Page 26 of Christmas Wishes
“Is that why you ran?”
“Yes. You said something about a date and I was embarrassed about all my clumsiness in front of you.”
He set his mug down and stood to his full height. “I tried to tell you I didn’t have a date, but you wouldn’t let me get a word out before you hid away from me.” Blix glanced at the floor and didn’t look up until Rand’s boots entered her line of vision. “And you think the cookies you baked for me are the reason you’re here now?”
“It’s possible. I don’t know what else it could’ve been. I didn’t know where you were. Tomas didn’t tell me. He didn’t even tell Maria. I just know I’ve been feeling really weird and unusual and now I feel… normal.” She never looked up as she talked. She simply stared at the toes of his boots. She didn’t understand any of it and without understanding, fear crept in and she didn’t want Rand to see her scared and uncertain.
“I have another theory.” He slipped a finger beneath her chin and with little resistance from her, lifted her head. Her eyes settled on his mouth, the fullness of his lips, the slight crook of his bottom teeth, the smile that melted her. She couldn’t look away.
“What’s that?”
“Could be because I wished for you.”
She saw the words form as he spoke and she tingled from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet. “Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rand smiled and tilted her head up even more so her eyes met his. “Of all the people I would miss at the North Pole, you’re the one I regretted most. I didn’t want to never see you again, never talk to you again, never tell you how much I want you.”
His touch was warm on her skin and she stood stock still, barely breathing. His fingers traced the line of her ears, rubbing the tip where it was most sensitive, where the most sensation would be felt.
She leaned into his palm.
She’d waited a long time, wished a long time for him to touch her, for him to see her, acknowledge her. Had she facilitated this? Had she forced this? Had her wishes somehow gotten twisted up with what she was trying to do in the first place?
Had she poured her heart’s desires into the cookies instead of leaving the wishes up to fate the way she always did with each of the batches she made?
“I’ve wanted you for a long time, little elf,” he whispered. “I saw you years ago and the first thing I remember thinking was that I wanted to marry you. I wanted to see your smile every day.”
“You’ve always been the player, Rand,” she deflected. “Never serious about anyone.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t serious about anyone, but I was serious about wanting you and didn’t know how to tell you. Until now.”
She didn’t want to leave. Ever. She didn’t know if she’d be allowed to go back home, but she didn’t want to leave him, didn’t want to lose this moment, didn’t want it to end.
His lips touched hers and she was lost. He lifted her off the ground and spun her until she was seated on the counter.
He tasted of the chocolate she’d made him, of the fresh air, of the pine of the tree he had yet to decorate. His arms were solid and warm and she twined hers around his neck.
It was the kiss she’d waited hundreds of years for. It was the kiss from the shifter of her elfish dreams.
Tongues twisted. Lips crushed.
She wanted to memorize everything about him.
“You’re North Pole royalty, Rand,” she whispered. “I’m just a baker.”
“You’re more than just a baker, Blix.” He kissed the tip of her nose and lifted her off the counter. “Damn, Blix, did you ever think that I didn’t want to be who I was? That I didn’t want to be everything to the world, but the world to just one teensy, tiny, little elf?”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He had feelings for her and she was still processing them.
“Now, how about let’s decorate a Christmas tree?”
