colors, but all the same size so the kids wouldn’t bicker over them. There was a photograph of each person pinned to each stocking.
“It’s nice,” she said.
“I love having a big group like this, a big family. A tribe.”
She didn’t answer. She’d come from a big family, one that was tribelike. And it hadn’t worked out so well for her.
His hand dropped from the back of the sofa to her shoulder, gently caressing. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Coming on to you.”
“That’s exciting.”
“I think so, too.”
It was quiet and warm in the room, with music drifting from the speakers. It was briefly interrupted by a storm update. The new prediction was for up to three feet in Ulster County.
“Are you worried?” she asked him.
“I have a rule,” he said. “No worrying on Christmas Eve. Oh, and I have insurance, just in case. I was in the business, so I’m covered. Actually, there is one thing I’m worried about.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“How to get you to spend the night with me.”
And there it was. The invitation she had waited for, hoped for, yearned for and at the same time dreaded. Before she opened her mouth she honestly did not know what she would say.
“Sometimes all you have to do is ask.”
For Darcy, the biggest surprise of the night was not the blizzard. It was not the power of the wind lashing at the windows.
No, the biggest surprise was that Logan delivered on every single promise he’d made with his kisses. Yes, he really was that tender, that attentive to her. He seemed to know just how to make her want him with a yearning so intense it took her breath away. As stealthy as a pair of teenagers, they crept up the stairs to his room. The only light came from the string of colored bulbs hanging from the eaves outside, casting a rainbow glow across his high, peeled birch bed. The room smelled of woods and soap and some ineffable fragrance she found wildly arousing. He went over to a dresser and lit a tall column of a candle, dimly illuminating an area cluttered with unsorted laundry and a box of gift wrap, curly ribbon and gift bags.
“Sorry about the mess,” he murmured. “I wasn’t expecting company.”
“You weren’t?”
“Hoping, maybe. Not expecting.” He took her by the hand and brought her over to the bed.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
She started to reply, but he shushed her with a light brush of his thumb across her lips, and it was all she could do not to moan audibly.
“We’re already pretty good at talking,” he explained. “We can make conversation, joke around.”
“Yes, but—”
“Shh. Let’s see how we do at being quiet together.” He cupped the side of her head in his hand and kissed her, long and searchingly, his tongue teasing its way into her mouth. She ran her hands over his upper arms and around his shoulders, mapping the terrain of hard muscle under his soft sweater. He felt so good to her. She was so ready for this—another surprise. Before Logan, she’d wanted nothing to do with guys, and relationships. All she thought of was the risk and the emotional pain. Just a few weeks ago, she had been patently unable to imagine being vulnerable again, but suddenly she felt as if someone had let her out of a small, cramped box of her own making. Stepping back, she pulled her top over her head and let it drop to the floor. It felt wonderful, liberating, to finally leave the past behind and step into this unexpected new place—Logan’s world.
He took in a sharp breath, then put his hands at her waist and pulled her close, bending to place a line of kisses along her collarbone, then reaching around to unhook her bra, fumbling a little.
“It’s a front clasp,” she said, slowly guiding his hands to savor every bit of his touch.
He took it off, and made a wordless sound she found completely gratifying. He peeled his sweater off one- handed and dropped his jeans, and she followed suit. Then he pressed her back on the bed, onto the soft, age- worn quilt. She welcomed the weight of him, feeling amazed at how clear-eyed she was about wanting him. Instead of feeling smothered, she felt untethered, ready for adventure.
He pulled a ribbon of connected packets from a drawer of the bedside table. “Better watch out,” he murmured.
“Better not cry,” she said.
Then he raised himself above her and held her hands up over her head, sinking down with exquisite timing. “Santa Claus is coming tonight,” he whispered.
Time slipped away, the minutes uncounted as they lost themselves in making love. Darcy felt dazed by the storm of pleasure, and in the aftermath, the silence was deep, broken only by their satisfied, tandem breathing. His long, muscular body curved around hers, unfamiliar and exciting.
Her life seemed to be taking an unanticipated turn. She thought she’d come here simply to survive the holidays away from her family. And now here she was with this new thing happening to her. This...romance. Really, there was no other word for it. She was swept into a lovely swirl of emotion, one that freed her heart and filled her with joy, gently unspooling the tension she’d been holding on to from the past. He turned his head and gently kissed her temple. “That was nice,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she said. “But there’s something I don’t understand.”
“What’s that?”
“This is supposed to be awkward,” she said. “We’re new, it’s our first time, so...why isn’t this awkward?”
“Because it’s the real thing. It’s not awkward, because it’s real.”
“How do you know that? We barely know each other.”
“I know stuff.” He laughed softly. “I’m smarter than I look.”
“What stuff?” she asked. “I mean, you’re the first man I’ve wanted to make love to since my marriage. If you’re so smart, you’d realize this is probably rebound sex.”
“As opposed to what?”
“The kind of sex you have when you realize you’re over your failed marriage and you’re ready to move on, and you find someone you click with and you realize you’re not reacting to the past but to right now.”
“I think you just answered your own question.” He trailed his finger along her jawline, then down over her shoulder. “This is not a rebound,” he said.
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“Because I’m not letting you go.”
Her heart surged with excitement. Happiness. She wished the feeling could go on forever.
And this was unfortunate, because she could not see a way for the situation to sort itself out in the long term. Logan was incredible, but there was a red flag as big and bright as the cape of a matador. He claimed he wanted—he needed—a woman who wanted children, not just Charlie but babies, too. She couldn’t promise him that. It just felt too risky, too fraught with pitfalls. She wasn’t ready now and couldn’t be certain she’d ever be.
“There are things you don’t know about me,” she confessed. “Things that would make a big difference in the way you feel. Things that would tell you that this might not be the right move for either of us.”
“There’s plenty we don’t know about each other, but it’s only a matter of time. I plan to learn everything about you. I’m going to know what makes you laugh, what makes you cry. I’m going to know what makes you mad and what makes you sad. I’m going to learn all about you. And you’re going to love every minute of it. Oh, and you’re going to learn everything about me, too.”
“You sound very sure of yourself.”
“Because I
