Page 166 of Holidating
Warmth fills her chest. It’s just hitting her that the upsideof having her life implode is seeing Damien without feeling even a scrap of guilt about it.
“Just, well, think about it,” he says, misinterpreting her silence. Hastily, he buckles his seatbelt and puts the car in gear.
“That would be great,” she hurries to say.
He risks a glance at her. “You don’t have to say so to save my feelings, Overland. I know you’re going through some things.”
“No, I like this idea,” she says. “It’s almost time to go Christmas shopping again, you realize. I think we might need an outing.”
She watches his grin in profile. “I think you might be right.”
He pulls up in front of the guesthouse ten minutes later. He puts the Jeep in park but keeps the engine running as he steps out to walk her to the door.
It’s not like she can’t find her own door, but she doesn’t point that out. She’s always liked Damien’s old-fashioned manners. He waits for her to get the door unlocked before handing her the bag with the leftovers and wishing her a happy Thanksgiving.
“It was,” she says, turning to him with sudden shyness. “Thank you for, well, all that you’ve done.”
“Anything for you, Nicky Nicole.”
And he really means it. That’s the thing about Damien—she knows him. After fifteen years of friendship, no matter how sporadic, she knows the exact way his low voice resonates inside her chest. And the serious expression in his eyes as he gives her one last measuring glance to make sure she’s arrived safe and sound at home.
Her heart simmers with emotion. So she drops the bag, opens her arms, and hugs him.
“Aw, sweetheart,” he says under his breath. “You’re going to be okay.”
“I know,” she says with emphasis verging on frustration. “Iknow.” This hug wasn’t supposed to be a play for sympathy. Then again, she’s never been good at expressing what she really wants.
What she really wants is for this hug to last forever. Damien’s strong arms are holding her tightly, and she rests her head against the flannel of his collar. He has a couple days’ growth of whiskers, and the scruff outlines his cheek. She has the sudden urge to test its roughness against her lips.
And, well, this is supposed to be her year for breaking all the rules. So she does it. She stands on her tiptoes and slowly kisses the underside of Damien’s jaw.
It’s her first moment of flagrantly poor impulse control in over a decade. And, sure, it’s a strange place to start—just randomly kissing the nice man’s neck.
Although, he seems not to mind. He goes briefly still from surprise, before making a soft, bitten-off noise. Then two warm hands clasp her face, and he looks down into her eyes, his expression serious.
God. I’m such a weirdo, she thinks.He’s going to tell me to knock it off.
But that’s not what happens. Instead, he bends down and places one soft kiss at the corner of her mouth. And then another one. His whiskers tickle her sensitive skin, and every nerve in her body reacts.
Kissing him back isn’t really a conscious choice. It’s an automatic response—like thunder after lightning. She turns her head by two degrees and presses her lips to his.
He makes another broken sound that gives her chills. And then he swoops right in and firmly aligns their kiss.
It’s on. She grabs his flannel with both hands and parts her lips in clear invitation.
Damien tastes her. Thoroughly. And—whoa—he’s good at this.Reallygood. Her body crackles like a wood fire as he strokes her tongue with his. He tastes like apple pie and sex.
This is, by far, the single most exciting thing that’s happened to her in a long time. So who would blame her for getting a little greedy? She rises on her toes and moves her body closer to his.
For a beautiful moment, she forgets about everything else but this. She forgets about the running Jeep and tricky family holidays and the pile of torn-up photos in a shoebox. She forgets every detail that isn’t Damien’s mouth and the steady drumbeat of his heart against hers.
He kisses her again and again. She’d happily stay right here in this liminal space, unthinking. But suddenly it ends. Damien pulls back and takes a deep breath. “Okay, wow,” he whispers. “This day turned out a lot more exciting than I’d expected.”
He smiles, and Nicolette would like to make a pithy comment, but she can’t. Not right now. She’s too busy remembering to breathe and staring up into Damien’s soft brown eyes.
“Look, I’m going to go home now before I forget how,” he says. “But let’s go out to dinner this week. Just the two of us.”
“Like a date?” she asks stupidly. But she really needs to know. Her heart can’t take any more uncertainty when it comes to Damien.
