Page 45 of Sleigh My Heart

“Yeah. That’s where Molly was from. We met when I was stationed in Georgia. She was working in Atlanta back then.” He shoved the last of his cookie in his mouth and chewed. The lid was off. He might as will let the last of the crap spill out. “We both knew our marriage was a mistake right away, but she got pregnant three months in, so we tried to make it work. After a couple years, we divorced. I came to see Ava as much as I could. Then last year, Molly was in an accident.”

A soft hand covered his. “I’m sorry.”

“We had been divorced for five years at that point.” He shook his head. “Ava had a really hard time. I took her to a counselor at first. Then I decided to move back to Ashwood so she could be by her grandpa.”

“What about her other grandparents?”

“Molly’s dad passed before we got married, and her mom is in a retirement community in Florida. I promised to take Ava down to see her once a year.” He flipped his hand over and stroked the soft skin of her palm. It felt nice—right—to have her close.

Michelle’s gaze dropped to their hands. Long lashes blinked. “I think the cookies are working.”

“Are you feeling different?”

“Not yet, but the fact you are talking about your ex and feeling up my hand, I’d say you are.”

He scoffed but didn’t remove his hand, just kept stroking. Slow, lazy circles.

“You always were a lightweight.” She smirked.

“Nope. That’s all you. You do that to me, Mickey.” She always had. He gave her hand a tug. She leaned closer. “I’m going to kiss you and it has nothing to do with the cookies.”

He moved at a sloth’s pace, giving her plenty of opportunity to pull from his grasp.

She didn’t. Her blinks grew longer and that sexy tongue made an appearance to wet her lips.

Fuck. He moved in. A soft touch of lips. Her breath, sweet from cookies, mixed with his, and he was gone. The next thing he knew, she was on the counter, and he was standing in the V of her legs.

Nick’s fingers walked the curve of her hips and locked on her jean’s pockets. They dug into the denim-covered flesh. Mmm. He’d always loved her ass.

The tug of her hands on his back spurred him into deepening the kiss. When she opened for him and his tongue touched hers, memories lit up his brain.

Kissing Mickey was like riding a bike… down a steep hill… in a driving rain. Yeah, she amped up every nerve in his body, especially the ones below the waist.

She broke the kiss, panting. “Shit, I’d almost forgot what it was like to kiss you.”

His lips crept up in a half smile. As if moving on their own, his hands slid up her back, one vertebra at a time. Her green eyes darkened to a midnight forest. “I hadn’t forgotten.”

Those gorgeous eyes closed. She shook her head then opened them. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

He knew it wasn’t, but that didn’t stop him from pressing a kiss to the side of her neck.

“Nick. You have Ava.”

Who was asleep upstairs. Shit. She was right. He pulled back an inch. Dropping his forehead to hers, he watched her for any sign to continue. Not a one. “You’re right. But only because I think we need to eat another cookie.”

“I do have the munchies.”

He chuckled. “Sounds like they are working.”

“Well, the fact I let you kiss me, points to yes.”

He raised a brow. “I’d say you were right there with me.”

She slipped from the counter and maneuvered around him. “That was the cookies. I better be going. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She scooped up the bagged box and her coat, and slipped out the door before Nick could wrap his head around the fact she was gone.

He’d kissed her. And she’d kissed him back. It was as if twenty years had just melted away.