Chapter 10
Graham
The sky is low and gray when I arrive at Hearthstone Lodge. Fresh snow coats the parking lot, softening every edge of the landscape. The lodge stands quiet, stoic, its windows like hollow eyes waiting to be filled again. Today feels different. Today I’m waiting for her.
Willow parks beside me, hesitating for a moment before stepping out. She’s wearing a red scarf and her cheeks are a bit flushed. She looks like she walked straight out of a movie – our movie.
“Morning,” she says softly.
“Morning,” I answer.
We walk toward the lodge side-by-side, boots crunching in sync. Inside, the cold air wraps around us like a bittersweet reminder of yesterday’s heat.
I gesture toward a corridor. “I want to show you something.”
She follows me to the great room. It’s flooded with light even through the dirty windows. The mountains look closer today, as if they came to witness whatever this is between us. I pull a folder from my coat.
“These,” I say, handing it to her, “are the revisions I didn’t send by courier. The ones I wanted to show you in person.”
She flips through them slowly. I watch her face instead of the papers. Her eyes widen slightly.
“You moved the artisan retail indoors?” she says.
“Limited space. Local only. No chains,” I reply. “And the courtyard stays open. Community events. Winter markets. Lights. Music.”
“Graham…” she whispers, touched in a way that hits me somewhere raw.
I step closer without meaning to. Then closer because I want to.
“You’re changing the entire concept,” she says quietly.
“No,” I correct. “I’m shaping it. With you.”
Willow looks up sharply, breath catching. Her lips part, her expression soft, but surprised and hopeful. I reach out slowly, giving her every chance to step back. She doesn’t. I brush a fingertip along her jaw. Her breath shudders.
“Willow,” I murmur, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss last night.”
Her hand lifts hesitantly, resting against my chest. “I haven’t either,” she whispers.
That’s all it takes. In two strides, I have her against the stone fireplace, my body caging hers gently, giving her warmth against the cold draft slipping through the cracked windows.
I kiss her softly at first. Then deeper and slower.
Her fingers twist into my coat. My hand slides into her hair, tilting her mouth precisely where I want it.
The kiss turns hungry with days of unspoken tension collapsing into one overwhelming point of contact.
She makes a quiet sound in her throat that arouses me even more.
I break only long enough to whisper against her lips. “This … isn’t casual for me.”
Her breath trembles out, warm against my mouth. “It isn’t for me either.”
I kiss her again – longer this time, with a tenderness I didn’t know I possessed. Outside, snow begins to fall harder. Inside, the lodge holds us like a secret. When we finally pull apart, our foreheads rest together. My voice is hoarse when I say:
“I want to do this. With you. With this lodge. With all of it.”
Her eyes shine. “Then let’s figure it out.”
I smile big and it feels real and unstoppable. Because I know the truth now. This woman is not a distraction. She’s the reason I want to get everything right.