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“I shouldn’t take you back. I should keep you here with me.”
He dipped his nose toward my throat. The touch of his skin against mine was cool enough that steam could have hissed from the impact, yet it spread through me like a dip into a hot tub.
My eyelashes fluttered. It took far too much effort to give a coherent response when all I wanted was to go where he was going.
“I believe that’s called kidnapping,” I said, my voice airy.
His lips skimmed across my jaw. “Not if you wanted to stay, too. Didn’t you say you wanted to stay?”
I was at a loss for words. He pulled back, taking me with him, helping me sit up again.
And he watched me as if his existence hung on what my answer would be.
I pictured the offer he presented. Dusting off the snow, heading back inside his cottage. Basking near the fire and cocooning ourselves on the couch just like we did last night. Keeping one another warm.
It would probably involve more kissing.
The prospect was heady. I wasn’t sure I could handle that much of him—and not only that.
It was the aftermath I wasn’t sure I could manage.
Having had the moments we’d already shared was already making it hard enough to leave. If I had more time with him? That would make it impossible.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” I said, exhaling and watching my breath puff in the cold air before fading. “You’re right. I’m leaving. We need to let this…whatever it is…go.”
The hope in Boone’s face faded, his features settling into resignation. He removed his snowy glove and skimmed my jaw with surprisingly warm fingers. The touch made me want to take it all back. To snatch his hand and lead him back inside after all.
“Can I kiss you again, Grace?” he asked.
Yes, my thoughts screamed. My eyes flicked to his mouth, and my heart rapped like a hammer as he guided my face to his.
His lips were cold, and yet this snow kiss was my favorite that we’d shared so far. It tasted like sunshine and secret things and the slightest tinge of desperation.
I got the sense of how light felt when it passed through an icicle at just the right angle, how it refracted and broke into a thousand beams of color. His kiss made me feel like that beam—brought to life and made so much more than I could be on my own.
And then, just like that, the colors faded.
Coldness returned as he pulled away, and I knew in that moment. I couldn’t keep him. Much as I wanted, this could never be what we both wanted it to be.
I had a plane to catch.
GRACE
Boone’s reservationsfrom earlier that morning didn’t leave me alone. This time, I let him help me up. Together, we trudged to the sleigh and unburied as much snow as we could. I swiped the snow free from the bench and scooped it out of the sleigh while Boone fed and prepped Hazelnut.
And then, silently, we sat. Boone clicked his teeth and guided Hazelnut back through the woods. Back to the inn.
Our conversation tormented me the entire way. I couldn’t appreciate the splendor of the snow-capped trees or the sparkle on the newfound powder. Cold soaked into my bones once more, chasing away the last dregs of Boone’s warmth.
When he dropped me off, he didn’t kiss me.
I was pretty sure the kiss during our wrestling match in the snow was the last one I’d ever get from him. The thought carved a wedge into my chest that made it hard to breathe.
The minute I made it up to my room, I needed to warm up again. So I stripped down and turned the shower on as hot as I could stand it.
My shower lasted much longer than it should have. If I’d been at home, Mom would have been pounding on the door, demanding I shut the hot water off and save some for everyone else.
But I wasn’t at home. I was at an inn in northern Montana and had just had the most incredible, heartrending night of my life.
