Page 66 of Clean Sweep
My thoughts tumbled as the songs and movie continued, unnoticed by me. The burn of my lips. The shock of having kissed her. I couldn’t muster up the gumption to ask the woman on a real date, but I did follow her around like a pathetic puppy all day and then kiss her breathless.
No, it made me breathless.
Both of us.
Thankfully, I staved off the questions and reality for later. For the first time in a while, I sat and enjoyed the warm fire, the feeling of Leslie curled up into my side. Questions of what this would mean could be dealt with in the morning.
Tonight, I was grateful to not be alone in the quiet.
Her steady, rhythmic breathing clued me in first. I glanced down as the credits started to roll to see her eyes closed. The fan of her lashes spread out against her cheek in a disarming way, and that same lock of hair had tumbled onto her forehead.
I brushed it away this time, the strands silky against my fingertips. She didn’t even stir. Her body lay slack against me, giving me her weight.
If I moved, she’d wake up. If she woke up, I’d be obligated to carry her to bed, get in my cold truck, and drive up a snowy canyon road to my house an hour away. Then we’d be apart . . . for how long? Only a few days, likely, but even days felt interminable.
How ridiculous was that?
If I didn’t move, she probably wouldn’t wake up. That meant I wouldn’t have to face the truck, the canyon, or the snow.
I tilted my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. If I didn’t move, I could stay right here, with Leslie in my arms, and we’d wake up together on Christmas Day.
Like the most romantic Christmas ever.
15
LESLIE
Akink in my neck woke me the next morning.
My eyes fluttered open slowly, then popped all at once. A warm something lay beneath me. A leg? I straightened up, my eyes widening.
Holy. Sweetness.
I’d fallen asleep on Tanner.
He lounged back against the couch, his head canted to the right. He breathed softly, and quietly. I’d slumped into his lap at some point, my cheek pressed into his jeans. A giggle almost escaped me.
Moving gently, I extracted myself from his side, the fleece blanket still hooked on my shoulder. The movement brought a stir of cold air into my warm cocoon, and I shivered. The fire had banked in the night and a chilly air thinned the room. My eyes darted to a clock over the television.
8:14.
Usually, I went all-out decorating for Christmas. Swapped the clocks. New pictures. Garland. Tinsel. Stockings. Trees. Everything would be on theme for the year, which was usually just Christmas-explosion.
This year?
Only the basics. Lights. Garland. Tree. Blake didn’t seem to care either way, but it felt wrong to totally forget Christmas while he was still at home.Not decorate for a single holidaywas on my Leslie 2.0 list. Sometimes, it was just too exhausting to coordinate, pull out, put up, clean, and re-pack all on my own.
Tanner stirred slightly when I stood. I lay the blanket across him and he settled back down. A tender feeling stole over me, the kind that I’d always felt when I watched my kids sleep. The burn of our kiss followed, and I briefly touched my lips with the memory.
Christmas setting.
Elegant dancing.
Hot chocolate, warm blankets.
Christmas movie.
The night had been romance personified, and I felt it all the way to my toes. The giddiness of it. The delight.
