“I know. I don’t want you to go either.”
I take her hand. “I don’t want this to end when I leave.”
We haven’t talked about what is going on with us, if it’s a fling or not, so I can’t be sure what she wants to do. It’s scary to put myself out there, but I need to know.
“Does that mean you want to try long distance?” Her cheeks pinken, and I know that it was a hard question for her to ask.
“I do, yeah.” She opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off before she can tell me all the reasons long-distancerelationships never work. “We’re not even that far away from each other. We’re in the same time zone, which makes things less complicated. Our states are literally right beside each other.”
She shakes her head, a small smile playing on her face. “In the north. Not Manhattan.”
“Semantics. I think if we want this to work, we can make it work. I know you don’t have the luxury of leaving the B&B unattended, so I’ll come visit you. I have all kinds of banked vacation time I’ve never used. It’s just going to take some effort.”
“Carter…”
“Please say yes, Ash.” I squeeze her hand. I can feel the line between my eyebrows deepening with concern.
“Carter—”
“I don’t want this to end.”
She brings her hand to my mouth and covers it. “Carter, if you’d let me finish, you’d know that I want to try too.”
I pull her in, skirting my tongue on the seam of her lips until she opens for me. Our kiss feels like the sealing of a promise between us.
When I end the kiss, I rest my forehead on hers. “You won’t regret this.”
“It’s going to take a lot of work and effort on both our parts if it’s going to work though.”
I cup her face and meet her eyes. “I have faith in us.”
She smiles, and it’s like the warm glow of Christmas lights on my face. “So do I.”
Chapter Twenty-One
ASHLEY
Iwake up to a blanket of snow outside. A very thick, very deep blanket.
Carter has been sleeping in my bed, and when I roll over to look out the window like I do first thing every morning, I’m met with a sheet of falling snow. It should probably be my first indication that things won’t go as planned today, but all I see and feel is Carter. I’m in too deep with him, and everything has a rose-colored tint for me.
I’m near the window, looking at the falling snow and how much has already fallen overnight when a set of hands wraps around my waist from behind.
Carter rests his chin on my shoulder. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” I turn in his arms to face him. “How did you sleep?”
He gives me a cocky grin. Guess he liked how I woke him up in the middle of the night last night. “Much better after our middle-of-the-night activities.”
I hum low in my throat. “Same.”
“I need to get in the shower and wash up before Steph and Doug arrive. Thought maybe you could join me. You know, to conserve water.”
“Oh, of course, it’s all about water conservation.”
“I’m nothing if not a staunch environmentalist.”
I laugh, burrowing my face into his chest. “Well, if it’s to save Mother Earth, then how can I say no?”
