Chapter Twenty
Finn
Chloe was a nightmare at snowboarding, but we switched her back to skis and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside together. Parker found a few friends and ditched us, which was fine by me. I needed to talk with the beautiful girl who'd stolen my heart, anyway.
I waited at the bottom of the run for her, my hands shading the top of my eyes so I could see her come down. Her long, blonde hair flapped behind her, and her muted pink jacket and wind-pants fit her incredibly well. I let out a long whistle as she stopped beside me.
"You got plans later, pretty girl? If not, I know a great place in town that will cut you a steak fresh from the rack. We can grab a few, and I'll grill them for us." I lifted an eyebrow and waited for her response. Just having her with me lightened the load of concerns I carried around all the time.
"Sounds wonderful. I can't imagine anything better." She moved closer to me, and I popped my feet from my board and stepped in between her skis, wrapping my arm tightly around her middle.
"I can imagine something a lot better, but we'll start with dinner and a long conversation." I leaned forward and brushed my nose along hers, wanting to take things slow, and yet not.
"How about a cup of coffee now at the little shop at the clubhouse, and then we'll have our second date? I don't want to talk about anything heavy tonight. Let's get it all out of the way before we leave here."
She slid her pink mittens along my face and pulled me in for a sweet kiss.
"Get a room!" Parker yelled as he moved past us.
"I like that idea. There are so many things we could do in a room if given enough time." I nipped at her lips and smiled.
"You act like such a nice guy, but I know there's a bad boy underneath it all. I keep seeing him peek out around the edges of your personality." She pulled from me.
"Actually, I'm always a nice guy. You're just making shit up." I licked at my lips again and glanced down at her mouth. "I want my kiss."
"I do owe it to you." She slid her arms around my neck and flattened herself against the front of me before tilting her head up and capturing my lips.
I slid my hand over the curve of her ass and squeezed tightly as I explored her mouth fully. She took every bit of what I was giving and met me with a hot passion that left me needy. It wasn't something I'd experienced in my past. Desire rolled through me, and I pulled her in even closer, deepening the kiss as my body hardened.
She broke the kiss and looked up at me a little starry-eyed. "Damn, you're a good kisser."
"Mmm...you should see what else I can do with this tongue." I smiled as she shook her head and pushed at my chest.
"Not here. Not now. So incredibly bad."
"Not me. You're thinking of someone else, which come to think of it is highly disturbing." I picked up my board and tucked it under my arm before nodding to the lodge. "Let's go have this talk and finish clearing the air between us."
"Yes. Then we should really test out these promises about your magical tongue." She wagged her eyebrows.
I growled and reached for her hand, hoping the talk would be short and the night long.
* * * *
I carried two cups of hot chocolate over to the table as Chloe played with her nails. She was nervous, and she wasn't the only one.
"Peppermint in yours or no?" I held out both cups toward her.
"Yes. I love it, unless you don’t."
"Nope. It's all yours." I sat down and pressed my forearms to the table. "I need to apologize."
"You already have, Finn." She took a tentative sip and looked shocked. "This isn't scorching hot."
"I know. You tell them child's temp and they make it to where you can drink it." I wagged my eyebrows. "And here you thought I was just sexy. I'm smart, too."
She laughed, and the sound of it caused my heart to beat fast. I couldn't even contemplate her leaving in a few weeks. It was too much to consider.
"I owe the apology," she began. I started to cut her off, but she lifted her hand in protest. "No, let me finish. Please."
"Okay." I sat back and let my free hand drop into my lap, willing to give her center stage.
"Coming here was something I did begrudgingly and only because I had to." She shrugged and glanced down at her mug. "I'm glad I did, but I think I wanted to just treat it like a quick stop off in life and move on. I just wrapped up my degree, and my dreams have always been to be on the west coast."
"Which is beautiful." I nodded, hoping to encourage her to forgo thinking about my feelings and just open up to me.
"Yeah, but meeting you and things spiking so fast between us has me wondering if maybe I was just trying to stay in California because this place has too many memories. I mean... I do seriously hate the cold, but this place really is fun." She tugged her cap off and worked to smooth her long hair. "I'd be near my family if I stayed, which would be great. Parker mentioned wanting me to this morning."
I leaned in and slid my open hand across the table, wanting her to take it. She did, and I closed my fingers around hers.
"Listen, you have to do what you think is best, and remember that any decision you make can be undone. You move here and don't like it? Go back to California. You stay there, and it sucks? Come back to us." I smiled, but my words only seemed to hurt her rather than help.
"My apology is for the way I treated you when I first got here. You didn't deserve it. I pre-judged you. Forgive me."
"My actions and the way I lived my life had everyone judging me the same, and you were all right." I pursed my lips. "Your apology is accepted, but it wasn't needed. You were the wake-up call that I needed so desperately."
"Why are you so damn nice?" She tugged her hand away from me.
"Because I care about you, Chloe. I want your happiness. Wherever that is, go there. Be free to live your life." I forced a smile and picked up my hot chocolate. "You and I will be friends no matter where you are."
"What if I want more than a friendship?" She sucked her lip into her mouth as her eyebrows pulled together.
"Then we work on that while you're here, and when it's time to go, nothing changes. If we decide to be together like that, then location shouldn't change anything. It would be hard, but worth it, right?"
"Yeah. I'm overthinking this. I just can't help myself."
"Let's finish up here and get on with the rest of the afternoon. We don't need to sit here and figure out the future. I'm sorry for being an ass, and you're sorry for being so fucking hot, and it's all good." I lifted my hands and shrugged.
She laughed and leaned back in her chair as the worry on her pretty face melted. "Did you find out anything about our dads? Why they can't stand each other?"
"Nope. I mentioned it to my dad, but he closed up tighter than a clam." I stood and offered her my hand. "That's their problem, not ours. When it becomes ours, I'll deal with it for us."
She took my hand and lifted her mug. "Let's get these to go. I don't know what I figured we could work through up here, but I'm over it."
"Good. Besides, I'd rather snuggle up by the fireplace and work through our shit if anything comes up as it comes up." I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head. "But, I'm a simple man. I don't need complexity."
"I like that. A lot." She moved up and kissed me once before taking my drink to have them put into to-go containers. "So, if I didn't want the peppermint hot chocolate, were you going to drink it?"
"Sure was." I slipped my hands in my pockets and tilted my head as I studied her. Butterflies ripped through the center of me as she narrowed her eyes a little.
"Even though you don't like it?"
"If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I chuckled, knowing what was coming next, and said it in tandem with her.
"Ain't isn't a word." She smiled and walked back to the counter, leaving me with my insides on fire and the future opened for anything to happen. It was terrifying, but would be worth every minute that I got to enjoy.
* * * *
"How do you want your steak cooked, baby?" I glanced over my shoulder at her. We were on the small porch I'd built at the back of my cabin. Her long legs were stretched out as she lounged in a chair beside me, the top half of her wrapped in three blankets. All I could see was her little red nose and piercing green eyes.
"Medium." She lifted her mouth out of the covers before slipping it back under quickly.
I turned the steaks and moved to sit beside her on the lounge chair. "Did you have that meeting with your dad over the jackets?"
The top of her cheeks lifted above the covers as she nodded.
"And?" I reached out and tugged the blanket down. "Tell me what happened."
"It went really well. He's going to let me take one of the designs to market under his line. I guess he wants me to understand the full cycle from idea to an actual product on the shelves."
"And you're excited?" I pulled the blanket back up.
She nodded, and I stood, checking the meat one more time before pulling it off the grill.
"Let's get inside, Miss. I hate the cold." I grabbed my beer and put my shoulder against the door as she moved in quickly behind me, grumbling about the freezing cold weather.
After setting the steaks down in the kitchen and checking on the potatoes and green beans on the stove, I walked over to the fireplace and wrapped her in a hug from behind. She was thick due to the blankets, but I still managed to get my arms around her. I snuggled my face into the side of her neck as she swatted at me.
"Your nose is cold! Damn."
"Hush, woman. Part of being my girl means you have to warm me up when I'm cold. It's in the contract." I smiled and moved back as she turned to face me.
"All of you?" Her lips turned up into a naughty smile, and my chest tightened.
"Yeah. Every last inch." I pulled her in tightly and kissed her with the intent of exploring her warm mouth. The sensation of her cold lips and nose combined with the warm wetness of her mouth caused a growl to slip from my lips. "I want you, Chloe. Say you’ll stay the night with me."
She nodded and pulled her thick bottom lip into her mouth as she watched me. It was enough of an agreement for me. I kissed her nose and moved back to the kitchen. "I'm not the only one with a freezing-ass cold nose."
Her laughter caused me to glance over my shoulder.
"What?" I asked.
"Freezing-ass. We should just make that our private joke. You're a grown-ass man with a freezing-ass cold nose."
I laughed, too, and shook my head. "Tell me a few things about you while I cut this up, then we'll eat."
"Like what?" She moved to sit on the stool at my small two-seater table.
"Like your age. Where you were born. Um...the color of your panties?" I kept my back to her, but couldn't help the huge smile that lifted my lips.
"I'm twenty-three. I was born here in Aspen, and I don't wear panties."
I jerked around and pinned her with a stare. "You do, too. You had on panties the other night in your bedroom."
"Those were my sleeping shorts." She shrugged. "Panties get in the way. I don't like them."
"In the way of what, exactly?" I lifted an eyebrow, loving this girl all the more. She was letting us have a full on conversation over her underwear.
"Of my pants looking good." She tilted her head to the side and smiled. "What did you think I meant?"
"I'm the town whore, remember? My panties get in the way of a quickie." I winked and turned back to the stove after teasing her a little. I was surprised when her arms slid around my waist tightly.
"Don't call yourself that again, okay?" She pressed her lips to my back, and I relaxed against her.
"I was just teasing, baby."
"I know, but I don't like it. I don't think you're a whore. Everyone needs warmth, Finn. You just find it in the arms of a woman." She kissed my back a few more times, and I wished like hell that I didn't have my shirt on.
I cut her a piece of the steak and turned in her hold, offering it to her and smiling as she took it. Her eyes closed, and she groaned. "Delicious."
"I bet that's not the only thing that tastes good." I tossed the fork behind me and took her face into my hands, leaning down and kissing her. "Where do you find your warmth?"
"I didn't have a place." She licked at her lips and swallowed. "But I do now."
Dinner was ready, but all I could think about was tasting her. I wanted her to find not only warmth, but pleasure beyond anything she could imagine with me.
I pushed at the blankets around her and ran my hands down the column of her neck before leaning in for another kiss.
She groaned and slipped her cold hands under my layers of clothes, her fingers freezing, but silky soft. I reached down and pulled my shirts off, tossing them to the side. Pulling her back against me, I cupped her perfect ass and pressed at the back of her thighs.
"What about dinner?" She pulled back as I beckoned her to jump and wrap her legs around me.
"Fuck dinner." I gripped the back of her neck forcefully and pulled her back down to consume her mouth as I moved us to the couch. Every cell in my body came alive at the thought of seeing her come and hearing her cry out my name. I had to force myself to calm down. I didn't want to scare the poor girl, seeing that I hoped like hell that this would be the first night of many with us together.
I couldn't imagine a better future.