Page 53 of Artfully Wild
Once he pulls back, he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a purple flower. “A hyacinth,” he explains with a wide smile on his face, both dimples creating deep crevices. “For joy.”
I take the flower from him and smile back.
“Thanks for the best night of my life,” he adds and quickly walks to the edge of the roof and down the tree. I watch him walk away from the house, a little jaunt added to his step now and I smile—just a smidge.
I am thrown back into the present with a yell from the Grinch in his cave going through his clothing crisis.
“Y’know,” Jacob interjects, completely oblivious to where my mind went. “I bet I could get you into the holiday spirit.”
“Oh?”
He puts his hands on top of my legs and I feel the warmth from his hands seep through the thin fabric of my leggings. “The Winter Festival is next week.”
“And?”
He sits up and shifts my legs with him, tucking them closer to his body as the Grinch continues yelling on the screen.
“You can’t be Scrooge during the Winter Festival. You just can’t.”
“Mmmm, you’ve never seen me at the Winter Festival have you?” I say, my voice thick with sarcasm.
“Oh I have,” he responds and starts circling my knee with his right thumb. My heart rate speeds up at his touch and I can’t ignore the warm feeling that blossoms deep in my stomach.
“And?”
“You’d give Hudson a run for the town grump if youreallytried.”
“With Avery in his life now, he’s the opposite of the town grump, whatever that is. But he has sunshine coming out of his ass.”
Jacob fills the room with a deep, satisfying laugh. My stomach answers with another swoop. After all these years wehave been friends, his laugh is still my favorite sound in the world. I could live off of his laughs. Collect them in a jar to save for a rainy day.
“Considering we’ve seen his ass, I think the sunshine is definitely there,” he agrees. “But, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
I smile at the thought of Hudson and Avery together. “No…I guess it’s not.”
“Wanna make a bet?” he asks.
“On?”
“I bet that by the end of this weekend, I can make you fall in love with the whole holiday season again.”
“And what do I get when you fail?” He swats my leg playfully, giving it a gentle squeeze that melts my core.
“When Iwin,you owe me a week of free labor at the shelter and I get the satisfaction of you loving the holidays again.”
“Why this weekend? Why not give yourself the extra few days before the Winter Festival?”
“Because,” he answers. “This weekend is the one you planned on going to the ski resort to sign papers. What better way to get you into the holiday spirit than a super cheesy, worthy of a hallmark movie ending, romantic getaway in the mountains?”
He’s ridiculous. I look at his sly grin and the way his hair always sticks up at the same angles somehow, messy, but also neat. The way his biceps flex as he traces lines up and down my arms. His abs contract as he sits up to reach for me, catching me around the waist and pulling me over to sit on top of him. He’s ridiculous and adorable and I’ll never admit that out loud.
“We literally live in a town right next to the mountains. We could have a romantic getaway here if we wanted,” I say inches away from his lips, teasing him.
“So youdowant a romantic getaway with me?” he jokes.
“Oh my god,” I sigh, trying to get up, but he yanks me back down and it doesn’t take much to get me to stay.
A weekend away with just him. No meddling townspeople.No annoying brother or family members to check in on me every five seconds to see if anything in my life has changed since I last saw them. Just him and me. In a room to ourselves. Uninterrupted. Maybe a romantic getaway wouldn’t be so bad. We could take a break from the portraits for a few days and finish them when we get back. We’d be cutting it close, but it would be nice to get out of town even if it’s just for two nights.
