Page 90 of Goode Tidings

I point at the bag. "Looks like someone is a closet grump."

Eden pulls two long metal needles and a ball of yarn from the bag. "Is it a good idea to tease the person holding big needles?"

I lift innocent hands. "My sincerest apologies."

Eden talks me through how to start a baby cap. She calls it casting on when she does some twirly, swirly thing with the yarn and her hands, and suddenly one needle has a loop of yarn bound to it. She goes slow, but I might need her to go backwards for all I understand about the process. It's hard to pay attention when she's so close. Her hair brushes my arm, and she smells too good, and now I know what it's like to kiss her so I'm fairly certain I'm ruined. It's possible I'll never pay attention to anything ever again.

"Just like that," Eden says with a decisive nod. There's a row of loops running the length of one needle.

"And you do this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"It brings me great satisfaction to know these are going to a good place, so I guess you could say I'm being selfish."

"Nice try." I lean down, brushing her hair off her neck. My lips find her skin, lightly sucking. She smells like her usual black cherry and cinnamon, but she smells faintly of me, too. It turns me into a caveman to know my scent lingers on her. "Can I interrupt your knitting?" I murmur against her skin.

"Are you sure you want to do that? You'd be taking a hat from a baby."

"I'll learn to knit and do it myself."

A low laugh slides from her throat. "You couldn't pay attention when I was showing you the most basic stitch."

I take a nibble of her sweet-smelling skin. "I can hardly be blamed."

"Then who's to blame?" Her voice wobbles as I pass my tongue over her neck.

"Nobody. We're victims of circumstance." I reach for her knitting, and she gives it up easily. I slide it on the table, out of the way of the wineglasses we haven't touched. "Nobody would blame us if we laid here and kissed for a while."

I pull her close, shifting until we're lying facing each other on the couch. Her hands are in my hair and my hands roam under her sweater, sliding over her smooth, warm back. We kiss until we're out of breath, and then I'm peppering her jaw with soft scrapes of my mouth while she hums happily.

At some point, Eden yawns. It prompts me to do the same.

"I think I'll go to bed," she says. "I want to wake up early and see the snow."

"It's just snow."

"Just snow," she scoffs. "It is never just snow. Moreover, it's the first snow."

"And that's special?"

She flicks the end of my nose. "Still peevish, I see."

"Peevish?"

"I asked my brother for synonyms for the word 'grump'. He's a writer."

"He likes LOTR, and he's a writer? I think we'd get along."

"He coached Oliver's rec soccer teams before he played club. And he hated Justin."

"We'd definitely get along."

Eden presses her chest into mine. The outline of her breasts pushed up against my chest is making it difficult to keep my hands to myself. And I have to. I have an idea, and I need Eden to go to sleep so I can get started on it.

She settles her mouth on mine for one more lingering kiss. "I like that I can do that now," she says when she pulls back. Her lips are kiss-bitten, her hair mussed. She's lovely.

Palms on my chest, she pushes up to sitting. I lumber up, motioning to the mess on the table. "I'll take care of all this."

"I forgot about the wine," she says.