“Yes. I was—I don’t know—eleven or twelve. I tried to study up on them and then went to the garage where you were working to talk to you about them.”
He lifted his head, his eyes widening. “That’s why you came into the garage that day?”
“Yes. I thought you only saw me as a silly airhead, so I was trying to prove I wasn’t, but I got all mixed up and didn’t remember what I’d studied, and so I just giggled nervously.”
“I thought you were laughing at me!” His brain was nearly exploding at trying to process this new interpretation to an incident that had always needled at him.
“Of course I wasn’t laughing at you. Why would I laugh at you? I was the one who couldn’t remember any of the names of the cars I’d just memorized, and you were sitting there not saying a word like you thought I was an idiot. So I just giggled and made up an excuse and ran away as fast as I could.” She exhaled deeply as she stroked his chest, playing with the light scattering of dark hair there. “I wasn’t used to people not liking me, and I didn’t know why you didn’t, so I just assumed you thought I was stupid.”
“I never thought you were stupid. I’ve always been tongue-tied around you.”
“I didn’t know that. It never even occurred to me. So when you changed and started going out with all those scads of women but never even looked at me twice, I just assumed you still didn’t like me. It bothered me. I didn’t understand it. And you were so mean after we found out... found out about Dad.”
“I know I was. I’m so sorry for that. I was hurt and angry, but that’s no excuse. I think it was worse with you because it felt like I’d lost you forever—even though I’d never had you. I’m so sorry for acting that way.”
“I forgive you. I wasn’t very nice to you either, even later when things should have gotten better between us. I still had to hold on to this idea that I didn’t like you because otherwise... Maybe that was why you were always able to rile me up. I didn’t realize it was because I wanted more from you.”
“I’m glad we figured it out.”
“Me too. Laura isn’t going to like it. She already thinks things have gotten too sappy with Phil and Rebecca, so another couple is going to push her over the edge. It’s kind of funny that it’s two Holiday-Matheson couples.”
“I don’t know.” He was feeling completely relaxed now. Sated and happy and drowsy and tender. “Our families have always been tangled up together. We’ve always been part of each other’s lives. I think it kind of fits.”
“Yeah. Maybe it does.”
They drifted into silence, and then Olivia drifted into sleep.
It wasn’t long until Scott drifted off too.
THEY DOZED FOR LESS than an hour before Olivia woke him by climbing out of the bed.
“Sorry,” she said when he opened his eyes. “I need to pee.”
He chuckled and watched her pad barefoot across the room, and he stretched out when she closed the door.
They hadn’t had any lunch, and he was getting hungry.
He wouldn’t say no to some food.
Reaching down for his clothes on the floor, he pulled them on so he was fully dressed when Olivia came back into the room.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her lips turning down as she looked at him from head to toe.
“Sorry. I just realized I’m starving. I’ve got to get something to eat.”
“Oh.” A little smile twitched on the corners of her mouth. “Now that you mention it, I’m kind of hungry too. We can go down to the shop and get a sandwich or something if you want. Just let me throw on some clothes.”
“Perfect.”
She put on jeans and a red top before sliding on a pair of shoes. He took her hand as they left the room, and he was still holding it when they ran into Laura in the living room.
She took in their rumpled appearance and their clasped hands and then scowled at them. “What the hell? You’re supposed to not like each other.”
“We do,” Olivia said, her cheeks flushing.
Laura rolled her eyes. “Is it something in the water? Or is it just that it’s a week until Christmas and everyone is embracing maudlin sentimentality? Why is everyone suddenly trying to pair off? Even people who should really know better.”
Her questions were more vehement than the situation called for, so something else must have set her off.
“Who else is pairing off?” Olivia asked.
Laura’s expression was momentarily trapped, and it told Scott something.
He suddenly remembered what Russ had told him about stepping up with the woman he loved and it not working.
Had something happened between Russ and Laura? Something that was upsetting her now?
“No one,” Laura said, her expression clearing with her typical control. “It’s just that Penny got back a few minutes ago. Her car is still in a ditch, so Kent had to drive her. And—I don’t know—they’re acting weird.” She made a frustrated sound, glancing back down at where Scott was still holding Olivia’s hand in his. “So you guys are a done deal then?”
Scott met Olivia’s eyes when she glanced over at him. He smiled. “Yeah. We’re a done deal.”
Laura made a face. “Just perfect. Now other people are going to get more ideas.”
She didn’t explain what she meant by that, but Scott was pretty sure he already knew.
A WEEK LATER, SCOTT woke up on Christmas morning in Olivia’s bed.
She was still sleeping on her side, her loose hair spilling all around her face and shoulders and her arms curled up toward her chest. Her lashes were thick and her breathing was steady, and the bare skin of her neck and shoulders made him want to do things.
All kinds of things.
He’d been with her for a week now, and they’d had sex every day, but it wasn’t even close to enough.
That night they’d shared in the cottage, he’d believed his heart couldn’t contain any more feeling. But he’d been wrong. The pressure he felt in his chest as he gazed at her sleeping right now was even stronger, even bigger than it had been last week.
If it kept up like this, there would be no way his chest could contain all that he felt for her.
As he watched, her lashes started to flutter, and then she opened her eyes.
She smiled sleepily, her warm spirit shining out in her eyes, her mouth, her whole self. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you too.” He brushed her hair back behind her ear, letting his fingertips linger on her cheek.
“You’re looking kind of sappy this morning,” she said.
“Am I?”
“Yeah. But I don’t mind. Christmas is a good time for sappiness. And you haven’t had nearly enough sappiness in your life, so you have a lot of time to make up for.”
He chuckled and reached over to take her hand, stroking her palm with his thumb.
“Are you ready for all the chaos today?” she asked in a different tone. “I’ve got to warn you, it gets crazy around here on Christmas.”
“I’ve already gotten a taste of the craziness over the past few days. And if it means I get to spend Christmas with you, then I’m not about to complain.”
Her smile beamed for a moment. “Who knew Scott Matheson could be so sweet?”
“Only you. Only you get to know.”
“Let’s keep it that way, okay?”
He cleared his throat. He hadn’t intended to say anything. They’d only been together for a week. But she was looking at him like... And he was so full of feeling he couldn’t wait any longer. “I’m good with keeping it that way forever.”
Her breath hitched as she processed what he said.
His heart hammered when she didn’t reply immediately.
Shit.
Maybe he’d moved too fast. Maybe she wasn’t ready. Maybe he’d blown the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“Do you mean that?” she asked at last.
&
nbsp; “Yeah. Yeah, I do. I know it’s soon. It’s too soon. But I’m falling in love with you, and I can’t help it.” He blurted the words out, knowing they were a risk, knowing he was showing her everything.
She made a little whimper of sound, her face tightening. She reached out to stroke his face. “I know it’s soon, but it doesn’t seem to matter. We’ve been tangled up together all our lives, and I’ve known you forever. I’m falling in love with you too. Maybe I have been for a long time. But I know it now, and I don’t think it’s going to go away.”
He let out an embarrassingly helpless sound as he pulled her into his arms.
He hadn’t blown it after all.
He’d maybe even done something right.
“This is it for me,” he murmured. “There’s not going to be anyone else for me.”
“Me either.” She pulled back so she could smile at him. “You’re number six for me, and I’m number fifty-seven for you, and the count stops there for good.”
He laughed and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s a deal. Although, to tell you the truth, you were always number one for me. I just never thought a miracle would happen and I’d actually get to have you.”
“Christmas is the time for miracles. You do have me. So what are you going to do with me?”
It wasn’t even seven yet on Christmas morning. They had plenty of time before breakfast.
So Scott showed her exactly what he was going to do with her.
He was planning to keep showing her for the rest of their lives.
Epilogue
One year later
OLIVIA WAS HOT, SWEATY, and irritable, and Scott was making it worse.
What was supposed to be a pleasant two-hour hike in the woods had turned into a three-and-a-half-hour exercise in frustration, and she was in a bad mood by the time she finally reached the Mistletoe Cottage and keyed in the code to open the door.
It was blessedly cool inside. At least that was something.
Scott stepped inside right behind her, and she could feel heat and tension coming off him, although he hadn’t said anything for a full five minutes.
He was in a bad mood too.
She should be a grown-up. Take a shower and retire to separate quarters for a while until both of them had cooled down.
They’d been together for a year now. She had experience in being in a relationship with him. She knew how to avoid making an argument worse.
She wiped the sweat off her cheeks and forehead with the sleeve of the long-sleeve T-shirt she’d been stupid enough to wear.
“Are you going to stand there stewing all day?” Scott demanded.
Snapping at him will just make it worse.
Don’t make it worse. Don’t make it worse. Don’t make it worse.
“I’ll stand here stewing for as long as I want!”
Scott was even sweatier than she was, and his brown eyes were fixed in a glare on her face. “Fine. Then I’ll go take a shower.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Why do you get to take a shower first?”
“Because you’re standing there stewing.”
“I’m perfectly capable of stewing in the shower, you know. You think my stewing abilities are geographically limited?”
“I think your stewing abilities are second to none.”
“You’ve barely scratched the surface of my stewing abilities.”
They glared at each other for several seconds, and Olivia hoped Scott was struggling for a good retort, which meant her last verbal thrust had been a success.
But then she saw Scott’s lips twitch just slightly.
She stiffened. “Don’t you dare, Scott.”
The corner of his mouth twitched again, so briefly it was barely perceptible.
“I have legitimate grievances here. You don’t get to make me laugh and get out of the fight prematurely.”
His whole face twisted for a moment in what she knew was an attempt to control his amusement. Then his features settled into a look of exaggerated sobriety. “I’m not laughing. Go ahead and let me have it.”
She stared at him for a long moment, torn between annoyance, amusement, and affection. Then she gave up and made a loud, impatient sound as she turned on her heel. “Damn it, Scott.” Her tone wasn’t really angry anymore. “You’re the most frustrating man in the world. You know that, right?”
“So I’ve been told.” There was a teasing lilt in his voice now. “Usually by you.”
When she stepped into the bathroom, she closed the door with a loud click. Then she opened it again and said through the crack, “You can share the shower with me if you want.”
She’d peeled off her clothes and stepped under the warm spray when Scott joined her.
The bathroom boasted what they advertised as a couple’s shower, so there were two rainfall showerheads and they didn’t have to both try to use one. Olivia soaped up and rinsed off, occasionally checking out Scott, who was washing the sweat off his naked body with a no-nonsense efficiency she couldn’t help but find a bit sexy.
When he’d cleaned himself up, he stepped over under her spray.
“Hey,” she objected without any heat. “This is my side.”
“If you didn’t want me on your side, then you shouldn’t be standing there naked. What’s a man supposed to do when the most beautiful woman in the world is right there, naked in the shower?”
Despite his words, he didn’t make a move on her. Instead, he pulled her into his arms.
She’d cooled off and no longer felt hot and gross, so the embrace was nice.
Nice and unexpectedly tender.
She leaned her cheek against his shoulder. “I’m not the most beautiful woman in the world.”
He nuzzled the side of her head. “We’ve already had this discussion many times, and we’ll have to agree to disagree on this matter.”
Her arms were twined around his neck, and she played with his wet hair with one hand. “I was right about which trail we should have taken.”
“Yes, you were. But in my defense, there was no way either one of us could have known about that mudslide.”
She sighed and relaxed against him even more. He was starting to get aroused. She could feel his erection nudging. But there was nothing particularly urgent about his body yet, and she felt more emotional than sexy at the moment. “I know that. But still. If we’d gone the other way like I wanted, we wouldn’t have had to backtrack and walk in this heat for an extra hour.”
“That is true.”
“Why the hell is it so hot in December?” she burst out, reminded of her primary source of grievance. “It’s a week before Christmas, and we were supposed to have a cozy, romantic weekend.”
“It can still be a cozy, romantic weekend.” He was nuzzling her again.
“If we turn the air conditioner down enough, maybe we can even make a fire.” She scowled against his shoulder. “This time last year we had snow.”
“Do you really want a snowstorm like that again?”
“I don’t know. Being stranded in the snow with you again doesn’t sound like the worst idea in the world. Look what happened last year.”
Scott pulled back and met her eyes. “I know what happened last year. You think I’m ever going to forget it?”
“No. Not really. Since you’re stuck with me now.” She smiled as she lifted her left hand and looked down at the rings she wore. The diamond engagement ring he’d given her five months ago and the wedding ring he’d put on her finger two weeks ago. “You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Sounds about right to me.” He kissed her then, and it was slow and deep and lovely.
Her husband was kissing her.
Scott was her husband.
The idea of it was still new, delightful, thrilling.
She still felt like giggling every time she realized it was true.
She assumed that would wear off eventually, but she didn’t think it would happen soon.
When Scott finally pulled
out of the kiss, she reached over and turned off the water in the shower, and he moved over to turn off the spray on the other side. They dried off and put on the white bathrobes hanging on the hooks. Instead of trying to dry her hair, she pulled it into two braids.
She felt clean and tired and relaxed as they left the bathroom. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked.
“Yeah. But I guess it better be water after the heat and the hiking.”
She grabbed two bottles of sparkling water from the wine cooler and carried them over to the couch. Scott was fiddling with the air conditioner.
“Did you turn it cooler?” she asked when he came to join her.
“Yeah.” His mouth turned up in a wry smile. “We can make a fire later.”
She giggled and cuddled up against him. But she sighed again as she looked at the empty fireplace. “Why does it have to be so hot?”
“Because it’s Virginia, and Virginia likes to mess you around just for fun.”
She laughed again before she adjusted so she could see his face. “Did you want to have sex?”
He was halfway through a swig of his water, but he pulled the bottle away from his mouth with a popping sound. “What do you think?”
She felt inside his robe until she could wrap a hand around his erection. “I think you might want to have sex.”
His smile was hot and tender. “But if you’re too tired or not in the mood, I really don’t mind.”
“I’m not too tired, as long as you do most of the work.”
“That sounds perfectly acceptable to me.” He put both their water bottles onto the side table and then rolled them over so she was on her back and he was above her, his lower body between her legs. “How’s this?”
“This is good. But I think we better put a blanket beneath us. This is a good couch, and poor Harriet would have to try to clean it if things got messy.”
He made a choked burst of laughter and groaned as he stood up, helping her stand up too and then spreading a throw blanket out on the couch. “Okay?”
“Yes. Okay.” She slanted him a quick glance. “You still in the mood?”
“You think a few logistical maneuvers is going to stop me from being in the mood? I’ve wanted you most of my life, and now you’re my wife. I could make love to you until the end of the world, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
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