Page 29 of Snowed In With The Second Chance Daddy

My stomach twists and emotions swirl inside me.

There’s a bit of anger, a bit of anxiety, some leftover confusion. And yet above all of those feelings, there is…something like happiness.

I don’t know why or where that comes from, but it’s there. “Oh, god, they’re romcomming us.”

Iris laughs. “Exactly, which explains why Red just ‘forgot’ you were coming over the other night.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. So, I’m sorry, if I had known that was the goal, I wouldn’t have come.”

I can’t believe I’msadto hear that. “Yeah, they were super adamant it was your idea.”

“Of course, they were.” Iris smiles at me. “They just want us to be happy.”

“Yeah. They mean well.” I smile back.

We find ourselves at a crossroads with options to keep going forward or to go left or right.

Iris shoves her hands in her pockets. “We should probably find the rest of them.”

“Yeah.” I glance over toward one of the booths where they’re selling pretzels as big as my head. “You want a pretzel first?”

Iris’s attention snaps in the direction of the Bavarian delicacy. “Oh, my favorite!”

I grin. “Come on. My treat.”

“Who would have thought,” Iris says as we walk, “That we would have had pretzels not once, buttwiceduring my visit.”

We pop into the queue a few people deep. “Trust me, I would have thought when hell freezes over.”

“Well, it is pretty damn cold.” Iris pushes her face down into the collar of her coat.

A minute passes as we wait, the chill in the air strengthening. I…can’t believe myself, but I am compelled to put an arm around her and pull her close. Keep her warm.

“Thank you.” She chatters up against me.

“Rowan would kill me if you froze to death.”

She laughs into my chest andoh, the vibrations shoot through my ribs and down to my belly and then my…

I push away the feeling of arousal.

Of course, she still turns me on. She was my wife-to-be at one point. Those feelings won’t just go away.

But then Iris encircles my waist with her arms, pulling me even closer.

What’s happening?

I pull her closer too.

God, I need her close. Not because I’m some horny jerk, but because…I haven’t touched her since before we broke up. Not like this. There have been so many nights I have wished I could hold her in my arms one last time, have her squeeze me tight the way she used to. Feel the love we had.

We make it to the front of the line, wound around each other.

“What can I get for you?” The cheery, round cheeked woman smiles.

I look down at Iris. “You want your own, or should we split one?”

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