Page 24 of You Had Me At Valentine

“I’m pretty happy with it so far.” His thumb traces my jaw. “Maybe we can just have a choice moratorium for tonight. The kind where we don’t worry about the things and the forces outside of this room until tomorrow.”

He nods and I lean into his touch, sliding my lips to his thumb. Tonight, I just want to exist in this space where anything feels possible.

Where it feels like Byron and I never stopped loving each other.

Tomorrow I’ll worry about the inn and the Valentine’s Day party and all of the ways what’s coming could tear Byron and me apart again.

Tonight, I’m choosing this. Choosing him. Choosing myself.

I pull him in for another kiss, pushing the table aside with my foot, and this time there’s no hesitation. No space between us at all as he gathers me into his arms. His hands tangle in my hair as mine nip into his waist, and the world narrows to just this—hislips on mine, his heart under my palm, the way he whispers my name like a prayer.

Eight

Byron

Kissing Lyra MacLellan was either the smartest or stupidest thing I’ve ever done. The jury’s still out, but watching herwork the room at her grandmother’s Valentine’s party is not helping my objectivity.

I can’t stop envisioning another kiss. This time in a dark corner of the room. Where all these prying eyes can’t see us.

Except there are no dark corners at this shindig, and Lyra is the hostess. She cannot be the mostess if I selfishly spirit her away. Doesn’t stop me from wishing I could though.

She’s lighting up the inn from the inside out, the true source of magic this inn needs. The partygoers respond to it as if Lyra has put a spell on them.

I definitely fall in the category.

Some of the Valentines were already delivered but not all, and she didn’t let on who might have one coming. It’s a brilliant strategy—the whole town came to see if they’d be a lucky recipient.

Every time she hands someone a long-lost Valentine, my lungs hitch as if I have a stake in this too. Well, don’t I? I want her plan to save the inn to work like you wouldn’t believe. If it does…

Well, then maybe I won’t have to be the bad guy who sells her grandmother’s legacy.

Maybe if she pulls a rabbit out of a hat and gets her father to agree she’s done enough to cancel the sale, it will be enough of a lead-in for me to finally tell her the truth. About everything. Then. Now. Basically, all the things that are simmering between us.

“You’re hovering.” Tabitha materializes beside me, making me jump. “Like a very sparkly thundercloud. The drycleaners give up?”

The glitter situation has reached epidemic proportions. Even my tie sparkles. “I’m embracing my inner cheerleader on pep rally day. Besides, it’s festive.”

“I’ll give you that. Are you here in some kind of professional capacity?”

I tip an imaginary hat. “Always.”

“Word of advice, you’d be a lot more convincing if you paid half as much attention to the inn as you are to Lyra.” She crosses her arms. “I know at least six places to hide a body in these mountains. Keep that in mind.”

“Only six? I would have expected more creativity from you.”

“Those are just the snow-on-the-ground locations.”

I shove my hands in my pockets, checking again for the Valentine I wrote a lifetime ago. The one I shamelessly plucked from the box when Lyra was distracted. The one that’s so explosive, I can’t risk Lyra finding it. If she reads the words, it would destroy whatever fragile bonds I’ve created with her.

My fingers close on empty air.

What?

I check my other pocket. Also empty.

Panic claws up my throat. What. Is. Happening?

The Valentine isgone. How is it gone? When was the last time I felt it? I can’t remember.

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