Page 130 of Not the Plan

She covered her mouth with her fingertips as he smoothed the side of her bun. He tapped the spot.

“Right here?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s perfect.”

He slid it into place and leaned in close to caress her nape with his lips. She sighed.

“That’s the way I want to start my mornings,” he whispered. “Come on, beautiful, let’s go.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Isadora

Two Years Later

Isadora shrieked, three snowballs whiffing into her in rapid succession. She ran around the bush she’d been using as a makeshift barrier, scooped up Karim’s youngest niece from where she’d stumbled, and rushed to hide again.

“We girls have to stick together.” She giggled, setting her down.

“Yeah!” the little girl said, scooping up more snow. “Let’s get the boys!”

“Yeah!”

Leaning back around the bush, Isadora helped her throw lopsided snowballs at two of Karim’s nephews, who’d been ready to pick up their snowball fight where they’d left off the previous Christmas. Isadora was happy they’d remembered, and eager too. The first time the kids had had the upper hand: Isadora had been nervous about meeting everyone and was a wreck after the flight from San Diego. This year’s flight had been much shorter as she and Karim had come directly from their new place in D.C. They’d both been looking forward to Christmas after the whirlwind of Daniel’s successful campaign for U.S. representative. Isadora was getting settled into her role as deputy chief of staff, Karim as legislative counsel.

“Children!” Karim’s mom called from the deck. “It’s getting late, bath time.”

“Aww…five more minutes, Grandma?” one of the boys called back.

“Now!” she said over her shoulder as she headed back inside.

“Come on.” Isadora offered him a hand. “The snow will still be here tomorrow.”

Time with the kids made Isadora miss her baby cousins, but by now they were in high school. Though she’d gotten to spend more time with Diane’s children because Atlanta was close enough for them to visit. Letting out a puff of breath, she brushed off the remaining snow and turned to follow the children inside. She smiled at the six-foot-plus, green-eyed demigod plodding his way toward her with a thermos and two mugs.

He’s even sexy in a beanie. How is that possible?

“Hi, gorgeous,” she said as he reached her.

“Hi, beautiful. Wanna join me?” He nodded at the gazebo farther down the lawn. The sun had almost set and the undisturbed snow on the gazebo made it look like an enchanted snowball souvenir.

“Sure,” she said, reaching for the mugs.

He shoved an armful of snow off one of the benches, and they snuggled together, facing out into the thick patch of trees behind the house. She shivered.

“Just a second,” he said. “Promise it’ll be worth it.” He opened the thermos and filled their mugs. He was right. Warm and fragrant and delicious, the cider hit the spot after playing in the snow.

“Thank you, baby,” she said.

“Kids weren’t too crazy?” He sipped.

“Nah,” she said. “They were fun. Got a lot more energy than I do, but fun. They’ve grown so much since last year.”

Nodding, he slid an arm around her. His lips bent but didn’t make it into a full smile. And his thigh kept tapping against hers. She glanced down at his bouncing foot.

Weird.He never does that. Must be cold too.

She snuggled up tighter, taking a sip, and gasped. It had started snowing again. Everything was quiet and beautiful, even thegrowing darkness. The glowing lights from the house turned the yard into a postcard. It was so beautiful, she didn’t know if she could stand it.

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