She pats my shoulder as she moves away toward the kitchen, and I hear a cupboard open and then the kitchen faucet running. She carries her glass of water with her back to the bedroom and says a quiet, “Good night, Theo.”
“Night,” I murmur back, turning my attention back to Noelle. I shift so that I can leverage myself up off the couch, trying not to jostle her and wake her, but she’s out hard and doesn’t stir. I stretch my spine for a moment and then bend over her, sliding my arms under her knees and beneath her back. I lift her and the blanket together, knowing full well I’m never going to get it loose from the fists she has it clutched in beneath her chin. Her head lolls onto my shoulder as I get her situated in my arms, and then I’m crossing the living room to the bedroom I know is hers. I push the door open and step inside.
A string of colorful Christmas lights is strung up along the top edge of her headboard, filling the room with a warm glow, just enough for me to see where I’m going. I lay her down on the mattress and tuck her in as gently as I can, covering her with the blanket again and pulling the comforter over her. She snuggles into the pillow and lets out a sigh, her eyes never opening.
I know I should back away, turn myself and leave her room, but my feet are like lead, keeping me planted where I am as I stare down at her, half braced over her by my arms. My traitorous hand moves of its own accord and my eyes track the movement. I draw my fingers through her dark hair, sweeping it away from her face. She’s facing me, though part of her is bathed in shadows, part of her highlighted by the Christmas lights from above her.
Her mouth is parted slightly, those dusty rose-colored lips I’ve wanted to taste for so long soft and malleable. I let mythumb sweep over her cheekbone and then down to her lips, brushing softly. Her breathing never changes, and my dick is getting hard just being this close to her. Dammit she’s so beautiful.
Leaning down, I press my lips to her temple, right at her hairline, letting myself linger there for longer than I should. She smells like flowers, roses and jasmine and something earthier, maybe cedar.
Fuck, I need to go. I kiss her temple once more and whisper, “Good night, Angel.”
And then I straighten, ignoring the ache in my dick, to let myself out as silently as I can.
Chapter Four
Noelle
As soon as the door clicks shut, my eyes snap open and I let out the shaky, panting breaths I’d tried so damn hard to keep steady. I can hear him out in the living room, the shuffle of his feet on the floor as he moves around—probably blowing out the candle I’d carelessly left burning—turning off the tv, taking care of our empty beers. The rasp of his vest being zipped, and then the quiet snick as the front door is shut behind him, followed by the thud of a car door shutting, and the rumble of the engine starting.
He’d carried me to bed, tucked me in, and I’d only woken as his gentle, sweeping touch grazed my cheek… my lips. It had taken all of my concentration not to react with a gasp at the electricity that had zapped through me at the contact of his finger against my mouth. And then he’d kissed my head, not once, but twice. The feel of his lips against my hair had made me realize maybe I wanted to feel those lips on other places, too.
But it was the whisper quiet “Good night, Angel” that had nearly done me in. I was sure he’d known I was awake. I wasn’tthatgood of an actress. The gentle huskiness of his voice, theintensity and longing in that voice that I had heard in all its forms over the course of our lives…but this. This was a new side of Theo I’d never seen, or maybe just hadn’t ever noticed. Maybe a side of Theo he never let anyone see at all.
His words came back to me from earlier, then. “She’s not interested” and “The timing isn’t right is all. She’ll come around” reverberated in my head.
He’s not talking about me, right?
Right?!
I’m wide awake now, lying flat on my back in bed. Staring up at the ceiling, the Christmas lights strung up on my headboard casting a colorful light show above me. But all I can think about is Theo’s lips, how his finger had brushed my own mouth. Now my whole body is on fire.
Throwing off the comforter and the blanket, I sit straight up in bed. There’s no way I’m falling back to sleep anytime soon.Dammit, Theo!
Padding out to the kitchen, I grab a glass of water and drink half of it, standing at the kitchen sink. I was right earlier, he had blown out that candle I left burning, turned off the TV, and the even locked the door on his way out.
The little window over the sink faces out toward the road. It’s dark out, but the light post across the street casts a glow on the ground below. It’s snowing, the big, fat kind of snowflakes that cover everything in a thick layer of snow after just a short time. The kind that if you catch them, they’re the pretty snowflakes, with the perfectly imperfect, symmetrical points.
Theo’s footprints and the tire tracks from his car are almost covered already, even though he left less than ten minutes ago. I groan. My car is going to be buried by morning.
Dragging myself back to bed, I slide beneath the covers and snag the tv remote off the bedside table. The TV across the roomcomes on, and I queue up Will Farrell’s ELF in the hopes that it will lull me back to sleep.
Chapter Five
Noelle
My late night of Christmas movies is biting me in the ass this morning. I never set my alarm last night before falling asleep, so I got the pleasure of waking up to a dozen missed calls and text messages—each one getting more threatening than the last—from my sisters, who have been atThree Blossom Havensince dawn. Oops.
So I’m headed intoBeau’sto get a vat of ‘Forgive Me For Over-Sleeping’ coffee to offer up to Val and Willow so they don’t use me as a sacrifice to Krampus later.
Theo is standing behind the counter when I push through the glass door, the full panes frosted over with ice from the cold outside. The snow is still coming down in heavy, fat flakes. The city’s snow removal team is out in full force, clearing the streets and sidewalks, but it’s really no use; the snow is coming down so fast the roads and sidewalks are covered back up with the white fluff almost immediately.
Despitehislate night, he looks well rested, his usual grin in place, blue eyes dancing. Instead of his typical backwards ball cap on his head, he’s sporting a faux fur lined Santa hat, thewhite ball on the end trailing close to his shoulder. A muted red, long-sleeved t-shirt is stretched across his chest, three check boxes with Naughty, Nice, and Tried My Best in bold white lettering. The check is slashed through the Tried My Best option, and I can’t help but roll my eyes as I step up closer to the counter. His grin gets wider.
“What? You don’t like it?” he asks, gesturing down to his chest.
“Oh no, it suits you perfectly,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Santa might skip over you tonight anyway.”
