Page 41 of Home for the Holidays

“My pleasure,” Heidi whispered as she opened it, revealing Maddie standing there, wagging her tail, welcoming them home.

Heidi squatted down and said her hello to her best girl, who clearly didn’t get the memo that she was tipsy. She charged forward and knocked Heidi onto her ass. Heidi started to laugh loudly, then slapped her hand over her mouth when Iris said, “Shh,” while also laughing like crazy.

“Are you okay?” She held her hand out for Heidi to take. “Here, I’ll help you up.”

“My hero,” Heidi whispered after Iris pulled her up from the floor. She was standing so close to her, facing her head-on, and all she wanted to do was walk her backward, press her into the door, and make out with her for hours. And hours. And hours.

Iris’s eyes moved over Heidi’s features, from her eyes to her nose, to her mouth, then back to her eyes. “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

“How am I going to do that?”

“By looking at me like that,” Iris answered, her voice feather soft. The smile that came to her lips as she reached up and tucked Heidi’s hair behind her ear was one she would never forget.

“I’m sorry.” She wasn’t, but it was the only thing that came to mind.

“No, you’re not. If you were, you’d stop.” Iris’s smirk was sexy, as was the way she licked her lips. “You know I wouldn’t say no, right?”

“Wouldn’t say no to what?” She could barely hear herself. Not because she was whispering but because of her pulse rapidly beating against her eardrums.

Iris leaned closer, so close that Heidi almost had to take a step back—her eyesight just wasn’t what it used to be. “To you, to this…”

The pause between them, the air not moving, the way they both stopped breathing, was so incredibly overwhelming that all Heidi could do was blink. Blink away the excitement that had mixed with her courage and nerves to create a pretty disastrous cocktail.

“We shouldn’t,” she finally said, taking a step back. “You know we shouldn’t.”

“I know.” Iris’s smile didn’t convey what should have been the sadness of the situation. Instead, she looked like she was even more encouraged to keep going. She didn’t, though. She removed her coat and scarf and hung them on the hook by the door. She then started to undo the buttons on Heidi’s coat, slowly, one by one, her slender fingers working with ease. Heidi couldn’t take her eyes from Iris’s hands, from her short, manicured nails with the dark red nail polish, to the thick, silver band on her middle finger, to the tiny tattoo of a bow between her forefinger and thumb.

“What is this for?” Heidi reached forward, catching Iris’s hand in her own. Her hand was so warm, her skin so soft. So much softer than Sandy’s.

“You have to promise not to laugh.”

“Why would I laugh?”

She shrugged, suddenly seeming small and so much more nervous than she’d seemed the entire length of their relationship. “It’s a Taylor Swift tattoo. For my favorite song.”

“‘The Archer,’ hmm?”

Her eyes widened, and the smile that stretched across her face was absolutely adorable. “You like Taylor Swift?”

“Oh, honey, I love Taylor.” Heidi looked down at Iris’s hand, stroked the tattoo with her thumb, and tried to not get lost in the moment. She was failing, but she was at least trying. “I love it.”

“Thank you,” Iris said softly. She breathed in, a sharp intake that didn’t seem to fit in the moment.

“What is it?”

“Zac,” she whispered. “He has the arrow.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, best friend tattoos.” Her face, for the first time, finally held the resigned sadness it needed to. This, whatever was happening, simply could not.

Heidi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know,” she offered, hoping Iris knew what she meant. Suddenly, and completely by surprise, Iris stepped forward and pulled her in, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. The urge to fight it was nonexistent; Heidi pressed her nose and mouth against Iris’s neck. She breathed in her scent, lavender and honeysuckle, and it was almost as intoxicating as the old-fashioneds. She allowed herself to melt into the hug, to enjoy the closeness, to remember the way Iris’s arms felt, how her body felt pressed against hers, her breasts, her stomach. If this was all she was going to get, she was going to remember every single second.

“I don’t want to go to bed,” Iris said against Heidi’s neck.

“I know.”

“I have to, though, don’t I?”

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