Page 16 of The Christmas List

I missed this. I missedhim. Not just in a romantic way, but just… being around him.

We’ve always had the best times together, and even after all of the time that’s passed, it seems like we could pick up right where we left off.

“Josie…” he starts, then trails off, gaze dropping to my lips and lingering there as I lick them, my breath forming a heated puff between us from the chilled air. The air around us thickens as time seems to slow.

He doesn’t get to finish whatever he’s going to say because Lucy drops down beside us, her bright green eyes dancing, “Daddy… Miss Josie… We won! Snowlenewon!”

I might be hopeless at resisting the man who’s always had my heart, but at least I can build a dang good snowwoman.

6

josie

Team Rowdy Reindeers are killing the Christmas List competition.

In the last week, we’ve marked off the Wrapping Paper Runway and the Cookie Crawl, which was Lucy’s favorite so far. To be fair, getting to spend the day making cookies, then eating them all at the end was a selling point for us too. We just finished with this afternoon’s list task, deemed “Reindeer Games,” with each contestant responsible for hosting a fundraising booth to benefit Strawberry Hollow at the town festival. Wyatt had the brilliant idea for us to make “Reindeer Food,” which we sold out of almost immediately, putting us in first place and freeing us up to partake in the rest of the festival.

As much as it makes me nervous to admit… I’m enjoying spending time with both Lucy and Wyatt. I haven’t had so much fun or laughed so hard in a really long time. And the scary part is how easily I could get used to this.

I know that my heart is teetering on a dangerously high ledge, the imminent threat of plummeting back into Wyatt’s arms becoming more real by the second.

“Jos?” Wyatt’s low timbre breaks through my thoughts, and I lift my gaze to where he’s walking beside me with Lucy perched on his wide shoulders.

“Yes?”

“Luce wants to go ice-skating before we leave. Wanna come with us?” he asks.

I should probably say no to give myself some distance. I could easily find an excuse of needing to work on the stuff for school tomorrow, but the truth is I absolutely want to go with them.

So I nod, giving Lucy a wink when she squeals excitedly, her tiny hands fisting in Wyatt’s already disheveled hair.

“Jeez, I’m going to be bald if you don’t stop pulling my hair like that, bug.” He groans as he reaches up to tickle her side playfully.

I lift the still-warm cup of hot chocolate to my lips and take a slow, savoring sip.

After Lucy catches her breath, she says with a serious expression, “Well, that’s okay, Daddy. Grams says you’ll be bald like Papa one day anyway.”

The liquid in my mouth nearly comes spewing out when a look of sheer horror crosses Wyatt’s face, and he stops outside the busy ice rink, lifting her from his shoulders and setting her onto her feet in front of him. “How about we just go skate and not talk about me losing my hair?”

She gives him a cheeky grin and pats the top of his unruly hair. “Suuuuure, Daddy.”

Then she’s prancing off toward the skate rental line, leaving Wyatt with his mouth agape. He stands to full height and drags a hand over his sharp jaw. “That girl.”

“Oh, she is an angel.”

“Yeah, one that’s gonna make me skip getting grays and go straight to full-on bald.” His words are a grumble, yet the corner of his full lips curve up.

He knows that she’s got him wrapped around her little finger.

My shoulder brushes against his firm arm as we walk toward the rental line side by side, my gaze pinned on Lucy as she talks with another little girl her age while waiting for her turn.

“You look beautiful today, Josie. I like your sweater,” Wyatt murmurs, his sudden admission taking me by surprise.

After the heated, nearly electric-charged moment at the snowman task, I thought we might talk about this…feelingbetween us. But he hasn’t mentioned anything, focusing only on the tasks and Lucy, giving me that disarmingly handsome smile, constantly making my stomach feel as if there are flurries of lazy snowflakes falling in the pit of it.

I can feel the warmth of his gaze sliding over me as I clear my throat, pasting on a smile. “Uh… thank you. I just threw somethingfestiveon for school this morning.” I say, glancing down at my Santa sweater.

“Well, you fit in perfectly here, then.” He chuckles, gesturing around us.

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