Page 98 of Seale the Deal

The chopper touches down softly, the skids crunching into the compact snow. As the rotors slow, the silence of the glacier fills the air.

Peter hops out first and gestures toward the open door. Welcome to paradise!

I climb out, then reach my hand back for Wrenley, and she takes it without hesitation. Her new winter boots sink slightly into the snow as she steps on the glacier, the wind immediately catching her hair and sending it flying in every direction. She gasps, eyes round with wonder, spinning slowly in a full circle to take it all in.

This is… she breathes. This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I watch her. Not the mountains, not the glacier, not the sun refracting off the ice like stained glass. Her. She’s flushed and windblown and smiling so big I think my ribs might crack just looking at her.

Do you want to go for a walk? I ask, my voice just loud enough to carry over the wind.

She nods, still taking it all in.

Our hands are still linked from when I helped her out of the helicopter, and somehow, we just don’t let go. We start walking along the edge of a small ridge. The glacier stretches out on all sides. Wrenley’s boots crunch beside mine, her breath visible in the crisp air. She doesn’t say anything, but I watch the way her gaze keeps moving. It starts up in the clouds, then follows the lines of the peaks, back down to the sweeping expanse of frozen wilderness below us. She’s storing it all away, and I hope it’s a memory she keeps forever because I know I will.

Laugh lines crinkle at the corners of Peter’s eyes when he joins us a few minutes later, clapping his gloved hands together. This right here, he says, gesturing at the sweeping vista behind us, would make a killer Christmas card. Come on.

Wrenley and I exchange a look that’s half-amused, half-oh no, but I reach for my phone anyway and pass it over to Peter.

She steps beside me, and I instinctively rest my hand on the small of her back. She leans in just slightly, and we both face the camera, smiling.

Peter grins and says, Now, one with a kiss! You’ve got to mark the occasion.

Wrenley’s head snaps toward me so fast I’m surprised she doesn’t have whiplash.

Oh, she says.

Right, I say at the same time.

There’s a brief, charged silence.

And then she adds, We are engaged.

I nod slowly, because we are. Technically.

Peter raises an eyebrow, waiting. I shift toward her, my hand still at her back. I see the moment she swallows, both nervous and unsure.

We don’t have to if— I start.

It’s fine, she says quickly, too quickly. It’s just a kiss.

I lean in, and she tilts her face up to meet me. Her lips are soft, a little cold, and there’s the slightest tremble in her exhale as we kiss. Her hand curls at the front of my coat like she’s anchoring herself. The scent of her fills my lungs, and the warmth of her body seeps through every layer of clothing on me. My entire world narrows to the feel of her mouth against mine. She steps in closer. It’s a small movement, but it feels monumental. I tighten my arm around her waist and tease the seam of her lips with my tongue, silently asking a question I’m suddenly desperate to know the answer to.

To my fucking delight, she answers.

Her lips part just enough to let me in, and she melts against my body as my other hand comes up to cup her cheek. She makes a sound that goes right to my chest and threatens to pull out the most primal parts of me. But then she pulls back, and my chest feels hollow at the loss of her, and every instinct I possess is urging me to close the distance again.

Peter makes some kind of approving noise and hands back the phone, but I barely hear it. I’m too busy looking at Wrenley. Her lips are parted. Her eyes are wide like she’s just been hit with something she wasn’t expecting.

Same, baby.

Absolutely same.

Peter’s voice cuts across the silence. Alright, lovebirds. Back to the chopper. We’ve gotta get off this ice before the wind picks up much more.

Wrenley laughs, but it’s breathy and a little off. When she turns away, I swear she’s touching her lips like she’s not sure what happened either. I follow behind her as we make our way back to the helicopter.

My mind is spinning. She kissed me back. And it didn’t feel like it was purely out of obligation. She kissed me like she meant it. Or is this all in my head?