Christmas at Holiday House - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,45
to the fundraiser.
“You don’t have to do that. I was only teasing you. A couple of the Silver Belles are bringing their husbands tomorrow. We should have enough people to finish the job.”
“Well, if anything changes, let me know.”
“Thank you.”
That heady moment of mutual attraction seemed to have passed. Or maybe she had imagined the whole thing. She was relieved, Abby told herself, as they spent a few moments picking up the empty boxes and loading them into the elevator.
“I can take them up tomorrow,” she told him. “Christopher loves to push the button on the elevator and help me stack the empty boxes where we can find them again after Christmas.”
Except she wouldn’t be here after Christmas, she reminded herself, feeling a little pang. Someone else would have to take all the decorations down for Winnie. Maybe Ethan would send a crew from his hotel to earn more overtime by helping out.
“Oh, look,” she said. “It’s snowing!”
She hurried to the window so she could look out at the sight that still enchanted her every time.
He followed her to stand next to her, gazing out at the giant snowflakes that fluttered softly to the ground. “This is the Rockies. Snow isn’t exactly a rarity around here.”
“I grew up in Alabama and have been in Arizona for the past ten years. Snow still feels magical to me.”
“Almost makes you have a little Christmas spirit, doesn’t it?”
“Almost. Not quite.”
He laughed, a low, husky sound that had her toes tingling again.
“You’re a fraud, Abigail Powell. You said you didn’t want to put up a tree but I think you’re secretly into all this holiday decorating. The snow, the ornaments, the lights. All of it.”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “I am not the one who just admitted he enjoyed decorating his grandmother’s Christmas tree.”
He smiled down at her for a moment that seemed to stretch out between them, soft and seductive.
His gaze locked with hers and his smile slowly slid away. The music on the speaker shifted to something slow and entirely too sultry to be on a Christmas playlist.
She opened her mouth to make some kind of a meaningless comment. Before she could, he leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers, just as she had been imagining him doing since that day up in the attic.
She froze for a moment, the memory of the last time a man had tried to kiss her flashing across her mind.
She waited for that first hint of nausea, the overwhelming urge to rush away and be sick.
It didn’t come. At all. She wasn’t sick in the slightest. Far from it. She wanted him to keep kissing her for the rest of the night.
When her fear that she would make a fool of herself again began to recede, she was so elated she kissed him back.
Oh, she enjoyed kissing. And Ethan was exceptional at it. His mouth danced over hers and his arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe and warm and protected while the snow fell softly outside.
They kissed for far longer than they should have, until her thoughts were whirling and she was beginning to feel the delicious flutterings of desire, feelings she thought were long dead.
She didn’t want him to stop, but after several moments Ethan pulled away, his expression torn between desire and confusion.
“Sorry,” he said, his voice low and rough. “That kind of came out of nowhere. One moment we were talking about snow and the next I knew I had to kiss you. I hope you don’t think I’m the kind of guy who steals kisses every time he decorates a Christmas tree.”
If he did, she imagined women across Silver Bells would be inviting him over to help them trim the tree.
“You don’t have to apologize. Really. I’m, um, actually glad you kissed me.”
“Glad?”
“Yes. I didn’t throw up.” As soon as she heard her own words, she couldn’t believe she had just blurted out those words. She might as well have been sick. Oh, she was an idiot.
As she might have expected, he drew away farther, blinking a little. “Always the reaction I’m hoping for when I kiss a woman.”
Abby’s face felt hot. She should just stop talking now. That would be the sensible thing to do, but she felt like she had to at least try to explain such an odd statement.
“Since Kevin died, I’ve been afraid I would never be able to endure another man’s touch. That probably sounds stupid to you.”