“Sam… I just want us to have a nice trip. We don’t…” Brooke gulped rather audibly as she pushed herself back into her chair, “…have to talk about the wedding anymore if you don’t want.” Brooke looked down at her lap.

“Hey, who said that I didn’t want one?” Sam seemed to be on the offensive.

“Well… I don’t know… I guess I just realized that you never really told me what you want exactly.”

The blonde looked over to her dark-haired lover and took her hand. “I want you, Brooke, for the rest of my life and I’ll take that any way that I can.”

Hearing Sam’s words brought a huge grin to Brooke’s face. “I love you, Sam.”

“I love you, Brooke.” The young woman leaned into place a kiss on her lover’s cheek, then sat back, looking out the window of the plane. After a few moments, and acting as nonchalantly as possible, Sam turned to the woman next to her. “So, is Saturday good for you?”

“Saturday? Good for what?”

Sam tried to hold back the smile that wanted to overtake her face. “Well, for our wedding, of course.” Having said it she turned to face Brooke, showing her a twinkling set of green eyes. “You don’t think that after going all this way, I’m coming back without one, do you?”

“Sam… I… how did you…” Brooke couldn’t decide what she needed to know first. “I…” leaning in, Brooke gave up and smiled, then kissed Sam delicately, “Saturday will be perfect, Darlin’.”

Brooke listened at the door for the sound of water running before taking the cell phone from the nightstand where she’d laid it when they arrived Wednesday afternoon. Okay Brooke, you know that she’ll be in there for at least ten minutes, let’s make this a quick one. Punching in the direct dial to her office, she waited for Peter to pick up the phone. She looked at her watch to confirm that he would be in the office.

“Brownstone Records, Peter Butler here. How may I help you?”

God, he’s only on the job a month and he sounds like a pro. She quickly cleared her mind and hurried on to her agenda, keeping her voice as soft as she could. “So, Petey, you all ready for the big trip?”

“Hey, Brooke.” The man’s voice sounded surprised. “What’s up? I thought you were on vacation.” He paused for a second. “Trip? She agreed to it, eh?”

“Yeah, she did.” Brooke’s voice beamed with pride. “So remember, you’ll have to pick up Crystal and Aunt Sandy before you head out to the plane. Mom, Dad and the rest of the family are picking up Sam’s father, sister and Mario at the house at noon and then they’ll meet you at the plane. Is… uh… is Ida coming? I invited her yesterday.”

“Could I stop her?” Peter proclaimed. “She’s happier than a lark knowing that you’re tying the knot.”

“Cool.” Brooke thought about her motherly employee only for a moment knowing that she had to press on. “So you’ll pick up Aunt Sandy and Crystal?”

“Brooke, I’ll have the plane ready and waiting for everyone. Yes, I’ll get Crystal and her Mom.” Peter paused for a moment, and then asked, “It’s only Sam’s father and sister, right?”

“Yeah, they’ll meet you at the airfield at 12:30 for take off by 1 p.m.”

“Whewie! Now that’s a relief. I’m not sure that Sam’s mother would be such a good thing at the wedding. I mean, she’s not exactly a fan of either of your teams in this sport, Brooke.”

“Tell me about it.” Brooke rolled her eyes as she heard the water stop running in the shower. “Hey, Petey, I’d better go. Sam’s getting out of the shower. Thanks for taking care of all the loose ends for me. I’ll see you around three this afternoon.”

“Good luck, Brooke. I won’t let you down.”

“Great… now if I could just get these damn butterflies out of my stomach, I’d be fine.” Brooke gave a little chuckle. “Hey, you remember Johnnie, the pilot, right?” Brooke asked nervously.

“You with butterflies? Yeah, right.” Peter coughed, “Remember Johnnie? Oh yeah, I remember her. Who could forget that hot pilot?”

“Hey, you’d better watch it there, Pal, you’re practically spoken for, yourself,” Brooke teased her long time friend. “I’ll see you around three then. Have a good flight.”

“Right, see ya later, Boss.”

The tall woman terminated the call, then quickly set the phone down on the nightstand again as she heard the bathroom door open.

Seeing the phone still within Brooke’s fingers, Sam finished drying her hair with the towel. “So, who was that, Hon?”

Brooke glanced down at the phone. “Oh, that… I was ah… just checking in with Peter.” She moved away from the bed and stood behind the small blonde, appreciating her reflection in the mirror. “You ready for this?”

“Ready for what?”

The tall woman wrapped her arms around Sam and pulled her back toward the bed. Turning around as they fell backward onto the mattress, Brooke tossed the wet towel aside. “Your last day as a single woman.” Brooke winked, then kissed her on the neck.

“Hmm… if I remember correctly,” Sam chuckled at the tickling sensation that Brooke’s touch invoked, “…it’s your last day too.” She reached up to rub her furrowed brow. “So what do you want to do, go dig up some snow bunnies?”

“Hmm… I dunno. We could…” the older woman paused, “…then again,” she paused a second time before continuing on. “If you go put on your ski clothes, I’ll already have the hottest snow bunny around.”

As if on cue, Sam jumped off the bed and dashed for the closet. “Look out snow. You’re gonna melt when you see this one.” Sam pulled her suit from the closet and held it up to her body. “Now, is that really fair to all these ski lodges around?”

Brooke smiled at the young woman’s enthusiasm. “Who cares? I refuse to share you, so who cares about fair?” The dark-haired woman reached over to the nightstand and pulled out the box they had purchased just the day before.

“You can’t stop looking at them, can you?” Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

“No, I can’t.” Brooke looked up at Sam like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Good, cause neither can I.” Sam quickly hung up the ski clothes and dove onto the bed. “Let me see,” the blonde wiggled closer for a better view.

The dazzle of gold caught Brooke’s eye as she tilted the box for her lover to see. “I just can’t wait to see them side by side once they’re on our fingers.” Both women stared down at the gold bands as Brooke laced her fingers with Sam’s.

“I know,” Sam said barely above a whisper. “Me, either.” She turned her head and kissed the taller woman’s cheek. “Well, come on my hot, not so little, snow bunny. There’s still time for a few runs down that slope.”

Brooke took one last look at the rings before closing the box. “Your wish, is my command.”

Dusting the snow off her clothing, Sam rounded the hallway to their room. “I can’t believe that you didn’t fall.” She looked back to her tall companion who had all the equipment in her hands. “Not even once?” Sam pleaded as she searched her pocket for the room key.

“Well,” Brooke took several long strides to get ahead of the blonde, then leaned against the doorway to their room. “I did fall for you, Darlin’.” She pushed off the wall and leaned in to kiss the young woman before Sam could get the door open.

Lasting only a few seconds, the kiss ended in a flurry of soft nips as Sam tried to concentrate on what she was doing, only to be distracted time and again by her playful lover.

“Brooke, keep this up and you’ll be begging me to get this door open.” Sam giggled as she felt the wetness between her legs beginning to grow a little more with each kiss that was placed on her neck. “God, Brooke.” Sam rolled her eyes as she fought to concentrate on opening the door. “You keep doing that and this snow bunny is going to melt into a puddle right here in the hall.”

“So…” Brooke gave her another kiss then whispered into Sam’s ear. “You’re up for the challenge, then?”

Sam waited until the guests getting off the elevator passed them. “Yes,” she shook her head. “I mean, no, not in the hallway here.” The blonde looked around as she placed a hand on her lover’s chest, keeping her from coming close again. “Brooke, it’s almost three-thirty. Do we really have time for this right now? I’ve got to get a shower and get changed before dinner at five. Remember, you made those plans for us.”

Brooke leaned back against the wall. “Yeah, I remember those plans, and then some.” The dark-haired woman winked at her lover as a rakish smile settled on her face.

Green eyes watched in utter amazement as she felt her body scream to be held in her lover’s arms. The promise of passion that Brooke could give with one of those smiles was enough to make her heart beat faster than Sam ever thought was possible. “Oh God, I want you so bad.” Sam moaned as she took in a breath, then wrapped her fingers around the taller woman’s ski jacket, pulling Brooke toward her as she pushed open the door.

Locked in a kiss, Sam dropped her hand from the doorknob as she felt the waves of sensations from the kiss running through her body. Out of nowhere, she felt something new. “What the…” she looked down to her hand. “Mario! What are you doing here?”

Brooke watched the prancing animal as his excitement grew with Sam’s attention. His soft whimpers stopped only when the blonde reached down to pet him as she dropped to one knee and let the husky greet her as he wanted to, landing a few kisses of his own.

“Surprised?” Brooke smiled as Sam turned to look at her with questions in her eyes. “I figured that we might need a ring bearer for tomorrow.”

“But how… no, who?” Sam looked up at Brooke. “He didn’t fly by himself, Brooke, did he?”

“Nope,” Brooke entered their room and put the equipment down. “I told you I had a few surprises for you.” The tall woman stripped off her jacket and gloves. “Come on, give me your coat. I’ve got another surprise for you.” She held out her hand and accepted the outer clothing that Sam handed her. Tossing them on the bed, Brooke headed out the door and pulled it shut. “Come on, follow me.”