Page 33 of A Holly Brown Christmas
“O-kay…”
“We host a monthly game night where we make homemade pizza and nachos, someone always brings freshly baked cookies or cupcakes, and we just have these little tournaments. It’s so much fun, even though we’re all super competitive.”
“I can’t imagine you being that way.”
Pulling back a bit, she studied him. “Go and grab a board game and I’ll show you right now. Any game and I will beat you.”
“You need to rest. You’ve had a traumatic day.”
“I told you I’m fine. Yes, I was scared and seconds away from falling to my death, but it all worked out!” She grabbed a cookie from the snack tray and grinned at him. “Thanks to my hero.”
“Oh God…you’re embarrassing me.” Tilting his head back, Lucas closed his eyes.
“How am I embarrassing you? I’m simply stating the truth.”
Turning his head, he looked at her. She was expecting a boyish grin, but there was some serious heat in his gaze. It was a look that said he was through teasing.
It was the way he looked at her every time they took a breath between kisses last night.
It was on the tip of her tongue to say something light or flirty, but this felt like a moment that didn’t require words.
He was being a gentleman; she knew that. He kept saying she’s suffered a trauma and needed to rest, but what he didn’t realize was that she needed him more. So she did the only thing she could.
She kissed him.
Lucas’s arms immediately banded around her as he hauled her into his lap. This wasn’t the slow and sweet exploration of their first few kisses of last night. This was exactly where they left off before they were interrupted.
Cupping his firm jaw, she savored the scratchiness of it almost as much as his taste. His wonderful hands were roaming up and down her back, drawing her closer with each stroke. Her thighs gripped his and it was beyond tempting to just rip off her sweater and beg him to take her right there, right now. She could feel something hard pressing against her leg, and she seriously prayed it was him and not his phone.
Carefully, she opened one eye and scanned the area to see where Shmoop was. Last she saw him, he was fast asleep in front of the fire.
Okay, so maybe she should beg to be taken…elsewhere.
No need to traumatize her dog.
Tearing her lips from his, Holly breathlessly whispered his name, licking her lips when his eyes met hers.
“Please tell me your phone isn’t in your pocket.”
The grin he gave her made her tingle all over. “Nope. That’s all me.”
Yay!
“Impressive,” she hummed before kissing him again briefly. “I didn’t want us to be interrupted again.”
“I won’t let that happen again, but…”
She immediately placed her finger over his lips. “Don’t. Don’t you dare say that I need to rest or that I was traumatized today. I’m fine and I want this. I want you, Lucas.”
He studied her hard for a moment before he gave her a curt nod. “Then let’s take this upstairs.”
Finally!
Lucas led Holly up the stairs. He thought about carrying her, but he had a feeling she would have taken offense to it because of the whole ladder incident earlier. Honestly, he felt a tiny bit guilty about even suggesting them going upstairs and taking things to the next level, but he was just a man and she was pure temptation.
Ideally, he’d rather take her over to the guesthouse, but it was too far away.
But it was a definite possibility for later because he had a feeling he wasn’t going to want her to go home this weekend.
