Page 40 of The Holiday Fail

“I like you too,” I replied. I wasn’t the type of person to hear a confession of someone’s feelings and just leave them hanging. Especially not when I really,reallyliked the person.

“Fuck, your dimples are going to kill me,” Andy groaned and pressed his forehead to my shoulder. I hadn’t even known I was smiling until he mentioned that.

“It’s not as simple as that,” he muttered when he stood straight again.

I frowned. “Is this because you’re straight?”

“What? No, and obviously, if I have feelings for you, then I’m not straight, but I’m not talking about that. Your dads might be the ones who hired me, but you’re still one of my bosses, Levi. We workandlive together. Plus, I’m here on a six-month contract, and I plan on returning to New York when it’s over. And during that time, there’s so much I need to do that I don’t have time for anything definite.I’m not staying,” he blurted out the words like he’d recited this speech a dozen times beforehand.

It took a minute for what he said to sink in. Honestly, most of those points sounded like he was trying to convince himself this was a bad idea instead of pushing me away.

And the way he emphasized how he was leaving Wintertown at the end of the six months, it sounded more like he was trying to warn me so I didn’t get hurt. That showed me exactly the kind of person he was.

Andy cared, and that was why he was trying so hard to dissuade himself from this.

I laughed. It was funny that the person who kept telling me I deserved better was thebetterhe mentioned, but he kept saying he was unavailable while blocking me from other people. I’d never been in such a bizarre situation.

“Okay,” I said when my laughter calmed down.

“Okay?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”

I slid a hand between us and rested it on his chest. Even with the music booming through the walls, I could feel his strong heartbeat, as steady and constant as he was.

“It means we don’t have to define anything. We’ll enjoy ourselves and have fun hanging out with each other. We keep work and our personal lives separate. And when the time comes, we’ll go our own ways with no hard feelings,” I replied.

It was probably a stupid idea—I was definitely going to get attached—but if it meant I could have him for a bit, maybe it was worth it. At least he was being upfront about this, unlike all the other guys who strung me along without a single regard to my feelings.

“Are you sure?—”

“Or I can go back out there and go through with what I’d planned to do with sexy biker man,” I teased.

His grip tightened. I smirked at the realization that thereason he’d been acting this way all night was because he was jealous.

Glancing down, I saw the veins on his forearms straining even more with his elevated emotions. I used a finger to trace along the thickest of the veins, starting from his wrist to his elbow, then followed a different vein down again.

“What are you doing?” Andy asked, watching the lazy movements of my finger.

“Just touching you. Is that not allowed?” I said and blinked innocently at him.

His breath hitched as his gaze bore into me. His chest heaved with effort from either getting his next words out or holding himself back. “It’s more than allowed. But Levi, I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.

I glided my finger down his arm until it reached where his hand was resting on my hip and gently pried it off me so I could hold it.

“I know,” I replied, just as softly as the tone he’d used. “But I want you, and I know what this thing between us is. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.”

Placing a kiss on the back of his hand, I looked him straight in the eye, hoping I was giving him my most seductive look. I prayed he’d just follow his desires and turn off his brain. And foronce, my prayers were answered as Andy flipped us around until my back was against the wall, and he was chasing me down with his lips.

He kissed me like he’d been starved for years, practically devouring me until I was all hot and malleable under his hands. That was when he lifted me by my butt and I wrapped my legs around him.

I gasped in surprise, breaking the contact of our lips, but he didn’t falter and continued pecking, kissing my cheek, chin, anywhere he could reach. I held onto him tighter. My back waspressed against the wall and my front only had his hard body to lean on. He was the only thing preventing me from falling.

His hands cupped my ass, supporting me and holding my lower half, that was snuggled right against him. In this position, his reaction prodded my underside, and that lit my body up even more.

He could definitely feel the hardness in myverytight pants currently rubbing against his stomach. I claimed his mouth again and got lost in his taste and the feel of him.

My hips rocked, craving more friction. The action earned me a sexy, rumbly groan from Andy. “Fuck. We have to stop before I lose every ounce of my control.”

I grinned and swept back his bangs, which had him looking up at me. “Put me down,” I ordered, and he obliged. He took a couple of steps back, which gave me a front-row view of theveryimpressive boner inside his jeans.

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