Page 73 of Jingle Bell Jilt
I shake my head. “Not really. But there are no direct flights from Manchester to Salt Lake City.” I should’ve probably figured out what she’s doing here before I put it all out there. But I’m losing time. I either need to get on that plane or stay with Shay. And I really want to stay.
“You’re going to Salt Lake?” She licks her lips and my lips ache for them.
“Yeah,” I reach down and pull out a metal tin from my carry-on bag and hand it over to her. “I’m not one to bail on a deal until it’s done.”
She grins and the Shay I’m used to seeing peeks out from beneath the nerves. “What is this?” She opens the tin and peels back the foil-wrapped package inside. Her smile earlier was nothing compared to what it is now. “Brownies?”
“Do you think we can find some Ben and Jerry’s around here?” I shrug in uncertainty. “The truth is, Shay, I realized I wasn’t worthy of you if I didn’t even try to win you back.” I grimace. “But it’s a fine line between fighting for you and stalking you. So I really hope this doesn’t feel like the latter.”
She takes a step forward. “Don’t worry, this feels like fighting.”
My heart thuds in my neck and wrist. I don’t think she is totally opposed to the idea of us. “You never answered my question about why you’re here.”
She hikes her backpack up farther on her shoulder but then drops it on the floor at her feet. “I need to ask you a question. And face-to-face seemed the best way to do it.”
I lift a brow. “Yeah? What’s your question?”
She bites the side of her lower lip and distracts me for a moment. “I wondered if you might be open to dating me?”
My breath comes out in a whoosh, and I can’t stop the grin that spreads over my face. If I wanted to stop it, which I don’t. “I can honestly say I’ve never been more open to anything in my life.”
She grins and takes another takes a step toward me.
I take three steps and close the distance between us. What are we doing? Why am I not kissing her yet? I wrap my arms around her and lift her up so her face is even with mine. “In fact, I plan to date the crap out of you.”
She laughs and glances over her shoulder. “You know, it seems like there’s never mistletoe around when you need it.”
“Mistletoe, shmistletoe.” I dip my head and cover her lips with mine, pouring all my stress and longing from the past few weeks into it. She’s here in my arms and I can hardly believe it. I never want to let her go again.
A cacophony of clapping and catcalls breaks us apart. We look sheepishly over our shoulders to see most of the people in the three surrounding gates standing and gawking, cheering for us.
Shay ducks her head into my neck. “I’m sorry. I think you might have missed your boarding group.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going anywhere.”
She looks up at me. “I’m sorry I said you were a rebound and that what we have isn’t real.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Nathan. You should have had all the information and used it to make your decisions.” My brow hikes up. “Although, by the end, it was getting pretty hard to remember why Nathan and I were friends.”
“Were friends? I thought he called and apologized for being a jerk.”
I pull slightly back and look her in the eyes. “Huh. Those were his exact words.”
She lifts her shoulders. “It’s Nathan. Sometimes he needs coaching.”
I chuckle. “Then it’s no coincidence that he called me today?”
“He may have been my inside man.” She whispers it in my ear, and I’m tempted to kiss her again. But these people have had too much of a show already.
I set her down and move to take her hand, but her coat opens slightly. I throw my head back and laugh. “Hey, nice sweater.” She’s wearing the slightly less terrible Christmas tree sweater I gave her.
She looks down at it. “Thanks. A good friend gave it to me.”
I pull her back to me and narrow my eyes at her. “Friend?”
She puts her hand behind my head and twirls a piece of hair around her finger. “How about friend with kissing benefits?”
“That’s a start,” I growl into her neck.
