“Why the frowny face, sugarplum?” Asher asked, standing close enough that Evie could feel his warmth seeping into her chilled bones after the frosty walk to the grotto. She wantednothing more than to stand there and bask in it, and Asher seemed happy to comply.
He dipped his head until his breath fanned her ear. “Have you been a naughty girl? Does Santa need to give you a spanking instead of some of the goodies in his sack?”
His words short-circuited her brain. Evie simply couldn’t wrap her mind around fun-loving, playful Asher and this kind of dirty talk. And not just any sexy talk, either. What the fondant?
“I umm…” What was she supposed to be saying?
Asher gave her a knowing smirk. Wow, that was potent. She felt like she was having a sugar rush just talking to him like this.
Evie closed her eyes and tried to pull herself together. They were in the changing room behind the grotto, and had an afternoon of kids ahead of them, so her time was limited.
She bit her lip, “I was going to insist that you stop manning my festival stall for me. I need to take responsibility, and…”
“Was going to? Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
“What?” Evie screwed up her eyes, trying to make sense of his words.
“Or are you thinking about it?”
He was standing too close, and to make matters worse, with only a foot between them, he peeled off his t-shirt. Evie found herself standing face to chest with a set of carved abs she would never have expected to find under Asher’s clothes unless she’d seen it with her own eyes.
Her fingers itched to reach out and touch them, test the flex of his muscles with her fingers and check they were real. Maybe lick him…
“Evie?” His voice, filled with humor, brought her back to herself not a moment too soon.
“Ah… what are you doing?” she accused, needing to take the focus off herself and her reaction to him.
“We don’t have a lot of time. I need to get changed,” he said, his hands going to the button on his jeans.
Evie spun around, slapping her palm over her eyes and closing them against his knowing chuckle. Fortunately, looking away went a long way towards clearing her head. “Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful, or even that I don’t need the help,” she continued, trying not to imagine the clothing being removed with each rustle. “But you’ve said things, and I don’t really know how serious you are, but Gabe, well… he’s also suggested things to me, so I feel like I’m leading you on if I continue to…”
“Evie, stop.”
His normally cheerful voice held a wealth of command, which shocked her into compliance. She was rambling, she knew, but…
Warm, demanding hands on her shoulders spun her back to face him. Holy cinnamon rolls, where were his clothes? He was standing there in a pair of tight black boxers with a body made for sin, deep frying her synapses like a batch of doughnuts. But this time, his hands drew her closer still, until she was pressed against him, and not even a sliver of light could wiggle between them.
She could feel the impressive length of his cock lengthening against his belly, and her core softened in response.
Wait, what was she doing?
“Asher…”
She didn’t finish. His mouth was on hers, his tongue taking advantage of her open lips and delving inside.
Evie's mind went blank as Asher kissed her deeply. His lips were soft yet insistent, coaxing a response from her. She found herself melting into him, her hands coming up to rest on his bare chest. His skin was warm and smooth under her palms, and she couldn’t stop her fingers from wandering.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, setting every nerve ending alight. When Asher finally pulled back, Evie was breathless. She blinked up at him, dazed.
"I hope that clears up any doubts about how serious I am," Asher said, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief and desire.
Evie opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. What about Gabe?
What about Shepherd? Except she said that in her head, since she really didn’t know about Shepherd, and right now, she didn’t have the bandwidth to add yet more confusion to what had swiftly become a tangle of emotions and relationship knots.
How had her attempt to let Asher down gently turned into... this?
"Cat got your tongue, sugarplum?" Asher teased, running his thumb along her lower lip.
