Page 58 of The Mistletoe Trap
And when Gavin veered right, toward his bedroom, she didn’t question it.
Perhaps she’d been better than she’d thought this year, because it looked like her wildest fantasies involving her best friend were about to come true.
…
There was a reason roller coaster rides lasted only a couple of minutes. The human mind was a fan of expectations and predictable endings—in real life scenarios anyway. One hundred seconds of thrill could be enjoyed and easily survived in that controlled environment.
All day Gavin had been a spectator in the ups and downs, dips and turns, and abrupt changes in direction. Instead of continuing to grip hold of the safety bar and hope for the best, he longed to steer himself away from the track someone else had designed and forge his own path.
He relieved Julie of the heaping plate of food and set it on his desk. At her whimper, he handed her a roll off the top of the stack. “There. Happy?”
She sat on the foot of his bed and munched, placated. “Very.”
Gavin loosened his tie and slipped the strip of fabric from beneath his collar. He tossed it aside and undid the top couple of buttons on his shirt, which was easier than fastening, fortunately. Then he sat to Julie’s right. Since his shoulder was feeling much better, he’d abandoned the sling and considered doing the same to the brace, but he didn’t want to push it and undo the healing progress he’d made.
He wrapped his left arm around Julie’s shoulders and fell backward, taking her with him as he toppled onto the soft mattress. “Finally. I was starting to worry I’d never have you to myself again.”
Julie rested her head on his shoulder and said, “I’ll alwayth make thime for you” through an enormous chunk of roll. Somehow it amplified her adorable factor, even as breadcrumbs hit his neck.
It’s official. I’m a goner for my best friend.
Of all the times it could’ve happened, why did it have to be now, when everything else in his life was up in the air? He had too many balls to catch and not enough time to get to them all, and today he’d gotten a reminder of how inadequately he could balance it all.
Lightthunkssounded as Julie kicked off one shoe and then the other. She placed her hand on his abdomen and cuddled closer, and he inhaled her vanilla perfume. A bad idea, but it was too late to do anything about the shock of awareness anyway. She draped one of her legs over both of his, and his throat went dry.
As if it couldn’t help itself, his hand settled a few inches above her knee, and he sighed at the feel of her silky soft skin beneath his fingertips.
“Do you need me to give you a shoulder massage?” she asked.
“Maybe in a minute. Right now, I’m enjoying being here, alone, just like this.” He drifted his palm a few inches higher, and the tulle of her skirt tickled the top of his hand. Every cell in his body pulsed with the desire to slip beneath the layers of fabric and feel his way to the juncture between her thighs, but that’d only invite more trouble.
The kind of trouble that exponentially increased by the second, and why did that make it that much more tempting?
“How long do you think we have before someone comes looking?” Julie asked, the rasp of her voice in his ear ratcheting up his already racing pulse.
“Not long enough for everything I want to do to you, that’s for sure.”
Her eyes met his, and the organ hammering away in his chest unraveled. The tip of her pink tongue wet her lips, and he was pretty sure this was the way he was going to die. Doing his damnedest to avoid fucking his best friend while his libido raged at her nearness.
A groan slipped out as Julie coasted her foot over the top of his shin. His slacks barely acted as a barrier, the thin fabric and all the inches of bare skin Julie’s dress put on display a potent combination.
“Sorry,” she said, tucking her foot between his knees. “My foot’s getting cold.”
“Better use me to warm it up, then,” he said, as opposed to telling her to get a blanket like he should. Since he was already descending a steep, slippery slope, he might as well quicken his steps, the same way he would if he were running downhill. He toyed with her fingers, laced his through hers, and then secured their entwined hands directly over his palpitating heart.
Did she feel what she was doing to him? If she lifted her knee another inch, it’d graze the hardening flesh beneath his zipper. His emotions held a tug of war, one team urging her to do it and the other heaving with all its might to avoid being dragged across that line.
Not that he’d require much dragging. At this point, he wished his strength of will was shittier. It was what’d driven him to practice and train and do whatever it took to attain his goals.
As he considered what he might agree to give up just to be with Julie the way he wanted, a ribbon of fear wound around his lungs and gave a sharp yank.
He sat up, removing himself from what was quickly becoming an emergency situation. “I know it’s a few hours early, but I was hoping to give you your present now.”
Julie pushed herself up to her elbows, hair slightly mussed, and he curled his fingers into a fist to avoid giving in to temptation and raking a hand through the soft strands.
Her legs went to swinging, so he diverted his gaze upward. Where it snagged on her red lips. Without permission, his mind conjured a dirty image reel, complete with scenes of kissing that sinful mouth. Of red lipstick tracks leading down his torso.
Ringing around his—
