Page 57 of Seeds of Christmas
“Yeah,” I manage. “I know.”
Another silence.
“But we have work to do,” she says firmly, like she’s convincing herself.
“So much work.”
“Important work.”
“Critical data collection.”
“Right.” She finally looks at me, and her face is still flushed. “So we should... focus on that.”
“Absolutely. One hundred percent focused on the science.”
“The science.”
“Nothing but science.”
“Great.” She grabs her field notebook and holds it in front of her like a shield. “I’m going to... I’m going to go get changed. Into my field clothes. For the fieldwork. That we’re doing.”
She’s already in her field clothes.
“I’ll... I’ll be down here. Checking things.”
She practically flees up the ladder to the loft.
The second she disappears, I drop my head into my hands and try to remember how to breathe normally.
What the hell was that?
I kissed her. I actually kissed her. And she kissed me back, and it wasincredible, and now we’re both acting like we’ve never spoken to another human being before.
From the loft, I hear a muffled sound that might be her screaming into a pillow.
11
RHIANNON
We’re processing data before we leave, and Carter suggests we do the pH analysis first.
His lips are so soft. His tongue is so commanding and sexy. Who knew a mouth muscle could be sexy? His hands felt so good on my waist–
I clear my throat and force my brain to stop replaying the kiss. It was just a silly thing for fun. To prove I’m not a bad kisser.Carter certainly isn’t.
“Rhi? pH first?” I jump a little.
“Actually,” I hear myself say, “can we do temperature readings first? The other way makes more sense to me.”
He looks up, surprised. “Yeah, of course. Your call.”
And it’s such a small thing—choosing the order of tasks—but it feels significant. Matthew would have gotten defensive. Would have explained why his way was better. Carter just... accepts it.
“Thanks,” I say.
“For what?”
“For asking what I think.”
