Page 12 of Just in January

“You tape off some baseboards and I’ll start trimming.” As we get started on our tasks, she hums a beautiful tune I’ve never heard before. It’s so soothing, I close my eyes and just listen.

“Justin?”

Snapping my eyes open, I find hers. “Yeah?”

“There’s paint dripping.”

Sure enough. A long string has fallen from the brush onto the pale yellow wall I’m covering. Scooping it up with my brush, I shrug and give her a sheepish smile. If only she knew what she was doing to me. “Do you have big plans for when you go back home?”

The pause in her singing is deafening. “No.”

“You finishing school?”

As if to answer me gruffly, she rips the tape off at the end and applies it hurriedly. “I haven’t decided.”

“Maybe you should, you know. If-if that’s your goal.”

She wanders to the base of the ladder I’m on and places a hand on the rung. “Maybe it’s not.”

“I guess you should decide what that is, then.”

We work in silence for a long while until the first coat is finished. I toss an arm around her shoulder as we admire our work. “Great job, snowflake. I think it’s time for a break.”

She glances up at me with a pearl of paint on her nose. With a chuckle, I use a hooked finger to swipe it off, but end up smearing more on her face. Backing away, she laughs, then runs into the bathroom to clean it off.

After I wash my hands, I grip one of hers and tug her toward the entry. “Get dressed for the cold. I want to take you outside.”

“Is the snow still piled up high?”

“Not as bad. Sun’s out now. Let’s go!”

Once we’re bundled, I grip the handle of a snow shovel and hand her another. We dig a path out of the house, tossing snow left and right. In the front yard, I clear another area for our task.

“What are we doing in this circle?”

“Building a snowman. Thought it would be fun.” Or stupid. Now that we’re standing here.

When I glance back for her reaction, though, the snowflakes dance in her eyes as they glisten with a tear. “I love that idea, Justin. I’ve never made one before.” My heart skips a beat at her use of the wordlove. And I wonder if she’s feeling it, too.

We start the base and roll it up together, but she slips and falls, laughing joyously. The sound better than anything I’ve heard. Pulling her by her gloved hands, I set her upright and press a kiss to her forehead.

Once we’re done and admire our handiwork, I toss an arm over her shoulders and stand back.

“Wait! Let me get a selfie of us with it!” She digs in her pocket and tries to take a picture of us while I squat, but I’m too big.

“Here, let me.” Taking it over for her, I hold the viewfinder so we both take up the frame with the carrot nosed ice figure in the background. On that tiny screen, we look weird together. With a big black beard and huge arms, I look like a lumbering oaf next to a shiny young woman with sunshine beaming across her face. Like I’ve kidnapped her and made her mine. Why else would she want to be with me?

When she looks at the photograph, she turns and plants a swift kiss on my hairy cheek, then blushes. Not sure if it’s from the cold or not, but I want more. No, before she leaves me…

I want it all.

Once the roads clear and her month at work is over, I may never bask in her warmth again. It’s cold up here alone. Not that I minded before, but now, it would be painful without her.

So I wrap my coat padded arms around her and tug her up to me, her legs encircling my thick waist. My lips find hers and I press my tongue between them, needing to taste her.January. The woman I think my soul has built just for me. Maybe she’s an ice angel sent to rescue me from a life of torment.

“Let’s go inside.” Swirls of wintry air dance as I huff the words into her chest. She squirms to get down, but I grip her ass and press her into me, then stroll toward the house.

I don’t stop. Not until I reach my bedroom and lay her back on the mattress. Snapping my gloves at her, I instruct, “Everything off.”

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