Maisie told herself to take a breath, not just dive in the way she’d wanted to since the moment she saw him both then and this time around. His posture relaxed and her body curved into his without thought. Of its own volition. Nick gripped both arms now, gently but firmly, and turned her so her back was against the wall. He lowered his head. “I don’t hook up with women. I hadn’t been with anyone in over a year when I met you, and if it wasn’t for your gorgeousfucking eyes and your wicked smile and the way you move so gracefully through a room seeing everything except how absolutely perfect you are, I would have been able to avoid you too. You just kept showing up in my path.” His breath came out warm on her cheek, jagged, and she felt his chest rising and falling against her own.
He sounded as helpless about his feelings as she felt about her own. Just like that night, reason fled and she could only feel. Going up on her tiptoes, she closed her arms around his neck, fusing their bodies as close together as she could while her mouth crashed into his and she kissed him like she’d dreamed of doing again every single day for the past six months. It took less than a breath for him to yank her even closer, one of his hands stroking up her back to rest between her shoulder blades, the other traveling down to the curve in her lower back. He pressed his body into hers, taking over the kiss, drowning them both in a pool of unparalleled need. She shouldn’t want like this. Like there was no way to ever get enough.
One or both of them made some sort of incoherent sound and together they fell deeper into a kiss that bordered on brutal in its intensity. It was like neither of them had been able to fully breathe in the time they’d been apart and now, coming together, their mouths frenzied, his tongue seeking, her fingers gripping his hair, they could finally fill their lungs.
When he pulled away just enough to see her, his breath came in harsh bursts. His hands came up to cup her face in the softest, sweetest caress, so at odds with the tension coiled in his body, the need in his gaze. His eyes roamed over it like he was memorizing her. Then, he lowered his mouth again but this time, kissing the corner of her lips, up and along her cheekbone, and the gentleness stole what was left of her senses. She closed her eyes and let the feel of his lips tracing their way over her cheek, along her temple, across her forehead and then down again, wash away everything else that existed in thismoment other than the two of them. He whispered her name and she knew she’d hear it in her dreams.
In the background, somewhere in the hazy puddle of her mind, she heard the jingle of bells and her brother calling her name.
Nick pulled away slowly, looking every bit as dazed as she felt. Jacob’s voice called her name again.
Leaning in, Nick pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose. “Go,” he whispered.
Her legs weren’t altogether steady when she walked away from him.
She turned the corner of the alley and nearly ran into her brother.
“Hey. We were just looking for you.” He frowned, looking down at her. “You okay?
Nodding, she started walking so he’d fall into step beside her. Colton leaned on the hood of her Jeep.
Maisie pressed her fingers to her lips. They felt like they had their own heartbeat. “I’m fine but I need hot chocolate.”
She felt Nick behind them. The scent of his cologne was wrapped around her like a delicious-smelling blanket.
Forcing herself to play it cool in front of Jake and Colt, Maisie grabbed some hot chocolate at a little street vendor before visiting a few more shops, walking beside her brother. Though Nick didn’t say anything, just walked beside Colt or stood waiting while they poked around, his hands in his pockets, Maisie felt the tension pumping off him.
She didn’t know if it was because of the kiss or because he kept getting recognized. Maisie assumed he enjoyed it, and maybe he had at one point, but there’d been a lot of drastic changes and events in his life. Her heart hurt to think of him losing his mom even though he and Ellie had said the relationship was strained at best.
He didn’t talk to reporters but he’d had an altercation with one? Nick was holding it together but now that she knew about hisanxiety, about what he’d been going through, she wondered if he ever just craved space. He wasn’t getting it right now. It felt like with every stop, more heads turned, the energy around them ramped up, and she became increasingly aware of feeling like people were staring. Nick switched spots with Jake and walked close to Maisie. For the first time, she wondered if this was how he felt all the time: on alert. Guarded. Watched.
They were headed back to the Jeep when an elderly woman with a fun rainbow cap stopped in front of them, staring up at Nick.
“I’m Hester Landly, the mayor of Merry. I saw you earlier and thought you looked familiar,” she said, her strong voice making up for her short stature.
It was Colton who reached out to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you. We love your little town.”
Jake also shook the woman’s hand but Nick stayed quiet, like he was waiting. Despite not having one clue where things were going with Nick, Maisie felt protective of him. Stepping closer, she looped her arm through his. He looked down at her, a small smile on his lips and surprise in his gaze.
Hester didn’t seem bothered by Nick’s silence. “You’re Nick King.” She pointed a bony finger at him, her bright-red nail polish a little ominous even if it was a great color.
“Yes, ma’am.” Nick nodded.
Hester scrunched her face, making the cap move a bit on her forehead. “Call me Hester. We’re having our annual festival tomorrow. It’s a celebration to welcome in the holidays and come together as a community to raise money for those in need. We were in the news once, you know.” She gestured to the stores. “It’s like an outdoor market, the kids’ choir and the church put on performances, there’s food, and all the money we raise goes toward helping those who can’t have a good Christmas.”
“That’s lovely,” Maisie said. “Does your town have a newspaperand a photographer?” She did some freelance jobs forThe Seattle Timesnow and again. She didn’t write the stories but she did send them photos that got used, which paid decently.
“We do. What we don’t have,” Hester said, stepping closer to Nick, having to crane her neck to keep looking at him. “Is a celebrity judge. Our sweet goat, David, is under the weather.”
Nick looked at Maisie, then Colton and Jake. He seemed to back up a bit like he wanted nothing to do with wherever this was going.
Jake was mouthinggoatto Maisie as a small crowd gathered near them. Turning toward Nick, not particularly thrilled with how many phones had been pulled out to capture photos, Maisie startled at the feel of his arm moving. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and used it to pull her closer, settling it on her waist.
“David who?” Nick asked.
Hester’s brows rose. “David Rose. He’s named after the character inSchitt’s Creek. He nibbled on a poinsettia. He’ll be okay but I don’t think he’s up for judging the cookie competition.”
“What?” Nick’s stance stiffened as more people surrounded them. “What’s he the G.O.A.T. of?”
