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Tristan leaned in and kissed her brow, breathing her in, promising himself to never take it for granted again. “That’s okay. I promise to be here when you wake up.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“This time, I promise to stay.”
CALISTA
IF SOMEONE HAD ASKED ME what the last thing I thought I might do today was, I would have said: Sit next to my ex in his truck while he drove us through a blizzard to his ranch. Yet, that’s exactly what I was doing. One might ask how it came to be. I’ll tell you. A major lack of sleep and still being buzzed from those dang kisses Tristan administered all too well and all too publicly. The man was still the king of kissing. No one but him could make me feel so heated while covered in snow.
Thankfully, Quinn was with us, or there was no telling what might occur once we got to his place, no matter how much I kept protesting that we were never kissing again. As exhausted as I was—and worried I was going to lose my job over our very public display of affection—I still wanted another taste of him. We are talking a long, slow, let-me-memorize-everything-about-you kind of kiss. I kept telling myself I was only going to his ranch because his horses needed to be fed and Quinn begged us to go get the kittens. It was a lie. A big fat lie.
The truth was, I wanted to go home—and Tristan was apparently my home. Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t ready to roll out the welcome mat just yet. But I wanted to look through the door’s peephole and see him there. See if he was the man he promised to be. Then maybe, just maybe, I would open the door and let him in.
He had no idea what it meant to me when I came out of the hospital to find him there, worried something had happened to me. It had been a long time since anyone had cared about me enough to brave a blizzard, or any weather for that matter. And when he said he loved me, it was like suddenly all the empty spaces inside me were full again.
Quinn scooted my way. She was sitting closest to the door, insisting I sit next to Tristan. I’d warned him not to touch me in front of Quinn. Not that he could, anyway. He was having to white knuckle the drive on the treacherous roads. It was probably a good thing. It wouldn’t be fair to get her hopes up that all her scheming had worked. Although, I had to say, I was proud of her calculating ways. Maybe someday I would tell her so and thank her. Maybe.
Her lower lip trembled. “I was so worried about you. I can’t lose you like I did my dad … and it seems, my mom.”
Sometimes I forgot she’d just lost her dad. She was handling it all with such grace. But I needed to remember that even though Jonathon was a pig, Quinn loved him and was mourning him, despite all the complications. As for Stella, I was going to wring her neck. I hoped Jules would finally figure out who this Skippy character really was. Had Stella watched any of the man’s workout videos? Wasn’t she embarrassed? The guy was so full of himself, and so many of his health claims were bogus.
I put an arm around Quinn and kissed her head. “I’m sorry, honey. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. And I’m going to figure out what’s going on with your mom.” Then I was going to knock some sense into her. Again.
She sniffled. “Okay. Can we have a Stranger Things marathon and then maybe go sledding when it stops snowing?”
“Sure,” I yawned. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the horror genre. It was weird, since I dealt with blood and gruesome injuries all the time, but watching gore and suspense had always freaked me out.
“I think we should let your aunt get some sleep first,” Tristan suggested.
Sleep sounded divine. I was so glad I had tomorrow off and then went back to day shifts for a while.
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it to Tristan’s. It had snowed so much that his big truck had a hard time making it up the drive. As soon as we pulled up to his garage, the deejay on the radio announced several road closures.
“Looks like you girls will be stuck here until tomorrow.” Tristan couldn’t have sounded any happier.
“Yay,” Quinn squealed.
I bit my lip, not sure what to think. I should have known it was a possibility, but I pleaded exhaustion—and getting drunk off Tristan’s kisses. It totally muddled my brain.
Tristan noticed my reluctance. “Don’t worry—I have a generator if the power goes out and plenty of food and supplies.”
Those were the least of my concerns. I was worried about how much heat we would generate together if we ever found ourselves alone. I had a feeling he was already devising a plan that Quinn would be all too happy to help execute.
“Ooh, do you have stuff to make chocolate chip pancakes?” Quinn asked.
“Of course.” Tristan smiled over at her.
“Awesome.” She hopped out of the truck and slammed the door, leaving me alone with her uncle.
For a moment I watched her as she braved the elements, pushing through the snow to the cabin before punching in the code and letting herself in. I probably should have followed her, but I knew she thought this was her sneaky way of giving me time alone with her uncle. If only she knew what had happened in the hospital parking lot. She would have lost her mind.
As soon as she was safe, Tristan’s hand immediately found my thigh and squeezed it. “How are you feeling?”
“Conflicted.” Very conflicted.
Tristan reached up and ran a hand over my hair. “I can understand that. But let me take care of you today. I’ll draw you a bath and get a bed ready for you.”
That sounded lovely. “Not your bed.” I coyly smiled.
