Page 90 of Wanting You

It was a snowboard that she had painted herself with a picture of him when he won his final competition. She’d found the picture online and thought it captured him so perfectly. Painting on a snowboard was a fresh experience—and not one she particularly enjoyed—but for this gift, she made it work.

When he turned his head and looked at her, his eyes shone brightly. “You are the most amazing woman in the world,” he said gruffly. “Thank you for this.” Leaning in, he kissed her softly. And just when she thought he was going to take the kiss deeper, he pulled back. Placing his gift carefully to the side, he smiled at her. “My turn.”

“Yay!”

He stood and walked over to her front closet, and she watched in confusion as he opened the door and pulled out a huge box.

“Um…when did you put that there?” she asked with amusement. “I can’t believe I missed that!”

“When my folks and I picked you up earlier. Remember when my mom asked you about your paintings and you showed her the guest room?”

She nodded.

“That’s when.” Grinning, he walked over and placed the box in front of her. It looked big enough for a giant flat-screen TV, but she hoped that wasn’t what it was. She wasn’t big on sitting in front of a television.

Be thankful, no matter what it is.

“Well? Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked, still standing beside the box.

Nodding again, she tore at the paper and on the front of the box was the logo of the snowboard company they were working with on their designs.

“Oh my goodness! Is this what I think it is?” she asked excitedly.

“You’re going to have to open the box and see!”

He helped her lay the box down on the floor before opening it. Inside there were several wrapped boxes. She glanced up at him. “Um…”

“They’re numbered,” he told her.

“O-kay…”

Picking up the first one, she opened it and found a three-foot snowboard with the very first design she and Tanner had decided on—a wintery fairy castle. For a minute, all she could do was marvel at it. It was so much more than she ever dreamed it would be. Tears stung her eyes and she was about to thank him, when he gently took it from her hands.

“Open the next one.”

The second one had one of her original superhero characters. There were gorgeous shades of blue and green, and it was absolutely stunning. “Tanner, these are…”

“Shh…there’s more,” he urged, handing her the third one.

Laughing, she took it from him, and it had a group of popular superheroes on them. They were working on getting the licensing rights to them, but she figured these boards were just for them and not for sale. Before she could comment on it, he was handing her the last board.

“These are so much better than I thought they’d be,” she said, tearing open the wrapping. “Ooh…the space one! And the stars actually sparkle! I love it!” But when she looked up, Tanner was holding another box. “Shouldn’t we leave some for tomorrow?” she joked.

“Oh, there will be more tomorrow. And honestly, these aren’t gifts that I bought. They just happened to arrive in time for Christmas and I wanted to give them to you when we were alone.”

“That’s very sweet of you. Thank you. I love them all! I never even considered seeing my art in this way.”

“Everyone loves your work.” Then he sat down beside her. “And I love you.”

Smiling, Chloe leaned in and kissed him. “I love you too.” Then she looked at the boards. “I was feeling like you were trying to outdo me again… I mean, I only got you one board and you got me four!”

“Five,” he said, handing her the other box.

“Tanner…”

“This one I did do myself. Well…I ordered it. I didn’t paint it myself. I leave that level of artistry to you.”

He was so damn precious and she couldn’t believe he did all of this. “As long as you don’t expect me to actually use this…because even though I mastered skiing…”

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