"Of my time with you." I winked and moved toward her as tears filled her eyes again. "Well damn. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to explain why I didn't want to close my eyes."
She reached up and pressed her hands to my chest as I pulled her into a hug. "It's not that, I just..."
"Just what? Tell me what I'm doing and I'll stop. There's no crying on shopping day. Jeez girl. You didn't read the damn rules?" I leaned down and brushed my nose past hers, trying to get her to look into my eyes and see the good times I was trying to present.
She closed her eyes and moved up, pressing her lips to mine. That was it.
A floodgate broke loose inside of me. I moved one of my hands up to let my fingers slide into her long silky hair as I tilted my head, and pressed my tongue against her lips. I wanted in.
She whimpered softly and opened her mouth, the combination of her need and taste driving me insane. I pressed my hips forward and kissed and licked at her mouth as she took every bit of what I offered and seemed to want more.
I broke the kiss and closed my eyes, brushing my lips by hers as I panted. "I've wanted that since we met."
"Me too, now stop being so damn sweet." She brushed her fingers by my lips and I kissed them before moving back.
"Right. No being sweet." I winked. "Ask your questions on the jacket and let's get out of here. I want to show you a little frozen pond not far from my place. It's going to get dark before we know it."
"Okay." She tugged at the front of the jacket and dove into question after question about comfort, color, warmth, flexibility and texture. I answered them all as best I could while trying to stave off my dizziness.
It was the weirdest feeling in the world.
Wanting someone and thinking that it could be forever.
Forever was such a long time.
How could anyone agree to forever?
I didn't know, but I knew one thing was for sure.
I wanted to find out.
Chapter 15
Chloe
The kiss was so far beyond what I expected, and I wanted another and another. The way he looked at me left no doubt inside of me that he wasn't looking for a night of passion, but lots of them. I'd worked so damn hard for five years to get my degree so I could live the life I had planned. I was going to design summer clothes for college kids and then find the right movie star in L.A. that I could latch onto. Fame would be mine, and it would be me that would walk down the catwalk at the end of the show, gaining accolades for my work.
Why did it feel like the light was dimming on that future all of a sudden? I'd been in Colorado for almost two weeks at that point. That wasn't long enough to learn to ski, much less fall for a local who seemed to have every girl's attention.
I pulled out my phone and read through the data that Finn and I gathered as he sang soft and tapped the steering wheel of his old truck.
"Where is this place again?" I glanced up from my phone and let my eyes move across him. His body was hidden behind his jacket and sweater, but the memory of seeing him shirtless left my heart racing. The swell of muscles on his chest and tantalizing grid of them along his stomach was something I wanted to see again...up close.
"It's just a stone's throw from my cabin." His brow pulled tight and he reached over and took my hand. "You okay? You look like something is wrong."
I pulled my hand back and let out a short sigh. "No, I'm just tired. I haven't transitioned well to the altitude and the bed at my Dad's sucks."
"Well, I can't do much about the altitude, but you're more than welcome to try my bed on for size." He wagged his eyebrows and I rolled my eyes.
"Good try, playboy." I pulled my legs up in the seat and wrapped my arms around them. "Do you miss your mom still?"
"All the time." He turned the radio down and pulled into a short driveway. A quaint log cabin sat at the end of the drive ahead of us. It stole my breath. It was unassuming and personal, peaceful and serene. "You?"
"Yeah. So much." I smiled over at him. "Please tell me this is your place."
"It is. I don't bring anyone here. Ever." He shrugged. "Only me, my Dad, and Brian have been inside. Feel special."
I reached for the handle, wanting to see the inside as if I might discover something new about the beautiful man next to me. "I do."
He moved to the front of the truck and walked ahead of me to open the door. The snow was thick and where he'd done a great job of shoveling my father's driveway, his was heavy with snow.
I walked in behind him and breathed in deeply at the smell of his cologne and shampoo mixed with Vanilla. The studio was only two room, one being the combination kitchenette, small living room and two person table. The other in the back was a bedroom big enough for the queen-sized bed Finn had and the bathroom.
"It's only big enough for one person, but it's mine and I love it." He leaned against the wall near the kitchen.
I brushed my fingers by his hand as I walked through, picking up various pictures and trinkets. He didn't say a word, but let me explore until I was content.
I picked up the copy of Moby Dick next to his bed and held it up as I snorted. "You're reading a classic?"
"What, Moby Dick? Naw...that's about growing your penis to massive proportions. Silly girl. A classic?" He rolled his eyes and the laugh that came out of me was deep and far warmer than anything I remembered feeling lately.
I wanted to ask him to not wake me up. Something inside of me was warming again and the apathy that had settled over me years before was cracking. It was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time.
"Show me this pond and then I need to get home." I moved toward him with a smile on my face.
"Anything you want." He moved back and opened the door, letting me go through first.
"Looks like the sun's going to set soon." I wrapped my arms around my middle and looked back at him. "It gets so cold when the sun goes down."
"Agreed. That's why you need a friend to go out and play with you. Otherwise you'd freeze your ass off and they'd never find you in this wasteland." He put his arm over my shoulders and I snuggled into him as we walked into the woods.
"Have you really lived here your whole life?" I asked, enjoying his comfort far more than I should.
"I sure have. I'll die here too."
"Yeah? Not interested in being anywhere else? Just love the snow too much or what?" I couldn't imagine living in a cold climate my whole life.
"Well, for starters, it's all I know. My Dad's here, which is a big deal, too. I don't have brothers or sisters, and though he's an ass most days of the week, he's my ass." He chuckled. "Well he's not my ass per se."
I laughed. "I've seen your ass, and your Dad looks nothing like it."
He blushed and took a deep breath. "I want to build a lodge where families can come. My Dad's worked so hard his whole life that we've never gotten to go anywhere. Seems like every time we tried, it was too expensive, or he had too much work to do. So, I want to have a ski resort that's reasonably priced and welcomes large families. Just loads of activities for the kids and then some for the couples, you know...to reconnect."
"I love it. I think it's brilliant." I wrapped my arm around his back and rubbed softly, not realizing what I was doing, but simply going with the desire to be closer to him.