Page 58 of Home for the Holidays

Heidi raised her brows. “I have, yes.”

“Well, I say we say fuck them and do what we want.”

“Oh, Iris,” she whispered. She leaned her forehead against Iris’s. “And what if he gets mad when he finds out? We can’t escape that like you escaped sledding.” And yet Iris’s face was close, close enough for her to kiss if she just leaned in…

“I just want to get to know you,” Iris whispered, her warm breath brushing against Heidi’s lips. “What if we just get to know each other?”

“Not in the biblical sense?” Heidi asked, and Iris let out a tiny laugh. “I can handle that.”

“We can have rules. For now.”

“Rules. Yes.”

“Like no kissing.”

Heidi pulled air in through her nose, licked her lips, and closed her eyes. “No kissing.”

Iris’s hand was on her side, above her hip, where her apron was tied. “And no touching.”

She smiled and whispered, “No touching.”

“And no tasting you.”

“Goddammit.” Her eyes were still closed, thankfully, or she would have said,Fuck the rules.“And no tastingyou,” she said softly when she opened them. Iris’s smirk was making it all very challenging. “So, what do you want to know?”

It seemed to take Iris a few seconds of intense eye contact before she finally moved her hand away and took a step back. “Tell me about Paris.”

“You remember that, hmm?”

“How could I forget it?” She slid onto one of the barstools at the island. “Also, it was only yesterday.”

“True.” Heidi reached behind her to untie her apron. She slipped it over her head and tossed it onto the counter. “What if we got out of here?”

If she had to talk about Paris, she didn’t want to do it at the house. She needed fresh air. And she needed to know, without a shadow of doubt, that no one would hear. Not because she was embarrassed. Not because she was ashamed. But because she hadn’t ever spoken about her time there. And once she started talking, who knew what would come pouring out?

Iris’s eyes widened. “What? And go where? I’m supposed to not feel great.”

“We’ll say we went to get you something at the café. Like chicken noodle soup.”

“And you think that will work?”

Heidi shrugged while she walked past Iris, dragging her hand along the countertop and tapping it lightly. “Only one way to find out. Come on.” She jerked her head toward the door. “Trust me.”

The smile that spread across Iris’s lips almost made Heidi’s knees buckle. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”

It was tiny, the sentiment, but it meant more to Heidi than anything that had happened so far.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

It was snowing again. Big fluffy flakes that were covering everything with another fresh blanket of white. The snow was beautiful, and considering that the weather report said another twelve to fourteen inches were expected with the latest storm, Iris was preparing herself for more than her fair share of beauty. According to the text she got from Stacey earlier, the city still hadn’t seen a single flake. At least she was getting a very white Christmas.

“We haven’t seen this much snow on Christmas in years,” Heidi said, the layer of older snow beneath their boots crunching as they walked up Washington Street toward downtown Vale Park. Iris glanced at her, at her lovely profile, at her oh so very pink lips, the lips that it was taking everything in Iris not to kiss. “I love it. It reminds me of being a kid again.”

When Iris didn’t respond, Heidi looked over at her.

“What?” she asked with a small smile.

The color of Heidi’s eyes, the look on her face, the smell of winter in the air, all of it in that very moment made Iris’s throat ache. “I love looking at you.” Iris’s mind was racing, yet every thought was about Heidi and how good this all felt.

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