“Exactly.” He turned and looked at me, his brown eyes scanning my face. “Do you have any regrets about jumping in?”
I bit my lip, thinking about that night. It had been scary. I wouldn’t have done it without Miles pushing me, and I was definitely not lining up to do it again anytime soon. But just thinking about it brought back the rush of the moment, and I couldn’t help but grin. “No, I don’t have regrets. But don’t let that go to your head. I’m not doing it ever again.”
He laughed and nudged my arm. “Skydiving next week?”
“Not on your life.”
We both chuckled softly as we sat there, each staring off into space until he spoke again.
“During therapy, I was encouraged to write down whatever I was feeling. That became a powerful outlet for me. Eventually, I began studying English at college, so taking a creative writing course seemed a natural step. The first couple of years, my writing was crap, but I kept at it and eventually got better.”
“And now you have three books out with the fourth coming out next year.”
He looked down at me, a curious gleam in his eyes. “You know, for somebody who claims not to care that much, you sure seem to know a lot about my books. I’d love to get my hands on that Kindle of yours. I feel like I’d learn a lot about you.”
I grinned cheekily up at him. “I’ve got that thing locked down tight.”
“I knew it.” He tickled my sides until I was laughing and trying to squirm away. When he relented, he didn’t release me. Instead, he maneuvered his body and mine so that he sat directly behind me, with me leaning back against him, his legs sprawled out at my sides. I turned slightly so my face could curl against his chest while his arms wrapped around me.
“You think I’m going to cuddle with you just because we’re trapped in a covered bridge?” I asked, while my frozen right hand unzipped his coat just enough that I could slip my arms through and slide them around his waist. Even through his flannel shirt, the heat from his body kissed my skin. A sigh of relief came unbidden past my lips.
“You think I’m going to let you steal my body heat so you don’t freeze?” he countered, pulling me even tighter against him. My body felt too twisted in its current position, so I turned even more to the side, letting my legs sprawl out over top of his right leg.
The wind whipped through the tunnel, and though we were just out of reach of the snow, everywhere around us looked to be freezing, except for our tropical oasis in the middle. I would have been perfectly content to stay just like that forever.
“So, you said you can’t sit still. Was it hard watching the movie last night?”
He breathed out a laugh, ruffling my hair slightly. “Nope. That wasn’t hard. I had a few other things to occupy my mind.”
Heat warmed my cheek pressed against his chest. His heartbeat was a steady drum against my ear. I kept my face pressed against him and tried to contain the smile that threatened to burst free.
“I learned something else from Kelly too,” Miles whispered in my ear.
For some reason, I stilled at his words. I was wrapped in the arms of Miles Taylor in the middle of a covered bridge in a storm. We were cozy and warm here, effectively blocking out the entire world. The air between us shifted to something palpable. I could almost hold it in my hands, though I was too scared to meet his eyes. Too scared at the emotion I might find there.
“What?” I whispered.
His voice was a soft rumble against my ear. “When I see something I want, I just need to go for it.”
The storm whirled on around us, but the air between fell into a hushed silence, his words swirling around us with the wind. I had started the day wanting him to keep his distance. His confession the day before had terrified me. And I think he knew that. I had every excuse in the book to be wary of him, but he had spent this past week slowly disarming every one of my defenses. Miles Taylor was a good man. I think I had always known it, but he had caught me at a bad time. With the passing of my dad and losing Mr. Grady’s steady presence at school at the same time, my world had been turned upside down in one fell swoop. Instead of letting me be and giving me a wide berth, like everyone else, Miles tested and pulled and nudged me into uncomfortable places. He noticed parts of me that I tried to hide away from the world. I had been so threatened by that. By him. I saw him as demeaning and arrogant, when now I could see he had been trying to help me stand up for myself. In his own way, he had been protective of me.
Before I could let myself overthink my actions, I lifted my head to meet his eyes. My hands slid up his chest, cupping his cheeks gently before I pressed my lips against his. He met my shy kiss with a softness, taking his time to linger and savor. His hands cradled my face, returning my kisses with a sweet tenderness that felt too delicious to be real. Slowly, the heat between our mouths began a dance that matched our pounding heartbeats. He wrapped his arms around me, tucking me close while he increased the pressure of our lips.
My hands found their way around his neck, diving into the feel of his hair. One of his hands cupped my cheek, caressing my skin softly while his mouth explored every inch of mine, wrapping me up in a romantic spell so enchanting he had me whispering his name in a breathy, embarrassing sort of way.
He pulled back to look at me, a sudden grin on his lips. “Yes?”
I stared at him, dazed and blinking, taking a moment while trying to form actual coherent thoughts.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re having our moment. And it’s about damn time.”
“It’s been literally five da—”
His mouth found mine again, breaking apart only for a moment when we were both smiling too wide for the kiss.
“It’s been a lot longer for me,” he whispered.
I met his intense gaze with a reluctant smile crossing my lips. After he wielded a few more words to swoon me into silence, he pulled me onto his lap where he spent quite some time kissing me senseless.
We were rescued sometime in the late afternoon. Thankfully, Jack had been aware of our plans to go riding and, when we didn’t return at a reasonable hour, set off to search the few places he could think of that we might have sought shelter. He was visibly relieved to find us both okay. After shooting a few meaningful glances at his son as he helped us onto his snowmobile, I concluded that this ordeal must have brought up a few memories for him as well.
TWENTY FOUR
“Till this moment I never knew myself.”
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Christmas morning arrived all too soon. The air bit at my nose as I made my way toward my mom’s cabin. There was a peaceful calm about me. The gray clouds that hung low in the sky all day yesterday were absent this morning. The sunlight sent its rays down to sparkle on the snow before me. The howling wind from yesterday was silent, the calm after a storm. Somewhere in the distance, the loudspeakers hummed out a soft tune of “O Come, All Ye Faithful”。 Even though I still preferred to hide away in my own cabin, I walked forward with a purpose in my step, a determination that had never been there before. Though this had never been a moment I would have wished for, I was going to try my best to attempt to live it today.
The snow-covered sidewalk crunched under my boots as my thoughts turned to yesterday and how I had left my heart bleeding under the covered bridge in the care of Miles Taylor. I couldn’t remember a time since my dad’s death that I’d unloaded my thoughts on somebody that way. Earlier this morning, I had awoken to the sting of embarrassment, the dawn of a new day bringing to light my pathetic vulnerability. Then, not even five minutes later, I received a text from Miles.