Page 64 of Snow Balled

He turned, and I tried to adjust it, but he’d done something funny to it. In the end, I pulled it off, completely undid it, and then tied it around my own neck. It was the only way I could tie one correctly.

“Thanks,” he said as I slipped it over his head and adjusted both the knot and his collar. “Hey, you didn’t shave.”

“I trimmed my beard. Besides, Sierra likes my stubble.” She certainly hadn’t minded when I’d kissed her.

“She does?” Drew ran his hand over his clean-shaven jaw. “Maybe I shouldn’t have shaved. Do I look too young with it gone?”

The honest answer was yes, but I just shook my head. Though Drew looked like a young pup, he was only a few years older than Sierra. For all I knew, she thought he was the perfect age and that Carter and I were too old for her.

Drew put one hand to the knot of the tie to adjust it, but I slapped his hand away. “Just leave it be.”

“Okay. You look nice, too.”

Jesus, somebody needed to get this guy a drink, pronto. He was a ball of nerves—but I couldn’t argue with his assessment. I had on a button-down stone-blue shirt that I’d been told brought out the color of my eyes. My jeans were the black, and they were the best ones I had with me. Let’s just say that they were by no means baggy on me.

Drew sat on the side of the bed, nervously smoothing out his tan slacks. “What’s taking her so long?”

“She’s a woman getting ready for a date. This is what they do.” I had no doubt that Sierra would look lovely, she always did, but I wondered how she was managing without any assistance from the makeup department or wardrobe. It was hard to believe she could replace all that with whatever was in her little suitcase.

I leaned against a dresser as we waited. Drew’s foot tapped nervously against the floor, making the whole bed shake. He looked like a little kid waiting to go to a birthday party. And if he were a little kid, I supposed that kind of made me the dad.

So maybe it was time for a little fatherly advice. “You know, Sierra may be opening up to us, but she’s still a very shy young woman. She definitely hasn’t had really great experiences with men in the past.”

“I know,” Drew said immediately. “But she’s more willing to try new things than you think.”

“That’s for her to decide,” I said firmly. “We let her set the pace.”

“Of course.” Drew nodded, almost to himself. “But sometimes, it’s almost like she doesn’t know what she wants until she tries it.”

All right, he had a point there. She’d been dead set against kissing, but once I’d shown her what it could be like, she came around pretty quickly. But I didn’t share that with Drew. “She sets the pace,” I reiterated.

“Yes, boss.”

I nodded.Bossseemed better thanDad. Besides, I was only a few years older than him. But Drew seemed like the type who would be boyish until he was fifty.

Carter’s voice called from downstairs, but I couldn’t hear what he said. Drew sprang to his feet while I opened the door, “What?”

“I said, the eagle has landed.” There was a note in his voice I couldn’t identify, but he sounded different. Time to find out why.

“Does that mean we can go downstairs?” Drew asked.

“Yep.”

“Awesome.” He darted in front of me and stepped onto the landing. I turned off the lights and followed him.

Carter stood at the entrance to the kitchen, a towel over his shoulder. He had on black jeans and a white t-shirt, but I knew he had a silver button-down for once dinner was ready.

He met my eyes with an unreadable expression as we descended the stairs.

Drew stopped dead on the bottom step. I cursed as I grabbed onto the banister to keep from crashing into him. Putting my hands on his shoulders, I propelled him forward until we were both on level ground. Then I stopped dead, too.

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

Sierra was standing by the worktable, her hand resting lightly on one of the stools. Lovely wasn’t the right word. Nor was beautiful.

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