Page 14 of Mistletoe and Holly

Her eyes went wide at my admission, but before she could say anything, I answered her unspoken question.

“I never said anything to you because you loved my brother and I never wanted to stand in the way of that. I tried to move on, to keep my distance and let you be happy, but I couldn’t do it. I needed you in my life, even if we could never be what I wanted us to be. You’re a part of me, Holl. Ingrained deep in my soul. And no matter what happens between us now, I need you to know it’s always been you and it always will be.”

A lone tear was sliding down her cheek by the time I was done talking, while her gaze stayed fixed on mine. We just stayed like that for several long beats, time standing still as we balanced on this precipice, just a millimeter away from tumbling over the edge to the point of no return.

And then her eyes flitted down to my lips for a split second before darting back up. Gently swiping my thumb over her bottom lip, I slowly started to dip my head down, giving her enough time to back away if she wanted to.

“Shep.” My name was barely a breath as she slid her arms around my neck.

My lips whispered over hers ever so softly, but that was all it took to make my entire body come alive. One featherlight kiss had turned my whole world on its axis and filled the hollow space in my heart, the part of it that would only ever beat for her.

She was the one who made the next move, pressing her lips against mine a second time and parting them slightly. Taking full advantage, I tugged her bottom lip into my mouth and sucked softly, savoring the taste of the spiced cider we’d just drunk combined with a flavor that was just unmistakably Holly as I wound my free arm around her waist, pulling her against me.

“I love you, Shep,” she whispered, not lifting her mouth from mine.

Emotion clogged my throat, threatening to drown me. Hearing her say those three simple words to me was the single greatest moment of my entire life.

“Love doesn’t cover it, sweetheart,” I murmured, brushing her lips again. “You’re the air I breathe. The blood in my veins. Every single beat of my heart.”

When she brought her mouth back to mine, I tightened my arm around her as I slid my tongue across the seam of her lips. She immediately parted them, slipping her tongue out and curling it around mine. I groaned as the flavor I’d tasted on her lips was magnified tenfold, drinking her soft whimpers and moans down like a starving man at a banquet while we kissed slowly and lazily, like we had all the time in the world.

I’d imagined so many times what it would feel like to kiss Holly. How she’d feel in my arms. How her lips would feel against mine. How her body would feel molded against me. But nothing I could possibly have conjured in my head could even touch the utterrightnessof this moment.

Holly was the one to break the kiss, taking a deep breath before pulling back to look at me with a smile on her face. A smile that I was most definitely mirroring.

“My last name hasn’t been Macintyre for almost a decade, you know,” she said after several long beats.

And just like that, we were back to being us. Not that wehadn’tbeen us just now, but all the initial awkwardness and the charged energy that had swirled around us for the past several minutes had dissipated.

I snorted. “I know, but using Tomlinson wouldn’t have had the same effect.”

She let out a quiet giggle that made my heart swell.

“Does it make me a bad mom if I say I almost wish Harper wasn’t here right now?” she murmured uncomfortably. “I hate having to share you for the rest of the night.”

If it was possible, my smile got wider, and I stole another kiss, relishing in the feeling of her lips and tongue moving with mine like we’d been doing this for our whole lives.

“You’re an amazing mom, Holl,” I told her. “It’s okay to think about yourself every once in a while. And don’t you worry. Once that beautiful little girl is in bed, you’re all mine.”

CHAPTER8

HOLLY

“Left hand, yellow,”Harper called out.

I splayed my body out over even more of the mat as I just barely made it to the yellow circle without falling flat on my face. Once I was positioned, Shephard moved, discreetly running his hand up the inside of my left leg before planting it on the circle he was aiming for.

For what felt like the thousandth time tonight, my breath hitched as a flurry of butterflies took up residence in my stomach. I couldn’t quite tell if they were from nerves or anticipation, or maybe both, but I did know that I was counting down the seconds until this round was over so I could put my foot down and make Harper go to bed.

Why the hell we’d let my daughter talk us into playing Twister – and especially into letting her be the caller for this round – I had no idea. Being pretzeled around each other like this with her in the same room was pure torture.

Oh, right. We’d been hoping we could wear her out with it. But it was an hour past her bedtime already, and she was still awake and alert.

Yeah, I could have made her go to bed at eight like always, but I’d always been a little lax with her bedtime during weekends, snow days, and Monday holidays. If I’d made her go to bed on time, she would have asked why, and despite my promising that I’d tell her if something changed between Shephard and I, I wasn’t sure I was ready to have that conversation right this second. It hadjusthappened, and way sooner than I was anticipating. I needed to take a beat and wrap my head around this new development myself, not to mention talk to Shephard about how and whenhewanted to break the news to her. Because the truth was, this wasn’t just about me. It was about him too, and I needed to involve him in that decision.

“Right foot, blue,” she called.

I attempted to move my foot to a blue circle, but because I was already so low to the ground, the second I picked it up, I collapsed on the floor.

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