Page 96 of When the Fake Snow Falls

Gently brushing his thumb over my bottom lip, Chase’seyes dip to my mouth for a fraction of a second before he meets my stare again. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Please do,” I say and the words come out breathless.

Then his mouth is on mine. Warm and familiar. New and exciting. He’s everything. Everything I’ve ever wanted feels packed into this kiss, and before I know it, my hands are in his hair. My tongue grazes his bottom lip, and Chase lifts me up against the wall to kiss me deeper. His long fingers curl into my hair, and my legs wrap around him. I’m completely lost in him. Lost in the way he still tastes like traces of mint and in the way his tongue perfectly teases mine. Lost in the feeling of having him pressed against me. I’m completely lost in the feeling of being wanted by him.Trulywanted.

Pulling back, Chase nips at my bottom lip. “You’re the prettiest stranger I never met.”

Laughter blooms in my chest. “You’re ridiculous.”

Chase grins as he sets me down and takes my hand in his, his thumb rubbing over the backs of my knuckles. “Let me take you on a date. A real one.”

I let out a short laugh. “No.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “No?” He points over his shoulder, his smirk growing. “Not even if I take you to see the Surfing Santas?”

A smile pulls at my lips, and I shake my head. “Please don’t.” I feel like I’m the one who should make it up tohim.I’m the one who thought I had him pegged. And I’m the one who was wrong again. Pushing up on my toes I kiss him. “You don’t have to make anything up to me with a date. You’re here. That’s more than enough.”

“You’re more than enough,” he says, and then his mouth is on mine.

The door to the apartment opens, and Miles pokes his head out to find us pressed against the wall. Chase and I look at him, but Chase keeps my hands pinned against the wall likeonce this interruption is over, he plans on going back to what he was doing before.

Miles grins and points over his shoulder. “Uh, you do know she has an entire room you can use.”

My cheeks flare, and my voice is breathless when I say, “We’ll be right in.”

“Merry Christmas, Miles,” Chase says before settling his stare back on me.

Miles tilts his head playfully. “Merry Christmas, Daddy Chase.”

Chase’s mouth quirks, but he doesn’t take his eyes off me, and Miles ducks back into the apartment. “Think he’ll ever stop calling me that?”

“Probably not,” I admit.

Chase lets out a low chuckle that I feel in my bones. “Good to know.” He kisses me again, and warmth spreads from my head to my toes. “Merry Christmas, Candace.” His words flutter against my lips.

“Merry Christmas.”

He smiles against my lips before he kisses me again. His hands move to my hair, and mine grip the material of his shirt. Each press of his lips on mine feels like another reassurance. He’s kissing me with more care and feeling than he ever has, and I’m just glad I get to kiss him again at all.

Pulling back, Chase smooths down my hair with a slight smile. “We should probably go in there before I mess you up.”

I look at the apartment door and then back at him. “Yeah, we can save the messing up for later.” I kiss him one more time, and he groans as I pull him to follow me.

The apartment looks exactly the same as it did before I stepped outside. Miles and Elvis are still drinking their cocktails on the couch. Soft holiday music plays throughout, and the smell of roasted chicken wafts throughout the entire apartment. The decorations are the same, my glass sits on thekitchen counter, even the snacks laid out don’t look like they’ve been touched since I left a few minutes ago. But one thing is very different. Outside the windows that frame the back wall, there’s. . . snow.

Chase and I both stand there, staring at the little tufts of white cascading from the sky. He’s first to point at the window. “Is that?—”

“Fake snow,” Miles says with a laugh. “It’s coming from the balcony above us. The machine is loud as a motherfucker, and it looks like it might be made with PVC pipe, but from here it’s cool.” He shimmies his shoulders. “Lenny is making me feel festive.”

I blink before looking at the ceiling like it will somehow give me insight into the apartment above. “That’s what he’s been working on? A fake snow machine?”

“Seems like it,” Miles says with a shrug.

“I love it,” Elvis chimes in. “Florida never feels like Christmas.”

“Yeah,” Chase says. “I love it, too.”

I look over at him, but he’s not looking at the fake snow anymore. He’s looking at me. I swallow.

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