Page 55 of A Cowboy Sugar Cookie Kiss
“Excuse me.” I chase him out. What is going on with you?”
“Nothing.”
I catch up to him and grab his arm. “Hey, talk to me.”
“He just sprung that on me. We’ve been partners for years and he just decides, out of the blue, he’s leavin’ me.”
“I don’t think that’s how he’s looking at it.”
“I don’t think he’s thinkin’ at all. Unless you include thinking with his dick.”
I tug him into a stairwell. “Alright, watch your words. This is a child lodge.”
“Fuck.”
“Cole.”
“Fuck. Goddamn it.”
I kiss him until his breathing levels out. “It’s good news.” I stroke the hair at the back of his neck. “I’m staying, cowboy. I’m moving back to town.”
It takes him a minute to register what I’m saying. “You’re moving home?”
I nod.
He pulls a small gift box out of a random pocket on the side of his ugly Christmas sweater. He holds it out in the palm of his hand. “Open it.”
I take the box and replace it with his present from me. I lift the lid and unfold the tissue. Inside is a glittering beige sugar cookie ornament.
He steps closer. “I want you to know you’re my one and only sweet sugar cookie kiss.” He leans down and brushes my lips ever so lightly.
“Your turn.”
He opens the ornament I chose, and his lips curl upward. “Sprinkles.”
“I want you to know you’re the first person to encourage me to put my baking first. Grams and Sadie excluded.”
He chuckles lighthearted, but he doesn’t understand the depth of his action.
My fingers lace in his. “I’ve been surrounded by people telling me I’m not good enough. You didn’t even second think what I’m capable of. You won’t ever understand what your support means to me.”
His fingers tighten around mine. “I was going to miss you so fucking much I didn’t know how I would handle it.” His raw statement catches me off guard. Makes my heart flip and my soul long for him. “This past year, I didn’t know why I couldn’t get you out of my head, Maggie Hill. But now I know it’s because I’ve fallen for you. Head over heels fallen in love with you. You’re not like anyone I’ve met before, and these feelings I have for you are unlike any I’ve ever felt.”
My heart skips a hundred beats and speeds up at the exact same time. “I spent the year hoping I wouldn’t run into you.”
“Harsh, Maggie.”
“What I didn’t realize was that deep down I already knew I’d fallen for you. And it was safer not to run into you. Safer to run away from my feelings.”
“Are you going to run now?”
“No. I’m staying and I thought maybe we could go on a date.”
“I would love to go on a date with you, Maggie. But I’d also love to stay in our suite tomorrow until we’re forced to leave for the party.”
“I would also love that. Very much.”
We rush back to our suite and lock our bedroom door for no interruptions. After making love, Cole falls asleep with his arms wrapped around me. My mind is still reeling from all the events of the day and what taking over Betty’s Bakeshop and moving back to Whiskey Ridge Creek means for my future.
