Fortunately, his mother didn’t argue.
“You’ll still be at breakfast in the morning, won’t you, Hannah? I know you’re heading back to Raleigh and have to pick up the rental car.”
“Absolutely,” she assured her. “Gage and I plan on eating with everyone before he drops me off.”
“Okay. Good.” When the elevator opened on her floor, Rebecca turned and hugged them both and promised to see them tomorrow. Gage didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the doors shut again.
“I thought she’d put up more of a fight,” he commented.
“I think she’s just as worn out but didn’t want to admit it.” Resting her head on his shoulder, they rode up the rest of the way in silence and then into their suite. “So…pizza?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Hannah stripped off her coat and gloves, tossing them on one of the kitchen chairs as she walked over and collapsed on the sofa with a loud sigh. “I don’t mind at all. I’m just more exhausted than I thought I’d be. How do you keep up with everyone?”
Chuckling softly, Gage hung up both of their coats before sitting down beside her. “It’s only on the holidays and I enjoy being the fun uncle and goofing around with them. But then I get to go home and relax.”
“I’m sure your sisters and brothers-in-law all appreciate you for it.” Her head was back on his shoulder.
Gage pulled out his phone and scrolled to the app to order dinner. It was going to be thirty to forty-five minutes until delivery, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was more than happy to spend all that time sitting right here.
Hannah, however, had other plans.
Slowly, she twisted around and crawled into his lap, straddling him. “You’re a good man, Gage Lawson.”
His hands gently grasped her hips as he took in her face. Her cheeks were still flushed from a day spent playing outside and most of her makeup had faded and she took his breath away. Swallowing hard, he wasn’t sure how exactly to respond, so he waited her out.
“If anyone had told me that I’d find watching a man ride a sled down a hill with three kids piled on top of him sexy, I’d say they were crazy.” She placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Or if they said a man would look irresistible while putting a wreath together out of freshly-cut pine, I would have thought they were ridiculous.” This time she kissed along his jaw. “But more than anything, I never knew ice skating could be like foreplay.”
This was all news to him as well, but he was more than a little excited as to where it was leading.
Cupping his face, Hannah kissed him softly on the lips before settling more snugly against him and taking it deeper. Gage’s hands raked up into her hair, holding her to him as he both let her take the lead and kissed her back with equal passion and abandon.
All on the tiny sofa.
Over and over they kissed, their movements growing more frantic, but neither seemed in any hurry to move things to the bedroom.
Hannah abruptly pulled back before tugging her sweatshirt up and over her head and tossing it to the floor. She smirked at him as if daring him to go and pick it up, but he didn’t take the bait. Not when he had this vibrant and sexy woman wrapped around him.
Together they got his sweatshirt off while ravenously kissing each other. It was awkward and clumsy, wet and messy, and yet Gage wouldn’t have had it any other way. Her hands moved to the button on his jeans just as he reached for hers and they paused and broke the kiss.
“You do you,” Hannah breathlessly commanded as she got to her feet and kicked off her boots before shimmying out of her jeans. Gage quickly finished undressing just as she straddled him again. “I hope the pizza doesn’t come early.”
There was a snarky retort on his tongue, but he kept it to himself. It was more important to touch her, kiss her, be one with her.
Neither spoke. It was all breathless sighs and throaty moans and over way too fast. Hannah collapsed against him and he could feel her heart racing just as hard as his. Several minutes later, she placed a kiss on his shoulder. Gage’s hands were gently rubbing up and down her back and the moment felt…perfect.
“You okay?” he quietly asked, his eyes still closed.
“Definitely. But I’m not sure I can ever move from this spot.”
He knew she was teasing, but…
“It might be awkward if the delivery guy has to bring the pizza in to us. Just think of the gossip in the building.”
That made her laugh. “If the women of this building thought you were sexy before, imagine if they saw this?”
All he could do was groan.
They were quiet for a minute, and then he felt her lift her head up as she gasped.
“What? What’s the matter?” Opening his eyes, he tried to see what she was seeing.
“Oh, Gage, look! It’s snowing!”
Chapter Nine
The next morning, it was still snowing.
Heavily.
It was hard to figure out how it made her feel, but if there was one thing Hannah learned during her week in Evergreen, it was that they could handle the snow and the roads would be clear. The change in the weather would in no way affect her leaving.
She hated thinking about it or even talking about it. Last night Gage tried repeatedly to talk to her about how he felt about her going back to Raleigh and moving to Chicago, but she had gone to extremes to keep from discussing it.
Sexy extremes, but extremes none the less.
Zipping her suitcase closed, Hannah straightened and looked out the window. She hadn’t seen or heard the plows and, considering she grew up in Baltimore and was familiar with heavier snowfalls, she couldn’t quite guess just how much snow was currently on the ground. Gage walked into the bedroom and handed her a cup of coffee, his expression grim.
“What’s going on?” she asked cautiously, accepting the mug from him.
“Okay, do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
Shoulders sagging, she replied, “Bad.”
“There’s close to a foot of snow on the ground and the snow isn’t expected to stop until later tonight.”
She nodded, unable to imagine what the good news could be.
“Plows aren’t running yet and all the local businesses are closed. So…even if the plows were to go out this afternoon, there would be no way for you to pick up the rental.”
That was more bad news and she looked at him expectantly.
“Steph and Christina ended up leaving late last night to head home when they saw how the snow was coming down. So they’re all safe at home with the kids.”
Frowning, she studied him. “Is that the good news?”
“Um…”
“Is there any good news for me? I mean…Christmas is three days away and I’m supposed to be driving back to Raleigh today. That’s even farther east than your sisters in Charlotte and Greensboro. Is the storm just up here in the mountains? Is it heading north of here? Will I be able to leave tomorrow?” Hannah was growing more and more frantic with each word and she was beginning to feel like a crazy person, but Gage’s expression never changed. If anything, he looked…content.
“Why don’t we go sit out in the kitchen and have our coffee?” he suggested.