CHAPTER 8
Mary
I never thought I’d be inside The Little Nell, let alone staying there.
The minute we arrived for dinner I knew there was only one way to describe it. Fabulous.
I took a quick peek at the hotel brochure…
The city of Aspen at our front door, Aspen Mountain at our back door. And in between, a gathering place for the brave and the bright. We're proud of our 5 Stars and 5 Diamonds -- hospitality is our passion. From our kitchens to our cellars, with their 20,000 bottles of wine, from the Concierges in our lobby to the Concierges on our mountains, and from family adventure to après ski, this hotel is, guests have said, "the Aspen of Aspen."
Truer words were never spoken.
I feel like I keep thinking this but I’ve had the best meal of my life, again. Ever time I have the most mouth watering dishes Cash goes and outdoes himself with the next location. And these are locations, not just restaurants.
The presentation, ambiance, service…just everything is so top notch. It’s hard to believe a couple months ago I was eating on a dormitory meal plan hoping to make it before they closed just so I could get soggy French fries and a chicken sandwich that had been under a heat lamp for about five hours.
Oh how times had changed. Or should I say oh how meeting him had changed everything.
After dinner we take in the hot tub outside and what fun is a hot tub without a nice glass of champagne? Not that I would have known before tonight as I’d never experienced either before.
In the hot tub I cuddled up against his chest and looked up at the stars. An incredible view that I’d thought I’d seen hundreds of times before just down the road from my home, but nothing compared to this. It just made me realize how much better it was to be with the most incredible person. To share it like this.
After the hot tub we make our way up to the room. We’d only briefly stepped inside earlier to set down our bags. We even changed clothes out by the hot tub so I hadn’t been able to explore it at all.
Until now.
“It looks like you want to spend a minute acquainting yourself with the room,” he says.
“I do.”
“I’ll take a quick shower then we’re not in a rush. Take your time exploring the room and then later we can get acquainted with each other.”
“I like the sound of that,” I say.
Cash goes into the bathroom and I hear the water running right away.
And I’ve got so many thoughts running through my head.
I take in the view of the mountains through the window and then can’t help but notice the fireplace poker stationed in a rack to my side.
A fireplace poker?
I scan the room and see it. We do have a fireplace!
Just when I think this place can’t get any better.
I take a sip of the champagne I brought up from the hot tub and wonder why this is all happening to me. How did I get so lucky?
But I don’t have much time to think as Cash comes out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. I definitely can’t think now. I can’t focus on anything other than that perfectly sculpted body of his.
“Room suit your tastes?” he says.
I shake my head and smile at the absurdity of his question. “Beyond my wildest dreams,” I say.
“Good,” he says approaching me. He puts his hands on my waist and looks into my eyes. “We’re going to need you to recalibrate then.”
“Recalibrate?”
“Recalibrate your dreams because I’m going to make it my personal mission to turn your dreams into realities and each time I do I want you to raise the bar just so I can do it all over again.”
“I like this recalibrate word,” I say.
“And I like you.”
“And I’d like to take a shower so we can like each other together,” I say.
“I like the sound of that.”
He reaches around and gives my butt a squeeze.
I wink and scurry off to the bathroom.
Time to get squeaky clean so I can feel those silk bed sheets glide across my skin as his fingers glide across my body.