Page 52 of Mountain Hero

She grins and heads over to the couch, dropping down next to me and snuggling into my side. “Absolutely. I’ve been wanting to watch it ever since I heard the book was being made into a movie.” Very seriously, she adds, “Most of the time, adaptations are pretty crappy. But I like the actors, and the author worked on the script, so I’m hoping it’s good.”

Since I never read the book and all romance movies seem the same to me—two attractive people, some kind of miscommunication that could be cleared up with a two-minute conversation, and some grand gesture at the end—I just nod at her. “I hope so, too.”

Winter tucks her bare feet under my leg and leans over to kiss my cheek. She gazes at me with this soft expression before saying, “I know you don’t really like these movies. Which makes it more special that you watch them so often with me. I…”

“What?”

Her cheeks go pink, and she says in a rush, “I’m just so happy when I’m with you. Everything is just… better. And how I feel about you… I don’t know how to explain it. Kind of like this feeling in my chest that keeps expanding, like it’s almost too big to fit. But it’s the best feeling in the world.”

My heart actually stops for a second.

This feeling of rightness sweeps over me.

Yes. I think I’d give it all up for her. If she let me.

Swallowing back against the surge of emotion in my throat, I hug Winter to me and kiss the top of her head. When I can trust myself to speak again, my voice comes out gruff. “I know what you mean. It feels like that for me, too.”

We sit like this for a few minutes, at least, as I breathe in her soft scent and memorize the feel of Winter’s body pressed against mine.

I never knew just holding someone could feel like this. Like she’s a part of me I didn’t realize was missing, and now I don’t feel complete without her.

Finally, Winter pulls away from me and gazes at me with those mesmerizing emerald eyes. She kisses me, first lightly, all tiny nips and strokes of her tongue, and then more deeply. As the kiss continues, I go from the normal state of arousal whenever Winter touches me to a throbbing, insistent pressure.

I want to be inside Winter so badly, and I think if I made the first move, she wouldn’t say no. But I meant what I said to her. Whatever happens between us is in her hands right now. It doesn’t matter that Thomas didn’t force her. He still hurt her. Touched her. Traumatized her.

There is no way I’m having sex with Winter until she’s sure she’s one-hundred percent ready.

When the kiss ends, we’re both breathing heavy, and her lips and cheeks are flushed. Indecision moves across her features, and her little teeth worry her bottom lip.

Not quite ready yet, I decide.

And since I don’t want Winter to have one more thing to worry about, I kiss her lightly and say, “I have something for you. I was going to wait, but now I don’t want to. Would you like to see it?”

“Another surprise?” Her brows wing up. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Well, I already did.” Grinning, I kiss her nose before getting up from the couch. “I can’t return it, and trust me, I don’t want it for myself.”

I quickly go into the office closet and grab the box I have tucked in the very back, behind the old boxes of baseball cards I used to collect with Uncle Caleb. When I get back to the living room, Winter eyes the large, brown box and blurts, “Enzo! That box is huge! What in the world…”

This time when I sit on the couch, I put the box on the cushion between us. The flaps are closed, but not taped shut, and I gesture at it with my chin. “Go ahead. Open it.”

Anticipation and excitement fill Winter’s eyes, and a possible future flashes in front of me—sitting in front of the Christmas tree, piles of presents around us, handing a cheerfully wrapped gift to her and watching her face light up with happiness.

After a moment’s hesitation, Winter pulls the flaps back. Inside, there are fifty paperback books, still with that new-book smell, all by her favorite author.

“Oh!” Winter stares at the books before looking back up at me. Smiling, she says, “Enzo. This is wonderful. I only have her books on my Kindle. This is so much better.”

“It’s not just that,” I explain. “Look inside them.”

Brow furrowing, she takes out one of the books and starts to flip through the pages. But she doesn’t have to go far before she makes a little eeep of surprise. “Enzo!”

This time, she’s not just surprised. Her eyes are wide with shock. “You got it signed? To me?”

My heart thuds hard. “All of them are. I emailed her and asked if she could personalize them. On the website, there’s just an option to have them signed with her name. But I thought this would be better?—”

“Enzo. I can’t believe you did this.” Winter picks up another book and finds the next inscription. She looks at it for a moment before her gaze rises to mine again. This time, her chin is wobbling. “This is… I would never have…”

Suddenly I’m nervous. “Do you like it? I was going to build a shelf in the office for them to go on, but I haven’t gotten a chance to yet. My idea was to have them on display, but then I didn’t want to wait to give you the books, so?—”

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