Page 88 of Wrapped with a Beau

God, he could spend forever touching her. Making her writhe under his fingers, his cock, his tongue. He’s about to put all three to good use when his phone goes off, its shrill, inconvenient ring shattering their post-sex bliss.

Elisha’s bare stomach rises and falls rapidly as he pulls away. “Better get that,” she says with a pout.

He presses a quick kiss to her shoulder in apology before reaching for the phone on the nightstand. The number on the screen looks familiar, but it’s not in his contacts. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Ves Hollins?”

He fights to keep his voice even when he feels her toes stroking his calves. “Yes, who is this?”

“Oh, hey, this is Shane from American Asset Appraisals. When we last spoke, I know you were eager to get back home and, again, I can’t apologize enough for the holdup on our side. I wanted to let you know that we were able to clear our schedules earlier than expected. We can get the whole crew out to do this valuation in double-quick time so we can be out of your hair tomorrow itself. I realize it’s short notice, but are you available in the morning? We prefer for the homeowner to be on the premises.”

“Tomorrow morning?” It’s a lot sooner than Ves had expected. He glances at Elisha, who gives him a satisfied smile and a tantalizing lip bite, her hair splayed across his sheets.

“Sorry again,” Shane says. “We can stick to the first week of January if that’s more convenient. Happy to do whatever makes you happy!”

Happy? Happy is here, with Elisha inches away from him, warm and willing, burrowed in his sheets, giving him those eyes that let him know she wants him again. He hesitates, not sure how to respond. Nothing about this timing is convenient, but isn’t this what he wanted? A quick visit in and out of Piney Peaks?

It’s been years since he’s made a Christmas list, but even if he’d made one this year, falling for a small-town girl with the biggest of hearts wouldn’t have been on it. Maybe this is for the best, a gift in disguise. An out before he gets too attached.

“I appreciate it, Shane,” says Ves, closing his eyes against the sight of her rolling onto her stomach and burying her face in the pillow. Against the spine he pressed kisses down just half an hour ago, the curve of her sweet cheeks that the sheet doesn’t quite cover. “Ten o’clock is just fine. I’ll see you then.”

“Making plans for us tomorrow?” Elisha asks as he hangs up.

His heart twinges that they have to cut the trip short. That he’ll change their tickets so they can catch the earliest bus tomorrow morning to make the two-hour journey home. “I’ll tell you after,” he says, trying to ignore the disquiet in his heart as he takes her into his arms again. “First, I want to do this.”

And then he kisses her, like it’s not just a want, but a need. Like it’s his last night on this earth, because, in a way, it feels like it is.

Chapter Forty-Five

Ves

Thanks again! Have a good night!” Ves waves the valuation experts goodbye from the doorway, a conflicting cocktail of emotion brewing in his chest. With two whole teams doggedly working through the day, he now has the final appraisal of all the books, art, and jewelry left in the house. He doesn’t quite know what to do with the information, let alone with himself. Does he bring some of it back to New York? Should he send everything to an auction house?

God, he actually doesn’t care about any of this right now. All he wants is to get back to Elisha. She’d taken it in stride when he’d broken the news to her last night and had even laid her head on his shoulder on the ride back to Piney Peaks early this morning, scrolling through all their pictures. But her energy was all off, the sparkle dimmed from her brown eyes and a gloomy pout on her lips as she’d headed to work straight from the Piney Peaks bus station.

“So this is it, huh?”

He glances up to see Elisha standing on the sidewalk in front of his house. He scans her face quickly; her smile is back, or at least a facsimile of it.

His laugh comes out in a white puff. She’s changed out of her work clothes, wearing sweats and the same bunny slippers and pom-pom beanie she had on the day they first met. It’s cold outside, and she looks ridiculous, but in a way that makes him want to drag her into his house and straight up to bed. He wraps his fingers harder around his still-hot mug of coffee as if physically restraining himself from doing so.

“It doesn’t have to be,” he offers.

She works her mouth from side to side. “I think it does,” she says quietly, as though she doesn’t want to say the words. “Long-distance relationships don’t work for me. I know you’re nothing like Bentley, but if it has to end, I’d rather it be quick, you know? Not dragged out. That just makes it worse.”

He exhales. “Yeah.” There’s no argument he can make to refute her. She’s one hundred percent correct, even though walking away from her feels all kinds of wrong. He can’t even bring himself to go back inside the house. Honestly, he doesn’t know if it would make it easier or harder if she were to ask him to stay. He doesn’t know if he wants her to put that on him. He doesn’t even know what he’d say if she did.

“Think you’ve changed your mind about dating over the holidays?” she asks.

“No,” he replies, mouth curving into a smile. “That was just for you, Elisha Rowe.”

She rolls her eyes, but he swears she looks pleased. “Lucky me.”

He gives her one last look. Damian isn’t in a rush to take possession of the house, but Ves doesn’t want to overstay his welcome, making things harder both for him and for Elisha. Dragging things out the way she obviously dreads.

So he raises his mug in the air, tips it in her direction, and gives her a nod. They had a great December together, but on Christmas Day, it all comes to an end. Not just the Winter Festival he promised to stay for, but the whole Piney Peaks bubble, where everything he ever wanted seemed within reach.

“Hey!”

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