Leaning against the wall, I watch Tanner as he loads the fire with logs, giving the room a romantic glow. We don’t really need the romance right now, but how can we not?

I love him. It’s as simple as that. Although, I wish it really was just that simple. I wish he was free to be with me now, and not whenever the snow clears. I hate not being able to touch him when I want to, which is pretty much all the time. I want to be able to cuddle up to him in bed, and not be in a room alone. I want him to be free to love me.

My eyes roam over his body and everything else fades into the background, especially when I realize he’s watching me just as intensely as I am him. The response in my body is instant and my heart feels like it’s about to jump from my chest. He may have given me an orgasm on the sofa, but we’d stayed fully clothed. And there is a part of me that is unsatisfied—I crave his skin against mine.

Tanner slowly moves closer, his brown eyes never leaving mine as I watch need swirling in the dark depths of his. He slowly reaches out and caresses my plump lips with his thumbs, slipping the tips inside my mouth.

My knees weaken as his mouth slowly descends. His lips brush across my brow before he places a series of slow, shivery kisses across my waiting lips. My senses reel as if short-circuited while I breathe lightly between parted lips.

His lips graze my earlobe before he plants a tantalizing kiss at the pulsing hollow of my neck. Our eyes connect seconds before he takes my mouth with a savage intensity that is overwhelming in his need.

I wrap myself around him, feeling his hands holding me securely against his taut body. Every hard inch of him is pressing against my most intimate places, making me feel a burning desire, an aching need, to be joined to him regardless of the situation.

Breathing heavily, Tanner pulls away from the kiss. He makes sure my feet are planted firmly on the floor before he backs straight across the room from me—the sofa and coffee table between us.

He leans his butt against the wall and stares up at the ceiling, closing his eyes.

Afraid my legs are no longer going to hold me up, I grab ahold of the back of the sofa and keep hold as I drop on to it.

Moments later, he meets my gaze. “I love you, Charlotte McKenzie, and I’m so damn tempted to take you. My body craves yours, just like my heart does.”

“I love you too, Tanner.” I smile through the tears slipping down my cheeks. “You must know that?”

“I hoped.” He drags a hand over his face. “The first time we met shouldn’t have happened…”

I blink unsure if I heard him correctly as I feel all the color leaving my face. “My heart hurts hearing those words out of your mouth because that night was special to me,” I admit.

He watches me and quickly moves, sitting on the coffee table. Tugging my hands into his, he holds them tightly. “That came out wrong. What I regret about that night is that I’d just broken up with my fiancée and things at home were still up in the air…I will never regret meeting you and being with you, I just wish I’d been free to stay with you. I hate that I did the same as what she did to me in a way. I’m not a cheater, Charlotte. Never before. I hate that I became one.”

Sitting forward, I pull my hands away before placing them on his face. “You are not one, Tanner. You weren’t engaged when you arrived in Lexington for Sirena and Garrett’s wedding, right?”

He nods.

“From this point forward, we need to concentrate on us.” I press a soft kiss to his lips. “Once you’ve told Emma, then we can truly move on together. So,” I grin, “I promise to stop teasing you...for now.”

He groans. “You don’t need to do anything.” He offers a sheepish grin. “I only have to look at you, be near you, or even think about you, and I want you. My body reacts to thoughts of you, which could get embarrassing if I’m not careful.”

Giggling, I climb onto his lap, wrap my arms around his shoulders, and bury my face in the curve of his neck. Placing a kiss against his pounding pulse, I grab hold of the hair at the back of his head and tug his face up to mine. “I love you, Tanner Jackson, and I can’t wait to be in this position with no clothing between us.”

I catch his groan in my mouth for an all-too-brief kiss. “That will have to last us until you can get into town.”

On legs that tremble, I slowly get to my feet, even though the need to stay where I am hurts badly. His hands slide in a caress up my thighs to my hips as he steadies me.

“Charlotte, look at me,” he pleads.

I shake my head.

“Please look at me.”

“If I look at you then I’m not sure I won’t break down.”

He curses, and moving quickly, has me in his strong arms. “The minute the snow stops, I’m going to clear a path to the road. We’re off the main highway so that should get cleared before a lot of the side roads. We’re not talking long, okay?”

Nodding, Tanner holds the back of my head, and places a long, hard kiss to my forehead. “Good…Good.” If anything, his arms tighten around me before he reluctantly let’s me go. “Dinner,” he mumbles. “I need to make us something to eat.” He clears his throat. “You’re hungry right?” He turns and makes his escape to the kitchen.

With his befuddled antics, my heartache has turned into amusement as I follow him, or rather the noise of pans clattering.

I sigh in pleasure as I watch him bending to grab the vegetables, and stretching for the pasta and a jar of sauce.

He suddenly grips the countertop and drops his head, his shoulders moving back and forth. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m going to break every rule we’ve made.” He slowly turns his head and gives me the sexiest look imaginable, making my toes curl and liquid warmth spreads between my thighs.

“I need some clothes,” I blurt. “Being naked under this robe isn’t helping me.”

His eyes caress over me, leaving a trail of fire before he curses and quickly leaves the room only to return a few minutes later with a pair of his shorts, sweat pants, a T-shirt, and a plaid button down. “I need you covered,” he grumbles, dumping the clothing into my outstretched hands.

I laugh and head toward the guest room, but I have to have the last word in this, even if I am teasing the beast. So pausing, I glance over my shoulder, and ask, “So it isn’t going to bother you that my naked breasts are going to be rubbing against the fabric of your T-shirt, or that my pussy is going to be bare inside your shorts?”

His eyes darken to slits, and he takes a step toward me—hunger filling his eyes. With a smirk, I slowly make my way to the guest room. Sagging against the closed door, I sigh with a big smile on my face.

I’m in love and I’m happy. I’ve been sad for so long that it’s such a relief to know I have a reason to smile again.