Page 23 of A Cuddly Christmas
“Why not?” She cocks her head to the side as she looks me up and down. “Scared you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself?”
“That’s exactly what it is,” I tell her honestly, and her cheeks flush.
“Maybe I don’t want you to keep them to yourself, did you ever think of that?”
“Listen,” I say as I step closer to her. “I’m sorry things got so hot and heavy earlier. That was my fault, and I won’t let it happen again. I respect you and care about you a lot more than I think I should be saying this soon.”
“This soon?”
I’m trying not to blurt out how I feel about her and scare her off. I’ve done enough of that already. “All I’m saying is, I want you. I want you so fucking bad that it physically hurts, but there’s nothing I want more than to make you happy.”
“Paxton.” She whispers my name like she can’t believe it.
“So tonight, I’m on the couch and you’re in my bed. If you really want to check on me, then that’s fine, but I’d rather take things slow than mess up something that means a lot to me, Tilly.”
Reaching out, I tuck one of her loose curls behind her ear and allow myself a moment to cup her cheek and linger on how soft it is. Then with a control I didn’t know I possessed, I take a step back.
“I’ll show you where the spare toothbrushes and towels are if you want to shower or anything before bed.”
Chapter Thirteen
TILLY
Generators are really freaking stupid. Okay, not really, but if there wasn’t one, then I’d have to be in the living room snuggling up to Paxton to keep warm by the fire. Instead I’m tossing around in his bed with his scent all around me with my mind on him and the dirty things he could be doing to me.
When he touched me, my whole body came alive in a way it never had before. It only solidifies in my mind that he has to be the one. I’m pretty sure I knew that from the first time I saw him when he moved to town, but I was too scared that he’d break my heart. I know I put on a hard front, but inside I’m all marshmallow.
Unable to sleep, I grab my phone off the nightstand and open my reader app and start reading the last erotica book I downloaded. Which is stupid of me. Why would I do that to myself? Now I'm picturing Paxton as the hero, but the heroine's name is Monica, and it's making me mad whenever the hero, who is Paxton in my mind, says her name.
I really can be ridiculous.
My phone goes off with a text from Molly checking in to find out if I murdered Paxton and reminding me that the ground is way too hard for us to be digging a grave right now.
I send her a long-ass text filling her in on everything that happened. My phone vibrates with an incoming call from Molly only a couple of seconds after I sent it. I have no clue how she read it so freaking fast. Thankfully, I've learned to keep my phone on silent at this point.
“What?” I whisper.
"You lost your virginity before our last call and you didn't tell me?" Molly manages to hiss the whole sentence, which is impressive.
"I was still processing it, and I'm not sure that counts. We didn't have full-on sex, and it was your fault."
"How is it my fault?!"
"Shh!" I whisper too loudly. "Because you're the one who was blowing up my phone, and it surprised me, and I jerked onto his cock.”
"I can't." Molly snorts a fit of giggles.
"Whatever," I huff while she gets herself under control.
"All right, all right," she says, catching her breath. "But what the hell is with Brian catfishing? I don't understand that. It's a small town, and he was bound to get busted. Plus, he couldn't meet up with anyone." Brian and Paxton are night and day. No way could Brian pass for him.
"I don't know. He's strange." Brian is what most would consider hot. It's not hard for him to snag a tourist into bed. They don’t know that the town all refers to him as Creepy Brian.
"You know, it's not lost on the town that you and Doc Paxton have been circling each other." If that’s true, there are likely bets happening on when we’d finally crack.
"Okay." I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but Molly keeps going with her line of thinking.
"It's also not lost on me that Brian has had a crush on you for years." I roll my eyes at that.
