“Hi,” I rumbled back, my voice sounding scratchy to my ears.
Then we just stared at each other for a minute.
“You came a long way,” I muttered inanely.
I still couldn’t believe she’d just manifested out of nowhere right into my day.
“Yeah.” The grin somehow got even bigger. “I did. Thanks for making me tea!”
She seemed delighted over such a small gesture. It was hard not to feel her enthusiasm.
“It’s Christmas Eve,” I growled. Where were these words coming from? I wasn’t even making sense.
“It is. It’s Christmas Eve. Do you always play the naked lumberjack on Christmas Eve?”
“I wasn’t naked. I had my boots on… and my hat.”
She giggled lightly. “I’m surprised you don’t have a stream of cars coming down your driveway to watch you work. I couldn’t believe it when I pulled in and saw you. You looked like a sexy backwoods Santa.”
Her compliment left me feeling flustered. But I focused on what she’d just said. I’d been so absorbed in what I’d been doing that I hadn’t even noticed her car pull up.
“How long did you watch me work?”
Robin’s cheeks flushed lightly, and I realized shehadwatched me work. A sense of masculine pride shot through me at the idea of her watching me swing an axe. But it was quickly overshadowed by what she must have thought when she saw my legs.
“What you must think of me,” she whispered, her eyes dropping to the table, long lashes brushing her skin.
I wanted to pull her close and kiss her eyelids, feel her lashes flutter againstmyskin.
She cleared her throat. “I didn’t watch long. But I did watch for a few minutes. I’m sorry that I invaded your privacy like that. I’ve never seen a man who looks like you before.”
My heart shadowed over. “I try not to show off my legs to company. I’m sure that was hard to see.”
The look on her face didn’t waver, even for a moment. “Oh, I’m not talking about your legs. I meant yourbody. You’re so… you’re so… well, I never knew that a man couldlooklike you.” A sharp giggle escaped her lips, and she finished, “You’re sexy ashell, Levi.”
That clocked straight down to my cock.
“Did you say I’m sexy?”Twice. In the last five minutes.
Something strange was happening. Because in my world, beautiful women didn’t swing by my cabin on Christmas Eve and start throwing around thesexyword.
She laughed again. “Yeah. Isn’t this crazy? I’m a librarian, and I don’t get out much. I never do things like this. My life is boring. And I can’t believe I just told you all that… but it’s true. They don’t build men like you in Minnesota. I don’t know what thedifferenceis.”
My chest warmed at that. If she was bothered by the marred skin on my legs, she was doing a great job of acting.
“A librarian?”
“Yeah. I’ve got my MLS and everything.”
“Huh. We need a librarian.”
“Youneed alibrarian?”
Chuckling, I said, “No. Not me. Grace needs one. We got our own library last year, and my friend Beckett’s wife runs it. She’s the uh, what do you call it, the director? Anyway, she’s been looking for a librarian for a while to help her run the place.Everyonewants to work there, but she says she’s holding out for someone with the right degree.”
Robin grinned. “Well, Ihavethat degree. It’s called a Master of Library Science. But I’ve already got a job in North Pole.”
I shook my head. “Of course. You don’t live here. I don’t even know why I’m telling you about that.”
