“You can’t drive home in this.”
“I know,” he replied, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “I need to find Vance and see if I can crash here.”
I shook my head. “All the rooms are full. There’s nowhere for you to sleep. There isn’t even room for me.”
He scowled, his brows dipping in confusion. “Then where are you going to sleep? You can’t drive home in this either.”
“I have my own cabin,” I said as a solution presented itself on a silver platter. I hesitated, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.Here goes nothing.“You could stay with me,” I offered, trying to hide my excitement at the prospect of him sharing my bed. Maybe I’d be getting six to eight inches tonight too.
6
DONOVAN
Iwas fucked.
Fresh out of options, I accepted Emily’s offer to stay in her cabin. Driving in this mess would not only be reckless, but incredibly stupid. The roads were sure to be icy with as cold as it had gotten. Even with four-wheel drive, it was too risky. But spending the night with Emily? That was downright dangerous.
“Let me grab my coat, and we’ll head out,” Emily said, slipping out of the room and returning a moment later, pushing her arms through the puffy sleeves. I retrieved my duffle from the closet where Vance had stashed it for me after I changed into the Santa suit.
It was a short walk to the cabin, but I was shivering by the time Emily pushed the door open and we slipped inside. She flipped the switch on the wall, and soft, buttery light filled the room. The space was quaint and cozy, with a small kitchenette, table with two chairs, a sofa tucked in one corner, and an antique fireplace.
And there was only one bed.
Yep, I was fucked alright.
Had she thought this through when she invited me to stay? I eyed the sofa skeptically. There was no way I could sleep onit without needing a chiropractic adjustment when I woke up. It was at least two feet shorter than me. Maybe she’d planned on sleeping on it and giving me the bed. That wasn’t going to happen. This was her cabin. She was just letting me crash here to ride out the storm.
A third possibility had my heart racing and my breath catching in my throat. Did she intend to share her bed with me? I let out a groan and dropped my head. There was no way I could resist touching her if she let me into her bed, and not only because it was a double, but because I’d been itching to touch her all night.
Could we really sleep in a bed together and not have our hands all over each other? I could tell by the way she looked at me she hadn’t completely gotten over her crush. I’d always known. The way she blushed every time she looked at me and stumbled over her words. It was endearing ten years ago. Now, I wondered if the flush staining her cheeks extended all the way down her naked body when she was turned on. And that made me wonder what shade of pink her nipples would turn if I sucked them into tight peaks.
Tension filled the air between us, and her chest rose and fell in a pant as though she could read my thoughts. I had to distract myself from the near painful arousal those images had conjured.
“Does this, uh, fireplace work?” I asked, motioning toward the small stack of wood on the hearth, desperate for a distraction.
“Yes,” she breathed, and the sound went straight to my dick. Damn, I would never make it through this night without a raging case of blue balls. I walked to the logs and arranged them inside the firebox. Locating the matches, I started a fire, busying myself with a task so I wouldn’t think about all the dirty things I wanted to do to my best friend’s sister-in-law.
“Would you like a drink?” Emily asked, holding up a beer.
I accepted it with a thanks, and she popped the tops off two bottles before motioning to the sofa. It was small, so even though I tried to keep my distance, there wasn’t much space separating us, especially when she turned to face me. She propped an elbow on the back of the couch and brought one leg up on the cushion, crooking her knee. It nearly brushed my leg, but I tried to ignore her close proximity and that scent that drove me wild all night. She smelled like a sugar cookie, and I was dying to take a bite.
7
EMILY
Donovan and I chatted late into the night, still clad in our costumes. Neither of us cared that we looked silly. We were warm and cozy sitting next to the fire Donovan had built while we each nursed a beer. We’d never sat down, just the two of us, and talked before. There was always someone around since I usually saw him at gatherings with lots of family and friends. Even though we’d had very little chance to talk privately in the past, he’d definitely started to take more notice of me recently. Whenever we were in each other’s orbit, our eyes would meet across the room, and his always lingered for a bit longer than could be considered friendly. It made my stomach flip and my heart flutter in my chest. He had to know how badly I wanted him, and I suspected he felt the same. It was time to put that theory to the test. Tempting Santa was the name of the game, and I was about to find out if he was up to play.
I turned, angling my body toward his. Those mesmerizing dark eyes fell to my legs, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. I loved the way his gaze raked over me, and I basked in his perusal.
We talked about anything and everything as we slowly gravitated toward each other. There wasn’t much spaceseparating us when we finally got to the subject of Josh and why I was so upset earlier.
“We had decent chemistry, and I thought there could be something there, but if I’m being honest, I knew he wasn’t the one and that we wouldn’t be long term,” I added with a shrug after explaining the video Shayla had sent me. “I just wanted to dip my toes into the dating pool. This may sound awful, but he was kind of a trial run.” That sounded so much worse when I said it out loud, as though I was using him. But I guessed it was only fair since he was apparently just using me too. It would appear that neither of us got what we wanted, though.
I took a sip of my beer to smother the slight sting that still lingered in the wake of his betrayal. I hoped he regretted his indiscretion, though I would never know for sure. After sending him a text informing him we were over, I blocked him on my phone and every social media platform I used. I never wanted to talk to him again.
“Josh is an idiot,” Donovan declared, his jaw hardening. “You deserve someone who knows your worth, someone who won’t fuck around on you and will put you first.” His eyes softened and dropped to my mouth as he reached up to brush a strand of hair from my face. I inhaled sharply when the rough pads of his fingers grazed my cheek.
Our eyes locked for a moment, both of us shocked by the electricity surging through our connection. It was a simple touch, a gentle caress of his skin against mine, but it lit my whole body on fire.
