We find a spot on the newly restored deck. Mountain views stretch out in front of us, but I'm watching her spread out a blanket like she's done this before.
"Roast beef and cheddar with that spicy mustard you like," she says, handing me a sandwich wrapped in wax paper.
I take a bite and groan because it tastes perfect. "You've been paying attention."
"I pay attention to everything about you."
My hand finds hers on the blanket, fingers tangling together. "I notice things about you too."
"Like?"
"How you organize everything by color. How you bite your lip when you're thinking." My thumb traces across her knuckles. "How you make everything better just by being around."
"This is nice," she says, gesturing at the view with her free hand.
"Which part?"
"The company. Definitely the company."
I set down my sandwich and shift closer, my knee pressing against hers. Her scent spikes with something warm and sweet.
I cup her face in my hands, thumbs stroking across those perfect cheekbones. My palms are rough, callused, probably not soft enough for her, but she leans into it like she's been waiting.
Then I kiss her like I've been starving.
It's everything I am. Raw hunger, desperate need, years of wanting wrapped up in lips and teeth and tongue. I don't do it gently. I take what I want, and right now I want her more than my next breath.
She gasps against my mouth and opens for me, hands fisting in my flannel shirt like she's trying to anchor herself. I taste beer and sunshine and something purely her.
One hand slides into her hair while the other grips her hip, pulling her closer until there's no space left between us.
When we break apart, both breathing hard, I don't go far. Can't. I bury my nose in her neck.
"I'm sorry," comes out broken, weighted with every mistake I've made. "For the past. For how I treated you. For being too much of a coward to see what was right in front of me."
She studies my face with those brown eyes. "Griff..."
"Never meant to hurt you. I was twenty-two and stupid and thought I had all the time in the world." My hands frame her face again. "Didn't know I was throwing away the best thing that would ever happen to me."
"I know," she tells me softly, and the forgiveness in her voice nearly breaks something in my chest.
"Do you forgive me?"
Instead of words, she kisses me again. Soft this time, sweet, pouring something that feels like absolution into the space between us. When she pulls back, my eyes are burning.
"Is that a yes?"
"That's a yes to everything," she tells me, settling against my side when I pull her closer. "To forgive you. To trust you. To see where this goes."
"Even if I'm still an idiot sometimes?"
"Especially then," she laughs, pressing a kiss to my jaw that makes my skin burn. "Someone has to keep you in line."
"I like bossy women."
"Good thing I like men who build things with their hands."
We finish eating with her tucked against my side, my arm around her shoulders. The resort's going to be beautiful, but not as beautiful as this moment.
