She stalks over, chin lifted. “YouknewI was watching.”
“Did I?”
“You flexed.”
I lean in, drop my voice. “Sweetheart, Ialwaysflex around you.”
She gulps.
Then pokes me in the chest. “You win. Fine. But only because I got distracted and burned my garland.”
I glance at the fireplace. A half-melted strand of red beads curls like sad tinsel snakes.
“Tragic,” I murmur. “But points for effort.”
She shoves me lightly. “I demand a rematch.”
“You want me shirtless again?”
She flushes, eyes darting. “I didn’tsaythat.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She crosses her arms. “You’re a menace.”
“You’re chaos wrapped in sequins.”
We stare at each other. Neither one of us blinking. The fire crackles. The music switches to something slow, sultry.
Her gaze drops to my chest. Lingers. Then rises again, soft and sharp at once.
“I’m still not sleeping with you,” she says, voice quiet.
I grin. “Didn’t ask.”
“But you’re thinking about it.”
“Always.”
She groans, spins around, and throws a faux snow-dusted pillow at me. I catch it mid-air.
“Careful,” I say, tossing it back. “You’re dangerously close to flirting.”
Her laugh is breathy. “Shut up, Hollis.”
But her smile says otherwise.
And even as the storm traps us here a little longer… it’s not the snow keeping me frozen in place.
It’s her.
Standing there.
In my cabin.
Like she belongs.
Chapter 9
