Page 86 of Wanting You

“Tanner, I…”

“I know, I know…I’m getting way ahead of ourselves, but…I’m just excited about all the possibilities! Like…between the two of us, there is no end to what we can accomplish!” He popped half of a dumpling into his mouth. “Can we look at some of your stuff now? Is it here, or can we grab your laptop and look at it?”

She knew he wasn’t going to let up until she showed him something. “One of the guest rooms is set up as my studio,” she explained as she stood. “Come on. We’ll finish eating after we look.”

“Awesome!”

At the door to the guest room, she let out a long breath and opened it.

It was one thing for random people online to look at her stuff, but it was another when it was someone you knew and loved.

Leaning against the door, she turned on the light and then…stood back and watched. Tanner slowly walked around the room looking at the canvases hanging on the walls, the costumes on the dress forms lining one wall. There was stuff everywhere and honestly, this was only a small portion of her portfolio.

“Chloe…I…holy crap. This stuff is amazing!” He went back over to the wall of canvases. “Do you think you could do stuff like this on snowboards?”

“Um…what?”

He nodded. “Some of these characters would look amazing on boards. If you’re interested, I’d love to work with you on something like this and maybe create our own line of snowboards. You could sell them in your shop or we can find other outlets—even the pro shop up at Summit Ridge! We could even…” Muttering a curse, he stopped. “Sorry. I do this sort of thing. I get an idea and then I run with it without thinking. This is your stuff and I’m already trying to horn in on it. I…damn.” Raking a hand through his hair, he walked out of the room.

Of course, he didn’t go far; she found him in the kitchen sitting back down.

“You weren’t horning in, Tanner. I kind of love how your mind works. I’m a little of a think-inside-the-box person. But you? To you, the sky’s the limit! I’ve never dreamed that big. And listening to you talk made me feel like…I could do this!” Sitting down, she laughed. “Then I thought, why didn’t I think of that? It’s a vicious cycle. But again, this is what makes us…”

“A great team,” he said, looking visibly relieved. “Thank you for being so gracious. I had a total flashback to that first teacher meeting and…”

“Yes, you horned in there like a big fat steamroller,” she teased. “But this is different. This is you wanting to work together, not take over and show off.” And with a wink, she added, “I like this guy so much better.”

Fortunately, he laughed. “Yeah. Me too.”

The weekend passed in a flurry of making love and making art.

And damn if it wasn’t the most satisfying time of his life.

By Sunday night, they had gone through Chloe’s portfolio and picked a dozen designs they wanted to try on boards. The brand that Tanner was a spokesperson for had a line of snowboards and he was ready to pitch his idea of a line with her artwork on them. They just needed to come up with a name for them so they each got credit. At first, she said she didn’t need her name on them—didn’t want that kind of attention on herself—but the more they talked, the more he could tell that it was something she was afraid to ask for.

So…he was going to make damn sure it was going to happen for her.

The week at school had been great, and their field trip was an incredible success. The students all had an amazing time and he had watched Chloe put more than a handful of kids' minds at ease when they were scared to go down that tiny hill.

When the weekend rolled around again, they made plans to have dinner with her family on Saturday. While he wasn’t someone who was normally intimidated, he had to admit that being back with the Donovans made him feel a little self-conscious. Reid had never really given him any grief that day at school, but considering her family had had an intervention with Chloe because of him, he figured he was going to get the stink eye from at least one or two of them before everyone just accepted him back.

That had him a little on the defensive even as he walked into Jade and Levi’s house with a smile.

“Tanner! It’s good to see you again!” Jade said, accepting the platter of fresh veggies and guacamole Chloe had made. She shut the door and motioned for Chloe to head into the kitchen and then stepped in Tanner’s path to stop him. “I can see that you’re a little tense, and I want to put your mind at ease. No one’s going to say anything out of line because of the temporary breakup. It’s none of their business. So please go inside and relax.”

He almost sagged to the ground. “Thank you, Jade. I was kind of afraid I was going to get the third-degree from at least one member of the family. I wasn’t sure who, but…”

“That was never going to be Levi, I promise,” she assured him. “Chloe put everyone in their place a few weeks ago. We all thought we were helping her, but it turns out she helped all of us to see that we need to respect each other a little more.”

“I really wish I would have been able to see that,” he said. “I’m so proud of her for standing up for herself like that.”

“We all are.” She smiled. “Maybe hitting pause on your relationship wasn’t a bad thing. But we’re all really glad you’re back together.”

“Believe me, no one’s happier about that than I am.”

Her smile grew. “Come on. Everyone’s in the kitchen. Including my parents. I don’t think you’ve met them yet. We’re just waiting for Ronan. He was driving up this morning, but we haven’t heard from him yet.”

“I hope he’s okay…”

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