Page 44 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
Cami chewed on the inside of her cheek while she thought things over. Finally, she heaved a dramatic sigh. “He’s a complicated beast, Winter. I assume you’ve pieced together his reservations stem from losing his wife?”
I nodded. “He implied as much. I don’t want to know what happened or get any details. That’s his business to share. I guess I’m just wondering if I should back off completely, or if I should leave myself open to something maybe happening again.”
“I think you should do what you want.”
“Easier said than done,” I murmured.
Our food arrived, and both of us leaned back while the server set out plates of appetizers. Cami went in for a cheese stick right off the jump, scorched her tongue, swore like a sailor, and went back in for another punishing bite.
She licked marinara sauce from her fingers. “Listen, I don’t think there’s any harm in making yourself available so long as you know what’s on the up and up. He might never act on the impulse again. Or,” she said somewhat slyly, “a few more days might pass, and things might shift, and he might loosen up to the idea. I don’t think he’s been with anyone since his wife died. It’s a hard pill to swallow and a big step to take. But if I were you, I wouldn’t give up hope. ‘Tis the Christmas season, after all.”
“Am I wrong to want him?”
“What?” Cami blinked and shook her head. “Of course not! Why would it be wrong?”
“He’s my boss… he’s a widower… he’s ten years older than me…”
She waved her hand dismissively. “All minor details. He’s only your boss for a month. Widowers deserve a good lay just as much as the next person. And ten years isn’t that much. Honestly, this is the best case scenario for both of you.”
“How so?” I leaned back and sipped my wine.
“Well, there’s no strings attached. You do your internship and maybe get some great sex. He gets back in the saddle. Then you both go your separate ways when the holidays begin and go back to your normal lives. No harm, no foul.”
“No harm, no foul,” I muttered.
“Unless you see something more with him than just a hookup.”
This conversation was getting a little too real, a little too quickly. “No, not at all. He’s too stoic and moody for me. I like men who are emotionally available.”
“Oh, so like Justin?”
We both burst out laughing. We laughed so hard that a family at the table next to us shot us curious looks and smiles. We apologized through tears and aching ribs, and I had to use the napkin to dab the corners of my eyes.
* * *
Cami leaned against me in the backseat of the cab and peered up at North’s front door. “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to the door? The driveway might be icy.”
I held up a foot, showing off the winter boots he’d brought me on my first afternoon in town. “I’m covered. Thank you though. I just have to take it slow.”
We’d indulged in perhaps one too many glasses of wine at dinner. After talking about the more serious things, we’d shifted gears and spent the rest of the evening laughing like idiots. We’d spilled out of the restaurant with bellies full of wine and wandered the streets of town, enjoying the Christmas lights and the chill in the air. The alcohol kept us warm, and Cami’s bright spirit made me feel like a kid again when she grabbed my hand and led me to a food truck selling all different flavors of hot chocolate.
Now it was almost midnight, and with a big day ahead of us tomorrow, including the party in the evening at Justin’s heritage house, I needed to go to bed.
Hopefully North was still up to walk me to my cabin.
I opened the back door of the cab and slid out. Cami called after me that she’d see me tomorrow night, and I made my way up to the front door and knocked. Cami and the cab driver waited until North opened the front door and blinked out at me.
“You’re just getting home now?” he asked.
I giggled. “We had fun.”
He stepped aside. “Come in. It’s cold as hell out.”
The warmth of his home swallowed me whole. Shaking off the last of the chill, I breathed in the smell of the place, oaky and savory, like a masculine candle had been burning recently and dinner had been served some hours ago.
He grabbed his coat from the hook beside the door. “I’ll walk you back to your cabin.”
North led the way out the back of the house, and I followed, having to do a little hop-step every now and then to keep up with his long strides. He slowed down once we were out in the fields, but my pace remained brisk.
