“Ready?” Miles asks as he gets back in his truck.
I nod, giving him a small smile, feeling weird as hell as I shove everything back into my bag and take a couple of calming breaths. There’s no way I’m letting him see how turned on I am just thinking about him.
“Thank you for the hot chocolate,” I say. “I don’t know how you knew, but it was exactly what I needed.”
He tips his head toward me as he slowly drives back onto the highway. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I just remember Granny would give us something sugary and comforting whenever we were anxious or had a big scare.”
Knowing that he remembers things his grandma taught him warms my heart in ways I’ve never let anyone before.
I wasn’t particularly close to my dad’s mom; she always held a grudge against Mami. But my grandma, on my mom’s side, was an angel on Earth. I remember her flying in from Colombia and staying with us for months at a time. Mami was always happiest during those visits. The two of them were arguing in Spanish over recipes while making arepas, empanadas, and sancocho, pulling me in to help while explaining what everything meant and where it came from.
It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.
“Hey, where did you go?” Miles asks, then gently squeezes my knee.
I nearly jump out of my skin. The contact sends a jolt of electricity through me.
“Whoa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he says, quickly pulling his hand away and placing it back on the wheel.
“Oh, no. It wasn’t like that. You just… electrified me,” I mumble, not really wanting him to hear the last part.
“Penny Levine.” He clicks his tongue, a smooth smirk spreading across his face. “Are you admitting I have an effect on you? Damn, hell really must be freezing over with this storm.”
I roll my eyes, inhaling sharply.
“And here I was thinking what a gentleman you were,” I say, though there’s no real bite behind it.
“I am a gentleman. That doesn’t mean I don’t call it like I see it,” he says with a shrug.
“Whatever. You’re just too full of yourself, Miles MacAllister.”
“Again, I see no problem with that,” he says without missing a beat. “I know my worth. I’m just my own best hype man.”
“You’re ridiculous. That’s what you are,” I say, unable to hold back a laugh.
He laughs under his breath, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
I can’t help but think about how easy everything feels between us. He gives me shit, and I throw it right back—no hard feelings, no expectations.
Miles drives at an easy pace, but somehow we’re at his place in no time. The first time I visited Gio and Ruin in Azalea Creek, this was their home. They stayed here until Miles and his crew finished building their dream home a few miles from here.
That was before Indigo and Sage were born.
“How do you like your place?” I ask, partly to move the conversation into safer territory, but also because I’m curious what it’s like living somewhere that used to belong to people you know.
“I love it.” That’s all he says before placing his hand on the small of my back.
I welcome the warmth that seeps from his body into mine. I should’ve worn one of my thick wool coats. I’m freezing.
When we walk in, every light in the house is on, including the one above the stove. A pot sits abandoned on the counter like he rushed out in the middle of cooking.
His house is tidy, almost untouched. I mean, it’s huge for a single person. I'm pretty sure Gio said it was close to four thousand square feet.
“I know you just had a hot chocolate, but maybe you want something to eat?” he asks. “I was about to cook supper when you called.”
Mortified isn’t usually a word I’d use to describe myself, but my face heats at the thought of making Miles rush out the door to help me, interrupting his whole night.
Like a fucking damsel in distress who had to call on her one-night stand to get her car out of a tiny snowbank.
