Noel slides onto the cooler beside me, stealing half my lap and all of my warmth.
I don't mind.
Her body fits mine like a puzzle I didn’t know was missing a piece.
"How many fish we caught?" she asks, resting her chin on my shoulder.
"Three. One was suicidal. The others were too dumb to know better."
"Sounds like the beginning of a love story."
I snort. "You calling me a dumb fish?"
"I'm calling myself irresistible bait."
I wrap my arm around her waist. "You’re not wrong."
She hums, pressing a kiss to the underside of my jaw. “You realize you’re still shirtless, right?”
“It’s branding.”
“It’s ridiculous.”
“It’sworking.” I nod toward theHollis & Hearthbanner set up by the dock. “Guest bookings are up forty percent since I started chopping wood in cargo pants on the website homepage.”
She groans. “I married a himbo.”
“Youmarried a man who smells like cedar and makes you cum six ways from Christmas.”
Her cheeks flush. “Still cocky, huh?”
“Still cocked.”
She chokes on a laugh, slapping my thigh. “There are children present.”
“The same children who asked this morning if babies come from a snowdrift and a mistletoe kiss.”
“That’s your fault.”
“You kissed me under that damn mistletoe.”
“And you knocked me up in a hot tub.”
“Best New Year’s ever.”
She sighs, resting her head against my shoulder again. “God, we’re disgusting.”
“You love it.”
“I do.”
The sun dips behind the ridge, casting everything in blue and silver. The kids run wild, chasing the dog across the riverbank.Mack’s got a fish on a string and is trying to convince Jack it’s their new pet. The baby’s eating more snow.
I slide my hand over Noel’s knee, under her parka. She gives me a look. One I know well.
Don’t start what you can’t finish, Hollis.
But I always finish.
