Page 16 of Fated Midlife Christmas
“Plenty of it. Some of the tourists come specifically for the snow, since it falls most of the year.” They were getting closer to her office now, and Lars felt his polar bear pointedly objecting inside him. He’d have to say goodnight. There was a chance he might get another kiss, but he wanted more.
Amanda chewed her lip for a second. “So, how long are you staying in Salem?”
“Just for a few—” Movement up ahead caught his attention as a car came barreling down the street. He saw what was going to happen, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Lars turned and covered Amanda with his body as the car splashed straight through the giant puddle that had gathered in the gutter. The icy cold water splashed across his back, dripped down inside his collar, and completely soaked the thick denim of his jeans.
Amanda gasped. “Oh, no! Just look at you! You didn’t have to do that!”
“Why should both of us be soaked?” he asked. Lars paused, leaning against a lamppost as he took off his shoe and poured out a stream of water. “There, that’s a little better.”
“You really are a gentleman, you know that? Let me see if I’ve got anything.” Amanda opened her purse and pulled out a packet of facial tissues. She started blotting at his neck and shirt, but the little square of paper was instantly soaked. “I don’t think that’s really doing much good, is it?” she laughed.
“You’d need an awful lot of those.” Not that he minded her attention, even if it was useless. His water-logged clothes were letting the wind blow right through them, making him feel more exposed than if he were standing right on the edge of the fjord in the coldest part of winter, but it was all right as long as he was with Amanda.
“I’m so sorry.” She tossed the tissue into a nearby trash can. “Listen, my place isn’t far from here. Why don’t we walk over there and you can get dried off?”
He hesitated. “It’s late, and I don’t want to burden you.” His polar bear railed against his manners.
“Don’t be silly!” She looped her arm through his, regardless of his sodden sleeve. “It would be a much bigger burden if I had to worry about you catching a chill on the way back to the Alexanders’.”
“If it’ll make you feel better.” If he wasn’t wet, he would’ve pulled her closer against him.
“It will,” she confirmed. “It’s just down this way, plus you won’t have to get the upholstery in your rental car all wet. They might not like that when you turn it back in.”
He watched her fondly as they hurried down the street. Though Lars enjoyed learning about Salem and looking at all the historic buildings, he didn’t care about any of it right now. Amanda was having that effect on him at every turn. She made the rest of the world disappear, leaving just the two of them.
“You like taking care of people, don’t you?”
“I suppose I do. It’s right up here.” Amanda turned another corner and brought him to a small house with a strip of yard. They hurried up the stairs and onto her porch, where she quickly unlocked the door and ushered him inside.
“You can go ahead and get your shoes off. I’ll grab some towels. Actually, do you want to just take a shower?” She flicked on the lights, revealing a cozy living room with several framed paintings on the walls. An open doorway on the other side of the room showed a clean kitchen with vintage décor.
“You don’t have to go to such a fuss.” He liked that she was concerned for him, but she was worrying about him too much. “I can just dry off a little, and I’ll be fine.”
Her brow wrinkled a bit, but she nodded. “All right. Come this way.” She brought him down a hallway to the very last room on the right.
The walls were painted a dusty blue, highlighting the gold frames of the paintings that hung there. The whitewashed wooden floors, rose pink duvet cover, and the stack of books on the bedside table made it all feel warm and intimate. Lars hadn’t thought about what her bedroom might look like, but this definitely felt like her.
“You’re a lot taller than I am, so I don’t know if I can do anything about your jeans. Maybe a shirt, though.” Amanda opened her closet and started flicking through the hangers. “You can set yours in the bathtub, and there are towels right there in the cupboard.”
Stepping through the bathroom doorway, he saw that her decorating inspiration had carried through there, only opposite. The walls were that rose pink, and the towels were dusty blue. Little porcelain dishes and trays in blue and pink floral patterns held her swabs and cotton balls. He had to smile a little as he admired it all.
Lars took off his shirt and hung it over the bar in the shower. He rubbed himself dry as much as he could and then stepped back out of the bathroom just as Amanda pulled a pale pink crewneck sweatshirt from her closet.
Her eyes drifted down to his chest, and she exhaled slightly through her lips before she thrust the shirt at him. “There’s a chance this could fit.”
“Maybe.” He took it from her and held it up in front of him. “I have one just like it at home.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked with a laugh. “You don’t think men should wear pink?”
“Anyone can wear whatever color they want,” he said. “I’m just not sure you’ll find me very attractive if I’m wearing women’s clothing.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Her eyes roved down his arms and across his chest once again.
“So you’re saying youdofind me attractive,” he confirmed.
Amanda pressed her lips together and let her breath out through her nose. She gave him a look that was supposed to be exasperated, but the pink in her cheeks told him otherwise. “Are you going to make me say it?”
His polar bear churned inside him, and his heart thrummed. “You can, but I don’t think either one of us has to say anything to know what’s true.”
