Page 70 of Eight Days of Christmas
He clamped a hand over her mouth, a delicious smile curling his lips.
Forget about “Silent Night.” After ten years, they were about to bring down the house.
She teetered on the edge of a place she realized she hadn’t been in so long—that place of complete rapture that echoes in the bone—until she was plunging into a splintering eruption of bliss. He removed his hand from her mouth and kissed her while she let go of all restraint, swallowing her cries.
Wrapped in Leo’s arms, deliriously satisfied, Isabella pressed her cheek against his chest as their ragged breathing returned to normal. She stroked her finger up his bicep and across his smooth pecs, trying to stay in the moment and not allow herself to question what had just happened.
He kissed the top of her head, and she raised her chin, resting it over his thrumming heart before he smiled, leaned in, and kissed her again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Leo
Isabella’s phonevibrated on her bedside table. Leo wanted her to ignore it. He wanted to make love to her again. And again, and again, and again. He felt starved—starved of Isabella. Once wasn’t enough. He wasn’t sure forever would be enough.
But the buzzing didn’t stop. Which meant several texts were coming in, one after another. The distraction was enough for Leo to pull away and put a halt to their delirious kissing.
“Do you need to get that?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” She kissed a path from his lips toward his ear, making him momentarily forget what a phone even was.
But the dang thing buzzed again.
“It could be important.”
She groaned and trailed her hand down his stomach. “Doubtful.”
He could barely think with her touching him like that, but…
“Work?”
She looked up at him. “This late? No.”
Another buzz.
Leo reached for the phone while she continued teasing him with kisses, from the hollow of his throat down to his chest. He intended to hand it to her, but his eyes snagged on the screen.
A string of texts filled Isabella’s notifications.
His gut wrenched, just enough to make him feel a little nauseated.
Harrison: I’m ready to make a commitment.
Harrison: Come home so we can figure this out.
Harrison: I want to be with you. Forever. I love you.
“You might want to take a look at these.” Leo pressed the phone into Isabella’s hand. He sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed, trying to give Isabella space. He stabbed his fingers through his hair and let out a silent breath.
He didn’t know what would happen in a few days when Izzy had to get back on a plane to New York. He didn’t know if she’d do so willingly, ready to meet Harrison halfway, or if she’d struggle to leave, or even choose to stay in Pineridge a while longer.
Granted, the last damn thing he needed was another crack in his heart, but how could he let this moment in time with Isabella slip away? He’d let ten years slip away already.
Sure, his mom had made the choice for him, but he hadn’t had the balls to go to New York regardless. He imagined it like some scene in a romantic movie, where the hero rushes across the country to be with the woman he loves, come hell or high water.
But he hadn’t done that.
He’d been the man who bottled up his rejection and worshipped it every day for a miserable decade.
