“Hey, Aspen!” someone called out, and she turned to see Cassidy from the bed-and-breakfast waving at her. They had met the day before and Aspen was going to be doing some chocolate goody bags for her as well.
“Hey, Cassidy!” she called back, but they were each going in different directions and kept going. The air was cold but she was getting used to it and there was supposed to be some substantial snowfall tonight. It was crazy to be looking forward to it, but she was. So far they had some flurries and an inch or two of snow would fall randomly overnight, but this was predicted to be at least four to five inches of snow and she couldn’t wait to wake up to it tomorrow.
With Gabe curled up beside her.
The happy sigh was out before she could stop it. Not that she wanted to. She was happy–deliriously so–and he was definitely the reason.
Well, that and this insanely cute town that she was starting to love more and more each day.
In a perfect world, this would be where she would stay and her business would continue to grow and all of her problems would be solved. The reality, however, was that it was just the timing. In a few weeks the holidays would be over and people wouldn’t be so anxious for her homemade chocolate confections and the town would start to look a little less festive. It wasn’t possible for it to stay like this year-round and eventually the snow would melt and the decorations would be taken down and there was a chance it would look like every other town she’d ever lived in.
Although she had a feeling that wasn’t entirely true. The people here were just too darn nice for it to simply be a holiday season thing.
Still, the thought of going from someplace as cheery and friendly as Silver Bell Falls to…well, anywhere, was beyond unappealing.
Nothing I can do about it though…
Pushing that negative thought aside, Aspen crossed the street and walked into the dance studio and found Abby sitting at the front desk talking to her assistant Kathy.
“Oh, yay! The candy’s here!” Abby cried as she stepped out and greeted Aspen.
The greeting made her laugh because it was a common reaction and she tried not to take it personally. On some level, she was sure people were happy to see her too–just not as happy as they were about the sweet treats.
“Here you go!” Aspen said as she placed the large box on the desk. “There are one hundred treat bags in there. Each one contains two milk chocolate trees, two white chocolate candy cane truffles, chocolate-covered pretzel rods, and some dark chocolate sea salt almonds. I hope that’s a good variety.”
“Are you kidding? It all sounds fabulous! They are going to make the perfect addition to the gifts we give to all our students,” she explained. “One of the moms makes Christmas ornaments for us every year. After our holiday recital, we give an ornament and a treat to all the dancers. In the past, the treat was usually a candy cane, so this is going to be a special surprise.” Abby opened the box and pulled out one of the goody bags. “And I may have ordered extra so I have some to treat myself to!”
“That’s not very nice,” Kathy teased, peeking into the box.
“Don’t worry, I made sure I got a few extra for you too,” Abby told her, handing her two bags.
“I have the best boss,” Kathy said to Aspen with a smile.
“Those are hard to find,” Aspen commented. “Trust me.”
Both women turned to look at her. “Is that why you work for yourself?” Abby asked.
It wasn’t like she meant to completely unload all her woes on the two of them, but it all just sort of tumbled out–from how hard it was working in a restaurant, to her boss being a perv, and ultimately losing her job and having to move back home with her parents. Once she was done, she actually felt ten times lighter, but noticed they were both a little wide-eyed.
Quietly, Aspen cleared her throat. “Um…sorry. That was probably way more information than you were looking for.” Glancing down at her hands, she said, “I should probably go. Good luck with the recital and…”
“Wait,” Abby said, reaching out her hand to Aspen. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why not start your own business? It’s obvious you’ve got talent and you seem very busy now. Imagine if you had a real kitchen to work in!”
Before Aspen could respond, Kathy spoke up. “And I realize we don’t know you that well, but…it seems to me that you really don’t want to move back home with your folks. What does Gabe think of all of this?”
“He knows I don’t want to go and I don’t think he wants me to either, but…” She shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice. I gave up the lease on my apartment and packed up my stuff. I’m supposed to fly back to Atlanta the day after Christmas so I can finish all the last-minute stuff before the move.”
“I can’t believe he’s just letting you go,” Abby said with a sad smile.
“Well, it’s really not his decision to make. The circumstances just suck, that’s all.”
“So you’ll have to have a long-distance relationship on top of all this?” Kathy asked, shaking her head. “You poor girl. I don’t know how you’re not eating your weight in chocolate right now. I know I would.”
That made Aspen laugh. “Trust me, I do my fair share of sampling, but I’ve learned to control myself and I try to limit how often I make my very favorite treat.”
“What is it? Abby asked.
“I do a dark chocolate truffle with chocolate ganache in the middle and crushed up Oreos. Talk about a sugar high!”
“Ooh…you have to make them for the festival!” Kathy begged. “Please! They sound amazing!”
“They’re lethal,” Aspen told her. “Trust me. You can only eat one–maybe two–before you get the craziest sugar high. They need a warning label.”
“Consider me warned, but I still want one,” Abby said with a wink.
“I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises.” The alarm chimed on her phone and Aspen knew she needed to get going. “Anyway, thanks for the order, but I need to go. Have a great day!” And with a smile and a wave, she walked out.
Once she was outside, she looked around to get her bearings and then headed in the direction of the tree lot. Gabe told her they had a couple of really small trees and she should come and pick which ones she wanted and they’d bring them home for lunch.
Although if she were honest, Christmas trees were the last thing on her mind when she thought about going home with Gabe for lunch. Giddiness bubbled up inside of her the closer she got. It didn’t matter what the trees looked like; she’d pick two and drag him back to the tiny house. Maybe they’d eat, maybe they wouldn’t, but she knew that she couldn’t wait to get him alone.
The turn in their relationship was…amazing. There had been a couple of times when she was like, “Oh my gosh! Gabe’s seeing me naked!” but she quickly got over them because he was a master at distracting her. He had the best hands and the softest lips and was sexier than she ever imagined. He did a good job of pulling off the tech-geek thing–all quiet and intense and normally in some sort of attire that only consisted of jeans and hoodies–but once she got him out of them?
Seriously sexy.
Deliciously sexy.
And she was more than happy that no one else realized that about him because it meant he was all hers.
For now.
That was the plan.
Whatever happened was only going to happen here and the thought of walking away from what was turning into the greatest relationship of her life was more than a little depressing. Unfortunately, she didn’t see any other options. There was no way for her to find another apartment in Atlanta while she wasn’t working, and even though Gabe offered to let her move in with him, she didn’t think it was the right thing to do.
Not that she didn’t want to because…she did. The thought of living with him was actually pretty damn enticing, but he was already doing so much for her and she wanted to make something of herself on her own merits.
Like moving home with Mom and Dad?
Okay, yeah, there was that. Moving into her childhood bedroom didn’t exactly scream independence, but…it was a way to have the time to regroup and figure out what she wanted to do moving forward.
Standing on the corner, she took a moment to stop focusing on the negative and tried to go back to thinking about how excited she was just a minute ago about going home to have lunch with Gabe. Letting out a long breath, Aspen focused on the song that was currently playing throughout the town.
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening…
That’s right–a winter wonderland. And looking around, that’s exactly what it was and just like that, she felt good again.
Across the street, Gabe spotted her and waved and she quickly made her way over and kissed him right there in front of everyone without even thinking about it. And not one of her friendly pecks on the cheek, but a full-on kiss.
Somewhere someone cleared their throat and they broke apart. Gabe’s eyes were a little wide and there was no doubt her expression mirrored his.
Slowly, they each turned and saw Gabe’s dad with a knowing smile on his face and before either could say a word, he held up his hands and said, “Your mother won’t hear it from me,” before walking away.
Aspen sagged against Gabe and started to laugh as he hugged her close. “So…yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he assured her. “I was just as active in that as you were.”
“Still…I didn’t think…”
And he silenced her with another kiss before taking her by the hand and leading her toward the back of the lot. “I put aside a couple of trees for you to choose from that I think will work in the house. They’re small enough that they won’t take up a lot of room, but big enough that you can actually hang some lights and ornaments on them.”
But Aspen halted in her tracks. “Gabe?”
“Hmm?”
“We can look at trees now or we can go home and…” She moved in close, pressing herself fully against him behind the cover of some tall Christmas trees. “And not look at trees.”
Clearly she did not have to tell him twice because they were practically running back toward the front of the lot. “Going to lunch, Dad!” he called out and once they were out on the sidewalk, they stopped and laughed. “Where’s the car?”
“Oh, um…” Looking around frantically, Aspen had to remember where she parked less than thirty minutes ago. “There!” It was in between the dance studio and the lot and seemed like a good central location, but right now it felt like a mile away.
Five minutes later, they were scrambling out of the car and into the tiny house. Once the door was closed behind them, Aspen’s hands immediately snaked under Gabe’s sweater.
“You’re cold,” she murmured against his lips.
“It’s cold out,” he countered, his own gloved hands only touching her clothes. “I’ll need a few minutes before I can touch you without making you scream.”
Moaning at the thought, she tossed her coat down and awkwardly tried to kick off her boots. “I have a feeling you’re going to make me scream anyway.”
Gabe deepened the kiss as he stripped off his own coat. Together they stumbled around trying to get all the bulky winter clothes off, which made her mentally curse the confined space. There wasn’t any place–other than the floor–for them to sprawl out unless they climbed up into the loft. And the thought of him not touching her for those fifteen seconds seemed like torture.
“Aspen?”
“Hmm?”
“The loft,” he said hotly, biting down on her shoulder.
“You read my mind.”
They were laughing and clumsy, but once they were both in the loft, the rest of their clothes fell away and some of the urgency seemed to fade once they were skin to skin.
“All day,” he said breathlessly against her throat, kissing and tasting her. “All day I was thinking about having you back here like this. This is crazy.”
“No.” Equally breathless, she raked her hands into his hair, holding him to her. “Not crazy at all. It’s good. So damn good.”
And then they were done talking. There were only soft gasps and sighs of pure pleasure. If it were up to Aspen, they’d stay like this all day and just forget about everything and everybody. She didn’t want to share him and didn’t want to deal with the real world. Right now, the world they created here was where she wanted to be.
He knew exactly how to touch her–exactly what would make her come apart–and when they were both breathless and spent, Aspen felt a sense of contentment that was becoming the norm where she and Gabe were concerned.
Gabe quietly whispered her name and kissed the top of her head and it made her smile. When she rolled over and looked up, her smile grew.
“Gabe, look! It’s snowing!”
“Mom…this really isn’t necessary.”
“Oh, hush. It definitely is. Do you want Aspen to freeze out there?”
“Why would she freeze out there? The house has heat, and you were the one who told us how impressive it was!” Gabe argued even as he helped his mother make up the bed in the guest room. “Plus, this isn’t a major snow event. The forecast is only for four to five inches. That’s nothing.”
She gave him a bland look and kept fussing with the pillowcases. “You know the weather person is never one hundred percent accurate. How many times did they say we were going to get flurries and we ended up with a foot of snow?”
“A few…?”
“And that loft is so close to the roof that you just know it’s going to be cold. I don’t care how much insulation they say is in there, I’ll bet it’s drafty. I’m just trying to look out for Aspen and I would think you’d appreciate that.”
Sighing, he finished straightening the comforter and sat down on the corner of the bed. “I do appreciate it, but if you had just let Aspen stay in the house like we originally discussed, she wouldn’t have to keep moving from house to house.”
“She’s not moving back and forth, Gabe. This is one time I’m asking her to stay in here. Once the storm is over she can go back to the tiny house and when your cousin Marshall and his wife Lisa are here next week, they’ll use this room.”
“Or…they could use the tiny house.”
“Nonsense,” she huffed. “Marshall is six-four and as big as a Mack truck. There’s no way he would fit up in that loft, and I’m pretty sure he’d break the ladder getting up there. I can’t give the tiny house back to Josiah all smashed up!”
“Marshall’s tall, Mom, but he’s not the Hulk. I still think it would be okay.”
“Why are you arguing this so much? Aspen didn’t seem to have a problem with staying here for tonight, so why do you?”
Because Aspen’s too polite to complain. Me? I like knowing I can crawl into bed with her and make love to her all night long without my parents hearing us!
Not that he was going to say any of that out loud.
“It just seems a little inconvenient and you know Aspen would never complain about it.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “I wish you wouldn’t complain so much about it!”
It was on the tip of his tongue to keep arguing, but he heard footsteps on the stairs and knew Aspen was on her way up. He immediately went to go help her because he had a feeling she didn’t pack lightly.
The sight of her with a large sack slung over her shoulder confirmed it.
Laughing softly, he took it from her. “You look like one of Santa’s helpers,” he teased.
Aspen looked down at herself and then at him and laughed with him. “Right. Red flannel pants, red knit hat, and a big bag of…well…not toys.”
Gabe swallowed hard because his mind instantly went to thoughts of sexy toys the two of them could possibly use, but…not tonight.
“What else can I get for you, Aspen Sweetie?” his mother chimed in as she continued to fuss around the room. “Do you need more pillows
? More blankets?”
“I’m good, Mrs. Andrews. Thank you. I brought over the necessities.”
They all looked at the overstuffed sack and then back at her.
“Um…I just threw it all in one of those giant trash bags because all my luggage was tucked away and it seemed like too much trouble to pull it all out. So I’ve got a change of clothes, my robe, all my toiletries, my Kindle, my laptop, my phone…” She paused and thought. “All my chargers and…I think that’s it.”
“My goodness…”
“Oh, and Mr. Andrews helped me move all the chocolate inventory I made today down to the basement pantry and I left a container down in the kitchen for everyone to snack on if you’d like.”
“You are so sweet, Aspen. Seriously, I think you’re sweeter than those treats you make!” Then she walked over and hugged Aspen before walking out of the room.
Gabe softly placed a finger over Aspen’s lips so she wouldn’t speak until he was certain his mother was out of earshot.
And then waited an extra minute just to be sure.
Slowly, he traced her soft lips before smiling warmly at her. “So…”
“So,” she repeated. “It looks like I’m sleeping here tonight, huh?”
“I’m really sorry she made you move all your stuff. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but…”
“It’s fine. I thought it was very sweet of her to be so worried. Although I don’t think there was anything wrong with staying out there. I’ll admit I wasn’t completely thrilled with it that first night, but now I know it’s incredibly warm and the heat works great. She’s just being a mom, that’s all.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I know, but…it’s not like we have a lot of privacy here. Not like we did at your place.”
“It’s not ideal, but…it’s one night, right?” She moved in closer and draped her arms over his shoulders. “How bad could it be?”
“Do you kids want some hot cocoa and cookies?” his mother called up the stairs. “I baked some snickerdoodles today and just warmed some up for me and your father!”
The Christmas Plan Page 11
