The Hazards of Mistletoe (Hazards #4)(26)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“I will be.” I stood up.

“You ready?” Savy walked in followed closely by Laney.

“Yes. Are you?”

“Yes.” She smiled lightly, and I knew it was her way of apologizing for her dad. She didn’t need to. He was only looking out for her.

“Have fun.” Laney waved.

“We will.” I took Savy’s hand and headed toward the door. I wanted to leave before George could ask me what we were going to do. I figured he wouldn’t love the answer that we were going back to my place.

I kept her hand in mine the whole way down in the elevator and outside. Neither of us said anything, and I didn’t mind. We’d have plenty of time to talk later. I was still trying to figure out how to tell her I was bringing her back to my place. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

She didn’t let me put it off for long. She’d barely waited for me to open the door to the passenger side of my Outback before asking. “So where are we going?”

I walked around and got in before answering. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I thought we could hang out at my place. I made dessert, I’ve got egg nog, and I even have a movie.”

“If you say Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street I’m getting out of the car.”

I backed out. Even a loose threat was too much of a risk to take. “No, I went way more modern. The Holiday.”

“That’s one of my favorites.”

“I know.” I knew a lot about her. All little details I’d been filing away for years. Some came from our time face-to-face, but just as much came from our hours of phone calls and texts.

“What kind of dessert did you make?”

“That’s a surprise.”

“A surprise, huh?”

“You have to come inside to get it.”

“How scary is your place?”

“Not scary. Just rustic.”

She laughed. “Rustic, huh?”

“It works.”

“Are you going to tell me why you’ve got a rustic apartment in Vail?” She rested her hands in her lap.

I reached over and took her hand in mine. “I’ll tell you anything and everything you want to know.”

“If I brave entry to your place. I see how it is.”

“It’s dessert, one of your favorite movies, and answers.” I ran my thumb over her hand gently. “Isn’t that enough to make it worth coming in?”

“It’s also good company.”

“I’m glad you think I’m good company.”

“How did you know I wasn’t talking about Winston?” She laughed.

“He won’t be there so I hope that isn’t who you’re coming to see.”

She paled slightly. “So we’re going to be alone?”

“Is that going to be a problem?” I held onto her hand for dear life. Here came the million dollar question, did she trust me enough to spend time alone with me?

“We’ve been alone together plenty of times.”

“We have.” Of course the last time we were alone together changed our friendship forever, but tonight would be different. I didn’t actually expect to get her in my bed again yet, but if I did, she wouldn’t be leaving it until the next morning after I’d had a chance to explore every last inch of her.

“How was your day?”

I smiled. Leave it to Savy to cut potential awkwardness by asking such a typical question. “It was fine, just dragged on too long.”

“Don’t you get cold?”

“Cold?”

“Standing out there all day.”

“I don’t mind the cold like you do.”

“Everyone always says that, like something’s wrong with me because I get cold easily.”

“Nothing’s wrong with you. You just weren’t bred for the cold.”

“Bred for it?”

“You know what I mean.”

“And you’re the one who said I should have looked at Boulder.” She glanced out the window.

I was glad she hadn’t. How much worse would everything have been if she’d been there and I’d left? “It’s good you didn’t. You’re where you should be.”

“Where I should be?” She turned back toward me. “Meaning over a thousand miles away from you?”

“No.” I squeezed her hand. “That’s not what I mean at all. I wish I got to see you more.” Every night and every morning.

“Then what do you mean?”

I pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car. “I’ll explain everything inside.”

“All right, but the list of what we need to talk about is getting long.”

I reluctantly dropped her hand so I could get out. “Luckily we have all night.”

Her eyes widened. If I wasn’t imagining things, those words were bringing the same images to her mind as they brought to mine.

I walked around the car and opened her door. She was still sitting there. Savy was the type that usually bolted from the car, so her reluctance meant something. I hoped she was just nervous. But she didn’t need to be. She never had to be nervous with me.

I held out my hand. “Let’s get you warmed up inside.”

“The car was warm enough.” She accepted my hand and got out.

I closed her door and led her up the stairs. I took a deep breath before opening the door to my apartment. I really hoped when I walked out with her she’d be holding my hand again.

She walked in and started glancing around. “Nice place.”

“It serves its purpose.”

“As a bachelor pad to bring girls home to?” She arched an eyebrow.

“You’re the first girl I’ve brought here.”

“That makes sense. You probably hook up with the tourists and go to their hotel rooms.”

“Why are you talking like that?” I tried to keep my anger from bubbling to the surface. Was she trying to make me mad?

“I’m kidding.” She unzipped her coat and folded it over one of the chairs at the table. “I do that when I’m nervous, you know that.”

“Are you kidding?” I put a hand on her hip, needing to touch her in a more intimate way than hand holding. “Or is it something else we need to add to the list? I’m not okay with you thinking of me that way.”

“I was kidding, but what does it matter what I think of you?”

I tugged lightly on her hip, and she lurched forward into my waiting arms. “Because I need you to see me for who I really am. To understand how ridiculously deep my feelings are for you.”