This was going to be harder than he assumed, Adam thought as Eva shrunk away from his touch when he attempted to help her put her skis on.

The weather was as cold as fuck, but when he'd asked Eva what she wanted to do, she'd after some long hesitation and impatience said she wanted him to take her to the skiing site. That was why they here in extremely stuffed clothing, the blades of the helicopter whirling and rumbling above them.

Eva put on her googles, and without even waiting for him to put his own equipment on, she veered down the slope with an excited yell, ski poles in hand. She'd picked up a lot from the last time they'd come here and he'd tutored her on how to ski.

Quickly putting on the last ski, Adam grabbed his sticks from the ground and navigated his way down. He gazed around, lost in the view of the snow-shelthered mountains that seemed to stretch on forever.

He focused back on Eva while he was catching up. She suddenly excuted a perfect braking skill. Adam was marvelled by how she'd done it so easily, and just how beautiful it would've looked in a photo with the snowy mountain as backdrop. It took him a moment too late to realize he was careening towards her.

"Adam, what the heck are..."

He crashed right into her, sending them flying in the air. Adam quickly slewed to cushion the fall, going back first. Eva slammed down on him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Luckily, they both angled their feet well enough that their skis didn't break.

They must've laid like that for long moments, gazing into each other's eyes. It felt like a scene from a movie, which was total bullshit considering he barely watched those mushy stuff.

They were both breathing through their mouth, the steam blowing out intermittently. The look in her eyes told him she wanted to be no where else but here with him, but at the same time, it looked like she just wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

For God sake he hoped the former urge was the stronger.

"Are you okay?" She finally asked.

"Perfect." He said, letting it sound more like his answer when he was talking about her.

He brought his mitted hands up to tuck her hanging hair behind her ear. He'd barely done that before she cleared her throat and began levering herself off him.

The moment was damn awkward like he'd never imagined would be between Eva and him considering the number of times they'd been naked around each other inhibited.

"You're losing your touch, Wild One." She said when she finally got to her feet.

He smiled at the nickname he'd missed so much coming from her as he helped himself of the ground. "Maybe I'm just with a woman too beautiful to help me focus."

For a moment it looked like she was about to blush before she chased the endearing reaction away with a scowl. Adam sighed, realizing he'd done that a lot since morning. Still, small victories. He couldn't have it any other way.

The last time they'd been here, they'd only tried three slopes, each much inclined than the other because he hadn't trusted that Eva had picked up the speed and the skill enough. It was left with about three steeper ones.

When he told her, Eva was quick to command him to take her there. By the time they were done, Adam could say he'd made her happy. Her laughter and shouts of excitement told him so, and it pleased him greatly.

Finally, when she'd had enough, the pilot took them back to the skiing company, and Adam drove into town. A minimum amount of sunlight had managed to peak against the frigid weather.

The people of Jackson Hole were full on the Christmas festivities, Adam realized as he drove down the ploughed streets. Houses decorated, children playing in the snow and with everyone looking more jovial than ever.

Adam spotted Eva gazing at a hot dog stand, her eyes gleaming in relish, and he pulled over immediately. It was already lunch time anyway, so they had their lunch right by the stand. The hot food was a soothing feel against the coldness.

"Why are so many people heading there?" He heard Eva ask the vendor. Adam looked to the direction she pointed to find several people making the same curve down the road.

"Oh, they're all heading for the church. There's some kind of party with Christmas performances to celebrate the birth of Christ." The vendor answered.

Eva turned to Adam curiously. "Would you mind?"

Adam raised a brow, surprised that she would want to go. For as far as he knew, she wasn't very high on religion. But hell, at this point he would grant her just about anything to score him more points.

They left their car with the vendor and made the walk to go along with the few people venturing into the church. It'd been a long time since Adam had entered one, and it looked like. . . well, a church, except it was beautifully decorated with a lot of stringbulbs and several Merry Christmas signs. It also felt much warmer.

They took one of the pews and watched stuff unfold. First some dance performances and singing which was very impressive. Then a play about the birth of Christ. Adam was bored out of his mind but Eva seemed quite interested.

Was she planning to go full Christian?

Finally, when he had began dozing, Eva nudged him on the arm. "Take me ho. . . to the cabin."

He told himself to not be so foolish, to not let himself think too much of this. She only wanted them to go home because she'd probably had enough too, not because she wanted to be alone with him.

The sparkle of hope was hard to annihilate though.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot to take my phone along." Eva shrieked, grabbing the device from the foldable couch. Her eyes widened. "I've got nine missed calls from June, seven from Vicky, eleven from Xander, and five from mum."

Adam snorted at the fact Xander had issued the most calls. He was about to return his attention to the fire he was building in the hearth when she said, "This is all your fault. They must be so worried sick about me."

He looked back to meet her glare and the only thing he could say was sorry.

She let out a heavy sigh. "I'll just text them and let them know I'm all right and will explain everything when I get back."

At least she wasn't eager to go complaining about how he'd 'kinapped' her. To him, that was a marvelous sign.

Finally managing to stroke the fire to life, Adam stood up with a contented sigh. Turning, he found Eva glancing at the fire with gratitude as she pulled her gloves off.

"Thank God for fire. My fingers feel so stiff it's like they could break with just a nudge." She groaned.

"I might have more ways to keep you warm."

"Don't start getting ideas, Garcia." Her words were a warning, but the look in her eyes spoke a totally different tale.

Plucking his phone out of his pant pocket, he set a slow romantic tune playing. Tossing the phone on the centrepiece, he stretched out his hand.

"Would you do me the honour of this dance?"

Eva looked at him like he was crazy, but she didn't scowl like she normally would whenever he tried to initiate some tender moments. Adam decided to press his luck.

"Please?"

Tentatively, he reached for her hand. She didn't pull away. Adam pulled closer to her, aligning their bodies as he placed his hand at her waist, wishing the damn jacket was off so he could feel the heat of her body.

He found confusion and indecision in her eyes when he looked into the amber orbs. Adam decided he was going to wheedle all of it away, rocking her and himself to the slow tune.

Holding her waist more firmly, he twirled her around so that she was facing away from him and her back was pressed to his front.

It'd been pure torture keeping his hands to himself when all he'd been wanting to do the whole day was grab her and kiss her senseless.

She didn't pull away from him, and he felt his dick twitch even if his crotch wasn't pressed against her rear like he would've liked thanks to his large jacket on her. He was hard around Eva most of the time.

He wrapped his arms around her, intertwining his fingers at her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder. He felt her trembling even through the barricades of clothing between them, her breathing growing shallow.

"Do you remember the first time I brought you here?" He asked softly. "You'd been so sure you wouldn't return to LA the same physically until I gradually helped you to pull through those fears."

"You remember when we went to that pub, so horny that you'd asked me to take you to the washroom? We would've fucked right there had that guy not walked in."

They both chuckled at the memory, and Adam shuddered, remembering what had followed when they'd gotten home.

"I made you mine for the first time that very night. I'd never wanted any woman as badly as I'd wanted you. Never wanted anyone like I still do you. I'd been so hard ridden with desire that I'd forgot to use a condom."

He chuckled at the memory. Back then, the thought of having kids had scared the living daylight out of him. Now? All he wanted to do was build a family with Eva, to spend the rest of his days loving her and their children.

Removing his arms from around her, he placed them back at her waist and turned her to face him. Her eyes was gleaming with an emotion Adam prayed he wasn't mistaken as he cupped her face.

"Come back to me Eva. I know you've never stopped feeling the same about me. Xander is just someone you tried to get over me with. Let's go back to the way we were before, give in to the emotions that fill us when we're with each other."

He advanced his lips towards her, hoping she wouldn't push him away. Their lips were just a few inches away from each other when he was suddenly shoved back. He stumbled first, then tumbled onto the couch as she forced herself away from him.

"Stop, Adam. Please stop it." She palmed her face.

"Why are you holding back? I've said I'm sorry, explained, apologized. Why can't you just forgive me?" He felt the frustration in his voice despite how hard he tried to eliminate it.

Eva took her hands off her face and gave him a scalding look. "Oh no, you don't get to sound like that." He could hear the defiance in her voice, the indignation in her eyes. "You don't fucking know what I went through when you were away. For months I kept telling myself that you just needed some time to yourself, that you would be back soon. Watching videos of you on the internet, knowing you are fine but never receiving a single text from you, that you contact your brother and your friends but never bother to reach out to me. You walked out on me when emotions got tough on you. How am I suppose to know you will never do it again?"

She was breathing hard by the time she was done. Poignant things she'd said, and it had made Adam realize why she was still holding back. She was afraid he would leave again and leave her to the heartache.

Getting up from the couch, he took cautious steps towards her, watching the wariness creep into her eyes. "Eva, I would never leave again."

"Those are just words, Adam. You and I both know I can't trust your words any longer." She mused.

"There's no one who has escaped hell that would wish to go back, Eva. Being away from you was just like that, like being in hell. It's an experience I never want to go through again."

Tentatively, he put his hand at her waist, and when she didn't flinch, he pulled her closer, hoping his eyes conveyed all that he was feelimg.

"Eva, you've transformed my life in so many ways. Before, I was scared of letting myself go, of loving. Then you came along, my own kind of Eve, tempting me out of my comfort zone and what I believed was the most sensible. Except, with the most blissful consequences. I will never stop blessing the day I kissed you at that New Year's Eve party. Maybe it's the legend of the kiss of eternal love, maybe it's not. But all I know is that you mean the world to me. That I want to spend the rest of my days with you."

He smiled, feeling what he'd been feeling for this woman for months bubble inside his chest. "Eva West, I'm in love with you."

_________
Who's been waiting for those words? Please let me hear your thoughts. We have a few chapters to go and then it's goodbye.

LOL(Lots Of Love)
-Enock