“Tonight. After the auction.” He’s still holding my hand, his thumb tracing circles on my palm. “I have tickets for the dinner.”
“How do you have tickets? Those sold out weeks ago. I know because I?—”
“My mom.” He grins, a little sheepish. “She bought them before the blizzard. Said if I wasn’t going to make a move, she’d create the opportunity.”
I stare at him. “Your mother bought you dinner tickets?”
“She’s been watching me pine for three years. Apparently her patience ran out.” He squeezes my hand. “I know Milo took you to dinner. I know Elijah made you dinner. And I know I’ve been showing up with muffins and fixing things instead of making an actual move.”
“Ben—”
“But I’ve been waiting. Because I wanted to do this right.” His eyes meet mine. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Tessa. And I know I’m not smooth like Milo, and I can’t build beautiful things like Elijah, but I show up, I bring muffins. That’s what I do. That’s how I love people.”
My heart is pounding. “Ben.”
“So. Be my Valentine. Have dinner with me tonight. Please.”
I should say something witty. Something deflecting.
Instead I say, “Yes.”
His whole face changes. Like the sun coming out. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I’m smiling now. “But you should know—I really like the muffins.”
He laughs and pulls me into a hug, lifting me off my feet. His scent floods my senses—leather and musk and warmth.
“You’re not going to regret this,” he mumbles into my hair.
“I know.”
He sets me down but doesn’t let go. “Can I kiss you?”
“You’re asking permission?”
“I’m trying to be romantic.”
I grab the front of his flannel and pull him down to me.
The kiss is nothing like the cabin. No heat haze, no desperate biology. Just his mouth on mine, soft and slow. He tastes like coffee and something sweet, and he kisses me like he’s got all the time in the world.
When we pull apart, I’m breathless.
“Wow,” Ben says. “Okay. Yeah. Worth waiting for.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“I should let you get back to work.”
“You should.”
“I’m going to go carry heavy objects and think about that kiss for the next ten hours.”
“That sounds healthy.”
He kisses me again—quick and soft—then backs away, nearly trips over a chair, and disappears into the chaos.
I stand there for a moment, touching my lips.
