Holiday Romance Collection - 6 Books Bundle (Erotic Romance - Holiday Romance) (17 page)

Late that night they lay together naked and entwined in front of the fireplace in the living room. Rose was half draped across him while Triston traced random patterns on her skin with his fingertips.
 
She felt him shift and look at something and move to extract himself from beneath her.
 

"Ok, it’s
12:01
and officially Christmas. So I can, officially, give you this."

             
He held out an awkwardly shaped package wrapped in newspaper in her hand. It was slightly larger than a grapefruit in size but it had all sorts of odd angles to it. Rose was shocked.
 

"You got me a gift?"
 

"Gift may be a strong word but I hope you like it." he shrugged, almost sheepishly.

Anything that would cause him to, wait, blush? Is he actually turning a little pink?! What in the world? She didn't care what it was but he had taken so much time and effort to make a special little Christmas for the two of them that the gift was enough for her. Rose launched herself at him and hugged him around the neck then kissed him excitedly.
 

"Don't get too excited till you see It.,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.
 

"I'll love it. You've already gone through so much to make this special."

She must admit, though, she was rather intrigued by what ever could make him go all girly and blushes like this. She hopped up and retrieved the sketch she brought for him.
 

"You get a gift too." Rose chirped as she handed him her sketch, it wasn't wrapped just rolled, so he unrolled it.

She wrinkled her nose. "Even if it's not much of one."

If the look on Triston's face was any indicator of how hers looked when he surprised her, she looked pretty damn shell-shocked. He was actually slack jawed.
 

"This is amazing!" he ran his fingers lightly over the drawing she drew for him.
 
"You are very talented!" Triston insisted lightly.

This time she blushed, "Thanks, I just like to doodle."

Triston shook his head, "This is more than mere doodling hun. This is real talent!"

Rose felt a little glow at the endearment but refused to examine that train of thought. She turned her package over in her hands. It felt somewhat weighty but not like a metal. She began to peel back the newspaper wrapper and explore it. She began gingerly unwrapping the gift, sneaking questioning glances at Triston as she did.

 
At first Rose was confused, she didn't get it, all she saw was a bit of wood. As she turned it, she saw the sculpture of a face rising out of the wood. It was her face. Her oaken hair fell softly around her smiling face and blended outward into the natural lines of the bark. Triston had captured her features perfectly, the slope of her nose, the shape of her eyes, it was all there.
 

"It...It’s beautiful." Rose scrambled to make her brain work, it was completely stunned by his beautiful gift.
 

"How did you - I mean, did you do this?"

Triston chuckled, "Yes I made it, but- " he rushed on placing a finger on her lips to stop her from asking any more, "there's more to it than a sculpture, it's a idea, a proposition, if you like."

She stiffened a little at proposition but listened on anyway, "Okaaay."
 

Triston ran and hand through his hair and fidgeted a little bit and all of the sudden it dawned on Rose what it was. He's really nervous. Which cause her to tense a bit, it's either really sweet or this is really bad news.

"Well, I thought your friends Liz and Morgan could come visit"
 

Rose relaxed a bit, so far so good.

"I would love it, and they would love it, but my cabin isn't big enough and the rest are full."
 

He looked at her and he looked so boyishly hopefully she couldn't stop herself from caressing his jaw, he stroked the wrist of the hand on his face.
 

"Well......what if they stayed for a couple weeks through New Years and you stayed here."
 

Rose turned to gape at him, "What?!"

"I'm not asking you to move in or marry me or anything but," Triston shuffled about a bit and position himself where they could see each other fully, "Rose, do you wonder why that sculpture is done? When do you think I started it?"
 

"Today?"

Triston laughed loudly, "No sweetheart, I started it shortly after you ate your chili and left. I couldn't get you out of my head, you got up under my skin just like that-" Triston snapped his fingers.
 

Rose didn't know what to say, she just stared.

"Rose, this is what I know. You will be here for a few weeks. Your presence hit me like a Mack truck, I know that I really enjoy you and want to get to know you in the limited time here.
 
I have never had a desire to keep a woman close to me, they have been casual by mutual agreement. I can't get enough of you. I want to hear what's going to come it of your mouth next, I want to see your reaction to good coffee, and better sex in the morning. Hell, we already have a dog," he indicated toward Bernie lying a few feet away, "You will still have a cabin to retreat to if I become unbearable."

"What if you can't stand me?"

"Let's find out." Triston stretched a goofy grin.

Rose giggled and play slapped his chest.

"Rose..."

 
Triston was suddenly so serious she took another look at him and the intensity of his gaze sobered her.
 

"Rose, I’ve never been so fascinated with a woman that I invite her into my home. Not this home, not any home. I want you here. Call it a vacation within a vacation. Worst that happens, you have some great sex but we aren't getting along."

She was digesting all the information when Triston turned and finished with, "Then again, what if we are as good at
everything
as we are with sex?"

 
She smiled, "For men, it always comes back to the sex."

"Rose, will you be my Christmas present?" He looked so hopeful, so lost, she couldn’t deny him.

Rose looked at him and knew it was never really a question, "Yes."

He whooped with joy and pulled her back under the covers.

 
Do you like this book? Be sure to check other books in this series

New Year Wish - Volume 2

Be Mine - Volume 3

Smokey Mountains - trilogy

             
As she glanced around the small area for a clock, her eyes settled on a large, glossy back-lit poster for Big Country Lodge. The image was gorgeous—a low-lying cedar mansion built with square-cut cedar logs crisscrossing and expanse of glass, with the whole building seeming to rise out of rock and forest. The twilight was a blue purple behind the building, and the interior glowed golden and inviting. Once again, Kate tried to tamp down the sadness that rose up inside her.
This will be great
, she told herself,
we'll work through a lot and have a wonderful New Years
.

             
Kate let out a sigh just as someone grabbed her upper arm suddenly from behind. "Tia!" said an urgent voice. Kate was swung around face to face with a dark-haired man, very handsome but also very troubled. "Oh," he said, releasing her arm immediately, "sorry. I thought you were someone else." He looked down at Kate's white ski parka and black pants.

             
"That's okay," Kate said gently, seeing his face drop in despair. He turned quickly to scan the room and then sprinted away. Kate watched as he approached another woman—also in a white parka and black pants, but definitely from a designer's label—and touched her arm, before turning her to face him. She could tell he was pouring his heart out to her from the shine of his eyes, and inside Kate urged her to agree to whatever he was saying. You couldn't mistake the passion and love that positively glowed from him. Within seconds the woman was crying and they hugged each other so hard they seemed to melt into each other.

             
Kate felt her eyes well up—what was it like to have a love like that? The closest she'd ever come to that had not been Dan, it had been her high school crush. As her eyes swung back to the Big Country Lodge sign, she felt the empty ache of her heart as it tried to replay those lost memories of her high school field trip to Big Country all those years ago…

             
"Dammit, Kate, that was a nightmare. Are you sure you couldn't have paid extra for two seats extra?" Dan groused has he dragged his wheeled carry-on right past her, muttering as he left her behind. He didn't even pause to bark over his shoulder "At least you could have grabbed a cab!"

             
"Positive thoughts, positive thoughts…" Kate murmured under her breath.

             
With both of them in parkas, Dan's carry-on on his lap (he refused to put it in the trunk) and Dan's heavyset build, the backseat of the shuttle was cramped to say the least. Dan's temper was as fiery as his red hair, but he was in phase two now—icy quiet. Kate barely noticed, lost in thoughts of the past, and a sinking feeling at the work ahead of both of them. This was to be a trip to reconnect and try to re-ignite their feelings for each other and their marriage. And it was off to a terrible start. What also didn't help was how her memories of her last trip here kept invading her mind. Josh Carter, captain of pretty much every sport in the high school, but leading the ski team had been his favourite, or so it said in the yearbook. Kate had wanted to try out for the team, but in the end her shyness had won, so she'd settled for signing up for the Senior Christmas Ski Trip. Sure she loved to ski, but she also knew it would be her last chance to bump into Josh. She'd plotted and planned for weeks how to maneuver the perfect "accidental" meeting with him, and every time she tried it didn't go as planned. And then, on the last day, almost on the last run, it happened very naturally.

             
"Almost there, folks." The driver's voice shook Kate out of her daydreaming. The small SUV slowed as it took the last curve, and the glow of the Big Country Lodge turned the snowy forest a blazing orange. It looked exactly as it had on the airport sign, rough-hewn from nature, a part of the surroundings and at one with nature. Kate's heart twinged a little as she thought of the man sitting beside her and the work they had ahead of them. As she let the beauty of the lodge sink in, she realized she should give Dan a chance, give their marriage a chance. Something had brought them together, and maybe it was still there. Maybe Dan really had changed, and maybe if she worked hard enough, she could rebuild her trust.