Page 11 of Christmas with Hope

His sentence left me speechless. There was so much to read into his words; however, I didn’t want to misinterpret them and look like a fool.

“Shall we?” he patted the spot beside him.

“We need more room than that, Mister Preston,” I held out my hand to him. He took my hand and I pulled him up. Or at least I tried because he kept most of his weight off me.

“Thanks, he smiled.

“You didn’t even let me help you,” I pouted. Colton rolled his eyes and laughed. “I’m not as weak as you may think.”

Colton wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. My heart skipped several beats and my knees turned toJell-O. I swooned as I looked into his eyes.

“Never said you were weak, beautiful,” he leaned down and kissed me gently. When he pulled away, I stared up at him dreamy-like.

“I like your kisses,” I whispered.

“I like yours,” he grinned then dipped his head back down and captured my lips in his. I wrapped my arms around his waist. Our kiss deepened and heat rose inside me.

“You’re so beautiful, Hope,” he moaned against my lips. “Do you know that?”

I didn’t respond with words. I simply shook my head and pulled him closer to me. My arms wrapped around his neck as I deepened our kiss. A need rose up in me that needed to be satiated. As long as we were outside with all of our clothes on that desire wouldn’t be fed.

“Let’s go inside,” I moaned.

“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling away slightly and looking down at me.

“Yes.”

“I don’t want–”

Snap!

Colton and I dove out of the way and into the snow as the tree he had been chopping at, finally fell. It hit the ground with a powerful thud. Snow flew into the air from the force, as the branches finally settled.

“Um… I think you forgot to say timber,” I laughed.

“Are you okay?” Colton asked in a panicky voice. He rolled me towards him and looked me over.

“I’m fine, Colton. But I can’t say the same for the tree,” I teased, gesturing at the fallen tree.

“Hope,” he groaned then chuckled. “I don’t care about the tree. I care about you.”

The world seemed to stop spinning as I stared into Colton’s eyes.I care about you, echoed through my mind… and my heart.

Don’t read too much into it. Don’t read too much into it,I told myself over and over again. But it was hard to listen to those words. How could I when he said the words so sweetly and looked at me so tenderly? It was at that moment I realized I was in trouble. Colton Preston had stolen the one gift I vowed to never give a man – myself.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” I asked, walking beside Colton as he dragged the tree back to the house. “I’m really stronger than I look.”

“I know. You’ve told me a few times,” Colton chuckled. “But I’m trying to impress you by looking manly, so let meHe-Manthis tree.”

“Trying to impress me by breaking your back?” I laughed. Colton glanced at me and grinned. “I think the nearest hospital is like one state over.”

“Guess you’ll just have to be my nurse,” he said without missing a beat. He faced forward and continued dragging the tree as though his words were no big deal. If only he knew what they meant to me.

His words made emotions whirl inside me. Sexual tension built up inside me. The hopefulness of what could possibly come from our week-long stay. And, the worry of what could go wrong. Colton was turning me into a hot mess.

“What are you thinking about?” Colton asked with a quick glance at me.

“You.” I groaned as soon as the word left my mouth. “I just mean… um… it’s just…” I allowed my stammering words to die out.

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