"Winter Rental", by Gratiana Lovelace (Done 2022) (copyrighted 2022)

Ch. 3: Dream lovers leads to morning cuddles

"Winter Rental", Ch. 3: Dream lovers leads to morning cuddles,
by Gratiana Lovelace, January 15, 2022 (Post #1439) 
["Winter Rental" is an original contemporary romance copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2022; all rights reserved]    [(1) the "Winter Rental" story cover (above far left) image credits are at the end of each chapter post 

[Author's note: I cast my characters as I write my stories—to help myself and my readers visualize the main characters. So my main characters for "Winter Rental" are: Richard Armitage as Greg Halliday; Cameron Diaz as his younger sister Connie Halliday; Anne Hathaway as Diana Langley; Liam Hemsworth as Eddie Hughes; Rege-Jean Page as Mike Porter, and others as noted.

I will post new story chapters weekly on both my SAL blog, as well as, on my Wattpad site.

This is also a gentle romance (with chapters being rated as PG-13 or so, unless otherwise noted), with some heartfelt romantic moments—and some mature romantic discussions put to humorous effect. So if you cannot or will not attend a movie with my maturity ratings, then don't read that chapter. And though I set my story in the lovely city and area of Galena, IL—which I have enjoyed visiting many times—for the purposes of my storytelling here, I use dramatic license of the facts, individuals, locations, etc. These are my disclaimers.]

"Winter Rental", Ch. 3: Dream lovers leads to morning cuddles

After a few more hours of sleep, Saturday morning comes and everyone begins to wake up--to amusing circumstances. Diana Langley is still mostly asleep, having her lovely dream again of being loved and cared for by her unspecified future husband as she lays in his caring arms in their bed. She feels his arms around her as if he were really there in bed with her—their arms and legs entangled [(2) above near left top]. Diana thinks that she'll have to stay at the resort hotel more often if it gives her such lovely lifelike dreams like these.


Elsewhere, Connie Halliday is just beginning to stir awake—her having slept out in the sitting room on the loveseat couch after switching sleeping locations with her brother Greg who was too tall for the loveseat couch[. B]ut she's fighting waking up, since she usually likes to sleep in on vacation. And she brings the blanket up to her chin to keep warm.

Sleeping in is diametrically opposite of Greg's habitué. Greg likes to be up early and ready to ski on his vacation days--packing the most [fun that he can] into his limited time off. And as he slowly wakes up this morning, he has more than he bargained for--but in a good way, in a very good way.


Dozing sleepily [(3) above near left bottom], Greg also thinks that he is still having a lovely dream. And he tenderly tightens his embrace around the lady lying in his arms in their bed--his hands rest lightly on the lady's soft fabric covered stomach. And under his chin is a soft skinned, almost bare shoulder as he spoons with her. He kisses her bare shoulder and the lady sighs in her sleep and clasps her hands on his hands embracing her.

Then as Greg starts to open his eyes, he forgets where he is at first. It doesn't look like the bedroom that he had claimed for himself at their Winter rental, Lakeside Cottage —he had taken what looked like a guest bedroom with one king size bed, but no ensuite bathroom, such as the master bedroom has that he let their friends Ron & Sylvia claim. Which means, that his sister Connie gamely has the bedroom [at] Lakeside Cottage with the twin beds—which is Diana's girlhood bedroom, but redecorated for her adult self.

Ah, Greg muses, as his memory comes back to him as he awakens more. They're at the Pineridge Ski Resort Hotel because of the raging snowstorm last night—and sleeping in Diana Langley's hotel suite bedroom, his two for two in him displacing her from her [beds]. But technically, Diana is not displaced from her ski resort hotel suite bed.

Greg now looks more closely at the lovely lady spooning with him and nestled into his arms. She has long silky brunette hair that falls in soft waves over her shoulders. Her face is sweet and uncomplicated in her sleep--almost angelic. And even without her makeup on, she looks like an angel to him. Greg Halliday smiles when he realizes that it is Diana Langley sleeping in his arms. He does not question how their cuddling in bed together in the same bed came to be, but he likes it.

But then in the next moment, Greg worries that she might be startled or upset to be lying in his arms—perhaps her thinking that he put the moves on her—not that he would do that, as a gentleman to a lady--even though she was the one to join him in his bed. So, he tries to gently extricate himself from Diana as he leans back from her.

But it is too late, Diana begins to stir awake. Not yet, she thinks—and let my romantic dream of love continue. Then she turns from [lying on] her right side and l[ies] down upon her back. Greg notices Diana's slightly open and enticingly plump pink lips, and he can't help himself as he leans in and kisses her ever so softly upon her mouth. Diana's sleepy eyes flutter open to see who her dream lover is. Her eyes don't focus at first. But she sees kind eyes, a noble nose, and a strong jaw with a commanding mouth whose lips have just kissed hers.