Page 17 of Scrooged for the Holidays
“That’s the truth. We’re complicated.”
“You’re not together?”
“We are.”
“But he’s not your boyfriend?”
“He’s…” Kai trails off, his eyes going hazy. Yet, I can’t tell what the look means. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try me.”
Kai leans back, and I immediately miss his heat. I don’t have to miss it for long, though, because he comes around to my side of the bar and takes the stool next to mine. We’re close enough now that our arms nearly touch. His shoulders are broad, and he smells like the woods on a winter day, crisp and a little smoky.
“We’re together, but we’re open.”
“Open how?”
“We see other bei—people.”
My head cocks because it sounded like he was going to say something else besides people. I shake that thought off because what else would he say?
Regardless, something in me settles. I may be called an Ice Queen and go after what I want with efficiency and emotional detachment, but I’m not going to be the person anyone cheats on with, no matter if it’s a kiss or something more. I know myworth, and the last thing I’m going to do is make him a cheater or me a home-wrecker.
“I see.”
I sip my martini as Kai’s gaze studies me. The air in the room shifts, not only from his closeness but also because of the conversation topic I brought up.
“Your turn,” I say.
He nods. “Truth or dare.”
“Truth,” I say again.
This time, he does seem surprised by my answer, and honestly, I am, too. Now would have been the perfect time to say dare. I’ll never admit it, but for once I want to keep talking to a stranger.
Usually, if I feel chemistry with someone and want to kiss or have it turn into something more, I’d skip the small talk and go straight to the bedroom. But there’s something calming about his energy I want to feel more of.
Kai shifts his weight on his stool so our arms brush, and that feeling I got when we shook hands pushes through my body like a tidal wave. My mind blanks out, and I only come back online when his rumbling voice penetrates the haze.
“Why are you here, Greer?” he asks.
My brow pinches in confusion, but I can’t deny that the way he said my name—like he’s savoring it—makes my core heat. “You already asked that.”
His eyes darken, and I swear he’s closer to me than he was a second ago. He shakes his head. “No, Greer,whyareyouhere?Whydid you choose to come to my bar?”
My mind seeks the answer through the haze that being close to him has created. It’s like he’s a Venus flytrap and I’m walking right into his waiting jaws.
The longer I’m near him, the more that sounds like a great idea. I want to be devoured by him.
His head tips to the side, and I blink, remembering his question. I’m confused as to what he means, but at the sametime, I find myself answering automatically, like when you know the words to a song you haven’t heard in years.
“Because I need to be.” I exhale before I follow it up with a more logical answer. “Because I was starving.”
My breathing picks up as Kai turns his body toward mine. “For what?”
I want to say food, but I don’t think that’s it. I open my mouth in an attempt to answer, but nothing comes out. Kai uses the pause to bring the large hand I was entranced by when I first arrived—with the perfect amount of veins—up to my face. He gently tucks a strand of highlighted hair behind my ear. I shiver from the contact he makes on the sensitive shell of it, and my stomach flips in anticipation of his next move.
“For what, Princess?”
