Diana was floating. Cliff’s woodsy smell filled her senses. She was in a lovely place, warm and comfortable, her head on his chest. Staying here was beautiful. Leaving would hurt, and she didn’t want to hurt, so she burrowed deeper into him.
“I’d say she’s going to live,” said a familiar voice. It wasn’t Cliff’s, so she ignored it and breathed him in. He was all around her, and life was so good.
“Diana? Diana, we need you to wake up, sweetheart.”
That was Cliff. His voice was a warm blanket draped across her whole body. “Hmm,” she responded, not wanting to break the spell that had brought her to this place.
Cliff’s palm rubbed her cheek—not kindly, either. She turned away from the pricks and pins. “Be nice,” she told him.
He rubbed her again. Someone else was rubbing her feet. Weirded out now, she pried her eyelids up to find that she was sitting on Cliff’s lap, in his condo. Asher was at the end of the couch, rubbing her feet with a towel. Her toes started to hurt. “Ow. Ow!” She tried to pull her feet away, but her leg muscles didn’t move fast enough.
“You’re too cold, sweetheart. Hold still and let us warm you up.” Cliff moved on to roughly rub her shoulder and arm.
Asher stopped rubbing and dragged a portable heater closer to the couch. “The best thing you can do is hold her close. Her fingers may feel like they’re burning, but it’s a good sign that circulation is improving.” He leaned over Diana. “Can you tell me what day it is?”
“It’s …” She was going to say the day after Christmas, but she had to think about a number. “December 26th.”
He asked her age and her full name. She answered correctly, and he stood up. “I’ll be in the kitchen—no hot chocolate until the burning stops.”
She nodded, snuggling deeper into Cliff’s hold. He pulled the blanket off the end of the couch and wrapped it around both of them.
“Do you want to tell me why you were sitting on my porch in 24-degree weather?” He sounded upset at her, which she didn’t like at all. She wanted him to call her sweetheart again, to look at her with his amazing gray eyes full of love.
She worked back through what had happened. Some of it was fuzzy, but one thing was clear. “Because I love you.” She bit her lip. That wasn’t what she was supposed to say. There were paragraphs of explanation stuck in the cold.
He shook his head. “You could have called. I wasn’t even going to come home tonight, but Asher had a shift change. You could have died.”
She thought about that for a minute. “Maybe I should have called.”
He kissed her head. When he pulled back, his eyes were closed as if he were in pain.
Seeing him hurt unhinged her tongue. “I’m sorry, Cliff. I didn’t mean to mess up. I wish I could go back and ask you to spend Christmas with me as my real boyfriend.” She wanted to brush her fingers over his neatly trimmed beard. She hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy it before he’d left, but her fingers were too stiff, and if the aching burn in her feet was any indication of what was to come, she wasn’t looking forward to them warming up.
“I would have said no.”
Ouch—his words hurt more than the bazillion tiny needles poking at her body. She curled into herself.
He brought her closer and brushed her hair off her face. “But only because I was too scared to see what was already between us. I fell in love with you a long time ago, Diana.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “You did?” The liquid burned down her stiff cheeks. She used the back of her hand to wipe it away, the movement awkward.
He smiled softly. “I did.”
She sniffed. The only part of her thawing quickly was her nose, darn it. She must look a mess. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Everything happened so fast.” He shook his head. “It’s no excuse, but I thought you were just playing along with the fake engagement thing.”
“I thoughtyouwere playing along.” She bumped him with her body.
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. They were quiet for a while, letting the truth of it all sink in. She had feeling back in her legs and her feet, and her fingers were almost on fire, but she was really looking forward to being able to wrap them around Cliff’s neck. She sniffed several times, and Cliff retrieved a tissue from the box on the table by the couch.
“I like your place,” she said as she wiped her nose.
He chuckled. “Thanks.”
“This is the first time you’ve let me in.”
“Well, youwerealmost dying.”
