Page 197 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

Her hair was in a bun on top of her head, and she wore a burgundy robe tied around her waist. Fluffy slippers covered her feet. Her ankles were bare. So bare…

I didn't think I'd ever been more aware of another person's ankles. I felt like an olden times pervert, lusting over the smooth skin peaking between her slippers and pajama pants.

"Good morning." She swiped a hand over the wild strands of her hair curling around her shoulders.

I cleared my throat, but my voice still sounded scraped with gravel with my reply. "Good morning."

With a mug covered in cat faces, she gestured over her shoulder. "There's coffee," she said, at the same time I said, "I smelled coffee."

My smile was a mirror of hers—small, embarrassed, careful.

The night before, I'd finished my beer while trying not to notice the adorable pink that filled Lizzy's cheeks every time I looked at her. Shay and Rose did most of the talking—something about a decorating competition. The conversation didn't capture my attention long enough to retain any details.

Her gaze cast down to her slipper covered toes, and my heart ached. This was not how I wanted to know her. If this were a different morning, I'd have woken up next to her. Or I'd find her in the kitchen and pull her against my chest, breathe in the floral scent of her hair. The same smell I'd been craving since I had her underneath me in a hotel bed.

The memory washed over me like electric sparks on my skin. I closed my eyes to it, but there was no blocking out the remembered taste of her on my tongue or the way her thighs twitched over my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" The floor creaked as she took a step closer.

Stuffing my hand in the pocket of my basketball shorts, I adjusted the very sudden and very unwelcome semi.

When I opened my eyes, she was still a few feet away. Her brown gaze concerned, and her soft, pink lips parted. She must have interpreted the path my thoughts had wandered down because her eyes flicked down to my shorts.

Her mouth pulled into a silent,"Oh."

Under my fingernails, the stubble on my neck rustled with my nervous scratching. "Sorry."

She covered her mouth with her free hand, clearly hiding a smile.

"Is this funny?"

She lifted one shoulder. "Boners are funny," she whispered.

I snorted, and she pressed her finger to her lips to shush me. We contained our laughter from growing too loud. The shame and betrayal I'd seen in her eyes the night before was gone. Replaced by a secret that only we shared. A silliness that did nothing to quell my growing…problem.

"You're not helping the situation," I groaned, forcing myself to not close the distance between us.

"I'm not even doing anything."

"You don't have to."

"Should I go back to my room?"

Self-preservation would say,yes. What good could come from this? Was there a reality where Lizzy and I could have more than a hidden fling some day?

But the golden morning sunlight cast her in shades I didn't want to turn away from, so I shook my head.

Her teeth pressed into her lower lip. "Why don't you take a seat at the counter while you…take care of that."

"Take care of it?"

"I don't know…tendto it?"

"At the kitchen counter?"

She struggled to control the smile dominating her face and lost. "You know what I mean."

Placing the island between us, I sat on the stool and tapped my fingers on the quartz countertop. "Don't mind me, I'mtending."

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