Page 23 of Getting Wrapped Up

There was another thud near his heart. The poor thing hadn’t been used in so long every hard beat was a little painful. But it was a good pain. Like stretching a tight muscle before a hard workout.

Because he wanted to give it a hard workout with this woman.

And not only in the pounding-hard-during-hot-sex way. In the way that might stretch his heart muscle further than it had ever gone before.

Levi gave her what he hoped was a casual smile. No sense in scaring her off with a wanna-fall-in-love-this-weekend? He’d told Joe he was considering staying for a year. Nothing so far had made him want to shorten that time frame.

“You know, a smart man would be grateful that it would be almost impossible to make this Christmasworsethan your others,” he said. “But no one ever accused me of being particularly bright.” He stopped next to his brother’s truck and turned to face her. “I don’t want this to be the best you’ve had so far. Hell, all I have to do is put up a tree and make you cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning to do that.”

She gasped softly. “Your mom made cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning?”

Well, their cook had. He took her hands. “I want to do even more than that. I want this to be everything you ever wanted Christmas to be.”

And he meant it. Maybe there was hope for him yet. So far the cheesy Christmas sentiments were rolling out of him.

Take that, Christmas ghosts.

“You said you don’t have a tree yet. Will you let me help with it?” she asked. The lighter, excited tone in her voice made a different type of desire shoot through him. The desire to make her happy.

Oh yeah, there was hope. Levi Spencer was going to make someone else happy, dammit. A guy who wanted to do that couldn’t have a cold, black soul.

It was dark gray at worst.

“Definitely,” he told her.

“And can we bake cookies?”

“Of course.”

“Tonight?”

He opened his mouth to give another enthusiastic affirmation but then realized what she’d said. “Tonight?”

He’d kind of hoped to take the quilt in the guest room for a spin tonight.

She nodded, grinning up at him in a way that made him want to buy her a puppy or something while at the same time made him want to run his hand up under her skirt.

Damn, that was weird.

Sweet and sexy at the same time? Happy and horny together?

Thathadto be the concussion.

“It’s almost ten at night,” he said.

“Is there a bad time for Christmas cookies?” she asked.

He opened his mouth again but could say nothing other than, “No, there’s not.” Because that was the God’s honest truth.

Besides, watching her bake was in no way going to diminish his desire for her. He’d always been easily influenced by food. He’d had a huge crush on their cook from age six to age fourteen when she’d left them. He could barely remember what she looked like, but he could still taste her macaroni and cheese.

The women he dated had no idea how to cook or bake, nor would any of them go within a hundred yards of a cookie.

Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of Joe and Phoebe’s. Joe’s F150 pickup definitely made the roads and that driveway easier to navigate. Levi had put his rental car in the garage to keep any snow flurries or sleet off of it and resigned himself to driving the truck at least until Joe and Phoebe got back.

Hailey looked from the house to him and back. “I thought we were going to make out in the truck?”

He was going to get sugar in the truckandin the kitchen?

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