Page 496 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
My mind worked to find the right thing to say, but no words came, except for one. “Why?”
“I made a mistake this morning. In fact, I think I’ve made a lot of mistakes recently.”
“What are you talking about?”
Chadwick tucked his gloved hands in the pockets of his coat. “We’re both acting like we can move on as if nothing ever happened between us, but who am I kidding? I won’t be able to come into the office tomorrow or in January and see you every day. At least, I won’t be able to without wanting you.”
My heart started to pound. “What are you saying?”
He stepped toward me. His boots nudged little piles of snow out of the way. When we stood close, a mere foot apart, he pulled a small gift bag out of his pocket. It was a Bamford’s bag. The handles were secured with a red ribbon tied in a bow, and sparkly gold tissue paper poked out the top.
He handed it to me. “I’ve had this for you for weeks.”
I took the bag with shaking hands.
“Open it,” he encouraged.
Carefully, slowly, I untied the red ribbon and removed the gold tissue. I peered into the little bag and saw a small box inside. I removed it, flipped the lid open, and gasped in surprise.
Nestled inside the box on a pillow of velvet were the diamond hoop earrings I’d seen in the Times Square Bamford’s jewelry display case the day we opened the store.
“You remembered,” I whispered.
I’d seen them in passing, and we’d hardly stopped for ten seconds for me to look at them. Yet here they were, in the palm of my hand.
“I want to try again,” Chadwick said.
I looked up from the earrings.
“Can we, Tinsel? Can we try again? For real this time? Over the past few weeks, I don’t think I’ve taken the time to slow down and think about how I’m really feeling, but tonight I didn’t have a choice. After you left this morning all I had was time to think. And I realized I can’t deny how I feel about you anymore. Not when the truth is so damn clear.”
“The truth?” I whispered. “Which is what?”
He closed the foot of space between us. The Christmas lights behind me reflected in his eyes. He reached up slowly and brushed my hair from my cheek with his thumb. I leaned into the warmth of his leather glove. After feeling so alone all day, his touch filled a pit in my soul.
“The truth,” he whispered, “is that I’m in love with you, Tinsely Miller. Completely, totally, mercilessly in love with you. So in love with you it scares the hell out of me, but I’m not going to let the fear make my choices for me. I want you. I want us. Please,” he breathed, searching my eyes, “say something to save me from my own pathetic monologue.”
I laughed through my tears. “Nothing about that was pathetic, Chadwick. But if you need saving, you came to the right place. I love you too.”
He smiled that handsome smile of his and pulled me into him. My heart reassembled itself and filled me with warmth as he pressed two fingers under my chin, tilted my head back, and kissed me like he was kissing me for the first time. His lips were warm, but his nose was cold. I grabbed both ends of his scarf and held him to me as the kiss grew desperate and breathless.
A snowflake landed and melted on my cheek.
Chadwick held my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine when our kiss ended. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“No, I love you.”
“Shut up,” I breathed, dragging him back down to me for more kisses.
He mumbled against my lips, and I smiled as he began walking me backward through the snow to my front door.
It was on my front step that I remembered my house was a pigsty.
I pressed my hands to his chest to break our kiss.
He frowned.
