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I released a relieved moan and tucked in against him.
“Won’t I make you cold now?”
Boone’s arm tightened around me. “Not possible. I’m hot, remember?”
I laughed and burrowed in. Being this close to him was comfortable—more than I thought it would be. He was strong and warm and secure. And he smelledsogood.
Honestly, the musk of forest and wood on him was enough to make me want to lick him.
Which would be highly inappropriate.
I stared at the fire’s red embers peeking through what remained of the logs. Chunks of blackened wood filled the fireplace, dusting the ash.
A tick at a time, cold gradually dissipated from inside of me, leaving my bones to go back where it belonged. And it was replaced by something else.
His body had a magnet. Being this close to him awakened something primal in me, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced before. I wanted him to turn his face. To pull me closer.
Which meant conversation was extremely necessary before I did something stupid like climbing onto his lap.
“How’s your book?” I asked, gesturing to the volume he’d placed on the table beside him.
I couldn’t see the title.
“It’s good.”
Silence.
Okay, then. Next topic.
“You know, even despite the cold, I still love it.”
“Love what?” His voice rumbled in his chest.
“Snow. I wish I could take some home with me. More than that, I wish I didn’t have to go home. I’ve never been anywhere like this. To a place that makes me feel like this.”
“Like what?” His velvet voice strummed my senses, making them purr.
Do not climb into the nice man’s lap.
Stay right where you are.
“That it’s okay to slow down. To breathe and enjoy the scenery.” Not to mention that being held by Boone while his fingers stroked my arm? Made my pulse pound in my ears.
Did he know he was doing it? Did he have any idea of the effect he had on me?
“Where do you work?” he asked.
“At a call center. We sell homeopathic cleaning products and natural remedies, that kind of thing. I’m always inside—it’s too hot to do much outside in nature. And the desert has its own kind of beauty, but with woods like these where you live? I think I’d like to get lost even without the snow.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Boone said, speaking as though he hadn’t meant to.
My heart drummed a little harder. “Why? To get lost? You seemed to know exactly where you were going out there.”
He stared off for a few moments and then seemed to shake off whatever dark thought plagued him. When he spoke, it was to change the subject.
“You said you’re writing something. What are you writing?”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. His arm tightened, holding me close, and that warmed my limbs, allowing me to relax against him that much more.
