“So are you,” I said seriously. “When was the last time you fed?”
“Yesterday, before the wedding,” he said. “I’ll be fine tonight.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I’ll go feed tomorrow morning and be back in bed before you even know I’m gone.”
I frowned, hating the idea of him leaving me in bed alone, or anywhere alone, really. But I knew he needed to feed, so I could deal with it for however long it took him.
“C’mon, let’s go eat before we end up back in bed,” he said with a chuckle.
We drove the short distance to the main lodge, which was humongous. The entire bottom floor was the lobby, check in desk, ski rentals, dozens of fireplaces with couches and chairs arranged around them, and a coffee / hot chocolate bar.
The second floor was the restaurant, which was where Trent and I headed. He stopped at the hostess stand. “Two for Halstead,” he said.
“Just a moment,” the hostess, whose nametag read Mindy, said.
We moved out of the way, and another couple stepped forward. They were older, maybe late twenties or early thirties, and they had the same newlywed glow that I was positive Trent and I had, too.
They gave the hostess their name, and the guy kissed the woman as they moved back and bumped straight into me before I could move out of the way. Trent wrapped his arm around my back, his stance protective.
“Oh, oops.” The woman giggled. “Sorry.” But her cheeks were pink, and she didn’t look the least bit sorry.
“It’s all right.” I smiled. “Newlyweds?” I asked.
“That obvious, huh?” The man laughed.
“Yeah, we got married a couple of weeks ago. Tonight’s our last night here,” she said.
“Congratulations,” I said. “We just got married yesterday.” I patted Trent’s chest and rested my head on his arm.
“Well, congratulations to you, too.” She smiled.
“Mr. and Mrs. Halstead?” Mindy called.
I squeezed Trent’s hand and smiled broadly. “I will never get tired of hearing that,” I whispered.
“Good, because you’re going to be hearing it for a very long time,” he said with a conspiratorial wink.
We followed Mindy through the dining room and to our table, which was positioned in front of a bowed window overlooking the ski lifts. Lights twinkled in the distance, reflecting and glistening off the pristine white snow. This place truly was beautiful, and I could see why Trent loved the snow so much.
Trent pulled out my chair, and I sat. He leaned over, gave my cheek a kiss, and whispered, “I love you,” before taking his seat across from me.
“Your waiter will be with you shortly,” Mindy said with a smile and set two menus on the edge of the table.
He took my hands into his and caressed my knuckles with his thumbs. “This is a popular honeymoon destination,” he said. “I bet a lot of people here are newlyweds.”
I glanced around and noticed quite a few couples in various positions of intimacy—sitting side by side, heads tilted toward each other, hand holding, kissing, whispering to one another—everywhere I looked I saw only one thing: love.
“It’s kind of romantic,” I said, returning my gaze to Trent. “Being surrounded by so many people in love.”
He smiled softly. “I’m glad you like it here. I was worried you wouldn’t,” he said.
I tightened my hold on his hands. “It’s perfect. But your surprises always are,” I said.
“Well, I am pretty perfect.”
Laughing, I slipped my hands from his and reached for the menu, which was at least five pages, and that didn’t include the desserts or wines.
Our waiter arrived with glasses of ice water and a basket of fresh bread. “My name’s Sebastian, and I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Have you decided what you’d like?”
He glanced at me, and I immediately noticed how brown his eyes were. They matched the shade of freckles splattered across his face. He had hair to match, too, and his smile was warm and inviting.
His gaze landed on me expectantly, and my cheeks heated, though I had no idea why. Maybe because I’d been too wrapped up in Trent and had barely looked at the menu let alone decided what I wanted. This poor waiter was probably used to this type of behavior, but I felt slightly bad that we were going to make him come back.
“We need a minute,” Trent said, his tone hard.
“Of course.” Sebastian smiled at me, then left.
Trent scowled. “He keeps staring at you like that and he’s going to lose an eye.”
I laughed, then clamped my mouth shut.
Shaking his head, a small smile curved his lips. He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “You think this is funny, but between the bond, the whole soulmate thing, the effects of that potion, and knowing you’re now my wife, I’m seconds away from killing every guy in here who so much as looks at you.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
He gave a slight nod, then leaned back. “I won’t, obviously, but the thoughts are racing through my mind.”
“Wow,” I said, stunned.
I was rather… territorial where Trent was concerned, too, but this seemed extreme, even for him. Then again, I’d had some very vivid thoughts about killing Olivia when I’d found her in Trent’s arms on New Year’s Eve. With Trent’s heightened emotions on top of everything else, I could only imagine what he must be thinking and feeling right now.
“Does this place have room service?” I asked, only half joking.
“Yes,” he said.
I stood. “Then let’s go back to our cabin and order something. We’ll quarantine ourselves like we talked about.” I held my hand out to him.
Despite being in this gorgeous place, the thought of locking myself up with Trent for the next two days was a lot more appealing than anything this resort had to offer.
Trent took my hand, and within five minutes, we were back in our cabin. Ten minutes after that, he’d placed a food order. I’d changed out
