Page 27 of Snow More Secrets

“Oh, I was,” I stated, choosing to be honest. If I wanted things to go my way, pussyfooting around things wouldn’t fix anything.

“I’m confused,” she admitted, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

“Baby, the snow simply did my job for me. Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go. Not unless you can give me a damn fucking good reason we shouldn’t make this work.”

Hannah closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, the sadness in them just about broke my heart. I only ever wanted to make her happy.

“What is holding you back from me, baby?” I asked softly.

“Maybe…maybe we should just eat, like you suggested.” Her brow furrowed, and she glanced toward the window. “Oh no. What are we going to do? We’re stuck here with no food and this storm will probably knock out the electricity and—” She suddenly shrieked and looked down at the sheet covering her. “Dammit! I have no clothes! You left my bag in the lobby when you threw your tantrum and carried me off, you jerk!”

I couldn’t stop the smile that curled my lips, even when she spotted it and I practically saw the steam coming out of her ears.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, holding my hands up in surrender. “You’re just so fucking cute when you get all riled up.” If her expression was anything to go by, I needed to clear things up before she literally tried to kill me. “Raven and Colin have this place stocked for the storm. There’s a generator and a lot of firewood. And, because they are smarter than I am, they had our bags delivered before the storm snowed everyone in.”

I pointed at the overstuffed chair in the other corner of the room where I’d placed her bag.

“Oh.” Thankfully, relief replaced her rage.

“Why don’t you get dressed and come meet me in the kitchen? I’ll make us dinner.”

“You can cook?” Hannah asked in surprise.

I grinned. “Yeah, my mom insisted on teaching me because it would impress my future wife.”

“Ah yes, Cammie mentioned your mom’s interesting ideas.”

I laughed. “Don’t tell her, but I’m grateful that she forced me to learn. Eventually, I got sick of never having a home cooked meal with all the traveling, so I started booking hotel suites with a kitchen so I could make my own meals.”

Hannah smiled, but it didn’t reach her pretty brown eyes. “I’ll be right out.”

Frowning, I determined to deal with the food before pushing her to talk to me about what was causing the shadows in her eyes.

Thirteen

HANNAH

Someday, I would have to thank Jake’s mom for making sure he could cook for his wife. Even if I only held that title for a short time.

The pasta, creamy sauce, and garlic bread were all foods I’d rarely eaten over the last ten years. Now that I wasn’t ice skating competitively or professionally anymore, I didn’t have to feel any guilt for the delicious meal.

Jake was surprisingly quiet throughout dinner, but I had a feeling he was just gathering his thoughts. I couldn’t avoid this conversation like I’d hoped. It could only lead to pain and I wished he would recognize that so we could enjoy each other during this brief interlude, then go our separate ways.

After we finished, I helped clean up, then sat on the couch and watched him make a fire. I could so easily imagine having more nights like this. Cuddling up in front of a roaring fire and reading or watching a movie. Content to just be together.

Eventually, he stopped poking and prodding at the flames and sauntered over to the couch. I expected him to sit next to me, but he caught me off guard when he picked me up and took my spot, settling me on his lap.

“You know I want you, Hannah,” he stated in no uncertain terms. “I want to make this work, to be your husband and, hopefully, someday, the father of your children.”

Tears filled my eyes, and I blinked several times, trying to stop them from falling. “It won’t work, Jake.” I stared into his bright blue pools and willed him to understand. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. “I can’t live the life you want.”

He frowned and shook his head. “You don’t want to be married? Or have kids? Is that it?”

“No, no. I would love those things. But not with you.”

His expression fell, and his entire body locked up.

Shit! I hadn’t meant to say it that way. “No! I mean, I didn’t mean it that way! Crap!” I turned around, straddling him, and placed my hands on his cheeks. “You will be an amazing husband and father, Jake. And if I thought for one second we could blend our lives together and make this work, I’d be willing to try. And no one has ever made me want that. Except you.”

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