Page 41 of Christmas Criminal

She shrugs. "Beard burn," she explains.

My mouth goes dry at the thought. Some sort of caveman instinct flows through me, and I suddenly have no thoughts inmy head other than tearing her hand away from her neck and making thatreal.

She reaches for me and pinches my cheeks, and I feel the urge to grab her by the hips, tug her legs around me, and kiss her.

No one can see us right now.

She lets out a quick breath. "Ready?"

No.I nod.

"You go first and pull me up," I say.

"What?"

"Just go," she says, picking up the tablecloth with a flourish and grabbing onto my hand when I propel out of there.

I pull her up behind me, and we nearly bowl over a mathlete with a cup of hot chocolate who only raises an eyebrow but thankfully doesn't comment.

When I turn back to the line out front, Delia is still there. She has a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, so I can only assume she was just waiting for me to turn up again.

Noelle slips her arm around my waist, delicate but strong, and when I glance down at her, she's grinning at me like she got away with egging somebody's house. "Oopsie," she says, giggling as she leans in close to me. She rests her chin on my shoulder, turning slightly away from Delia and lowering her voice. "You know, this would be a good time to pretend you like me."

I swallow, clicking back into the plan, and clamp my arm tight around her. She nods subtly, like she approves, and I take the opportunity to run my other hand through her hair.

Her eyes widen as she leans into the touch.

And I think I might be addicted to it.

I let my hand fall to her neck, resting in the crook there while she looks up at me. I brush my thumb along the line of her jaw as her lips part slightly.

It feels like I should kiss her.

"I think it worked," she murmurs, breaking our spell.

When I glance back at the line, Delia is gone.

But I don't want to remove my hand from Noelle's neck. Or the arm from around her shoulders.

She reaches up, her hand covering mine, and squeezes.

When she sighs, I feel it deep in my abdomen.

It takes every ounce of willpower to remove my hands from this woman.

When I do, it's like her skin has seared me. My thigh, where her hip pressed against me. My waist where she tugged on me. The skin of her neck on my hands.

Every part of me where she was is now on fire.

And she only smiles as she tugs on my hand, pulling me out of the booth.

9

NOELLE

Thursday, December 12th

Is it a bad idea to hang onto Nick so that I don't have to see my dad for the first time since I egged his house?

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