The One Night Stand Before Christmas - Jana Aston Page 0,21
forever.
The waitress arrives with our pancakes and I distract myself with my fork, digging a hole into the center of the stack so I can eat the best part first. I might also be buying some time while I recover from the whirlwind to my guarded heart.
“So you were just at the library to return your grandmother’s books and I forced you into a Santa suit. Is that the gist of it? Why on earth did you go along with it?”
“I don’t know.” He waves a piece of bacon in the air between us. “Your vibe was really doing it for me and once I started talking to you I didn’t want to leave.”
“My vibe?” I’m dumbfounded. I’m pretty sure my vibe is cantankerous harridan.
“You were sexy as hell standing there tapping your foot as you sighed and looked at your watch every five seconds.”
“Impatience is a turn-on for you?”
“It is when it’s you. So much attitude packed into that sexy turtleneck you were wearing.” I roll my eyes before he can continue. “Besides, once I figured out who you were I thought perhaps my grandma had volunteered me to help out. Since you were so intent on sticking me in that Santa suit and my grandmother had been so intent on singing your praises to me every chance she got.”
“You were a very good sport, all things considered.”
“I really was.”
We’re quiet for a few moments while I stuff pancakes into my mouth as Teddy stares at me from across the table, but with a thoughtful expression instead of being horrified by the amount of maple syrup I’ve swirled into the melting butter crater in the middle of my pancake stack.
I mean, the thing is, he’s already seen me naked so there’s no point worrying about my figure now when there are pancakes to be consumed.
“Listen, I know that you were trying to one-night-stand me—” Teddy starts but I interrupt him before he can finish.
“I wasn’t!” I object, already shaking my head. But I was. I totally tried to one-night-stand him.
“You left your own house in order to avoid me,” he reminds me, brows raised in amused exasperation. “That was…” He trails off as if searching for the right word.
Crazy. Cowardly. Insane. Take your pick.
“Honestly a move I’ve never seen before, you little nutcase.”
I shrug. It wasn’t my finest moment. I think we can all agree.
“But I want more than that.”
“More?” Me too, is what I really want to say. Me too, me too, me too. I want more of him. More of us together. I want to tell him that I’ve never felt the way I feel when I’m around him. But I don’t, because it’s too soon, too crazy. Even crazier than having a one-night stand with a man you just met based on great chemistry and sexy eyes and his insistence that he finds you sexy. Crazier than ditching that same guy in your house like a little coward. So instead I stare at him with my heart beating a mile a minute, wondering where exactly this conversation is going.
“With you.”
The silence hangs between us. I think he’s waiting for me to respond, but my mind is moving faster than an agitated snow globe at the moment. “You want a long-distance relationship with a girl you had a one-night stand with?”
“No.”
Oh. Oh, God. He just wants to vacation-hookup me. Crap. I want more than that. I deserve more than that, even if it is scary. I’ve made so many mistakes in relationships. Picked the wrong guys. Expected too much, or too little. But I want more now. I deserve more.
“I want us to spend the rest of the month getting to know each other. Dating.”
“I’m terrible at dating,” I warn—or object, I’m not even sure which I’m doing, but he should probably know.
“I don’t care.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were terrible at dating before you met me. This is me and you, Noel. And we are going to be good together.” He grins. “Also I’m going to deadbolt the door when we have sleepovers so you can’t run away.”
I bite my lip between my teeth to keep from smiling. “We barely know each other.”
“No one knows anyone before they know them.”
“That was a mouthful.”
“What I mean is, you have to start somewhere, Noel. If you want to know someone, you have to start somewhere. Every day you choose who you want to spend time with. Who you want to know better and who is worthy of your time.