His lips twitch into a sexy smile that makes my heart skitter around. “Maybe you can help me with some extra journaling or something.”
There’s insinuation all over the way he sayssomething. “I’d be happy to,” I reply breathlessly.
Carlie is the one who greets us at the door of the GetAwayHome when we arrive. “Guess what?” she says to Scarlett and Zoey. “This house has an indoor pool, and Miss Ava says we get to go swim in it.” The girls squeal with delight, and Carlie looks up at Chad and me with a knowing grin. “I brought their suits from the hotel. You don’t have a choice.”
Apparently, Carlie couldn’t trust us to make a plan of our own if she grabbed the girls’ swimsuits when we went to the hotel after the game to wait for Law.
Chad laughs. “Fine.”
Law rounds the corner into the entryway, wearing a T-shirt and swim shorts. “Who’s going swimming with me?” he asks, holding out his arms for the girls.
“Me! Me!” they both shout, their high voices echoing in the vaulted ceiling of the room. He scoops each of them up and heads off with a smirk at Chad. Carlie follows.
Chad turns to me. “Want to find a quiet corner?”
I tilt my head at him. “What do you want to bet that’s gonna be easy?”
He chuckles. “I’m pretty confident.”
We take off our coats, Chad helping me with mine, and hang them on hooks near the door. I walk with my crutches across theentryway and into a large living room. There’s a tree near a faux fireplace on one end, and the windows are lined with white lights. The can lights overhead are low, giving the room a soft, festive feel. Ava and Jett are nestled together on a couch, and they both smile up at us as we come in.
Ava points down a hallway on the other side of the room. “There’s a library. First door on the right.”
“Thanks,” Chad says, tone amused. My cheeks heat, and I turn on my crutches. “Wait.” Chad takes the crutches from me and leans them up against the back of a couch. Then he comes back and looks down at me. Before I even realize what’s happening, he scoops me into his arms and starts off down the hall. Jett whistles behind us, and then I hear an “oof.”
I laugh softly and put my face into his shoulder. “They’re going to think this means something. You carrying me around.”
“Doesn’t it?” Chad asks in a husky voice.
I tilt my head back to peek up at him. “I hope so,” I breathe.
The door to the library is halfway open when we reach it. Chad turns sideways and pushes it the rest of the way with his shoulder. The lights are low in here too. The overhead lights are turned all the way off, and in the corner is a huge Christmas tree, at least ten feet tall, reaching almost to the ceiling. There must be thousands of small white lights beaming from it, mixed in with glimmering red and green bulbs and even silver ribbon wound through the branches. It’s gorgeous.
The whole room is. It’s not huge, but three of the walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, most of them full of books. Who has this many books in a vacation rental home? There are small black plaques with golden writing interspersed between the shelves. They must be labels categorizing the books. Does Belle fromBeauty and the Beasthave a second home in Denver?
Chad sets me down gently on one end of an overstuffed sectional couch near the tree, situating me so that I’m resting with my legs up on the chaise.
“You’ve been on your feet too much today when you’re supposed to be taking it easy,” he says in a sexy voice. He lingers over me, eyes dancing across my face and landing on my lips. He presses his hands into the couch on either side of my shoulders, steadying himself as he leans toward me.
We should talk first, make sure we’re on the same page, but I want to cup his face in my hands and pull him toward me. Who cares if he’s ready for a relationship? So much heat has been building between us the past two days, I’m going to explode if I don’t press my lips to his, no matter the consequences.
My eyes drift closed and I tilt my chin, giving Chad any confirmation he might need that I’m okay starting this conversation with a make-out and going over details later.
Then his weight lifts away from the couch, and my eyes fly open. He murmurs, “I’m going to make sure we have total privacy. Just in case,” as he moves toward the door.
I let out another airy laugh. It’s unlikely anyone in this house is going to bother us for a good long while. There was an obvious coordination to make sure we had alone time. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there’s a group text somewhere with Carlie, Law, Jett, Ava, and Gabriella (and probably her husband, Colby, although I haven’t seen him yet) with texts like Carlie and Law saying they’ll make sure the girls are entertained, and Jett and Ava volunteering to scout the house for the most romantic room. I wonder what Gabriella and Colby’s assignment was. Romantic Christmas music? Will “All I Want for Christmas Is You” be erupting from hidden speakers?
Close. Just as Chad shuts the door, a slow, jazzy version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” begins playing from somewhere. His grin widens as he makes his way back toward me.
I cover my mouth as a silly giggle escapes. Has matchmaking ever been more obvious? Chad’s eyes still dance when he sits down next to me on the couch.
I ignore the fact that I should put my feet up and turn to facehim, sitting cross-legged. After our moment before he went to shut the door, I’ve decided the talking needs to happen right now. Confirm we both want to see what this is and then hurry on to the next step: sealing the deal with our lips. With the trumpet of the soft background music crooning the melody in a low and lazy way, it feels like the slow burn builds up to something more. Kinda sultry and inviting.
Gabriella gets an A-plus for music.
“Let’s talk,” I say. “Quickly.”
Chad puts an arm on top of the couch, fingers brushing my shoulder, and half turns to face me, drawing up one of his legs underneath him. “Things could be complicated between us,” he starts. “I have kids.”
