Page 32 of Booked for the Holidays
“W-what exactly did you do with it?” I cross my arms, trying not to squirm.
He dips the razor back under the faucet, then tilts his head like he’s pretending to think it over. “I don’t know. What do you usually do with it?”
My eyes narrow. “That’s none of your business.”
He finishes his shave, then grabs a hand towel to pat his smooth jaw dry while I continue to openly stare at him.
Still looking too comfortable with one of my bath towels wrapped around his trim waist, he turns in my direction.
“Did you need something, Firefly?” he asks, teasingly throwing my words back at me.
“Yes.” I swallow hard, but force myself to take what I hope to be an intimidating step toward him, my jaw tightening at how irritated, yet turned on, I am. “My apartment back.”
Liam doesn’t flinch. He just smirks, cool and confident. “Your flat?” he repeats, his grin turning lazy. “I’m not here for the real estate, Juniper. I came for what I left behind.”
My mind races with what he could be referring to.
Reading my confusion, he edges closer. I get a whiff of winter plum a la Liam. It’s my scent, but on him, it’s something else. The holidays wrapped in sin and spice.
“You.”
EIGHT
LIAM
The door slamsshut with more force than necessary.
Progress.
Not that leaving a woman flustered and calling it a win is typical for me. But Juniper Jensen isn’t just any woman. She’sthe one. And she’s determined to box me up as an old mistake she’s outgrown. Like I’m just her embarrassing crush she’s buried under shiny new dreams.
She has no idea I didn’t come here to sleep under her roof and tiptoe around old feelings. I came to reveal they were never one-sided like she thinks.
I flip open my laptop at her kitchen table, her scent still clinging to the sweater she left draped on the back of the chair. There’s already a message waiting in the Summit County Small-Business forum.
JuniReads: Hey! Just confirming the prosecco delivery for the Books & Bubbly event this weekend? And any chance you have an extra case? Demand’s higher than I guessed.
When she opened Blush & Binding, I’d wanted to help. I’d wanted to keep some piece of her life connected to mine without crossing any lines.PourChoiceswas supposed to be a one-time favor. An anonymous screen name on the Summit CountySmall-Business forum. Free business advice. A few marketing suggestions. A distraction for me to stop replaying the look on her face when I turned her down last Christmas.
But then she kept writing back.
And I couldn’t help myself.
Now she trustsPourChoicesmore than she trusts me, the real me. She tells him things she’d never say to my face. She lets him see her worries, her excitement, the dreams she won’t admit out loud. It’s like a second chance, without her knowing I’m the man she’s talking to.
Maybe that makes me an asshole. Maybe it’s the only way to fix what I broke. Either way, I’m not letting it go. Not yet.
PourChoices: An extra case is no problem.
JuniReads: I’ll repay you in chocolate croissants from The Hollow Bean. That is, once you finally reveal yourself.
I grin at her sweet bribe and start typing.
PourChoices: Careful—pastries are my weakness. I might end up agreeing to more than just wine deliveries.
Her typing bubble pops up immediately.
JuniReads: Dangerous knowledge to give me. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I might bribe you for more than wine.
