Rm w/a Vu(113)

My excitement surges, and I tear open the envelope, pulling out a folded piece of paper and a photo of a log cabin nestled somewhere in a winter wonderland.

The final pieces of this strange puzzle click into place, and I look up to Greyston.

“A cabin? You bought me a cabin?”

Greyston shakes his head. “No, I didn’t buy you a cabin. This one is only on loan.” He nods toward the folded piece of paper. “Open it.”

I do, and I find plane tickets to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada inside. He’s taking me on a vacation? Suddenly my gift seems lame. “No. Greyston, this is too much,” I try to tell him, even though I’m feeling pretty excited about it.

“You said you wanted a relaxing vacation.” His smile widens. “And what’s more relaxing than a cabin in the mountains of Canada?” I stare at him, completely perplexed. “Whistler is beautiful this time of year, and there’s no better place to go skiing.”

I almost choke on the breath I take. “Skiing? But I’ve never—”

“New experiences, right?” he says with a wink.

While I do feel he went above and beyond in the gift department, I can’t help the smile and excitement from pushing my concerns aside. I jump to my feet and throw myself onto Greyston’s lap. “Thank you! This is amazing.” Now that I’ve opened Greyston’s gift, all the others make sense. “Thank you all so much.”

Mom looks at us, her expression reflecting just how happy she is. “We just want you to have a good time. And be sure to take a lot of pictures.”

“I will,” I tell her. “I promise.”

It’s Greyston’s turn to open his gifts now, and while mine isn’t nearly as extravagant as the one he gave me, I really hope he loves it. I slide off his lap and hand him the box. “In light of your gift to me, this seems…lame.”

He’s quick to tear the wrapping off and open the box, revealing the titanium Michael Kors watch I spent a pretty penny on. He immediately takes it out and puts it on his wrist. It’s a little too big, but he doesn’t let that stop him from wearing it. “This is amazing, Juliette.”

“Yeah? You like it?”

“I love it.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine softly—any harder and we’d probably get carried away like we so often do. “Thank you.”

Next, he opens his gift from his parents, extremely happy with the gift cards because he states that he’s in need of new boarding equipment. Just mentioning snowboarding makes me nervous and excited all at the same time.

“Here,” I say, handing him the last gift.

Inside is new winter gear—a jacket, ski pants, and gloves—and he seems pretty pumped about it. He’s about to thank my parents when my mom speaks up.

“If you don’t like them—or if you have a set already—the gift receipt is in the bottom of the box there.”

Greyston is quick to dismiss her concerns on whether or not he likes his gift. “It’s great, Anne. Really. My current set is more than a couple years old, so I was due for an upgrade. Thank you.”

We sit around for the next hour, talking about and showing off our gifts. I am so excited about the trip, I keep asking Greyston questions and telling him I can’t wait to go away with him—just the two of us, no interruptions. I do voice my concerns that maybe he spent a little too much.

“The cabin belongs to my parents, and they were more than happy to loan it to us for the week we’ll be in the mountains. All I paid for were the tickets,” he assures me, and this makes me feel a little better.

Our mothers and Gran head into the kitchen to check on the turkey and prepare some of the other dishes, while our fathers follow them to grab a beer. Finally alone, I crawl onto Greyston’s lap.

His eyes wander over my body, lingering on the slight view of my cleavage, and his hand moves from my knee and tugs on the fur cuff of my boot playfully. “You like your presents, baby?” His hand moves back up my leg until his hand is on my upper thigh, the tips of his fingers pressing against the inner seam of my jeans.

Afraid he might move his hand, I squeeze my thighs together, forcing his hand exactly where I want it. I stifle a moan and nod. “When do we leave?”

“The day after tomorrow,” he whispers, pushing his face into my neck and kissing that ticklish spot beneath my ear.

“So, I have all day tomorrow to pack and prepare?” He nods. “Good. There’s something I need to do tomorrow before we go.”

He arches his eyebrows questioningly. It feels nice to keep him in the dark for once.

“Which would be?”