Page 39 of The Bright Side of Christmas
“Hallie! You’re supposed to be onmy side!” Wren shouts.
“Oh, I definitely am,” Hallie says with a grin.
“And if you saw what we see right now, you’d know we aredefinitely trying to get you what you need,” Nat says.
“This is insane,” Wren grumbles, but stops arguing.
“See ya, Wren,” Nat says with a sweet voice. “You really do need more sleep.”
“I’m not talking to either of you for weeks,” she says. “You’re off my Christmas list, too!” She says it like a threat, but the women just laugh it off.
I wave at them goodbye, then turn, waving at Colton. “Mind if I get you next time?”
“This round’s on me. Worth the show!” he says with a laugh. Wren groans, and I give him a nod and a wave before heading for the door.
“Let me walk, Adam!” she says as we walk out into the December chill. I shake my head, reaching in my pocket for my keys and unlocking my truck, but I don’t answer. Not as I open the passenger-side door, and not as I place her gently into the seat. Surely not when I lean across the seat to grab the seatbelt, tugging it over her and hearing her breath hitch before buckling her in.
When I jog around the front, I start the engine before closing my door and fight a laugh when I see her sitting there with a scowl, looking straight ahead with her arms crossed on her chest. She’s silent the entire five-minute drive back home, but every chance I can, I look over at her, watching the way the lights play along her face and the way her eyes widen with interest when she sees some new decoration she must not have noticed. When she catches me, she rolls her eyes, her jaw going tight again, and I have to look away so I don’t laugh.
When I pull into my drive, I cut the engine, then slide out of my seat, slamming my door as I make my way over to her.
“Oh, you’re going to let me walk now?” she asks with exaggerated snark as I open the passenger door. I grin widely at her. I can’t stop it, not when she’s like this, all frustrated and annoyed. Not when I have a feeling I’m the only one who gets her riled up like this.
And surely not when she was mewling into my mouth as she rubbed herself against my thigh ten minutes ago.
“Nowhere for you really to run off to, and I can’t see you heading back to the bar.” She doesn’t respond, and I reach out to help her out of my truck. She sneers at my offered hand like it’s poisoned, then shifts her body out, avoiding me completely. I slam the door behind her as she makes her way up to her walkway, then stomp angrily up her front steps.
I follow her, and when she reaches the door, she turns on a heel and glares at me. “Are you also going to follow me inside and make sure I brush my teeth and go right to bed?”
I stare at her, fighting the overwhelming desire to sayyes.
But if I follow Wren King inside, neither of us will be going to bed anytime soon, and considering the exhaustion written over her face and the clear irritation in her words, I’ll have to shelve that idea for a bit.
“I could follow you in, but it wouldn’t help with your sleep issue.” Her jaw goes a bit slack, and I feel the satisfaction of stunning her in that way, especially when a little blush burns across her cheeks.
“You’re a pig,” she says under her breath, but the words are lacking conviction.
“Never said I wasn’t. But next time you want me to come over, you just have to ask for what you want, and I’ll be right there.” Her brows furrow at me, masking the flash of desire.
“Why the fuck would I want you to come over?” she asks, hands on her hips and glaring up at me.
“I think you made your feelings clear in the bar, sweetness,” I say, lifting a hand and tucking a piece of loose hair behind her ear. “And so did I. But I’m not acting on them until you’ve gotten some rest.” Those pretty eyes roll, and I think that I’d like to make them roll in another way.
Get your head together, Porter. Stick to the plan.
“That is not happening again. It was a lapse of judgment. A tired lapse of judgment.”
“Sure it was, sweetness,” I say.
“I’m serious! Why would I wantanythingto do with you? You’re a jerk who hates Christmas and is constantly manhandling me.”
I take a step back and nod.
“Well, when you decide you want to make another lapse of judgment, you come over. But you’re going to have to ask for what you want, baby.”
“In your dreams.”
“Don’t you know it?” Her mouth opens as I say it, looking at me with shock as I take a step backward down her porch. “Now go inside and go to bed, Wren.”
