Page 19 of The Christmas Romance Wish

As if waking from a trance, I give my head a little shake. In case he heard me, I say, “I mean, why does it have to be so hot in here?”

The side of his lip lifts and he starts toward me, but before he reaches me, a burly guy wearing a sweatshirt with the Wild Warriors logo of two crossed hatchets with flames burning above in a campfire style intercepts him. I help myself to a mug of cider and linger by the fire.

A few of the other guys introduce themselves before Alex breaks free. Again, I’ve been around my brothers and their friends enough that I don’t need rescuing. Most recently, my move is to be solitary, but I wasn’t always that way. Once, Ryan said I couldgive Harley a run for her sassy pants money. Now they’re married, so go figure. But being around Alex, who has done more than his share of rescuing, draws me in like a moth toward a flame.

And those bah humbugs don’t help either.

“Hey, sorry about that. I wanted to—I couldn’t—Trapp and I go way back and—” He thumbs over his shoulder toward the guy.

I hold up my hands. “No apology needed. I navigated my way up here and through the hoard of wild warrior men just fine. In fact, I formally met Jesse and Paxton.”

Alex lets out a stilted breath.

“And they treated your most esteemed guest with utmost respect.”

Through the scruff on Alex’s face, appears a dimple along with his smile.

Only just seeing the dimple now, my breath catches. This is the best detail I’ve gathered so far. I hadn’t noticed it before. Is that because it doesn’t always pop or only comes with a certain kind of smile?

His deep voice comes back to me, “Ignore everything they say?—”

“And pay attention to what they don’t say.”

He snaps his fingers. “Wow. You’re a quick student.”

“Four brothers, remember?” I wink. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“If you were staying longer, there is a Christmas rodeo next weekend.”

“Brothers. Family. All that holiday business.”

“Right. Business. I mean Christmas.” Puffing out his cheeks, he looks around. “I wanted to get a tree up, but we had more Black Friday orders than expected and have been slightly behind ever since.”

“Maybe before I leave, you can show me headquarters.”

Alex lifts his hands, palms up, and says, “You’re looking at it.”

“Your living room?”

“With the flip of a switch, this place turnsinto command central with state-of-the-art—” His grin tells me everything I need to know about this little instance of leg pulling.

I snap my fingers and point. “You almost had me.”

“Quick student and perceptive. You’ll fit right in here.”

“I hope so. After I settled in down at the cabin, I talked to Dylann and confessed to having fallen in love—” There goes my mouth and my cheeks.

And if we weren’t so close to the fire, I’d think Alex’s cheeks flushed too or is he wearing a slight grimace? I can’t tell.

“I mean with your property. It’s beautiful. I can’t help but wonder where it’s been all my life.”

Alex’s gaze searches mine for a long moment as if not sure whether to linger or run for the hills. My busy brain and my mouth don’t always sync up.

Someone whistles sharply, snapping us out of the haze, or am I suffering from altitude sickness? We’re up high, right?

“Twas the night before the ruck and all through the house...” a guy with a deep voice starts.

“They’re getting started without me,” Alex says.

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