Page 11 of All It Takes

“Snow smells?” he asked, looking up at her curiously.

She nodded. “I forgot all about how snow smells when I lived away from here for a few years. It’s the quality of the air. It smells good, kind of crisp. I don’t know how else to explain it.” She looked over at me. “Do you know what I mean?”

I breathed in the snow-scented air, nodding as I smiled over at her, my pulse revving like a restless engine. “I do.” Looking at Ross, I added, “You’ll see. After it snows a few times, you’ll know what we mean.”

Light snow began to fall as we drove home, but it quickly grew heavier. I glanced at Tiffany. “Was a storm supposed to come in?”

Her worried eyes bounced from me to the view out the windows. “It was a twenty percent chance when I checked my weather app this morning. It didn’t say it was going to snow like this, though.”

Ross straightened, leaning forward to look out the window. “Wow. I’ve never seen it snow like this.”

By the time we exited the highway for Willow Brook, visibility was poor. Ross was worried about Nilla. Having grown up in Alaska, I was accustomed to driving in bad weather, but I was relieved Alice and Jonah lived on the way to my place.

I glanced at Tiffany, and as if she read my mind, she offered, “I’ve already texted Alice. She’ll walk up to the road and meet us.”

In short order, we had picked up Nilla and drove to my house. After we unloaded the new pet supplies and Ross took Nilla out for a walk, I looked over at Tiffany.

“I don’t think you should drive in this,” I said.

She spun around. “You just drove us here. Are you serious?”

I gestured to the windows. “I kept driving because we were already on the road. I wouldn’t choose to go back out. There’s like zero visibility, Tiffany. I’m just relieved we got here. How far is your place from here?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

“In good weather?” I prompted.

She rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Fine I’ll stay here.”

ChapterNine

WES

A few hours later, Ross was sound asleep in his bedroom with Nilla on the foot of his bed. With a little help from my mother, I’d gotten bedding for the spare bedroom for him last night. I wanted him to be able to pick out his own stuff, but that could wait.

I felt as if the universe had set out to torture me. I’d been battling my arousal for hours by this point. Spending time with Tiffany in close quarters had short-circuited my discipline and willpower. She was standing in the kitchen while my eyes were lingering on the curve of her hips.

I had started a fire in the woodstove, which was all fine and well, except it made the house hot. She had stripped out of her jacket and the flannel shirt she wore over her tank top. Turning, she was drying her hands on a dish towel when she looked over at me.

“I wasn’t prepared to stay over. I hope you have a spare toothbrush or something,” she said.

“Well, you got a whole pack of toothbrushes for Ross, so you can use one of those,” I offered, thinking this was a safe topic.

She draped the towel over the oven handle and walked over to where I stood by the counter, my hand curled on the edge. She rested her hip against it and crossed her arms. Not a helpful move because her arms plumped her breasts up slightly. My eyes had a mind of their own and dipped down, lingering on the curves. I wanted to trail my fingertips over her skin. Hell, I wanted to drag my tongue into the valley between her breasts and tease her ruched nipples.

She cleared her throat, and I lifted my eyes. Her cheeks were flushed pink. We studied each other. “Wes…” she began. She gave her head a little shake, biting her bottom lip.

My cock throbbed in response. “Yes?” I prompted.

She muttered something, followed with, “Fuck it.”

The next thing I knew, her arms unfolded, and she stepped closer, staring up at me. I felt as if she were daring me.

“What are you doing?” I rasped.

“This is crazy. This whole situation is crazy,” she said, throwing her hands up as she took another step closer.

I could feel the heat of her body, and her breasts pressed against my chest. “What’s crazy?” I could barely hear my own voice over the thundering beat of my heart. My need was tightening, digging spurs into my side, urging my pulse faster and faster.

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