Page 74 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

It made her heart feel warm. It made her feel warm.

They carried the tree all the way down the trail, and then Brody hefted it into the back of the truck.

“Can I ride in the back?” Benny asked.

She felt nervousness twist up her stomach. “Okay,” she said. Because really, it was safe. They were just going a little ways across the property, and she knew that Brody would go slow.

And she liked what was happening here. She liked to see what was happening with Benny. So she wanted to continue to encourage it.

Benny hopped into the back of the truck, next to the tree, and Brody got into the cab and closed the door. She followed suit.

He looked over at her. “I will drive at a snail’s pace.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I couldn’t be less cool than you.”

“I’m a pirate cowboy,” he said. “Everyone is less cool than me.”

“I have yet to see evidence of your piracy.”

“Did you want me to dress like a pirate?”

The exchange felt electric. Loaded. A welcome change from the heaviness of their previous conversation.

“I don’t think I’m into that.”

His lips curved into a very wicked grin. “You don’t know if you don’t try.”

“I don’t have time to try.”

“I get that.”

Silence fell in the cab, and the only sound was the wheels on the gravel.

“Life is just really complicated.”

“I also get that.”

And now she was sort of breaking up with the most handsome man she had ever seen. Which made her feel like her world was turning upside down again. Because she had never thought that she would be the one to walk away.

The old her couldn’t have done that.

She didn’t really want to do it now. But there was no way that it could end well. And she already liked him way more than she wanted to. And he was bound up in her work here, and there was Benny. Benny idolized him. Just loved him. And she could see a point where that would become complicated. Where there were expectations. Where there were things that would make him reluctant to connect with Benny, because it would seem like promises being made. And he had been clear about the fact that promises couldn’t be made, and she got it.

“It was really nice, though,” she whispered. “I didn’t know that my body could do that. So thank you.”

“You didn’t know your body could do what?”

“Oh, do I really have to say it?”

“Yes,” he said, looking at her for a second, his expression far too amused. “You do need to say it, because you introduced it.”

“That isn’t fair. You’re impossible,” she huffed.

“Yes. It’s been said many times. I am a serious pain in the ass, Elizabeth, and I am well aware of that. You’re not going to shame me into letting this go.”

“Usually, I barely have one orgasm during sex. Multiples are off the table.”

“Really?” He let his arm drape over the back of the seat, one wrist propped over the steering wheel, and he looked so cocky, it did something to her insides.

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