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“You did?”
He pointed to the far workbench. “I know you don’t have a lot of space in your house, but I thought these guys were the perfect size.”
The trio of wooden snowmen were no more than two feet high, all wearing adorable wood hats, with smiling faces engraved into the heads. Christmas scarves adorned their necks and a pointed orange cylinder wooden nose stood out from the middle of the flat face. Black wooden buttons in sets of three trailed down their torsos and their big bottom sections sat on a flat platform of wood.
“They’re adorable. I love them.” She turned and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he murmured into her hair, his fingers curling against her, fighting the urge to push her against the wall of the shop and kiss her until she writhed under his mouth.
With strength he didn’t know he possessed he released her slowly, pressing a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Let’s go inside and watch that movie.”
“Sure,” she said softly, taking his hand. “What are you in the mood for?”
You, naked on my bed, with my mouth tasting every inch of your body, he thought.
“How about you pick?” Why did his voice sound so high?
“Probably nothing scary, since I’m a screamer.”
Clark jerked, studying her face as they rounded the porch. “Come again?”
“The jumpy parts. They make me cling and squeal, and we don’t want to wake up Jace.” She reached for the door knob, giving him a saucy grin. “I know you’re not into romance, but I know a really funny rom-com I think even you will enjoy.”
Merry burrowed against him as close as she could get would not be copacetic to his resolve, so he nodded.
“Great. There are a couple of sex scenes, but we can just mute them,” she said before disappearing inside.
Clark groaned. This is gonna hurt.
Chapter 20
Merry
Merry walked down the gravel road with Daisy’s leash looped over her wrist while clutching the handle grips on each side of a plastic tote filled with penis plushies. It hadn’t snowed for a few days, but several inches still covered the ground, and according to her weather app it would be coming down non-stop from Monday to Thanksgiving. Thank goodness she didn’t have anywhere she couldn’t walk to, because she hated shoveling the stuff.
Daisy weaved in front of her and Merry stumbled, barely catching herself before she went down, and looked around the tote at the puppy. Daisy seemed to have doubled in size in just ten days, and although her leash manners were improving, she still tried to do her own thing.
“Hey, watch what you’re doing down there, sister. I’ve got a date tonight, and I cannot be walking around with torn up knees ’cause you can’t stay in your lane.”
Daisy looked up at her long enough to pretend like she was acknowledging Merry’s existence and stepped out to the right, giving Merry more room.
“Thank you.”
Last year, she hadn’t worried about anyone seeing her legs, since she’d been on a dating hiatus, but in preparation for her first official date with Clark, she’d shaved, exfoliated, and plucked any and all areas that might be seen. She’d narrowed down her date dresses to two and folded them inside the tote so she wouldn’t drop them on the slushy ground by accident. She’d snapped a few pics for Ryan this morning with no response and wanted a second opinion from her mom. She’d already started asking her questions last night during their brief phone call about Clark, and Merry expected she’d slide a few more into the conversation today. Once Merry brought her into it, her mom would want all the details about her and Clark.
Which so far consisted of sexual tension, a night best left out of the conversation, some groveling, more sexual tension, and one fabulous kiss. Well, two kisses, but the other one wasn’t as…intense and zingy. They’d sat on the couch at an acceptable closeness in case Jace woke up, her fingers entwined with his, and he’d actually laughed a few times during the movie. It wasn’t as though she’d expected him to make out with her the entire time, but she wouldn’t have minded a few kisses throughout.
After the credits rolled, Clark put the snowmen in her back seat and bent down to give her a sweet, lingering kiss, but broke it before her toes finished curling. Bewildered, she’d climbed into her car as Clark held the door for her and said goodnight. She’d been so distracted thinking about those kisses, Merry almost forgot to grab Daisy from her parents. Luckily, her mom was already in bed when she arrived and she was able to escape with a mild inquiry from her dad.
As she curled up in bed, stroking Daisy’s fur, she’d replayed each kiss in her mind. The first kiss caught her by surprise, unexpected and passionate. The second was controlled and chaste. It was the Jekyll and Hyde of kisses and she worried he was pulling away again.
Was that just Clark? She’d only ever seen him fired up twice, the night at Brews and Chews she’d rather forget, and the morning after their failed meet-up. When he’d put his arm against the side of her house, she’d imagined for a moment he might push her against the wall and kiss her slippers off.
But he didn’t. In the past, men hadn’t been shy about kissing her, even when the timing was completely wrong, but not Clark. Last night, she’d been the one to initiate the kiss, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him, and he’d met her halfway but she could feel him holding back and she needed to know why. Clark’s mouth on hers warmed her like a cup of spiked cocoa and she wanted more of those smooches.
Clark’s house came into sight and she slowed down to rest, setting the tote on the ground in front of her. It wasn’t heavy, but awkward and her hands were cramping. Clark was probably inside with Jace and she didn’t want to drop by unannounced, especially since they were keeping things low-key around him.
She picked the tote back up and kept walking. She heard a faint thunk echoing through the trees and swiveled her head, searching for the origin of the sound.
