She was almost positive someone was going to try to rope her into that but she luckily avoided it.
It was after eleven and she was exhausted. When she and Gage stepped out of the elevator on their floor, she was leaning heavily against him. “I can’t believe how tired I am!” she said around a yawn.
“Well, to be fair, between the residents and my family, we’ve all been running you ragged all week,” he said, guiding her into the apartment and directly over to the bed. Hannah sat down and was surprised when Gage knelt at her feet and gently took her shoes off, massaging her feet.
“Oh…that’s good,” she moaned, falling back on the mattress. His hands were like magic–strongly pressing against her arches before tenderly rubbing along her heels. Humming with appreciation, she fought to stay awake. Slowly her eyes drifted closed and she felt herself starting to doze.
Until…she wasn’t.
There was a soft brush of his lips on her ankle, then her calf, and then her knee. A slow smile tugged at her lips when his hands joined in, smoothing up her legs. Her limbs all felt like lead so it was easy to simply stay where she was and enjoy Gage’s touch.
She felt the tug as he pulled the ties free at her waist and then the hiss of cool air touching all the skin he was exposing. Tonight’s lingerie was even sexier than what she’d worn the first time she wore this dress and she heard Gage’s growl of approval.
“Had I known this was what you had on underneath, we never would have gone to the party,” he told her as he trailed a line of kisses from her hip bone up to the valley between her breasts.
“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t see it because the whole point of my being here with you was to make a big show at the party tonight,” she reminded him, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Truth be known, she hated how it was the reason she was here and it put her in a constant state of confusion. She wouldn’t be here without their little white lie, but their little white lie wasn’t sitting right with her. It was hard to make sense of all her feelings, especially when Gage was kissing and touching her and making her feel so damn good.
His body covered hers and he gently claimed her lips in a chaste kiss. “As much as I want to peel all these naughty bits of lace from your body, I know you’re tired.”
Hannah lazily raked a hand through his hair, unable to believe she could be this tired. “Gage…”
“Shh…it’s okay,” he whispered as he carefully finished undressing her and helped her get under the blankets. Hannah forced herself to open her eyes and saw him stripping down as well and she was glad she hadn’t missed it. He looked so handsome tonight in his suit–like he always did–but he looked even better taking it off.
Then, in typical Gage fashion, he walked around naked and hung up her dress, placed her lingerie on the dresser before putting his own things away and made sure all the drawers were shut and the closet closed. It was kind of adorable. And when he slid under the sheets, she immediately rolled toward him and smiled as he wrapped her in his arms.
“This was a good night,” she told him. “I’m sorry I’m so tired.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Get some sleep.”
And so she did.
The next day, the plan had been to have a large family breakfast before heading out to take all the kids sleigh riding. Gage and Hannah already went sleigh riding alone earlier in the week at a park not too far from his mother’s complex. Today’s excursion would keep them on the property. There was a large hill out back that was perfect for using sleds on that meant they didn’t have to pile into a bunch of cars and drive anywhere. He was looking forward to playing in the snow with his nieces and nephews and being the fun uncle. His sisters and brothers-in-law were all going to be there as well, but it was mostly Gage who walked up and down the hill with all the kids. Fortunately, Hannah seemed to be excited about playing as well.
Breakfast was loud and boisterous as it usually was when the whole family was together and by the time they were done and had everyone bundled up and ready to go, it felt a little like more effort than it was worth.
Until they got outside. Then there were squeals of laughter and challenges being issued, and he found himself getting caught up in it all and trying to keep up with the kids. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Hannah walking with his niece, Paisley. She was only five and this was the first year she was brave enough to want to ride her sled down the hill.
But only if Hannah went with her.
At the bottom of the hill was a sitting area with picnic tables and benches where his mother and sisters were sitting with thermoses full of hot cocoa, several tins of cookies, a platter of fruit, and a cooler with juice boxes. It was everything anyone could need while out playing in the snow.
There was always snow on the ground this time of year. Every night it would snow an inch or two–just enough to cover everything and enough to make things fun. The plows went out every morning and the roads were always clear. The parks and fields and trees were perpetually covered in white, which really only enhanced the holiday feeling.
He lost count of just how many trips up and down the hill he’d made or how many races he was challenged to. It was chaotic and fun and the best kind of exhaustion, and by the time Gage managed to snag Hannah’s hand so they could ride down the hill together, it was right before everyone started going inside to warm up for lunch.
They were walking across the lobby when one of his other nieces–Cali–came running over. “Uncle Gage! Uncle Gage! Did you hear? It’s going to snow tonight!”
He was about to mention how it had pretty much snowed every night, but she never gave him the chance.
“Mom said it’s going to snow a lot! Enough that we can make snow forts and snowmen tomorrow! Will you build a snowman with me tomorrow?”
Gage still wasn’t certain things would be any different, but he still nodded and hugged her close as they walked. “Of course I will. I’m a champion snowman builder. Remember the year we made the whole family of them?” Nodding, Cali cheered before running off to get on the elevator with her family. It was already pretty full and he told them to go ahead and he and Hannah would grab the next one. As soon as the doors closed, Hannah looked at him with concern.
“Is there really more snow in the forecast for tomorrow? I thought it was all just going to be flurries?”
He waved her off. “It will be. Trust me, if there were going to be anything more than that, we’d all be hearing about it.”
“Then why…?”
“It starts to feel like there’s more snow on the ground with the little bit of accumulation we get each night. That’s what Cali probably meant. If we get our standard flurries tonight, there’ll be more snow for us to play in tomorrow.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “How are you at building snowmen?”
That made her laugh. “I haven’t done that in years, but…you know I need to pick up the rental car at ten, so…”
Yeah, he knew it, but simply didn’t want to think about it. This was truly their last full day together, and he kind of resented the fact that they were spending so much of it with his family.