That’s all it takes.
His mouth crashes onto mine, and it’s not sweet. It’s not polite. It’s pent-up and starved and filled with weeks’ worth of biting sarcasm and almost-touches and long looks across the firelight.
His hands are in my hair, mine fisted in his flannel. He presses me back against the door, one knee slipping between mine like he needs to claim every part of me at once.
I moan against his lips, and he answers it with a growl low in his chest, one that sounds suspiciously like mine now.
The kiss deepens. Devours.
He kisses like a man who’s gone without too long. Like I’m the first color in his grayscale world.
And I kiss him back like I might not get the chance again.
Then—
Knock knock knock.
The banging on the door jerks us apart like teenagers caught behind the gym.
Nash swears, panting, forehead resting against mine. “If that’s your camera crew, I’m chucking their equipment into the river.”
I bite back a laugh, breathless and trembling. “Maybe it’s Santa. You’ve definitely been naughty.”
He pulls back, eyes blazing. “Only for you.”
Another knock. Louder this time.
I groan and slide out from beneath him, cheeks flushed, mouth still tingling. I throw open the door with the fury of a woman cockblocked by fate—and find an elderly woman holding a box of cookies and a thermos.
“Well, bless,” she says. “You must be Noel.”
I blink. “Um. Yes?”
“I’m Miriam. Nash’s neighbor. Saw the lights on, figured you two could use some Christmas cheer. And cocoa with a little somethin’ extra.”
I glance at Nash, who looks like he’d rather be struck by lightning than be part of this conversation.
Still, he steps forward, takes the box from her, nods gruffly. “Thanks, Miriam.”
She beams at me. “He’s a good man. Just needs a little… softening.”
“Oh, I plan to,” I say before I can stop myself.
Nash groans. Miriam cackles.
And just like that, the moment’s gone—but the fire between us? That’s not going out anytime soon.
Chapter 12
Nash
That kiss was a mistake.
No.
It was a goddamnrevelation.
Soft and demanding. Sweet and savage. She kissed like shemeantit. Like she knew exactly what she wanted and dared me to meet her in the middle.
