Though I hadn’t told Ryan that I’d insinuated we were wealthy when talking to Maxim, Ryan said nothing to weaken my story. He never mentioned my taxi, or his thrift-store clothes, or his school lunches that consisted of turkey sandwiches, a far cry from the feast we were eating at the hotel buffet.

  Even at a fraction of my age, I wholeheartedly thought of Ryan as a role model. His acceptance of everyone, his ability to befriend people from a different country and background, his pure view of the world—I hoped that one day I could reach that level. It seemed like here, at lunch with our new friends, was the perfect place to start.

  Chapter 9

  Maxim

  Tia’s skiing abilities might have been subpar, but everything else about her was simply incredible. Her son, Ryan, was a testament to her parenting skills. He was well-mannered and, based on the brief amount of time I’d spent with him at lunch, seemed to be a great kid. Best of all, he and Lucie appeared to be getting on like a house on fire.

  The four of us had the arcade to ourselves, thanks to a favor I’d cashed in with the owner of the resort. I knew it would be the perfect way for the four of us to spend some time together. Lucie and Ryan hitting it off so well seemed like fate, like the universe wanted our families to get to know each other.

  Ryan watched intently as Tia and Lucie played some sort of dance game on the far end of the arcade, and one look at him told me that he adored his mother. He was simply enamored by her, and I had to admit that I was, too.

  I’d dated my fair share of women, but none of them understood what it was like to be a single parent, and none of them had been as intelligent or interesting as Tia. Being a single parent made you forget about the things that didn’t matter and focus on what was important, and spending time with Tia had reminded me of that.

  Lucie’s giggle filled the room, a giggle I wished I heard more of on a regular basis.

  “All right, I’m pooped,” Tia said as soon as she finished her last dance move. “You guys have fun. We’ll be over here!”

  I couldn’t help but stare as Tia flipped her hair over her head and tied it up into a neat ponytail. It was nice to see this side of her. The Tia I’d seen up until this point had been uptight and refined, but she now seemed like a completely different person. I hoped that meant she was feeling more comfortable around me.

  “You’re really great with her,” I said when Tia approached me.

  “Lucie’s great,” she said. “Really. You’ve raised an awesome kid. One hell of a dancer, too.”

  “She definitely didn’t get that from me.” We both laughed.

  Being with Tia was like spending time with an old friend. We’d spent most of the day together, yet I wasn’t tired of being around her in the slightest. Her presence was intoxicating. We spoke about everything, yet nothing at all. While the kids tackled a game of giant, electronic tic-tac-toe, Tia and I managed to have an entire conversation about pasta sauce. It seemed ridiculous, tedious even, but Tia made it interesting.

  While Tia was in the midst of telling me the story of Ryan’s first haircut, Ryan walked over and stood next to us. Unlike any other ten-year-old I’d ever met, instead of interrupting his mom with whatever he wanted, he waited until she was done telling me how he’d had been left with a mullet after an awful haircut.

  “What’s up, Ry?” Tia asked.

  Ryan turned to face me, surprising both of us. “I need another player to go against in basketball,” he said. “And Lucie doesn’t want to. Will you play with me, Maxim?”

  “I’d be happy to,” I said. “But I have to warn you that basketball isn’t my strong suit.”

  “That’s even better. That means I’ll win!”

  Though Ryan didn’t have many options for opponents, I was delighted that he’d ask me to play with him, knowing he could just as easily have asked Tia or played against the machine. Tia brushed my arm with hers as I walked past her over to the game Ryan had been talking about. Just the touch of her skin against mine made my heart soar.

  Ryan and I shot basket after basket, with Tia and Lucie whooping and hollering for each of us. It was sweet to see the interaction between the two of them. Just as Ryan had predicted, he won by a landslide all four games we played. I was happy to give him a nice ego boost.

  “Will you play me in air hockey now?” Ryan asked, on a high after his victory.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Lucie said with a smirk.

  “Why not?”

  “My dad is the king of air hockey.”

  I chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far, sweetheart,” I said, despite the fact that my stellar track record said otherwise.

  “Well I, for one, would like to see this match-up,” Tia said.

  Lucie threw her hands in the air. “Me too.”

  “All right, all right.” I followed Ryan over to the air hockey table and stretched out my arms in the silliest manner possible. The girls responded with resounding laughter.

  “Don’t go easy on me just because I’m a kid,” Ryan said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Lucie threw the puck on the table, and we hit it back and forth, back and forth, both of our eyes centered on the tiny piece of plastic. I didn’t want to let Lucie down with an embarrassing defeat, but I didn’t want to beat Ryan so badly that it shattered the confidence he’d built up with his basketball win. I decided my best bet was to try to get the game to a tie, or as close to a tie as I could get.

  I let Ryan get the first score, and I took the second quickly after. Tia had told me that Ryan played lots of sports back home, mentioning soccer and baseball, but I’d never expected air hockey to be among his strengths. By the time he reached his teenage years, he’d be a monster of a player.

  “Are you secretly a world champion air hockey player?” I asked Ryan after his third goal.

  Ryan shook his head, laughing. “I’ve only played a few times,” he said.

  That, in itself, was deserving of the victory. The game ended with a score of 7–6 in Ryan’s favor, a respectable score for me while allowing for the victory he’d earned.

  I boosted Ryan up on my shoulders and had him do a victory lap around the arcade before letting him go back to playing with Lucie. I’d shocked myself with how much I’d enjoyed playing. In a life filled with executive meetings, phone calls and business trips, it was nice to escape and just be a kid again.

  “You were really great with him,” Tia said when it was just the two of us again. “Ryan hasn’t had many adult male figures in his life. I can tell he’s really loving getting to spend time with you.”

  “I feel the same way about him,” I replied. Curiosity got the best of me. “You don’t have any brothers to be a male role model in his life? Or your dad? Friends?”

  Tia hesitated, and I worried that I’d overstepped, but she glanced over at Ryan and then back to me. “I have one sister, but I’m not all that close with her. She lives in New York, and my parents live in Florida. We were just never the close-knit family type. And as for friends, I’m so busy with work that I hardly have time to socialize.”

  “I get that.”

  “So, in case I don’t get a chance to say it later on, thank you for indulging Ryan,” Tia said. “He’s happier here than I’ve ever seen him.”

  I couldn’t find words to express how much what she’d said meant to me. She thought I was the one helping her and her son, but they were the ones doing me a favor. The more time I spent with them, the more I saw how great their relationship was. It made me want to be a better, more present father for Lucie.

  It pained me to think that, just a few days from now, Lucie would be back at school and Tia would be back in America. It felt like we were at the beginning of something great, and I craved a hundred more days like today.

  I wanted to make the most of my time here, but I was torn about what to do with the limited hours we had left. An idea popped into my head, a joining of our two worlds, but I needed to run it by Lucie first. I’d wanted this trip to be a chance for the two of us to grow closer, and the last thing I wanted was to distance myself from her by spending too much time with Tia.

  I called Lucie’s name and took her to the side, away from where Tia and Ryan could hear us. I wanted to check with her before making any plans. After all, I’d planned this trip with just the two of us in mind.

  “Lucie, what would you think of inviting Tia and Ryan to spend the day with us tomorrow?” I whispered.

  “Yay! That would be so much fun!” Lucie squealed, clearly missing out on the intended secretive nature of this powwow. “Can we ask them now?”

  I chuckled as the others looked for the source of the commotion. “Tia, Ryan. Lucie and I have a question for you,” I said.

  Ryan put down the game controller he had in his hands and followed his mother across the arcade to us.

  “What’s up?” Tia asked.

  “We were wondering if you’d be interested in coming into the city with us tomorrow.”

  Lucie nodded, her way of showing that it was what we both wanted.

  “We planned on doing some sightseeing and exploring Geneva,” I added.

  Tia looked down at Ryan, who bobbed his head up and down. “We’d love to. As long as we’re not imposing, of course.”

  “Not in the slightest. We’d love the company.”

  The kids returned to their games, and I tried to balance conversation with Tia with planning for our day tomorrow. I wanted it to be perfect. Tia seemed low-maintenance compared to most of the people I regularly associated with, but I still saw this as another opportunity to show how much our time together had meant to me.

  Besides, as the relative local out of the two of us, I was the one tasked with showing Tia everything Switzerland had to offer.

  Chapter 10

  Maxim

  It was late by the time we finally got back to the cabin, but I wanted to have a talk with Lucie, to make sure we were on the same page. While she seemed to have been having a grand time with Ryan, this was the first chance I’d had all day to ask her how she was truly feeling. We’d gone from skiing with the Birchfields, to dining with them, to spending the evening in the arcade with them, and I had to remind myself that, just because I was thrilled by their company, that didn’t mean Lucie felt the same way.

  When Lucie was changed into her pajamas, she emerged into the living room and plopped down on the couch beside me. “What do you want to talk to me about?” she asked. “I’m sleepy.”

  “I just want to make sure you’re all right with all this time we’re spending with Ryan and Tia,” I said. The puzzled look on her face told me she didn’t understand my insinuation. “This trip was supposed to be for you and me, and I know you were looking forward to it for a long time.”

  “That was before I met Ryan. He’s my new best friend!”

  “Is that so?”

  Lucie blushed. “Don’t tell him,” she said. “I haven’t told him yet.”

  Things seemed so simple for Lucie and Ryan. It warmed my heart to hear how she spoke about him. I didn’t know many of her friends from school, since they were scattered across the country each time she was home for break, so I was grateful that I was able to see firsthand how easily my little girl made friends.

  “It’ll be our little secret,” I said. “Does that mean you’re okay with spending the whole day with them tomorrow? If you want more time just the two of us, we can make our trip to Geneva a little shorter, that way we’d still have the whole afternoon just for you and me.”

  “That’s okay. I like Ryan and Tia. They’re fun! Maybe we can do a different trip just the two of us when I’m home for the summer.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Can I pick where we go?” Lucie asked, renewed enthusiasm in her voice.

  “You can give me some suggestions, and I’ll see what we can do.”

  Lucie stood up from the couch, kissed me on top of my head, and started toward her bedroom. “Daddy?”

  “Yes, sweetheart,” I said.

  “You smile a lot when you’re around Tia.”

  Without waiting for a response, Lucie wished me good night stepped into her room.

  As she softly closed the door behind her, the truth of her words settled over me. I smiled a lot around Tia. Though I knew that I’d had a great time today, I was surprised that my daughter had been able to pick up on it.

  It made the reality I had to face that much more difficult.

  As much as I was enjoying my time with Tia, I wasn’t sure that it could go anywhere. As it stood, I struggled enough trying to balance work and my relationship with Lucie. A long-distance relationship wouldn’t make sense. I knew that, but I reasoned that the distance between Tia’s hometown and mine was no reason that we couldn’t enjoy the rest of the weekend together.

  Was it smart to spend more and more time with a captivating woman knowing she was leaving in less than forty-eight hours? Probably not. But I couldn’t help myself. It had been a long, long time since I’d felt this strongly connected to anyone. The fact that Lucie had made such quick friends with Tia’s son made it even more difficult to think about writing them off.

  I was determined to make our day together in Geneva as wonderful as possible, to put off worrying about what the future held so we could all enjoy ourselves.

  I considered myself to be an organized person, always making lists and planning ahead. I had to be that way, overseeing thousands of employees on a daily basis. I always knew my schedule for the upcoming week. I went into meetings prepared and well-versed on whatever we would be discussing. I went over my itinerary directly with my driver each week, much to the irritation of my assistant, to make sure we were on the same page.

  With that planning mentality, it was hard to break free from worrying about the future. It was a struggle to spend time with Tia not knowing what might come from it. But I supposed that the uncertainty was what made risks worth taking.

  Chapter 11

  Tia

  I couldn’t sleep. I’d been lying in this bed since ten o’clock, and the clock told me it was now an hour and twelve minutes later. I’d tried everything I could think of—counting sheep, listening to peaceful music, drinking herbal tea. My guess that it was a combination of nerves and excitement about our upcoming outing with Maxim and Lucie.

  I wasn’t sure what had come over me, but I felt like I had to see Maxim. Tonight. I didn’t know anything about him other than his cabin number, but maybe that would be enough. I hopped out of bed, threw on the bathrobe the hotel had provided me with, and tiptoed out to the main room, careful not to wake Ryan. He was a heavy sleeper, so I wasn’t overly concerned, but I still felt obligated to be as quiet as I possibly could. I grabbed the resort guide and crept back into my room, shutting the door behind me.

  According to the guide, all I had to do was press 2 and dial a room number, or press 3 and dial a cabin number. I pressed 3, followed by his cabin, number 1222. I wasn’t sure where they’d come up with the numbers, given that there certainly weren’t a thousand cabins at the resort, but I supposed it wasn’t something to concern myself with.

  With each ring, I further regretted dialing the number. Why had I called him? What on earth was I doing? Maybe he wouldn’t pick up.

  “Hello?” It was definitely him.

  “Maxim?”

  “Tia, is that you?”

  His recognition of my voice made my heart speed up. “It’s me,” I said. “I know this may sound crazy, but is there any chance you’d be interested in meeting me at the hotel bar for a drink?” I mentally prepared myself for him to say no. After all, he hardly knew me, and it was practically the middle of the night.

  “I’d love to,” he said. “Let me just call the childcare service to come stay with Lucie. Say, twenty minutes?”

  “That sounds great.” I hung up the phone feeling like a teenager who’d just accepted her first date. Following Maxim’s lead, I called downstairs to the childcare service and requested one hour of coverage. I was certain Ryan would sleep through the night, but, with the time difference, I wanted to be sure he didn’t wake up alone and confused.

  I threw on a tank top followed by a knit sweater, and settled for a pair of ripped jeans. Midnight meet-ups at bars were totally casual, right?

  I ran my hairbrush through my hair and sighed at my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t feel like putting on a full face of makeup just for a few minutes, an hour at the most, so I reasoned with myself by telling myself that, if Maxim liked me, he would still like me without makeup.

  I still didn’t have the slightest clue what I was doing, or maybe I did. Maxim had been the one to initiate everything we’d done together. He’d been the one to invite me to dinner. He’d offered to teach me to ski. He’d invited us to the arcade, and, again, he’d been the one to ask us to spend the day with him and Lucie tomorrow. I wanted to reciprocate, to show him I was having just as good a time with him as he was with me. Even though our time together was almost over, I didn’t want him to feel as if he was the one who constantly had to initiate plans. Maybe I’d gone about it the wrong way, but it was too late now. He’d be waiting for me in just a few minutes.

  As soon as the babysitter arrived at the door, I stepped into the hallway and explained to her that Ryan was sleeping and I’d be downstairs if she needed anything. With nerves filling every inch of my body, I took the elevator downstairs.

  There Maxim was, sitting on a barstool, the only person at the bar with the exception of the bartender. Even with an aura of fatigue surrounded him, he was strikingly handsome.

  “Did I wake you?” I asked as I approached him. Once I got closer, I realized that he was wearing the same outfit he’d been wearing earlier at the arcade. Maybe billionaires were humans just like the rest of us.

  “Maybe a smidge,” Maxim said, yawning.

  “I’m so sorry. I feel terrible. For some reason, you strike me as the kind of guy who stays up late.”