“What was your original plan for today?”
“Honestly?”
“Of course.”
“To take a long shower, put on my coziest, albeit frumpiest, pajamas, and order Chinese takeout.”
“Oh, so you’re a Christmas takeout kind of girl?”
“Not normally. But this year…” my voice trails off, and I shrug, looking down into my cup.
Miller covers my hand with his and shifts them until he’s able to lace our fingers together. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shake my head. “We’re practically strangers. I don’t need to trauma dump on you.”
Miller winces, and I immediately regret my word choice. “Look, Zee, I know we just met, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels different. At least for me.”
“Different how?”
“Like I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you.”
We hold each other’s gaze, and there’s a part of my subconscious that realizes this should be weird. Thisshouldfeel off. I barely know this man, yet here he is, standing in my kitchen on Christmas Day less than twenty-four hours after the world’s most embarrassing introduction.
“I say we stick to your original plan,” he says, breaking the short silence. “Christmas movies, you take your shower, we eat Chinese.”
“That’s it? What’s the catch? Isn’t this the part where you should be trying to seduce me, or in a different plot twist, the part where you kidnap me and harvest my organs?”
“Last time I checked, it was Christmas, not Halloween, so no harvesting of any organs this year. Maybe next.” His dimple returns, and he pushes a lock of hair behind my ear. “As for the seduction, as much as I want to find out if you taste like Christmas, I like you too much to rush this past any point you are comfortable with. I meant what I said, Elizabeth. It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you. I’m not the type of man who goes to bars, or clubs, or swipes through dating apps.”
I bite my tongue, guilt flickering through me as he mentions the dating apps. But that’s nottypicallyme, either. I only reactivated my profile to set up some holiday dates. Aside from those, I was never active on the site.
“My life revolves around my family and my work. Julian’s a small town, and as much as I love San Diego, it’s not a priority to come down the mountain often enough to meet someone. Believing in fate has never been my thing, but it seems a little coincidental that youquite literallytripped and fell into my lap last night. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t want to take it for granted. I want to get to know you. I want you to know me.”
My heart soars as I stare into his shimmering brown eyes, unable to formulate words after his declaration of interest. It’s something a man hasn’t expressed to me in ages, aside from the flattery I received in SparksFly messages, but those were only surface deep.
This is something else entirely.
So, of course, I do what any sane woman in my position would do. I jump into his arms, forcing him to catch me as I smash my lips into his.
Sinking into the kiss, I melt against him as he rests both of his large palms on my butt, holding me to him as he meetsme with equal ferocity. A whimper vibrates through my throat, encouraging Miller to deepen it.
Walking with me in his arms, Miller attempts to navigate his way through my small apartment, yet still manages to bump into the side of the kitchen table and the back of the couch as he leads us to the living room. I’m brought down into his lap as he sinks into the soft cushions, and my fingers curl into the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to me as we kiss like we’re teenagers, desperate for each other.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Miller asks against my lips, playing with the hem of my sweater.
“Yes. Are you?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more, Snow Angel. It’s too bad there’s not a bow on you because you’re my gift this year.” Pulling my sweater over my head, he tosses it to the side. My lacy cream bra accentuates my breasts, which are at eye level for him now, and he sucks in a breath.
“Wait a second.” I giggle, then slide off his lap. My bare feet feel cool against the floor as I back away from Miller, wondering if I can pull this off. He gives me a pouty face as I walk into my bedroom and the moment I’m out of his line of sight, I spin and run to my closet.
Pushing the heavy wood sliding door, I pull down the unused box of gift wrap and search for the red ribbon I know I have stashed inside. Pulling it out, I grab the scissors too, then cut off a long piece. The satin feels soft in my hand, the shiny, deep crimson malleable as I tie it around my waist in a bow.
It doesn’t look as cute as I envisioned in my head, but it’ll do.
Unbuttoning my jeans, I push them down my legs and kick out of them. With a quick swish of my hand against my skin, I realize they’re a little stubbly, but it’s too late to shave now.
It’s not like I planned this. Thank God I did shave yesterday morning at least, or he’d have an entire forest to deal with.
