Though I’m willing to start small. So I add, “Just a date. To see.”
He blinks, lifts a hand to my face, then says, “I was…going to ask you if I could take you to that vegan sushi place?”
My heart dashes through the snow. Even though I asked him first, I still say “yes” like he’s the one who asked me and made my Christmas wish come true.
It’s just one date. But maybe it’s the start of something real.
48
ADULT CHRISTMAS
ROWAN
I can definitely get behind an adult Christmas.
My arm is wrapped around Isla, her hair fanned out across the pillow, a glittering wonderland beyond the window.
I’m awake first, but I just don’t want to get out of bed. Imagine that.
I lean in close and inhale her hair, and it’s fantastic. Hell, everything’s fantastic right now—this warm cabin, the snowfall, and the little dog wedged between us on the pillows.
Life is good.
Even though I should be freaking out—I have a date, after all. How the fuck did that happen?
And yet, I’m not.
It’s weird.
Totally weird. But then, as I look at Isla, sound asleep, a serene expression on her face, maybe it’s not weird.
Maybe it makes sense.
She never gave up on me. She never stopped believingin the magic of romance. She never let go of the idea that I could be better than a romance hater.
And here I am…ready to date her.
I huff out a laugh, and she stirs, stretches, then mutters a sleepy good morning.
It’s a new day, all right. And I want this whole real thing to start now. Not in San Francisco. Not after Christmas. Now.
With us doing…life. Like we did last night when we wrapped some of Mia’s gifts and put them under the tree.
“Want to walk my dog with me in the snow?”
She pushes up on one elbow. “You’re going to walk Wanda in six inches of snow?”
“Six inches? More like eight,” I say, then my gaze drifts down to my pelvis, since I’m mature like that.
“My favorite amount.”
“And yes, I am. She loves a snow walk.”
Isla shoots me a skeptical look but says, “Sure.”
A little later, we’re walking Wanda down the driveway, and she’s leaping through the snow.
“Are you kidding me?” Isla asks, her jaw agape.
