A minute later, he climbed out of the bed, ordering me to stay put while he went to the bathroom to get a warm washcloth to clean me up. Once he finished, he tossed the rag in the hamper in my bathroom and came back to the bed, in all his naked, impeccably built glory.
He pulled the covers out from beneath me and flipped them down, climbing into the bed and wrapping his strong body around me before covering us back up. I instantly sank into him, feelings of warmth and security washing over me, making me content.
Tanner’s lips moved across my bare shoulder and up my neck. “Can I stay here with you tonight?” he whispered against my ear.
I rolled over so I was facing him, looking up with a lazy, tired smile. He’d worn me out. “Of course. As long as you don’t mind sharing a bed with Yoda.” My little fluff monster chose that very moment to jump onto the foot of my bed. He let out one of his little meows that sound more like a whispered honk than an actual meow, and slowly padded his way toward us.
Tanner crooked his neck to get a better look at Yoda. “What was that sound he just made?”
I let out a giggle. “That was his meow.”
His head twisted back to me. “That was not a meow.”
“For him it was. It’s just one of the many things that makes him so perfect.”
Tanner let out a snort and reached out to give Yoda’s head a scratch. That set him off to purring, and he began to circle around until he found the right spot. Which just so happened to be in the bend of Tanner’s knees.
“Aw, look at that. He likes you.” When he didn’t respond to my teasing, I looked back at his face, and what I saw made my heart start doing cartwheels.
“I like you, Holly. Ireallylike you.”
Leaning in, I pressed a kiss to his lips as butterflies sprang to life in my belly. “I really like you too.” That statement was followed by a yawn so big it stretched the corners of my mouth.
Tanner’s chuckle filled my tiny bedroom as he pulled me flush against him and rested his head on the pillow. “Get some sleep, Sunshine.”
“Okay.” Settling into him once more, I rested my head on his shoulder and pulled in a breath, filling my lungs with the scent of fresh rain and clean linen. I didn’t know what the hell kind ofcologne he wore, but I needed to buy a whole damn case of the stuff. “Goodnight, Tanner.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
The last thing I remembered was feeling his lips against my forehead before I fell into the second-best sleep of my life.
Chapter Eighteen
Holiday
“Where did you learn to cook like a Michelin-star chef?” I asked Tanner as I snuggled closer into his side to fight off the chill in the air. The arm he had wrapped around my shoulders tightened, pulling me deeper into him as we strolled down the sidewalks of downtown Hope Valley. Tanner had surprised me earlier, showing up at the shop to take me to lunch. We hit up the diner, and now that I was comfortably full we were enjoying the beautiful sunny day, in spite of the cold, as he walked me back to work.
A couple weeks had passed since our first date, and each day had been better than the one before. We’d spent more nights together than apart, some at his rental and some at my place, but no matter where, the nights ended the same: with me wrapped in his safe embrace. The better I got to know the man, the more I discovered all there was to like. I was starting to think maybe my radar on men had been fixed. I was happy in a way I hadn’t been in a long time, however, despite that, I felt like I had a huge signover my head, counting down the time to when Tanner finally left.
I’d gotten really good at sticking my head in the sand over the past couple of weeks, though. I was living by the motto that if I didn’t think about it, it wasn’t real.
Tanner let out a snort and turned to press a kiss against my temple. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Agree to disagree.” He’d cooked for me at least five times, and each dish was something I would have gladly paid a hefty chunk of cash for. “You’re secretly a world-famous chef, aren’t you? Hockey’s just your hobby.”
He brushed his lips against my hair. “Nope, sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s only hockey.”
I wasn’t buying it. “You had to have gone to cooking school.”
“No cooking school,” he answered, humor tinging his voice. “I learned most of it from my mom. But we used to love to watch cooking shows together; it was a guilty pleasure of ours. We’d binge the cooking networks, then we’d try to recreate our favorite recipes. We both got really good.” A fond smile tugged at his mouth as he stared off like he was sinking into a memory. “Andrew’s always teasing her that she’s trying to turn him into a fat old man.”
The way his face changed every time he talked about them warmed my heart. His affection for them both was written all over his face, and he didn’t care one damn bit. I understood completely because it was how I felt every time I mentioned my siblings.
“I love that for you.” Tipping my face upward, I smiled at him. “I love that you and your mom had something special like that.”
He bent, pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that, while quick, still packed quite a punch. “Thank you for saying that, Sunshine.”
“Have you talked to her much since you’ve been here?” He gave me a nod. “We try to talk at least once a week. It’s harder during the season, but I find a way to make it work. She might not live close anymore, but talking to her regularly helps with the whole missing her thing.” He tipped his head to meet my gaze, something playful and bright swimming in them. “I told her all about you.”
