Page 71 of A Winter Wish

“Not even close.”

He sat up, pulled her into his lap, and pushed back into her. She braced her hands behind her, working herself onto him, as one of his hands wound into her hair, the other flattened on her back, holding her there. She ran her hands down his back, his muscles rigid with tension, and felt her outline dissolving, the edges of everything becoming blurred. She bit the side of his neck, and his fingers dug into her spine as a rush of pleasure flared through her.

Afterward, he pulled her down on the bed next to him, so that her head was on his chest. She lay there, waiting for her breathing to return to normal, as he traced lazy patterns across her stomach. “Are you…?” he asked.

“Still here,” she said. Though in truth she felt a little dazed, like her brain was still catching up to it. Really, if this was what sex with Theo was like, maybe she ought to be doing a lot more of it.

But not tonight. Because if she wasn’t careful, she’d end up falling asleep here, and she couldn’t be having that. So, a little reluctantly, she moved away, starting to sit up.

He reached out, grabbed her hand. “Stay,” he murmured. And despite what she was trying to tell herself, despite the fact that she was trying to keep it safe, her stupid heart flipped. But it was for that very reason that she couldn’t.

Instead, she bent over him, kissed his forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Because whatever he might want now, she didn’t want to come to expect him to always be there.

Chapter Twenty-seven

When there was a knock at Lexie’s door in the morning, she answered it without thinking, toothbrush in hand, still in her pajama vest top and shorts, bare legs on show. Of course, it was Theo who stood there, his hair messy, a hint of stubble just starting to grow out. And no matter that he’d seen all of her last night, no matter that he’d tasted practically every naked inch of her, she still had a rush of self-consciousness. It was one thing in the moment, in the middle of the night—another thing entirely with the curtains open, bright light streaming in—and him all dressed and her…not. Especially as she hadn’t had time to sort her face out and she currently looked like she’d just crawled out of bed—and definitely not in the sexy way. She tried to resist the urge to cover herself as Theo’s gaze dropped to her legs, traveling up the length of them. She cleared her throat and his gaze snapped to hers.

“Right. Sorry.”

It made her laugh, and the self-consciousness faded a little. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He did that, she realized. When he was working up to something.

“So I wanted to take a trip today. And I wondered if you’d come with me.”

She frowned, now not really sure what to do with the toothbrush in her hand. “Aren’t we booked onto the flight home with the others?”

“Yeah, but we can get them on the bus and say our goodbyes from here. We couldn’t ask the company to pay for new flights for us, but flights home from Dublin are super-cheap.”

“From Dublin?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a friend who lives near Dublin still—he owns a B&B down there. We could drive down. It’s only about an hour from here.”

His hands were still in his pockets, and he rocked back on his heels. He was nervous about asking her. And that thought made her heart catch, in a way she couldn’t help. She thought about it for a second. But the truth was, she didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want last night to be the end.

His voice, heavy with near-sleep. Stay.

So she nodded. “OK.”

“OK? Really?”

“If you didn’t think I would say yes, why did you ask?”

He grinned at her in that way she loved. “Always worth a shot, Lex.”

—

The B&B turned out to be an old farmhouse and even though she knew Dublin was a stone’s throw away, it very much had Irish country vibes. They’d driven down a long drive, fields with horses in them on one side, and a view of a nearby lake on the other. Theo parked the car on the gravel driveway in front of a place that managed to be impressively big while also holding an undeniable “cottage charm.” The building was stone gray, with climbing green plants over one side, and flowers in mismatched pots leading up the white steps to the front door. Lexie heard barking, and a collie shot out from around the back of the house somewhere.

“Simon!” shouted a man’s voice as Lexie took half a step backward from the bounding dog. It was wagging its tail, though, tongue hanging out and head low, so Lexie held out a hand for it to sniff, then laughed as the dog pressed against her legs for strokes.

Theo and Lexie carried their bags inside, and were greeted in the reception area by a man with scraggly hair and an equally scraggly beard who looked about the same age as Theo. He was dressed very casually for someone in hospitality, his jeans ripped at the knees, a streak of mud down one side of his T-shirt, and he smiled at Lexie when he saw the dog following at her heels.

“Sorry about Simon,” he said, then glanced at Theo, leaving Lexie wondering who the hell named a dog Simon. “And hello there,” the man said, his Irish accent thick. “Can I help you both on this fine day?”

His smile was full of charm, but Theo managed to look suspicious, his scarred eyebrow shooting up. “I called earlier.”

“Ah yes. Theo, is it?” The “Th” changed to “T,” so that it sounded more like “Teo.” “Got a lovely room for yiz both, overlooking the lake.”