Kent started to follow them inside, but I turned to cross the driveway toward the garage where my apartment was located.
“Where are you going?” he called after me.
I paused and shrugged at him. “Home. To bed.”
He frowned and looked back at the lodge. “Wait, where do you live? Not in the garage?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I told you, I liveabovethe garage, not in it. Remember?”
Instead of just saying goodnight from there, Kent strode back across the driveway to where I was standing. “Well then, I guess I’d better walk you home properly,” he said with exaggerated gallantry. “Can’t have you traipsing around in the dark in the middle of the night. A polar bear might come along.”
It was such a ridiculous gesture. My “home” was literally less than a football field away. I couldn’t help but laugh. The garage apartment wasn’t exactly a treacherous journey requiring an escort. But there was something charming about the way he made such a production of it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a polar bear out here,” I quipped.
“Dire wolf. Grizzly bear. I imagine there are all kinds of dangerous creatures roaming about.” He smiled.
“The occasional grizzly,” I replied.
The smile faded. “Wait. Seriously?”
“Mostly black bears, but yeah, sometimes the big fellas show up. Some mountain lions. I swear I saw a wolverine once, but everyone says I’m crazy.” I narrowed my eyes. “But I know what I saw!”
His mouth had dropped open as I spoke. “You’re serious.”
“I am. But mostly the only scary things are the black bears, but if you tell them to go away, they usually do. As bears go, they’re not so bad.”
“You talk to the predator that could rip you limb from limb?” Kent asked.
“A black bear is going to struggle to tear me limb from limb. I’m scrappier than I look.”
He smiled in amazement. “That, I believe. Guess it’s a good thing you’ve got a big, strong man to protect you. I would hate for you to break a nail while fighting off a bear.”
It was funny because I didn’t have nails. I did manual labor for a living. Long nails were dangerous and caused more pain when they got hung up on something.
I caught the proud little smirk he tried to hide as we made the short walk to my door.
“My hero,” I said, still grinning as I fished my keys out of my purse.
I was still laughing as I put my key in the lock and turned back to thank him for the escort. But my words died in my throat when I found him standing much closer than I expected, one hand braced against the wall above my head in a move that was undeniably sexy and made my pulse jump.
Holy moly.
What was I supposed to do? I could barely breathe. Did I look sexy? Maybe I should flutter my eyelashes.
“What are you doing?” I asked, though my voice came out like I had just run a hundred miles.
He looked absolutely gorgeous in the soft glow of the porch light, all sharp angles and shadows that made me want to trace the line of his jaw with my fingertips.
Instead of answering immediately, he nodded upward. I followed his gaze to see a small sprig of mistletoe hanging from the exterior light fixture above our heads.
Who put that there? I had a sneaking suspicion it might have been Stacy’s handiwork. She had a tendency toward romantic meddling, especially when she thought it might benefit the family business.
Kent and I looked into each other’s eyes. The air between us changed, becoming charged with something electric and inevitable. I was about to say goodnight, to step back and maintain some semblance of the boundaries I knew I should be keeping, when he leaned down with slow, deliberate control.
The kiss started soft and light, just a gentle brush of his lips against mine that was so tender it made my heart skip. But it also made me want more, made me lean into him in a way that he apparently took as encouragement. He cupped my cheek with his free hand, drawing me closer, and deepened the kiss until I was dizzy with it.
When we finally broke apart, our breath fogged in the cold air between us, creating little clouds that mingled and disappeared. He reached behind me and opened my door with a smooth motion that suggested he’d been planning that move.
