Page 72 of The Archer and his Rosebud

“Yeah, you’re right.” Archer hands her to me, kissing the back of her head. “I’ll let you get her down and finish studying, then give you some space.” He kisses my cheek, but it’s barely a brush of his lips, not even a glance as he walks out the door. “Night, Willa.”

* * *

Knockingon Archer’s door the next afternoon, I bounce from foot to foot. I hold up the new baby camera monitor when he opens the door in worn jeans and a henley with the top buttons undone. “I was up all night. Not just because I was studying. I could hardly sleep because all I could think about was not having you in my life. We’re going to require more effort when we’re no longer neighbors and maybe that scares me, that you’ll decide I’m not worth the effort anymore. But I know that’s my own insecurity talking. You haven’t given me any reason to doubt you. If the offer is still on the table, can Clem and I spend the holidays with you and the boys?”

His eyes drift from me to the screen. “Is this the live feed now?” Archer stares at a sleeping Clem in her crib.

I nod. “I connected everything this morning after I went to the store and picked the monitor up.”

A smirk curves his lips as he reaches for my hand. “Did you lock your apartment?”

“Yeah, why?” I step inside, and he closes the door behind me.

Pushing me against the solid surface, he asks, “How long has she been asleep?”

“I just put her down,” I whisper.

His mouth lands on my neck, his hands slipping beneath the hem of my sweater. “I’d never take the offer off the table. Even if you showed up Christmas morning, you’d have unopened presents waiting for you under the tree.” His lips suction to the contour of my jaw, his tongue tracing my pulse. “In fact, I want you on my table now.”

Sucking in a breath, I lift my arms and Archer takes the motion as encouragement. His mouth leaves my skin for the amount of time it takes for my sweater to hit the ground, then he’s back at it, tracing a path along my shoulder and sliding my bra straps low.

“I’m sorry about last—”

“Shhh…”—his lips brush mine—“You did nothing wrong. I warned you I might push too hard.”

“I like knowing you want me, Archer. Even if it’s overwhelming.”

Sliding his hands down the curve of my behind, Archer lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. “Let me show you how badly I want you,” he murmurs, swinging me around and setting me on his kitchen table.

“Arch…” His name is a whisper as my gaze meets his. There’s something in his eyes. Unspoken desire? Devotion? A hint of something I haven’t seen before.

His hand glides down my breastbone, nudging me to lay down as his fingers curl under the band of my leggings.

As my bottoms slide down my thighs, I cover my face. “Is this smart?”

One at a time, he removes my shoes. “I think it’s the best damn idea I’ve had in a while.”

And I can’t argue.

* * *

Archer is movedinto his new house, save for his bed and desk with his computer—that he’ll have a moving company help him with—as he’s been helping out with Clem until the last possible second. Though he’s offered to take her off my hands when I need him once school starts, it’s not nearly as convenient.

“I think your last day of the semester calls for a celebration.” Archer wraps me up in his arms, bending to lift me off my feet for a kiss. “Let’s go out.”

My fingers tangle in his wavy curls. “Nova’s busy and Ruby has some evening classes at the studio. I don’t have anyone to watch Clem.”

“No, I mean all of us. I know it’s a school night, but Leah is dropping off the boys at my new house in about an hour so we can go pick out a Christmas tree. Come with us? We can grab some dinner while we’re at it. Then come home and decorate it.”

“You guys get a real tree?”

“You don’t?”

I shake my head. “My mom prefers artificial.”

Archer sets me down and moves over to a talkative Clem on the blanket in his living room to pick her up. “Well, in the Thomas household, we go out and find the most beautiful balsam fir on the lot. Think you’re up for the task?”

“Can’t say I know what kind of tree that is, but I’ll do my best.”

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