Page 60 of The Christmas You Crash

She sighs when I cup her face with my hands, her eyelids fluttering closed. I can’t resist. I close the distance between us and press my lips to hers. It’s not hungry, like our kisses last night. No, this kiss is the sealing of a silent promise to do whatever is in my power to make Lexi happy. To keep her heart safe. Because it’s become very clear to me that Alexis Cross is an expert at protecting her own heart.

I’d like to be the one to take up the mantle now. All I want is to be a safe place for her. A place to fall when she doesn’t have the strength to stand on her own. To be someone who will hold her up and protect her.

I’m not dumb enough to say any of that to her, yet. Lexi is fiercely independent. Anyone can see that. If I try to come riding in on a white horse, like some knight in shining armor,she’s more likely to kick my ass than swoon. But we’ll get there. Probably not to the swooning part, but the letting me protect her part. It may take some time, but I’ll show her she can depend on me. That she can lean on me.

“You’re beautiful,” I whisper between slow, drugging kisses. “I bet you even looked beautiful with clumps of clay in your hair.”

She chuckles against my mouth before tugging on my lower lip with her teeth. “Such a charmer, Ryder Hanson. Are you trying to get into my pants?”

I buck up against her. “You’re not wearing any pants.”

That has her breathing going ragged. “True. I certainly am not.”

“Should we head inside? I’ll dry you off, grab a condom, and make you scream my name.”

“Mm. Yes, please.” Lexi wraps her arms tightly around my neck, then hooks her legs around my waist. “To the bedroom, Jeeves.”

That devious smirk on her face has me arching one eyebrow, but I give her what she wants. Rising to my feet, I carefully step out of the hot tub, with Lexi clinging to me like a koala, and carry her inside.

“As you wish, madam.”

twenty-nine

RYDER

The plows havethe roads cleared by the 27th, but the service Coach hired to clear the cabin’s drive doesn’t come through until the afternoon of the 28th. The tow truck driver arrives shortly after to drag my car out of the ditch and up to the cabin.

“What would you have done if you were alone, and they couldn’t pull you out right away?” Lexi asks me. She crosses her arms over her chest and watches me give my car a once-over. One hip is popped out to the side, and she’s got a smirk ticking up the corner of her mouth.

“Guess I would have had to live here,” I say with a shrug. “Become one with the wilderness or some shit.”

She shakes her head at me. “You’d be living off canned beans, since you didn’t bring any groceries with you.”

I would have. She’s not wrong.

“Guess you got lucky, getting snowed in here with me, huh?”

Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms around her and tug her against my body. She tilts her chin up to look at me, those verdant eyes of hers dancing. Little tease. I press a soft kiss to her lips and whisper, “So lucky. Count my lucky stars, lucky.”I kiss her again, our lips soft and pliant as we savor one another. “And not just because you brought enough groceries for both of us.”

The way her body softens against mine fills me with a primal satisfaction I can’t quite define. Of course, part of it is that Lexi is beautiful. Her body is a work of art, and any man who’s attracted to women would puff up his chest if she leaned into him this way. But the main thing is that, in a week, I’ve earned her trust. I don’t think that’s a feat too many people can boast.

“Aren’t you a charmer?” she teases. Her lips brush against mine with each word.

“Only for you, OTG.”

That makes her chuckle. “Yeah. Only for the woman you’ve nicknamed Oscar The Grouch.”

“If the shoe fits…” I offer her a cheeky grin and a shrug. And then I wrap my arms more tightly around her and kiss her again. This time, the kisses aren’t soft and pliant; they’re hot and demanding. I’m rewarded with soft gasps, which I breathe in. Straight from Lexi’s lungs to mine. She shivers. I want to believe it’s because I’m just that good at kissing, but more than likely, it’s because this garage is cold as hell. “Come on. Let’s go inside and get you warmed up.”

Linking our fingers, I lead her into the house. My stomach has been tangled in knots ever since the guy came and plowed the driveway. Our time here is coming to a close. Lexi agreed to date me, but we’re stepping out of our safe, secluded little snow globe and into the real world. Full of unknowns and obstacles. Part of me worries she’ll get home and change her mind about me.

There’s also the matter of the New Year’s Eve party. The one I still need to tell Lexi about. And then somehow convince her to come, even though the party will be full of Rogues players, and she wants to keep our relationship a secret.

No big deal. Totally fine.

It won’t be the end of the world if she doesn’t want to go. It really won’t be. But if we’re going to work, we’ll need to figure out how to combine our lives, won’t we? And that means meeting each other’s friends and coworkers. That means team dinners and dates on the town. And eventually, I hope, games where she’s sitting in a seat close to the ice, wearing my jersey, and cheering for me while I play.

But first, baby steps.

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