He looked at me in a way that made my stomach knot and my chest tighten. The hardened frown he seemed to always have was gone as our eyes locked.
After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and darted his gaze away. “I have one more gift for you.”
The moment between us basically forgotten, I hopped up. “I have one for you too.”
He arched a brow. “Really?”
I nodded. “It’s in my room. Let me go grab it.”
When I came back with the gift, Enzo turned the corner from the other hall. He handed me the small box, wrapped haphazardly like the others.
My heart was pounding as I opened the extra present, wondering why he decided to gift me something other that what we had agreed upon.
I opened the box and took out the metal object that was inside. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but when I flipped it open, it was obvious.
“My dad gave me that when I was a kid. On the back is the coordinates to this cabin.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I want you to have it in case you need to find your way back here.”
I didn’t know what to say at first, and although he had told me why he gave me the compass, I felt like it wasn’t the whole truth. There felt like there was so much unspoken behind the gift and I wished he would just tell me how he felt.
Because it felt like he wanted me to come back to him once this was over.
“Thank you. I love it,” I replied. I really did, especially because I knew the compass meant something to him, and Enzo rarely talked about his emotions.
I handed him his gift. “I hope you like it.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything extra,” he commented as he started tearing the paper.
I smiled. “Neither did you.”
When he finally revealed the framed sketch, his eyes ran over it intently. “Is that me?”
“Yeah. Most of the time I thought you were going to pace a hole in the floor in front of that window, but sometimes when you just stood there watching, you seemed so peaceful.”
Enzo brought his gaze to mine, but didn’t say anything.
His silence made me nervous, so I started rambling, “I’m a little rusty so it’s not the greatest and I shouldn’t have sketched you without your permission, but I just really wanted to capture the moment and—”
Chuckling, he put a finger to my lips. “Gia, stop. I love it.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Really?”
“Yes. It’s amazing. I can’t believe you drew this.”
Pride swelled in my chest. “It took a while for me to get it just right.”
The way he was looking at me made my stomach flip. “Thank you.”
He kissed me on the cheek, then hugged me. We stood there embracing one another for several moments, and I didn’t want it to end.
I wanted a hundred more Christmases just like this one.
As Enzo pulled away and smiled down at me, my abdomen coiled with desire. He’d done so much to make Christmas special for me since he knew how upset I was to miss it with my family.
I tiptoed up to kiss him, lazily draping my arms around his neck and pressing my body against his. He instantly reciprocated, his hands on the small of my back pulling me closer.
The kiss deepened as I slipped my tongue in his mouth, tangling with his with ease. I didn’t have experience to compare to, but everything felt so perfect and natural between us, like it was meant to be.
Enzo’s hands moved down to my ass and I forced him to his favorite chair by the fireplace. When he bumped into it, I started pulling at his clothes, and within seconds we were both naked.
