Page 12 of Jingle All the Plays

I shake my head. “Is that a problem?” I somehow manage to say with some modicum of calmness.

“I dunno yet.” When he reaches down between us, and I feel him adjust himself, I can no longer be held liable for what I’m doing. I’ve wanted him for too long, and if this is the way I get him. I’m going to take it.

“I think there is a problem, actually.” I say casually, despite the hammering in my chest.

“Oh shoot. Sorry, Maisy, I just—”

“Your jeans.”

“What?”

“They’re a problem.”

The silence drones on so long that it’s threatening to erode my self-confidence.

I give it one last shot. “I think you should take them off.”

Still wordless, he slides his hand up my shirt, up my ribs, stopping just below my breasts.

“Maisy.” His breath is warm below my ear, and he pulls me tight against the length of his body. I can feel everything, and I’ve never been so aroused in my life.

“Bo.”

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.” His words are like a stun gun to my system. He’s wanted me like this for a long time? That can’t be right. “But I can’t just be this guy to you.” His hand on my stomach says otherwise. “I can’t be the guy who does what he said he’d do to you last Christmas.” His forehead presses against my medulla oblongata. Which is a really bizarre word for my brain to retrieve at a time like this. “I can’t, Maisy. I want you so badly.”

Is it just me, or is the dude sending mixed signals? But my body is so hot right now that I might be going into a state of delirium.

Chapter 9

Maisy

“What are you talking about Bo?” I have to see his face, read his eyes, to understand what’s going on, so I turn around in his arms.

We’re face to face, and my arms are folded in half and squashed against his chest.

“I’m so sorry about Christmas. Please forgive me.” His voice is saturated with remorse.

“Oh. That.”

“I don’t even remember everything I said to you.”

I remember. Verbatim. Why does he want to talk about this now? We were about to have our moment. I was about to give in to all my cravings.

But he’s not done talking yet. “I just remember that I said some really crude comments to you about your body. How I wanted to…fuck you so badly it hurt.”

The space between my legs clenches as he repeats the words I vividly remember.

“I told you all the ways I wanted to…take you.” He rubs a circle on my back. “You didn’t deserve that. Didn’t deserve to be treated that way. I understand why you left.”

Instantly my hand glides up his chest and pushes him back an inch. “Excuse me? You think I left you?”

“Ya. I get it. I was an ass.”

“Bo. Let’s get one thing straight. You ghosted me. You talked me up all night, got me all worked up, told me to meet you in your hotel room, and then you didn’t show up.”

“What?”

“Your fake surprise is pretty good.”