Page 66 of Deck the Hauls

Emily leaned in and kissed me through her smile.

“What do you think?” she asked, pulling back, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “The other thing was kids. I’ve always wanted them, and it just seems so much more straightforward—and cheaper—dating men if you want a family.”

So Emily wanted kids too.

I ran my fingers down the curve of Emily’s smooth back. If I was bi or pan would I make the same decision? From a societal perspective, yes it would be easier to date men. But women were just so… good. I couldn’t imagine swearing off dating women altogether.

Emily wriggled slightly. “What about you? Are you out publicly? It never came up in conversation, but I guess I wondered.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I came out to my family as a lesbian when I was seventeen and had a couple of girlfriends in my twenties. Thankfully, my family was fine. And I’ve been pretty lucky. The area I grew up in is quite progressive, so I didn’t have to deal with much homophobia.”

There was the odd look or a drunk guy at a pub yelling something incoherent but clearly derogatory when Kelsey and I walked in holding hands, but I’d always been able to just shake it off. If someone was ignorant enough to be homophobic, I didn’t care what they thought.

“I’m so glad to hear that.”

Emily’s eyes, lit by the soft light of the flames, found mine.

I tried to imprint every freckle, every feature, to memory. An invisible string tugged at my heart. Emily would be gone tomorrow, and who knew when I’d see her again. Whenever it was, it was unlikely to involve her lying naked in my bed.

“I’m going to miss you.”

Emily pressed her lips together. “I know. It sucks, but it’s probably for the best that I’m leaving tomorrow and then we’ll have some time apart. If this had happened earlier in my stay, I’m not sure I would have had the willpower to keep it to a one-time thing.”

“Me either.”

God, that would have been torture, spending all that time with Emily, the memory of our incredible night fresh in my mind, knowing she didn’t want to pursue anything. It was still going to be torture, waking up tomorrow and knowing this wouldn’t happen again.

Emily stifled a yawn.

“I guess we should get some sleep,” I said reluctantly.

“Hey…” Emily said, propping herself up.

“Mmm?”

“Can I kiss you one last time?”

In answer, I cupped her jaw and gently pressed my lips against hers. Emily’s mouth parted and I shut my eyes as the kiss morphed from tender to passionate, pushing all thoughts of tomorrow out of my mind.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

EMILY

My eyes shot open as Michael Bublé crooned “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”. I grabbed my phone from under my pillow, flicked off my alarm, and smiled. Last night had been amazing.

I rolled over to Dana. The other side of the bed was empty. My smile fell. Where was she?

Dana had said it would be hard to go back to being friends. Maybe she’d decided to get up to reduce any temptation. My chest constricted. It would be difficult, but we’d manage. It would be easier with some distance between us, removing the temptation of hooking up again.

I listened. The house was silent, the fire reduced to glowing coals. At least the howl of the wind had subsided. I glanced over to the window. Blue skies. Even better. I glanced at my watch. Shit, I needed to get a move on if I was going to catch the train.

I changed back into my clothes from yesterday, which Dana had hung next to the fire to dry, and then wandered around the cabin, checking rooms as I went. Dana wasn’t in the bathroom, her bedroom or the kitchen. She’s probably gone to pick up the truck. The electricity was working again, so I set about making a pot of coffee for us. It had just finished brewing when a loud rumble grabbed my attention. Was that Dana? It didn’t sound like the truck.

I turned and headed back into the living room toward the sound. My eyebrows shot up as I swung open the door.

A red tractor slowly pulled up in front of the cabin. A large metal blade attached to its front was pushing snow to the side.

The engine sputtered to a stop and Dana jumped out.