rude. And at least a misdemeanor. So she reached up, eyes pressed tightly shut, and tapped her nails back and forth on the window.
Then she did it again.
Maybe she’d guessed wrong and was at Teague’s room? Giving it one more try, this time Sydney knocked with her knuckles, feeling foolish. At least she hadn’t done the classic gravel toss at the glass.
Abruptly, the window pushed up beneath her fingers. “Sydney?” Alex glowered for another second, then his features smoothed into amusement. “What the hell are you doing out there? I thought we had a racoon trying to break in.”
“They’re generally not the breaking and entering type. They need the lure of food.”
He looked down at her. Boots buried in a snowdrift up to mid-shin. Balanced sideways against the wall to arch around the out-of-control vegetation. “Do you really want to keep crouching in that bush in below-freezing temps talking to me about racoons?”
“No. I really don’t. But I don’t want Teague to know I’m here, either.”
“Yeah—that’s obvious,” he said dryly. “My room connects to the porch. I’ll meet you out there.”
Sydney got jabbed in the ribs as she tried to back out around the bush. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea after all. Few ideas that hit in pjs after ten p.m. ever were worthwhile. But mid-pint of Häagen-Daz’s Rum Tres Leches, it’d felt brilliant.
She let herself in the creaky screen door, then sank into an Adirondack. Hoped—probably too late, the way her night was going—that it wasn’t splintery or cracked. She pulled her knit cap down more over her ears. Then she pulled up her parka hood over it. They might be out here a while.
Alex came out looking…bulky under his terry cloth bathrobe. Very bulky, for her to see it at all in the shadows. The moonlight wasn’t doing too much to illuminate the porch.
Sydney pointed at him. “Why aren’t you wearing a coat?”
“You said you didn’t want Teague to know you were here. He’d wonder why I need my coat to hang out in my bedroom. So I put on three sweatshirts under this. Oughtta be fine for a bit.”
Guilt lashed at her. “I’m sorry. This was dumb. I don’t want you getting frostbite. I should go.” She started to push out of the chair, but Alex put a hand on her thigh to stop her.
A hand covered in socks.
Which was adorably hilarious. And just so thoughtful, that he’d go to these lengths after a crazy woman knocked on his window.
“No. Sydney, something brought you over here close to midnight. Stay and tell me.” He snatched his hand back. “Unless you’re here to break up with me. I don’t so much want to freeze my balls off for that.”
“That’s exactly why I’m here. Well, not to break up. But to discuss our engagement.”
There was enough light to see his eyes widen perceptibly. And his teeth flashed as his jaw dropped. “This couldn’t wait until our big Saturday night date?”
“No.” Because she had a shift at the Mercantile in the morning. The only way this conversation could wait was if she stayed in bed all day with the covers over her head. Which was another moment from her pre-teen history, but one she did not need to re-enact.
“Hmm.” He rubbed his hand over his chin. “Need to negotiate our prenup?”
Funny. If they were inside, bantering over spiked cocoa in front of a roaring fire.
“Alex, the longer you tease me about this, the longer you’ll be out here in twenty-degree temps.”
“Sorry. Why is this a secret from Teague, by the way?”
“He’s fun.”
“Yeah? I feel like that comment is going to boomerang into you needing me to not be fun?”
“I’m already embarrassed about this whole thing. It wasn’t easy to be confronted by Teague and Amelia and Everleigh when I came to the inn to talk to you today. They were all nice, but I felt like an idiot. Probably because this whole fake engagement is a really nutty thing to try and pull off.”
“Well, you can’t be embarrassed with me. We’re in this together. And I’ll do my best to dial back my natural affinity for fun.” He folded his hand together. It was probably an attempt to look serious, but the sock mittens killed that vibe. “What’s on your mind?”
Sydney pulled off her glove and waggled her fourth finger at him. “I don’t know why you gave me a paper clip ring.”
“What else did you expect me to use from that back office? Did you want me