“Seriously?” He draped his free arm around her shoulders to steer her where he wanted to go. “You didn’t ever leave your office while you lived here?”
She gave him a sheepish grin and he was glad he’d come up with the sledding idea. He hadn’t enjoyed needling her about her father last night. More than anything, he wanted to start their relationship over and cement things between them as a couple. But he had a duty to protect his investment at Transparent, too, for investors but also for his family’s financial security. With the public launch around the corner, he needed to ensure the product was protected from Stephan Degraff.
“I told you, I was very focused on work. I loved my job consulting for entrepreneurs. I would have gladly stayed in that field for years if my father hadn’t tapped me to help with his venture capital investments.” She pointed to a group of evergreens with boughs weighed down to the ground from the snow. “This is all so pretty.”
Damon liked the feel of her under his arm, the scent of her shampoo right through the crocheted wool cap she wore.
“Seems like a good time for you to have some fun.” He remembered how easy it was to be with her in Italy on their honeymoon. Not just because they’d been in love and eager to spend every second together. But because simple things made her happy. She was unpretentious despite her family’s wealth. She’d counseled struggling women entrepreneurs through her work in the financial industry, helping female business owners win grants, negotiate complicated financial regulations and win more capital backing. Damon had always considered her work history a far cry from her father’s business interests even though she’d stepped into Transparent as his representative.
Damon had been impressed by her savvy from the first day. She’d been helpful without being overbearing. She’d genuinely facilitated his company’s move forward.
“I will admit, Lucas appears to be in very good hands.” She held up her phone in front of Damon as they passed a vendor selling hot chocolate along with hot pretzels. A small crowd clutched steaming foam cups.
Her nursery app showed the two college grads his grandfather had hired. Lucas sat in a baby bouncer on the floor while one of the young women—Marcie, he thought—danced an impromptu ballet to the classical music playing, using a stuffed elephant as her partner. At the same time, her colleague assembled a baby swing in the middle of the room. Wide-eyed, Lucas kicked happily in his seat.
Damon could rest easy leaving their son behind when Lucas had a second security guard assigned to his safety.
“He certainly seems entertained.” They trooped through fresh powder to one side of the path as a troop of kids ran by them, squealing and throwing snowballs. “I asked the caregivers to bring him to the park after we finish sledding. In another hour, the plows will have swept through again and it should be easy to push the stroller on the paths.” He could see the crowd at the top of Cedar Hill already. “We’ll trade off the sled for a baby and a winter picnic. The girls might enjoy trying out the tube once we’re done.”
“That sounds great and—oh! Look!” Caroline halted as they turned a corner and got a good view of Cedar Hill crowded with sledders.
A mish-mosh of music drifted up from competing external speakers on a variety of electronic devices. An eighties tune, pop music and some sort of funky electronica overlapped with squeals and laughter even as the fresh snow muted the sounds to a dull, vibrant hum. Toboggans, plastic saucers and a few pieces of cardboard all carried people down the hillside.
“New York sledding at its finest.” He let go of her shoulders to hold up the inflated tube. “Are you ready to set the new land speed record?”
“Very.” Caroline tugged her knit hat lower on her ears. “Let’s show them how it’s done.”
He watched a family at the bottom of the hill tip their sled into a snowbank, upending the whole group.
“Have you been sledding before?” He knew she’d spent most of her childhood in southern California, but her father’s wealth had probably allowed for ski vacations.
“I’ve gone tubing behind a boat.” She dug a pair of sunglasses out of her pocket and slid them on her nose. “How different can it be?”
She headed toward the highest crest where a few groups of people took turns careening down the hill. Damon took a moment to give their security detail a thumbs-up, letting the guy know they would remain in this location for a while. Then he followed Caroline.
“Seriously? You’ve never ridden a sleigh down a hill?” Damon wended his way through a mob of parents supervising smaller children on sleds, following Caroline to where a group of teens filmed one another using an empty refrigerator box for a makeshift snowboard.