Page 27 of Christmas with Hope

“What?” My question was hushed.

“You heard me,” he laughed. “You’re mine.”

“Not that part… brat,” I shook my head, giggling.

“Which part then?”

“The love part? Do you mean it or are you just being… nevermind sorry. You’re just playing the part. I’m reading too much into–” I blurted.

Colton lowered me to the ground. I now stood in front of him. My eyes focused on the zipper on his coat. My cheeks were on fire from embarrassment.

“Hope,” he sighed.

“No. No. Let’s just get the wood in the–”

Before I knew what happened, Colton was kissing me with the heat of a thousand flames. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I needed more of him.

He tasted like hot chocolate and coffee. A taste that would be forever burned into my mind. Those two tastes would always remind me of Colton and our time together at the cabin.

“Colton,” I breathed.

He broke our kiss and I let out a whimper-like sound.

“Hope,” he whispered. His breath lightly blew across my lips. “When will you accept it?”

I pulled back slightly so that I could look up at him.

“Accept what?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

“That I want you in my life. Not just today but tomorrow and the day after that.”

As his words echoed throughout my mind, my heart skipped several beats. Butterflies filled my stomach and my knees weakened. I held on tighter to Colton to keep myself from falling to the ground.

“What?” I managed to force the quiet word out.

“I know I said I’d ask you at the end of our vacation,” he looked down at me. “But as you said, I’m greedy when it comes to you.”

“That you are,” I teased, in hopes of easing my nervousness and shock.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you want a happily-ever-after?”

If Colton’s arms hadn’t been tightly wrapped around my waist, I would have fallen to the ground. I was surprised I didn’t pass out from the question. There was something in his soft words and sweet tone. Maybe I was reading too much into them, but the look in his eyes told me I wasn’t.

“Hope?” he asked, kissing the tip of my nose. “Do you want a happily-ever-after?”

“Yes,” I whispered. Colton smiled and kissed my forehead.

“I want to be your happily-ever-after and I want you to be mine.”

“Wh… wh...what?”

“We’ve talked over coffee, our meals, by the fire, in bed, and everywhere else about how our feelings towards each other are one in a million. Right?”

“Yes.”

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