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“There’s nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who’s in love with him.” – The Baroness
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Leo
We finally made it to a bed, but after making love for the third time since arriving at the cabin, I couldn’t relax.
I watched Izzy sleep, the reflection of the falling snow outside illuminating the bedroom. It had started falling right after we’d arrived and hadn’t let up yet. But that was okay. I loved the idea of being snowed in here for weeks. Hell, months sounded pretty good. Even years...
It would save us from having to figure everything out.
What did the future hold for us? Could she really walk away from the company that had been in her family for four generations and not regret it later?
I’d trust any decision she made. Her possibilities were wide open now, but I didn’t know what she was thinking. She’d mentioned something about an option her mother had given her. I wondered what that had been.
My stomach rumbled with hunger.
I obviously wasn’t going to sleep after my long nap in the car, so I might as well see what we had for food since we’d skipped dinner. Iz would wake up eventually and be hungry, too.
Maybe I could feed her in bed, and then we could talk. Normally, I would stress over the unknown—and the fact that I was up and awake when Izzy was warm and naked in my bed proved I was—but it was different this time knowing that no matter what, we were facing this future together.
Together.
I’d never been able to consider that this might be a possibility for us.
That gave me goose bumps. We actually had a future entwined together. I loved that almost as much as I loved her.
And that, more than anything, told me everything would work out.
***
I HAD JUST FINISHED toasting a third panini when I heard Izzy shuffle into the kitchen. I turned to smile at her.
She rubbed the side of her face while she squinted at me, her makeup smeared, and her hair sticking out in every direction. She looked like someone who’d been up half the night having sex.
I’d done that to her.
“Why are you grinning like a loon?” she asked, as she eyed me suspiciously.
“I was just admiring how gorgeous you are.”
She squinted harder at me and then lifted her hand to her hair. She squeaked as she ducked to check her reflection in the toaster. “Oh my god. It’s too early in our relationship for you to see my after-sex, morning hair.”
I laughed. “Darling, I’ve been seeing your morning hair since second grade. The fact that I was part of the after sex version of it, means that I love it ever more. I think we’re okay. And besides, you’re gorgeous.” I snagged her by the waist so I could kiss her. “Good morning, even if it is too dark outside to really be morning. My stomach kept me awake.” No need to tell her I was also stewing over the future. That would just stress her out, too. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah. It smells good. What are you making?”
“Turkey, Swiss, and avocado paninis.”
She moaned as she grabbed a sandwich half and took a bite. “So good,” she said around her chewing.
I laughed. “Happy to serve. I need to keep your energy levels up.”
She raised an eyebrow at me and let her gaze drop to my bare chest. I may have flexed just a little just to make sure she enjoyed the view, now very thankful for those extra hours I’d spent in the gym. But unfortunately, before I could pursue that idea, my stomach growled again.
Right. Food first, then fun.
I grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge. “Let’s go turn on the fire in the living room and watch the snow fall while we eat.” The cabin had vast picture windows open to the surrounding woods. The property included multiple acres, so it gave us complete privacy. When no one was here, there were big wood shutters that closed to protect the cabin, but the caretaker had opened them to prepare for our arrival.
“Sounds good.”
Izzy gasped when we walked into the living room. She obviously hadn’t looked outside before coming into the kitchen. She walked to the window. “Wow. It looks like we already have more than a foot and it’s still snowing.”
“Gonna be a white Christmas.” I picked up a throw off the back of the couch.
She squealed and did a little dance. The bouncing of her tits almost distracted me, but nope. My girl needed food before more sex.
“Come on. Come sit down and I’ll tuck you in while I start the fire.”
We demolished the sandwiches pretty quickly while enjoying the quiet ambiance and peace of the snowfall by the fireplace glow.
“You haven’t said much about me letting go of my lease on my apartment,” she said quietly. “Do you think I made a mistake?”
“No. Absolutely not. I’ve been saying you needed to get out from under your father’s tyranny for years. We simply haven’t had the chance to talk about it all yet.”
I had tucked her under my arm, under the blanket, but now I turned to face her so she could see that I meant every word of this. “I know it’s fast, but it seems like such an easy, obvious option. It’s not like we don’t know every possible part of one another already, and we’ve practically lived together most of our lives as just friends. No matter where you end up for a job, I think you should move in with me.” I held my breath while I waited for her response.
Her eyes widened. “Seriously? What if I don’t go back to Austin or New York?”
I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I knew one thing with my whole heart. “Then I’ll move there, too. Wherever you go will be my home.”
“I love you.” She twined her fingers with mine. “So I guess we have some things to discuss, like where we plan to spend the rest of our lives.”
I nodded and ignored the butterflies taking flight in my stomach. We were really going to do this. “So, tell me what you’re thinking.”
“There are two ways I can go. As you know, my dad never made me sign a non-compete clause so my options are open as far as that goes and Shane has already committed that the Mod Appeal account will travel with me whatever I choose.”
“Whoa. That’s huge, Iz.” With Mod Appeal as her first contract, she’d be almost assured success. “Congratulations!” I hugged her, but stopped as an idea occurred to me. “Shane knows you’re unavailable romantically now, right?”
She laughed and shook her head at me. “Yes. Don’t worry. We’ve definitely established that. Besides, I think he was a little thrown off kilter by seeing Sofia again. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the two of them possibly becoming more.”
“Hmm, interesting.” But I was much more interested in the future for the two of us as a couple. “We’re getting off topic. First, you already have a major client and that’s huge. Are you considering opening your own firm?”
“Yeah.” She nodded slowly. “Although there is another option which I hadn’t considered. As part of the divorce settlement, mom got forty-nine percent of the shares for CGM.”
My mouth dropped open. “Did you know about that?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I knew she’d been pleased with the divorce settlement, but I hadn’t wanted to know details. I was trying so hard not to hate my father back then, I didn’t want to know any of the details of it. He hates that she owns so much of the company. She thinks she could negotiate with him to trade those shares for full ownership of Cocktail Kisses. Then she would promote me to CEO of CK.”
I would have thought Izzy would jump at that opportunity, but she didn’t appear to be jumping for joy over this as she fiddled with the edge of the blanket, biting her lip.
“You don’t want that, do you?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. Before I had her offer it, I would have thought that would be my ideal situation. I’d always thought I’d run Cocktail Kisses when I convinced dad to open that branch, but in the two years since, CK has lost its shine. Most of those guys that work there hate my guts, and I can’t say I like them much either. They’ve dealt with me because they had to. I can’t imagine how awful they’d be if I suddenly took over.”
“You know if you were in charge, you could replace them.”
“I could, but that would be a mess of broken contracts and negotiations. It all just feels so tainted. I think I’d prefer to start my firm, make my place in this world, but I also don’t want to move into markets where I’d have to directly compete with my father’s companies. I can’t undermine what he and the generations of my family before him have accomplished or use what I know about the company’s weaknesses while fighting for the same contracts.”
She took a deep breath. “Mod Appeal is different. I don’t feel guilty taking that contract because it’s been solely my account from the very beginning. Cocktail Kisses didn’t do anything besides offer some surface support as I worked that campaign.”
Her hands shook in my grip. I didn’t know what all she’d decided yet, but she was nervous about it.
She gripped my hand tighter as she watched my expression. “So, that’s why I think we should go another way.”
She waved a hand at the snow still falling outside. “This is so pretty. Snow seems like a good omen for us. What would you think about starting a marketing firm with me in Colorado?”
“Colorado?” I hadn’t seen that coming.
“Yeah, in Aspenridge, or if you think our headquarters should be in a larger city, Denver is only a couple of hours away. What do you think?”
I nodded slowly, getting accustomed to the idea. “Yeah. You said we. Does that mean you want to do this as a partnership?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking and planning for the last couple of weeks. You should see the spreadsheets and lists I have.” She laughed nervously.
But I had zero doubt about her organization on this. My girl was a planner through and through. She thought of everything.
“I think it’d work best if you were in charge of art direction. We could make that one side of the company. That’s already the job you do on my accounts. And I could head up creative design, on the other side. It just makes it so that we’re a team automatically rather than me hiring you as an independent contractor every time I set up a marketing campaign.”
My heart soared. She was giving me everything I’d ever wanted...a life—every part of it—with Izzy.
I didn’t even have to take time to consider it. “Let’s do it. When the snow clears, we can fly out to Colorado and weigh the options while visiting the area.”
“We’ll have to learn how to drive on snow,” she cautioned.
“Are you trying to talk me out of it now?”
“No. I’m just really, really nervous. This feels big.”
“It is big, darling. This is our future.”