it mortified
me. I watched a couple skate by holding hands and looking happy. I
wanted to trip them. I kept looking down at my feet, willing them
to get some traction and begging them to keep me
upright.

“Look at my face,” she said. I glanced
up and then back down. She laughed. It was hard for me to get used
to being laughed at. People may want to laugh at me sometimes, but
they don’t. Everyone wants to be best friends with a billionaire so
they agree with everything I do and say. As much as Robyn’s
attitude towards me surprised me, I appreciated it, a
lot.

“Don’t watch your feet. It’s like
striking the keys on a keyboard. The more you watch them, the more
they’re going to mess up. Look at my face and look around at the
beautifully decorated trees. Let your feet do the work. It’s just
like walking, one foot in front of the other. If you ignore them,
they’ll figure it out on their own.”

I glanced back up at her again and
felt myself stumble. She moved her body slightly and
said,

“See, it’s okay, I’ve got
you.”

“Right,” I said. “I outweigh you by at
least a hundred pounds. What happens if I fall? You’re going to go
down with me. What if I crush you?”

She smiled and said, “If we fall, we
get back up and hopefully we laugh about it. I know I will, and you
should try it as well as opposed to that furrowed brow look you’ve
got going on there. Besides, you’re not going to crush me. You
worry too much.”

It took at least ten minutes, but we
made it one whole round around the pond. I had to admit that I did
feel a little tingle of accomplishment. It was nothing to brag
about, but it was a start. I felt good right up until the point
that Robyn said, “Okay, I think you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” I asked, sheer
terror gripping at my heart. Was she going to let go of
me?

“I’m going to let go of one of your
hands and turn around and skate next to you, okay?”

“Sure, I’ve made one round, I’m an
expert now.”

“Sarcasm,” she said. “I love it.” I
loved the way her face was flushed from the cold and her blue eyes
sparkled out from underneath the pink knit hat she wore.

She let go of my left hand and I
watched her feet glide backwards until she was facing forward and
right next to me. She made it look so easy. I couldn’t really see
myself, but I was sure I made it look ridiculous. I wondered if she
was reading my mind somehow because right then she said, “Stop
worrying about how you look and relax. Who cares what any of these
people think? Chin up, chest out, head held high, and most
importantly of all, smile. Have fun!” Easy for her to say, I
thought, but I tried. I forced myself to stop looking down at my
feet. I stopped looking at the others as they gracefully passed by
too. I looked straight ahead and gripped Robyn’s hand like a
lifeline. Before I knew it, we’d gone another lap around. On the
next lap, Robyn began singing along with the Christmas song playing
in the background. She knew every word and she had a beautiful
voice. I was enjoying the serenade so much that I hardly even
registered the next lap.
By the time we were on our fourth, or maybe our fifth she said,
“Are you ready to solo?” My stomach did somersaults. It was
something I hadn’t felt since I was a kid. I wasn’t ready, I was
scared to death. Sometimes in business when I took a big gamble it
was scary, but it was a good scary. This was bone-breaking scary. I
couldn’t admit that out loud though. I had my reputation. Instead,
I did what I thought would please her.

“Sure, let’s give it a shot,” I told
her.

“That’s the attitude I’ve been looking
for. I knew it was in there somewhere,” she said with a wink. Robyn
smiled and squeezed my hand and then let it go. Although we were
both wearing gloves, the first thing I realized was how much colder
I felt as soon as I was missing her touch. The next thing I
recognized was that I hadn’t realized how much she was actually
supporting me. I started slipping and sliding and my hands
automatically reached out for something to hold onto. I didn’t
realize it at that moment, but it was like over-correcting in a car
when you went into a skid. I grabbed hold of Robyn without
considering the consequences. I heard her squeal as we both went
down… hard. I landed on my backside and Robyn was lying across the
top of me. I was glad at least that I didn’t crush her. As much as
this position would have been something I’d love in another
setting, I was completely humiliated as people slid by so
effortlessly while I sat on my ass on the cold ice. They seemed to
all be smiling too.

Robyn was squirming, trying
to untangle us and it only seemed to tangle us up further. My left
leg was twisted backwards at an odd angle and I was afraid I wasn’t
going to be able to stand back up. Robyn finally got her legs free
and I realized I was still gripping her arm. I let that go and she
was sitting on her backside facing me, and she was laughing. She
was laughing so hard that she had tears in her eyes.
At last she was able to stop and with an escaped tear rolling down
her cheek, she said, “See there, that wasn’t so bad now, was
it?”
Maybe not, but now I was on my ass on
the ice and I had no idea how to stand up.

“I suppose the falling wasn’t so bad,
but now how do I get back up?” I asked her.

“Watch,” she said. She got up on her
knees and put one skate underneath her. Using her hands she pushed
herself up in what seemed to be one effortless motion. She did make
it look easy, although I wasn’t going to be fooled into believing
it was going to be that easy for me, I felt a little better. “Now
you try it,” she said.

I got up on my knees… so far so good.
Then I put my hands down on the ice and put one skate underneath me
and then… I fell forward, flat on my face.

“Oh my gosh! Aaron! I’m sorry! Are you
okay?” Robyn was suddenly down on the ice next to me. I don’t know
what happened then. It must have been breathing in her enthusiasm
all morning, but the thought of what I had to look like, splayed
out on the ice suddenly struck me as funny. I started laughing and
I couldn’t stop. “Oh thank goodness, you’re okay!” Robyn said. I
reached up and playfully pulled her down on top of me and once
again we were both splayed out on the ice. She was laughing too now
and it suddenly occurred to me that we were going to have to get
back up and that made me want to laugh even more. It was like Robyn
had infected me with her magic and I had to admit that it felt
really good.

CHAPTER SEVEN

~

ROBYN

Aaron and I spent over an hour on the
ice, which is a lot for a first-timer. He was going to be sore in
the morning, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that. He
had actually started to have fun and I had a feeling it was just
what he needed. I sang along with the Christmas music and he had
even begun humming along with me. I had a feeling that was a big
step for him. The longer we skated, the more crowded the rink
became. Skaters of all ages slid around at different levels of
skill and speed. Each time a wobbly looking one or a super-speedy
teen got close to Aaron, I’d grip tightly to his arm. He laughed at
one point and told me that I missed my calling; I should have been
a caregiver. At first, he was letting his ankles buckle, but the
longer we skated, the steadier he became. I could tell by the feel
of the muscles in his arms when he finally started to relax and
enjoy himself. When we came off the ice at last, his cheeks were
flushed red from the cold and he was smiling from ear to ear. He’d
been a really good sport about it all once he got going. I was
proud of him.

“I’m starving, how about you?” I asked
him as we took our skates off.

“Definitely,” he said. “That
ice-skating takes a lot out of a person. I know a great little
restaurant not far from here.”

“Uh-uh! My day, remember?”

“Oh, sorry. Well then, where will we
be having lunch?”

I slipped on my boots and stood up.
“We’re going to the Christmas market. We can get some food from the
vendors there.” Aaron made a face. I doubted that he’d ever bought
anything from a street vendor.