Page 30 of A Cozy Holiday
I guess all my falling into the snow during the last forty-eight hours has been training me for this very moment.
“This is…awkward.”
His gaze drops to my lips and then back up. “Your eyes are beautiful, Joy.”
“They’re just brown.”
“In the sunlight, they look endless.”
I gulp. That’s the nicest thing a man has said to me in a long time, and it’s all the consent I need.
I lean down and kiss Jamie.
His mustache bristles against my lips, surprisingly ticklish. My chest tightens. When our mouths meet, it’s nothing like the quick, efficient kisses Parker and I had over the last year. Thisone lingers, unhurried and exploratory, like Jamie is basking in the taste of me. His tongue nudges at the seam of my lips, and as I let him in, I realize just how much I’ve wanted to be kissed like I’m desirable.
The cold bites my exposed skin, but I don’t care. My brain empties of everything—the clinic, Parker, my to-do list—until there’s only this. Only him. Only the way he’s kissing me like I’m something precious he’s been waiting for.
I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like this.
He lets out a low whimper, and the sound sends a shiver down my core.His grip tightens on my hips, bunching my jacket under his palms. The warmth and weight of him radiate beneath me, solid and unyielding. His cock presses hard and insistent through his denim, and I can feel the curve of him against the side of my leg.
Jamie’s as affected as I am.
My body shudders, desire thrumming through my chest, craving to move closer, to linger, to dissolve into this moment without ever pulling away. Though I’m on top, it feels like he’s in control, his presence commanding in the delicious press of us together. Every touch, every kiss, drags me deeper, tethered to him in ways I can’t resist.
Then, just as I’m losing myself in it, he jolts. “Sorry—” He freezes, a shadow crossing his eyes. “I haven’t kissed anyone since—” His voice catches.
I blink, my stomach lurching. Oh. Right. His wife. Fuck. He’s still in love with Tessa.
I try to disentangle myself, flustered and fumbling, when a cold, wet nose nudges my cheek. I glance up to see a huge buck staring at us. He stands there, head cocked, a singular antler curved like a frozen branch. Puffs of smoke drift from his nostrils as he sniffs, one ear flopping lazily to the side, giving mea look that’s more bemused than threatening, like he’s a parent that’s just caught us skipping school.
“Uh—hi there,” I say, using Jamie’s chest to push myself onto my knees and off of him. My hands land in the snow next to me.
“Kayo, scoot.” Jamie stands, eyes darting everywhere except mine. The reindeer shuffles back a few steps.
“You okay?” I ask, still kneeling, cold seeping into my pants. I wiggle, trying to figure out how to get out of the snowbank without ass-planting again.
“Yeah…fine. You?” He rubs the back of his neck and snatches up his hat, tapping it against his leg to knock off the snow, before offering me his hand. I let him pull me upright, careful not to stumble again. Honestly, I’d rather take my chances with the icy lake than keep fumbling through this any longer.
“Good.” I say, wiping snow off my jacket. I’d disappear if I could.
“Great.”
“So.”
He clears his throat, glancing at the reindeer surrounding us. “What do you call a snowman in the summer?”
My eye twitches. “What?”
“Water.”
“Excuse me?”
“Because the snow melts.” He taps his fingertips together, grinning bashfully.
How is a girl supposed to react to being kissed by a man who looks like he already regrets it and then follows it up with a dad joke? Do I frown? Laugh? Throw a snowball at him? Offer up an equally bad joke?
“Jamie—”
