It’s not only wet, but it’s cold, and I twitch as he wipes my back tenderly, a complete juxtaposition to his behavior. He’s fumbling with words, yet his touch is steady. He won’t look at me when I’m standing practically naked in front of him, but he swallowed so hard, I thought he would break his throat.
Are your puzzle pieces all jumbled up, Asher? Can I play too? Can I put them together?
Loud cheers in the distance startle me, and apparently him too, since the soft and delicate touches on my back disappear. I pat my dress again to find it warm and dry. I check my watch—almost midnight, but not quite yet. Maybe a minute to go.
I slide the red dress over my head, tugging gently down. Something stronger pulls with me, and when I look back, I realize Asher is helping.
“Thanks.” I offer him a smile, one he mirrors.
“Sorry. This is not how I envisioned spending New Year’s Eve, and it threw me off.” He lets out a breath that seems to have come from deep within, like he’d been holding it.
“I don’t think this is how I imagined it either,” I reply, although if I’m honest with myself, being locked away with a handsome man so terrified of doing the wrong thing, he won’t even look at me isn’t so bad. He seems to be a gentleman, and it’s been a while since I’ve been around one of those.
“How exactly did you picture it?” I ask, partly because it’s the polite thing to do but also because I’m intrigued.
“A champagne flute in hand and my lips on a pretty girl’s mouth by the time the clock struck midnight.” The answer surprises us both, and while I chuckle, his eyes grow wider by the second. “Sorry,” he mutters.
“Why? You were honest.” I look down at my watch again. It’s not midnight yet, but the cheers are getting louder outside. We’re close. So close.
I grab his hand and attempt to pull him out, but he won’t budge. “Come on. We still have time to make that happen. If you consider me pretty, that is.” I wink his way, and he lets me pull him out of the bathroom into the main ballroom.
Servers walk around with champagne flutes balanced on trays, and I approach one quickly, Asher’s hand in mine as I take a glass.
“For you.” I hand him the flute before grabbing one of my own and smiling faintly at the server.
“Twenty!” The countdown begins as the crowd shouts in unison, watching the shrimp drop. Such a weird thing to do, but this town is weird like that.
Asher looks spooked, and it just hits me—he might have been here with someone.
Oh, Hailey, you clueless girl.That’s why he’s been so on edge and giving you mixed signals. You made him uncomfortable.
“Fifteen!” The countdown continues. I’m about to put this man out of his misery.
“Why don’t you just go find whoever you came here with? I was wrong to assume you were here alone and needed to find someone to kiss at midnight.” The apology tastes bitter on my lips, naturally—my body isn’t used to them.
“What?” he asks, making me laugh. He loves that word, doesn’t he?
“Ten!” Louder this time.
“Go. You’re going to miss the midnight kiss with whoever you came here with. Go! Go!”
I press my hand behind his back to usher him away, but he’s like solid stone. No, more like an oak tree. Tall, broad, and strong.
“Six!”
“Is that what you think? That I somehow came here with a girl and I, what? Ditched her so I could dry your back?”
Well, that sounds silly now that he says it like that, doesn’t it?
“Five!”
He takes a step forward, in the opposite direction of where I thought he would go. He’s standing so close to me, but I still have to tilt my head back to peer up at him through my eyelashes.
“It’s not,” he whispers, bringing his hand to cup my face.
“Three!”
He searches my eyes. “I didn’t, and if you let me, I would love for you to be my midnight and birthday kiss.”
