My shoulders dropped while my mind immediately began to race. Did that mean he wanted out? That would make things awkward if we broke up here—embarrassing for me, anyway. Glenn would love this turn of events. Unless Miles let me do the breakup. Maybe instead of a breakup, we could just say he was called back in for work. Well, no, we work at the same place. Maybe we could…
“Number two.”
His strong voice gave me pause in my thoughts enough to look back up at him.
“And this is something I’ve suspected for a while but has since been proven true.”
“What?”
“I’ve got a thing for pretty, uptight English teachers.”
I blinked as his words fell over me, but nothing made sense. He was staring at me calmly, almost nonchalant after this major bomb of a revelation. I stood like a statue, unable to move, though my body was a kaleidoscope of activity on the inside. There was something amiss with his words, a puzzle I wouldn’t be able to finish without this missing piece. And I needed all the pieces to make sense of his words.
I swallowed and held up a finger, mimicking Miles. “Follow-up question.”
He nodded. “Shoot.”
“You said pretty uptight English teachers.” The words were coming out mumbled, like I was in a daze, which I totally was. “Were you meaning an English teacher that’s moderately uptight, or was there a comma in there somewhere?”
He cocked his head to the side as he regarded me with an expression somewhere between amusement and a tenderness I could drown in. “The statement could probably go either way. This teacher is definitely pretty uptight, but I did, in fact, mean that statement with a comma after pretty. But now that I’m really thinking about it, beautiful would have been a better adjective.”
Suddenly, I noticed how close he was. Much too close. Much too comfortable. His eyes were roaming my face before landing on my lips. I made the mistake of catching his gaze, and it was…in a word…smoldering. Oh my gosh. I needed to remember to ask him if he had a pen name or something—for romance books he must secretly write. He didn’t put anything like this into his adventure books. I mean…from what I’ve heard…they’re not romantic.
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
“Well,” I said, my chin raised high, determined to keep us on track. “I’ve enjoyed my cabin, but that’s about it.”
He breathed out a chuckle. “Such a little liar.” He slowly gathered me tighter until his arms were wrapped comfortably around my waist. It was December in Vermont, okay? I was going to lock in that heat source, so I allowed him to embrace me. I was half tempted to lean my head against his shoulder. I couldn’t tell if that would be better or worse than actually looking at him.
“Who can see us?” I asked. We were within view of the lodge now, but currently, my view was blocked by his shoulder.
“Nobody.”
“What? Hey!” I pushed myself out of his arms only to have him pull me back again. I’d give myself a solid D-for effort in resisting him.
“I would never fake date somebody I didn’t already want to be dating.”
The hair on my arms stood at attention with his words. Why was he whispering?
I drew in a breath and tried again to step out of his arms. He let me go a little, but not all the way. “You can’t tell me that.”
“Tell you what?”
“That you…that you…” I was lost for words.
“That I like you?”
“Yeah. That you like me.” I whispered the words like the idea was crazy. Because it was crazy. It had to be.
His lips curled into a smile. “Why not?”
“Because it’s only Tuesday. We’ve got three more days here. I don’t want this to be more awkward than it already is. We work together.” My eyes narrowed onto his, trying to look intimidating. “Take it back.”
By this time, pure delight colored his eyes. “Take it back? Like we’re five?”
“Yup.” I folded my arms, trying to bargain with my racing heart. Heart, if you slow down, I promise I’ll try running again. Later. In the summer. Maybe.
He scoffed. “You want me to wait until the end to tell the girl how I feel? I refuse to be a cliché. Like a real man, I told you in the middle.”
“A real what?” I countered, trying to buy some time.
He pulled me closer. “I think you know.”
“You don’t really like me.”
“I do.” All the hairs on my body stood at attention. I ignored them.
“No. You can’t. And I absolutely don’t date people I work with. Been there, done that. I’ve made that very clear.”
“That’s not what you told your sister.”
“I was desperate!” I stamped my foot. A definite sign of a mature woman.
He went on talking, almost as if he hadn’t heard any of my protests. “Honestly, it was surprising how likable you were once we got you out into nature. Although, that could be the spanking talking.”
It took me a moment to formulate words after that, with Miles’s all-knowing eyes watching me with growing amusement. “Well, I reject your statement. You’ve just flustered me. That’s all.”
“Huh,” he mumbled, stepping closer, his coat pressing against mine while his hands found my waist. “So that leaves me three days to convince your lying heart otherwise?” He leaned in closer, his mouth a whisper away from mine. The heat from his breath smelled minty and warm, and I wanted nothing more than to get lost in it. To breathe it in and…kiss him.
Oh no.
His mouth became my only focus as it moved closer, lips parted. I had tasted those lips the night before, and by the way my mouth filled with moisture, it definitely remembered. I’d probably get the shakes before long if I didn’t just do it. I couldn’t think at all anymore and, instead, closed my eyes to block it out, my lips parting the slightest bit. Then I waited.
And waited.
I opened my eyes to find a triumphant Miles. Still too close to me. Still making my breathing erratic. He slid his lips away from mine, brushing them ever so softly across my cheekbone until he reached my ear. Chills raced down my entire nervous system and a soft heat billowed from his mouth as he whispered, “Game on.”
With a kiss on my cheek, he reached back down and grabbed the tree with one hand and my hand with the other and proceeded to pull us both back to the cabin.
And just like that, my body filled with all the clichéd emotions I found in the Hallmark Christmas romances I secretly watched every December. My heart was pounding, my stomach was fluttering, and the hint of a smile was begging to be released from my lips.
TWENTY
“No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en.”
William Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew
We got back to the cabin, red-faced and embarrassed—or wait, that was just me. Miles clomped along at my side, dragging the dead pine tree behind him and whistling “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” the whole way back.
Once inside, I put a pot of coffee on. Miles busied himself finding a stand and an old strand of lights from the creepy basement, which was fine with me. I needed a moment to regroup.