Chapter 9
Hunter
As soon as I wake up, I reach instinctively for Holly’s side of the bed. She’s been at my cabin for three days, and she spent the past two days naked and completely at my mercy. I’m in love with her. I haven’t told her yet, but I want to. Everything in me wants to tell her how much I love her.
When I find only cold sheets, I finally open my eyes and frown. The bed is empty, and she’s not in the room.
I go to the bathroom, expecting to find her in the shower, but she’s not there. Frosty isn’t either even though he spent the last two nights with us.
The roads are clear again. They’re open for traffic. I got the text alert last night, but I didn’t bother telling her. I was going to work up to it. Hell, maybe a small part of me was hoping that she’d never know, so she could spend the rest of her life by my side.
I know it’s a crazy thought, but it was still in my head. What if she left me? She couldn’t have left me. As soon as I think the thought, my blood runs cold.
I search through the cabin like a madman, but she’s not here. My knees threaten to buckle under the weight of my grief. She left me.
Without a word, she took all of her things and went down the mountain, leaving my heart bloodied and bruised.
I don’t know how I could ever accept this. I reach for my phone to call Ford. There’s still no reception because the towers haven’t been restored, but I’ll send a message.
If anyone can help me track her down, it’s him. We’ll find her then I’ll go to her and calmly kidnap her and take her back here so she can stay where she’s loved and wanted.
Before I can send a message, I hear a bark outside. The boys should still be in the sunroom, waking up from a long night spent dreaming of chasing squirrels.
Opening the door, I frown when I see them running around the yard in the melting snow. That’s when I hear something thump on the roof.
I step out to investigate and glance up to see Holly on my roof. A hundred different emotions slam into me all at once. Relief that she’s still here. A welling of love and affection. Fear because she’s so damn close to the edge of the roof, and she’s not wearing a harness.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand, angry that she’s putting herself in jeopardy. If she needed something from the roof, she should have sent me up.
She startles and glances at me, shading her face. I don’t miss the expression of guilt that flickers across her face. “Oh, you’re up already? I wanted to finish by then.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “What are you doing up there without a harness? Get down here!”
Sure, I’d go up on the roof of my place without a harness.
I don’t think twice about breaking my own neck.
But the thought that she could take one wrong step and slide off of the icy roof is making it hard for me to breathe.
The moment her feet touch the ground, I’m spanking her cute little ass for making me worry.
She glares back at me and puts her hands on her hips. “I was decorating the roof for you.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” I demand and go to the ladder. If she’s not coming down, then I’m going to her. Nothing on this earth will stop me from going after my girl.
“Because I love you, you big idiot.”
I stop halfway up the ladder and blink.
Her confession is the last thing I expected. I wanted to be the one to say it first, but I’ve been holding off because I was worried that saying it too soon would scare her. I didn’t want her to leave.
“You love me?” I repeat, my heart growing three sizes like the green guy who hated the holidays. How can one body hold all this love for another person?
“Yeah, and I want you to have all the Christmas lights, even if I’m pretty sure I created a tangled mess. I just want–”
I don’t let her finish. I’m up the ladder and on the roof with her, pressing a passionate kiss to her lips. She tastes of peppermint hot chocolate and long, sweaty nights and the beautiful beginning I’d been so afraid to hope for.
“I love you, too,” I tell her when we’re both dizzy and light-headed.
“I just want you to have pretty Christmas lights,” she pants. “I wanted you to know how much I care about you.”
“You are my light and my warmth,” I tell her, wrapping my arms around her and tugging her close. She’s the best gift I’ve ever been given, and I’ll spend the rest of time cherishing her.
Holly
You’re never leaving me. Hunter’s words from yesterday replay in my head as I wake up next to him. After he took me in the kitchen, he carried me to the bathroom and cleaned both of us up. The way he looked at me made me think that maybe he’s in love with me, just like I am with him.
The knowledge warms me from the inside out. I want to find a way to show him how I feel. No one has ever taken the time to make him feel wanted or loved. I just have to figure out how to do that.
He shifts in his sleep, and I use the opportunity to leave the bed. After I take care of my business in the bathroom, I let the dogs outside to relieve themselves and play in the fresh snow.
The worst of the storm finally passed over us last night, not that I was even aware of it. I was too busy under Hunter, writhing as he demanded one more orgasm from my exhausted body. I love the way he pushes me to the brink, intent on giving me every second of ecstasy that he can.
I brew a pot of coffee and wander through the cabin, pausing when I find a large box with an inscription in black marker that reads: I love you. - Mom
I smile. I’ve never met Emma May, but I know I already love her for the way she took in Hunter and his brothers. I open the box and gasp as soon as I see the contents. The storm has stopped so it’s perfect.
Grabbing the lights, I whistle a tune under my breath as I head to the garage to look for a ladder. I know just how to show the mountain that I love him.
I’ve only been working for about an hour when he leaves the cabin. I haven’t set up the lights as well as I’d hoped. Turns out, I keep tangling them and now that I can see him scowling up at me, I’m nervous. I wonder if this was a good idea. What if he hates it?
The roads were cleared yesterday. I saw the alert on his phone even though I pretended it didn’t. Is he going to send me away now? Have I completely misread the situation and made a complete fool of myself?
“What do you think you’re doing?” Hunter demands. He does not sound happy. Not even a little bit.
Guilt twists in my gut though I try not to let it show. “Oh, you’re up already? I wanted to finish by then.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, pulling his flannel tight in all the right places. I wonder if he’s as deliciously sore as I am. “What are you doing up there without a harness? Get down here!”
I glare back at him, surprised at just how much his angry side turns me on. “I was decorating the roof for you.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” He stalks to the ladder and starts climbing up.
“Because I love you, you big idiot,” I shout. I’m making the most romantic confession of my life, and I just called him an idiot.
He pauses halfway up the ladder. He looks completely shaken by my revelation. “You love me?”
“Yeah, and I want you to have all the Christmas lights, even if I’m pretty sure I created a tangled mess. I just want–”
He doesn’t let me finish, joining me on the roof. He presses a soft kiss to my lips, and my arms go around his neck. This man kisses me like I’m the only woman in the world, the only person that matters.
“I love you, too,” he whispers when he pulls away long enough to press kisses to my jaw and neck.
“I just want you to have pretty Christmas lights,” I pant, angling my head to give him better access. “I wanted you to know how much I care about you.”
He lifts his head and stares down into my eyes. His gaze is filled with all of the affection and tenderness that he feels. “You are my light and my warmth.”
We’re still making out when an unfamiliar car pulls up into the driveway. I wonder if this is Emma May and hope that our introduction isn’t me mauling her son on the roof of his cabin. But it’s not Emma May or any other stranger from town. It’s my mom and my sister.
“I think that’s my family,” I say to Hunter in complete shock.
A look of guilt flashes on his face. “The roads became passable last night, but I wasn’t ready to tell you.”
“I already knew they were. I wasn’t ready to leave you.”
The smile he gives me has my heart soaring. “Good. I had no intention of letting you go.”
He helps me down the ladder, and I run into my mom’s arms. She hugs me tight, my sister joining our shared embrace. They’re both laughing and crying. All three of us are talking so loudly and quickly that we can barely hear each other.
Hunter joins me on the ground. He hung back to give me time to talk to them. But the look he sends my way now is shy.
“Whoa,” Joy murmurs.
I take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Meeting new people is different for him. He’s never been quite sure of his place in the world, but I know his place. It’s right next to me. “I have someone I want you to meet. This is my boyfriend, Hunter. Hunter, this is my mom and sister.”
They stare at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Soon-to-be-husband, actually,” he corrects and puts an arm around my shoulders.
“We kind of fell in love,” I explain.
Mom nods as if she’s completely unfazed. I recognize that look on her face. It’s the one she has when she’s just expecting me to go along with whatever you want. “That’s nice. Now, let’s get home.”
I glance at Joy who gives me an encouraging nod. She’s always been my biggest supporter, the one I can count on to back me no matter what.
“I’m going back to finish filming the movie, but I’m done after that. No more working for the company.”
“But you love it,” mom protests.
Guilt gnaws at me. I don’t feel guilty for walking away. I feel bad for putting all of this on my mom. I never told her I was unhappy. I just assumed she knew and didn’t care. It wasn’t fair to either of us. “I’m not happy.”
She eyes Hunter like he may have put me up to this. She’s always assessing, always studying people. It’s part of why she’s such a great businesswoman.
“I haven’t been for a few years,” I explain quietly, not wanting her to blame Hunter. “I should have said something. I just…I was afraid.”
Her eyes fill with tears and she looks away. “I thought your filming schedule was too hectic. I started spacing out your roles, but I should have just asked.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I insist and step forward, wrapping my arms around her again.
“I want you to be happy,” she whispers as she squeezes me tight.
“He makes me happy,” I reassure her as I step away and swipe at my eyes. I had no idea when I woke up this morning that the day was going to turn out this way. There’s so much joy and love in my heart.
“So, what’s next?” Mom asks.
“I marry your daughter, and we have a dozen kids together,” Hunter answers casually.
I smack at his chest as my cheeks heat, and he chuckles. “We’re taking it slow.”
“Come on, let me show you around, Mrs.?”
“Jolly. You can call me Ma Jolly. Most people do,” she answers with a soft, affectionate smile. I love that she’s accepting him so easily, for no other reason than that I chose him to be my own.
He gives her a shy smile. “Let me give you the grand tour, Ma Jolly.”
She takes his arm and starts into the cabin with him. I can already hear her telling him that the cabin would make a perfect location for the company’s upcoming movie.
I shake my head, caught between exasperation and delight. I turn to Joy who’s still standing in the snow. She barely said a word during our conversation. I just assumed she was letting me and mom talk. But the look on her face lets me know something is bothering her.
“How did you find me? There are so many backroads around these parts,” I ask, wanting to get her talking. If I can get her to start, she’ll tell me what’s bothering her.
“He has a brother,” she whispers excitedly, her eyes filled with delight looking where Hunter has disappeared into the cabin with mom.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I work for him. Hunter’s brother is my boss. They look so much alike,” she shakes her head. “This has got to be the craziest December to ever December.”