Page 38 of This December

I can’t believe I was going to miss that. I’d thought the insular isolation would drive me crazy, but it’d been comforting. Hell, who was I kidding? It was Cole. Being near him. Kissing him. Just holding his hand and cuddling with him while we watched tv was everything.

I was going to misshim.

“I want you to come with me.”

I whipped around and blinked at him in amazement. “What?”

I thought he was letting me down easy. Or at least setting the scene for us to talk about options. But no, not Cole Jackson. He was jumping straight in, feet first.

Why was I surprised?

“This—” he gestured between us. “Makes sense. You make me happy. And like I told you a few days ago, I’m all in. I fucking love you. Come with me.”

“Cole…” I didn’t know what to say. It was scary. My whole life I’d done the safe, expected thing. I’d gone to school, gotten the degree, grabbed a job.

And I’d hated every freaking second of it.

I’d let my art fall into a hobby then completely gave up on it because my soul was dying in that fucking corporate job. Until I met Cole. This amazing man who fed my soul and made me feel like I was finally living.

But I couldn’t forget that this wasn’t a regular, easy man to fall for. We might’ve been in a bubble here, but I knew the second we left, insanity was going to follow us everywhere—tear into my life, try to tear us apart—and what would I have then? No career, no family nearby to fall back on. I’d be all alone.

“I-I-I…” I sighed. “It’s such a big step.”

“Is it though?” Cole stepped toward me, stopping just in front of me and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Then he cupped my cheek, and the look in his eyes—that certainty—stole my breath. “Sometimes you just know. This doesn’t have to move by someone’s idea of an acceptable timetable. It’s just me and you here. What do you want? What’s right for you and me?”

“Of course I want you.”

“Fantastic!” Joy lit up his face, and it killed me to keep talking.

“But you didn’t let me finish.” I groaned at the confusion clouding his face now. “Come on, Cole. You’ve got to give me a second to catch up. I mean, it’s not a surprise that this was coming. But I might have been living in denial the last few days. How about you give me a minute to sort through my feelings and…just everything? This is a huge step.”

The doorbell pealed through the house. Remembering the embarrassment of last time—and maybe running from this confrontation—I squeezed his hand and headed for the front door. “We’ll talk about it after, okay?”

“Promise? You won’t try to distract me with kisses or that backbend thing we were talking about earlier?”

I rolled my eyes. “I promise.”

“Okay then.” He shrugged and tried to look unaffected, but I knew him.

Extending my hand to him, I waited until he crossed the room and took it. I pulled him close to me and kissed him sweetly. Which quickly turned dirty and sexy. Until the doorbell pealed through the house again. Pushing him away, I pointed a finger at him. “Who’s distracting who here?”

He smirked at me. “Just reminding you of one of the many perks of picking me.”

“Like it’s a wonder why I’d be with you.” I snorted and opened the door to my family.

“Finally!” Aspyn scowled, stomping past me into the house. “We were freezing our behinds off out there.”

“Sorry,” I muttered, smiling apologetically at my mom at the back of the pack.

“This is nothing, Asp!” Mom grinned. “Last time we had to call her on the phone and ring the doorbell five more times. It took like ten minutes.”

“It wasn’t that long,” I protested.

“Yeah, well, I don’t have her new number,” Aspyn snarked as she unabashedly gawked at Cole’s chalet. The vaulted ceilings with timber beams. The see through fireplace in the middle of the room. The gorgeous kitchen.

“What are you talking about?” I frowned. “I sent it out in a big group text. I texted Matt yesterday morning.”

Aspyn rolled her eyes and stomped toward the backdoor all the kids were crowding around. “We’re sledding out here?”

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