Page 17 of Next to You

“I’m glad.” I took her in. Studying her face to make sure she wasn’t trying to put up a brave front while wondering if it was okay to ask her why she hadn’t been able to sleep.

But I kept getting stuck on how pretty she was in the morning light. Her hair was adorably tangled, a mass of light brown waves the color of butterscotch. I wanted to sink my hands in it, bury my face in it. I wanted too much, too soon, and didn’t know where to put these out-of-control feelings.

“I was all over you. I was kidding when I said I’d be on you like a barnacle, but, um, I, well, is that okay? Like, do you have a girlfriend? I haven’t heard about you dating anyone in the town lore, but I haven’t been out and about as much at all. I’ve been on a tight deadline until a couple of days ago.”

“Ahh, I know all about deadlines from Charlotte. So you’ve been mainlining coffee and wearing nothing but pajamas? Is that why you haven’t been sleeping?” My sister, Charlotte, was an author of murder mysteries, and Lucy wrote and illustrated children’s books. Larry the Llama was almost as famous as Pete the Cat.

“Something like that. I finally showered and changed the day before yesterday. And then I wasted my first free day on that stupid-ass, Skip McFadden.”

“At least there were tacos,” I joked. “And no. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

She looked me dead in the eye. “There was one unexpected silver lining to this whole debacle, and it was not the tacos, Spencer. It’s you.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn't say anything because the urge to grab her and kiss the hell out of her overwhelmed me and I thought it best to just keep quiet.

“Anyway.” She coughed lightly, breaking the mood we’d stumbled into. “I would commit murder for a cup of coffee right now.”

“You won’t need to. We have a French press, a fire, running water, and coffee. There’s even powdered coffee creamer or Yoo-hoo if you prefer that.”

“Are you serious right now? I was mourning the loss of my morning shower, but coffee would make anything almost better.”

“You could take a cold shower, or we could heat some water for sponge baths.”

Her face lit up, and I grinned widely at her.

“Is there food here?”

“I checked last night when you were in the bathroom. There’s plenty of food in the freezer, the pantry is stocked, and the stove is gas, so we can cook whatever we want. We'd be okay if we had to stay here for a month. My dad went all out last time he shopped for this place.”

“So, you’re telling me we’re not going to starve to death. And I won’t go into caffeine withdrawal?”

“Nope, there are three kinds of coffee. Tea too. And some Oreos that I’m considering having for breakfast.”

“Oreos are my favorite, especially with high-quality black coffee.” She sat up and looked out the window. “Holy crap, Spencer! Have you looked outside yet?”

“Yeah, it definitely snowed all night.”

“We’re in the middle of a snowpocalypse. This hasn’t happened in a few years.”

“Yeah, and now I have two reasons to knock Skip McFadden around whenever I see him,” I muttered.

“Two?” She appeared confused for a moment, but then her face turned bright red, and she smiled. "I don’t know what it saysabout me, but I love the idea that you’re willing to knock him around for me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d do anything for you.” Damn, did that count as flirting?

“After yesterday, the feeling is mutual.” Her blush intensified, and she dipped her head to look at me from behind the fall of her hair. She was so fucking beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.

The mood was back.

“Stay put. I'm going to add a log to the fire and start the coffee.” I quickly got up and headed to the fireplace.

I wasn’t ready for the mood, and it wasn’t right to pursue her here, anyway. We were stuck together, and putting that kind of pressure on her would be wrong. I knew this last night, but it got buried beneath my rabid attraction to her.

I placed another log in the fire and moved to the kitchen.

It was too early to put my feelings on the line. She had said to trust my instincts, but what if they were wrong?

“I’ll make lunch today,” she offered. “I love cooking.”

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