Page 42 of A Roommate for Christmas
But before she could change course, Carter’s lips met hers.
They were soft and warm, and they sent butterflies through her entire body.
If this is what a kiss was meant to feel like, she had been doing it all wrong.
Then, as quickly as the kiss happened, it was interrupted by Carol’s voice from the front door.
“Are you two okay?It looks awfully slippery out there,” she bellowed.
Carter gave Paige a smile before pushing himself up.
“All good over here, Carol!Couldn’t be better,” Carter replied, brushing the snow off his coat.
Paige got up on her feet and called out, “This is why we’re out here instead of you!”
They resumed their shoveling, sneaking looks at each other every couple of minutes.
Paige’s mind was racing.Was that going to happen again, or did he just feel caught up in the moment?I’m his landlord!Did he enjoy that kiss as much as I did?I’m not making this up, he keeps looking over here, right?My god, Paige, chill!I really need some dating practice.
As they finished up, Carol walked out on the porch to say thank you and Merry Christmas.Paige and Carter waved goodbye and shuffled in silence across the icy street back into the warmth of the condo.
Once they got out of their snow gear, Paige was the first to speak.“So, you want a hot chocolate?”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” he said, rubbing his hands together as he sat down at the island.“So—”
“That was really nice of you to help Carol today,” Paige said, accidentally interrupting whatever Carter was about to say.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay,” Carter assured her.“And it was nothing—just being a good neighbor.I was up early working on something and luckily I heard some commotion outside and looked out the window.I would hate for her to have to do that all by herself.Itwaspretty icy ...”
She could feel his eyes burning into her as he said it.
“Was it?I didn’t notice,” Paige joked, though she couldn’t bring herself to look at Carter.“Look, about that ...icy patch ...I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything.I don’t really know where that came fro—”
“Paige,” Carter interjected.“You only beat me to it.”
God, she loved hearing him say her name.She gave in and finally met his gaze.
He smiled that Hollywood smile at her and continued, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a couple of days now, but I didn’t want to make things weird if you didn’t feel the same way.”
So, hewasflirting.
“Okay, well, great!”she responded, realizing she sounded a little too enthusiastic.“Glad we’ve established that it’s not weird.”
Nice, Paige.Now you really are making it weird.
“I guess we have.”Carter smirked.
As they finished their hot cocoa, all Paige could think about was how badly she wanted to kiss him again, but she decided to play it cool.
“I’m about to venture out to the grocery store to grab some things for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow.Want to join me?”she asked.
Right as she asked, Carter's phone chimed.When he looked down at his new text message, his facial expression changed from relaxed to solemn.He spent a few seconds rereading the message before looking back up, his smile back in place—albeit a bit forced.
“Sorry, you said grocery store?Yeah, why not.”He got up and made his way around the island to drop his mug in the sink.
Before he walked back to the front door, he stopped behind her.Paige could feel the warmth of his body at her back, heating her own body in more ways than one.He tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear, bent down and whispered, “Would hate for you to slip on the ice again without me there to fall behind you.”
Paige’s knees were weak, and she grasped on tighter to the countertop to make sure she didn’t melt into the floor.After regaining her composure, she took inventory of the near-empty kitchen, bundled back up, and followed Carter out the door.
