Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,84

won’t be put off that easily…”

“Relationships?” His smile gave her a flutter.

“What else should we call this?” She waggled a finger between them.

He pulled her into him and nuzzled her neck. “How did I get so lucky? I didn’t do anything to deserve you.”

She twisted around and gave him a kiss.

Theo stood up, grabbed Lila’s hands and pulled her up. “I’m starving. Let’s get some breakfast.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the market to buy ingredients. I’m cooking.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, his gaze more delicious than anything he could make in the kitchen.

“You haven’t lived until you’ve had my breakfast pizza,” Theo teased as he stir-fried the mushrooms, green peppers, and onions they’d bought at the market, tossing them with butter, the savory aroma filling the room. He turned the heat to low. “Would you grab a bowl? We need to mix the yeast with the sugar and warm water.” He flipped the bacon sizzling in the pan beside him.

There was something so irresistible about him standing in his bare feet, with Lila at the stove, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel. It was a sight she knew she would crave on those lonely nights by herself. She grabbed a bowl to refocus, so the thought of him being anywhere but there didn’t linger in her mind.

Theo mixed the ingredients, causing the yeast to fizz. He added olive oil and flour, dusting the counter with a little more flour. “We just have to knead this,” he said, sprinkling salt over the dough and mixing it in. His large hands manipulated the dough easily, forming a neat ball that he plopped onto the counter and stretched out into a circle. “All done. We’ll just pop it into the oven for a few minutes while we make the eggs.”

When the crust had baked a few minutes, Theo spread pesto over it, and then topped the pizza with bacon, eggs, mozzarella, and veggies, placing it back into the oven.

“What should we do while the pizza bakes?” Lila asked.

“Hm. Maybe this?” He nuzzled her neck, kissing it and giving her goose bumps.

She squirmed away playfully. But then she sobered. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she said. “I really am.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” he replied. “You should never be alone.”

“Neither should you,” she pointed out. She’d had to live her whole adult life by herself, and she knew how to do that, but in all the years she’d had to get used to it, it had never gotten any easier. Theo had chosen to be alone, and the idea of that was unfathomable to Lila.

“You should call your dad,” she suggested, keeping her expression lighthearted so as not to change the mood between them. “Or let me call him?”

“What?” He wrinkled his nose at her.

“Let me talk to your father. Let me call ol’ Smash.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to have anything to do with him. I want to shield you from that as much as possible.”

“Oh, please. Give me your phone.” She reached around to his back pocket.

“No.” He laughed again, dodging her, grabbing the kitchen towel and snapping it in the air as if that would ward her off.

“He probably won’t even answer. Let me call him!” she said, giggling as she tickled his sides, trying to get at his phone and making him squirm.

Theo playfully defended himself, tossing the towel onto the counter and taking her wrists, using his weight to turn the tables.

“That’s not fair,” she said, laughing and trying to twist out of the grip of his large hands. His thumbs caressed her skin, sending her stomach into somersaults.

He moved her past the counter and pinned her down on the sofa, hovering over her while gently letting her go. “You’re going to have to fight me to get my phone.”

“Fine,” she said, her muscles relaxing.

Softly, his fingers trailed down her arms, giving her goose bumps. She fought the urge to kiss him, instead reaching around and swiping his cell phone from his back pocket as she slid out from under him onto the floor. She scrambled to her feet.

“Got it,” she said, waving it in the air.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Of course not, it’s—”

“Christmas,” he said, finishing her sentence. But his face dropped. “It’s not going to be all sleigh bells and happy endings, Lila. Life doesn’t work like that.”

She knew that better than anyone, but she also knew how short life