“You’re welcome.”
Hayley wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Olivia’s cheeks got a little redder. Was she blushing? Not wanting to dwell on that, she pointed. “Your turn.”
With a nod, Olivia unwrapped her gift.
Hayley’s heart began to pound with nerves. What if she hated it? She bit her bottom lip, chewed on it.
“Oh,” Olivia breathed. And she did breathe it. It was more a sound than a word, stretched out over several seconds. “Hayley…” And right there, in front of everybody including Hayley, Olivia’s eyes filled with tears. “This…this is…”
“Are the rest of us allowed to see?” Angela said, her voice light.
Olivia cleared her throat, then turned the canvas around so it faced the room. Hayley watched as mouths dropped open and more long oohs filled the air.
“Was this from our first walk? The first day I met you?”
“It is.” Hayley hadn’t even remembered taking the picture that day in the woods, snapping a shot of Olivia on her knees in the snow, holding Walter’s face in her mittened hands as he looked lovingly into her eyes. He was such a great color combination, his black and white fur popping against the snow, that she’d wanted to paint him immediately. And she’d started to. But a couple days later when she’d gone through some more shots, this one had taken her breath away. She’d managed to capture that adoration on canvas, she was pretty sure, focusing on the eyes, both of Walter’s and one of Olivia’s, as that had been the angle from which the photo was taken, slightly behind Olivia and to her left. The combination of the various shades of the evergreens and the sparkling white of the new fallen snow had made for a gorgeously rich background, if Hayley said so herself. The focus, of course, was on woman and dog, and this painting was one Hayley was beyond proud of.
“Bring it over here,” Angela said, waving Olivia toward her.
Olivia took the three steps to her mother and handed her the painting. Then, without missing a beat, she turned around, marched to Hayley, bent down, and wrapped her arms around her in a warm, tight hug. “Thank you so much,” she whispered in Hayley’s ear.
The world fell away.
Okay, maybe it didn’t fall away, but it went all blurry and soft until nothing was in focus except for the two of them and the feel of Olivia’s body in Hayley’s arms. The heat of her skin under Hayley’s hands. The way her hair smelled like coconuts, Hayley’s nose buried in it. The intimate tickle of her breath so sensually close to the sensitive skin of Hayley’s ear.
She almost didn’t let Olivia stand back up. She sincerely thought about just holding tight, not releasing her grip, keeping her close forever. Olivia must’ve felt it because when she finally did stand up straight, the expression on her face, in her eyes when she looked down at Hayley was nothing short of fucking sexy.
Hayley swallowed hard as every nerve in her body sizzled.
What more could this Christmas bring?
Chapter Seventeen
The evening had grown happily, contentedly quiet. Christmas music played softly from the Bluetooth speaker on the mantel. Board games had been played, too many cookies had been eaten, lots of wine had been drunk. Walter was crashed out on his side on the hearth rug in front of the fire, Hayley sitting next to him, rhythmically rubbing her hand down his side. Tony dozed on the couch, Priya reading a book as she leaned on him. Ann Marie was texting a friend on her phone. Angela had gone into the kitchen for something. Olivia stood at the front window, mug of coffee in hand, watching the snow fall and feeling incredibly blessed to be exactly where she was on exactly this night with exactly these people.
“You should stay.”
She said it softly, and before she could second-guess herself, before she could chicken out, before she lost what little nerve she’d been able to grasp and pull in close to her chest. Close to her heart, which was beating extra fast. She wondered if anybody else heard it.
“What do you mean?” Hayley asked, coming to stand next to her at the window. “Oooohhh,” she said as she looked out and saw that the snow had continued to fall the entire time she’d been there, blanketing the driveway and covering the cars parked in it with a good foot or more of snow.
It’s now or never.
The words were loud in Olivia’s head, too loud, and she spat out what she wanted to say, again before she lost her nerve. “You can stay next door.” She turned and caught Hayley’s eye, let herself take a moment to drown in the green. “With me.”
There. It was out.
It was out and she couldn’t take it back. So, of course, now the nerves kicked in, as did the assault of logic from her brain, which had been silent and unhelpful just three seconds ago. It shrieked at her. Things like What the hell are you thinking? And This will do nothing but make your jobs worse. And What if she says no? How presumptuous are you? She brought a hand to her forehead and rubbed it hard with her fingertips as she squeezed her eyes shut.
“Okay.”
That got her attention. Olivia’s eyes popped open. She turned her head, and it suddenly seemed like Hayley was standing much closer than she had been, though she hadn’t moved. But her eyes…her eyes. They said everything right then. “Yeah?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
Angela sidled up to them and broke the moment as she looked out the window. “Wow. I was thinking of going to Midnight Mass, but looks like that’s not happening.”
“No, Mama, stay here. The plows are going to be slow tonight since it’s Christmas Eve, and it doesn’t look like they’ve made a pass yet. Stay here. God won’t mind.” Olivia smiled and put her arm around her mother’s shoulders, suddenly feeling lighter, more assured than she had in a long time.
Which was weird, right?
Because she should be freaking out right now. Hayley was going to spend the night with her. At her house. She should totally be freaking the hell out.
But she wasn’t. Not even close.
Instead, she was calm. Steady.
“It feels later than it is,” her mother said quietly, her head on Olivia’s shoulder.
“You must be exhausted.” She kissed the top of her mother’s head, then took a sip of her coffee. “We’re ready to get going anyway.”
“We?” Angela said, raising her head and her eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Olivia cleared her throat. “Hayley’s going to stay with me and Walter.”
“Oh, good. Yeah, you don’t want to be driving in this, sweetie.” Angela reached around behind Olivia and squeezed Hayley’s arm. Olivia could read her like a book, though, and knew that while she was doing her best to remain calm, cool, and collected, inside she was doing a little dance of joy at the thought of her and Hayley. Her mother had always been very supportive of Olivia’s love life—probably too supportive. She looked up at Olivia with barely contained glee and grinned.
Olivia rolled her eyes and stifled a chuckle, then turned toward the fireplace. “Whaddaya say, Sir Walter? Ready to go?”
The dog opened his eyes and looked at her but didn’t move.
“Really, Mom?” Tony said in the goofy voice he used when he was doing Walter. “Do you not see this warm fire? Do you not know how many meatballs Grandma gives me? Do you not understand that it’s much more fun here than at your house?”
“Aww, that’s just mean,” Olivia said, but laughed anyway because it was also true. She let go of her mom and went over to pet her dog, coax him up off the floor and to his feet.
“Thank you so much for having me, Angela,” Hayley said as Angela pulled her into a hug. “This was amazing. I’m so full, I don’t think I can eat again for a week.”
“Well, you’d better run around or something, because you’re coming back tomorrow and there will be more food.” Angela laid a hand against Hayley’s cheek.
“More food?” Hayley’s eyes went wide with disbelief, and everyone in the room laughed.
“Non-Italians,” Ann Marie said with a mock scoff and a shake
of her head.
Olivia and Hayley got their stuff together, deciding to leave their gifts there under the tree until tomorrow.
“This seems silly,” Olivia said as they donned boots, coats, hats, gloves. “We’re only walking next door.”
“Excuse me, but did you see the twenty-seven feet of snow out there?” Wide-eyed Hayley was so cute, Olivia could only grin at her.
“I noticed it.”
Tony and Priya were staying at Angela’s and Ann Marie still lived there, so Olivia and Hayley were the only two leaving. Tony stood. “Do you want me to shovel you a path?” he asked.
Olivia leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “We’ll be fine. But thank you for offering.”
Ten more minutes and they had said their good-byes and were outside, Walter running through the snow with joy like he’d never seen it before. It was up to his shoulders and he had to work hard, but he bounded through with a level of happiness that only dogs showed.
“God, it’s so pretty.” Hayley’s voice was quiet as she stopped trudging and just stood. “Listen.”
Olivia followed suit, stopped moving and stood still.
It was almost surreal. It wasn’t exactly silent, but it was close. “I swear I can hear the snowflakes fall,” Hayley said, in a whisper. “Can you?” She turned to look at Olivia, and her eyes were bright, delighted, her smile wide as if she’d made some amazing discovery. “Listen,” she said again.
So Olivia did. She stood still, even held her breath, and Hayley was right. It was almost as if she could hear each snowflake land on the ground with a soft poof. She nodded slowly, turned to catch Hayley’s gaze, and almost gasped at the sizzling shot of arousal that flashed through her body.
Yeah, she knew exactly where this was going.
She’d known since the moment the words “you should stay” had left her mouth. Judging by the expression of sheer sensuality on Hayley’s face, she knew it, too.
“Come on,” she said quietly, not wanting to disturb the delicate atmosphere they’d somehow created.
They trudged the remaining short distance to Olivia’s back door and she let them into the mudroom, a small but useful place where she could wipe down Walter’s feet if they were muddy, take off her snowy boots and outerwear, and not drag it all through her house. They did that in silence, Hayley mimicking Olivia as far as where to hang her coat, where to stow her boots. When they had both tippy-toed in their socks around puddles made by melted snow, Olivia held an arm out to let Hayley enter her home.
“Welcome to my humble abode. Again.”
“This is adorable, Olivia. I didn’t get a chance to tell you last time.” Hayley’s tone seemed genuine, and Olivia felt herself well up with pride a little bit.
“Thanks. It’s small, but it’s mine.”
“Not at all. It’s the perfect size.” She stepped into the kitchen, walked across the gray ceramic tile Olivia had installed herself, and ran her hand over the granite counter top. The cupboards were white with silver handles, the sink stainless steel. “I love this kitchen.” Hayley turned to meet Olivia’s eyes. “Do you cook? I mean, besides a killer Crock-Pot beef stew?”
Lifting one shoulder, Olivia replied honestly. “I try. I want to. I don’t have a ton of time, but every so often, I’ll make homemade soup or roast a chicken.”
Hayley squinted at her. “I can’t decide if having a mom who can cook like yours is helpful, in that she’d teach you everything she knows, or useless, because you’d never be as good as she is.”
A chuckle escaped Olivia as she crossed the room to open the cabinet above the stainless steel fridge. “Right? I’m pretty sure it’s a scientific fact that food loses a little bit with each generation.” She found a bottle of Frangelico and took it down, held it up so Hayley could see it, a question in her eyes.
Hayley nodded, then said, “What do you mean?”
After retrieving two brandy snifters from another cupboard, Olivia turned on the hot water tap and let it run. “I mean my grandmother’s meatballs were amazing. The absolute best. And my mother’s are really, really good, but they’re not my grandma’s. And mine are actually quite awesome…” The water was steaming, and she filled both glasses as Hayley finished her sentence.
“But they’re not your mom’s.”
“Exactly.” Olivia let the water set for a few seconds, dumped it out, poured the Frangelico into each one, then handed Hayley hers. “A little trick Mike the bartender taught me: Warming up the glass brings out the hazelnut flavor of the liquor.” She touched her glass to Hayley’s and they sipped.
“Mmm, that’s delicious.”
“I used to try to actually warm up the glasses themselves. Like, in the microwave. But they’d get too hot and make it hard to put your lips on the glass to sip.”
“Well, we don’t want anything happening to those lips,” Hayley said. When her eyes met Olivia’s, she didn’t even look embarrassed or ashamed for using such a cheesy line, and something in Olivia admired that.
“Come with me. Mike also says Frangelico should be sipped by the fire.”
In the living room, Olivia found the remote for both the Christmas tree and her fireplace and clicked them on as Walter went to his own dog bed in the corner, turned in three circles, and settled down with a very tired sigh.
“Does everybody in Evergreen Hills have a fireplace?” Hayley asked as the two of them sat on an area rug strewn with various pillows of different sizes and colors. “Oh, my God, this is amazing.” She’d apparently arranged some pillows just right and now lounged back, her feet toward the hearth, her upper body propped up so she could sip.
“Nice, huh? This is where I love to sit and read in the winter.” Olivia created a similar nest out of the remaining pillows and they lay side by side, watching the gas-fueled flames flicker, soaking up the warmth, and enjoying one another’s company, the silence not at all uncomfortable.
“I had an amazing time tonight, Olivia.” Hayley’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Thank you so much. I know you were hesitant about having me in your space with your family, but thank you.”
Honestly, Olivia was kind of shocked at how quickly she’d decided that having Hayley in her space was not only okay, but something she actually wanted. Desired. Badly. What was happening to her? She didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, because this felt too good. Too right. Olivia was not an impulsive person. At all. She liked to take her time with decisions. Investigate all angles. List out all pros and cons before choosing a course of action. But all of that went right out the frosted window when she turned and met Hayley’s eyes, their color surprisingly bright in the dim lighting. Olivia didn’t stop, didn’t think, didn’t weigh options or analyze outcomes. She simply acted, leaning toward Hayley until their lips touched.
It was true they’d only kissed—well, made out—twice, but Olivia felt like she knew those lips, knew that mouth like the back of her hand, like she’d been kissing Hayley for years and years. The kiss began gently, tentatively, testing waters and moods, gauging response and permission. But when Hayley turned away to set her glass far out of reach, Olivia knew she had all the permission she needed, and she did the same with her own glass.
Tentative followed analysis right out that frosted window as Hayley turned to kiss her again, and then all bets were off as she rolled them so Olivia was on her back with Hayley above her. They kissed for long moments. Hours. Days, maybe. Olivia wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she’d never been kissed the way Hayley kissed her, with such opposing qualities that shouldn’t work together, but did. Taking but giving. Gently but firmly. Aggressive but submissive. None of it should have been possible, yet it all was, and Olivia wrapped her arms around Hayley, dug her fingers into Hayley’s hair, and held on to her small frame as their legs entwined and their bodies pressed together.
Had anything felt this right?
In her entire life? Anything at all?
Coherent thought became sparse, because
all Olivia wanted to do was give back as good as she was getting. She slipped her hand under the back of Hayley’s shirt, and when her hand met Hayley’s bare, heated skin, they both sucked in a breath. It seemed to spur Hayley on because she moved her knee so it was between Olivia’s, then stopped and looked down at their bodies.
Olivia still wore her dress. Hayley looked at it, then looked up at Olivia and into her eyes as she slid her hand down Olivia’s body. Over her hip, down her outer thigh until her fingers reached the hem of the dress. Her eyes never leaving Olivia’s, she slowly pulled the dress up, and Olivia lifted her hips to help. Hayley stopped with the dress just high enough that it bared Olivia’s black underwear—and more importantly, gave Olivia free rein to open her legs. Which she did.
Hayley smiled and settled her knee between them. Then she pressed it upward, gently, and Olivia gasped…a sound Hayley caught with her own mouth, and then they were kissing again.
If anybody had asked Olivia to recall a time in her life when she’d completely let go, ended her grip on control, on logic, on what made sense, and simply gone with the flow, she’d have drawn a blank. The truth was, she’d never done that. She didn’t feel safe when she didn’t have control. She didn’t like somebody else deciding which way her day, her week, her life went. She was the one who would dictate that, thank you. No, Olivia Santini did not let go, had never let go, not once in her entire life.
Until now.
She stifled her inner voice, the one that worried about everything. She stifled any concerns she had about where this thing with Hayley was going, should go, could go, if anywhere. She stopped thinking ahead to what would happen after. Tomorrow. No, she let it all go and simply…felt.
And it was magnificent.
Olivia had been with other women. Of course she had. She was no prude. She’d even had a relationship. But being with those others? None of them felt like this. Hayley felt…right. Hayley’s mouth, kissing her with such expertise that part of Olivia marveled at the fact that she’d never been this turned on in her entire life and Hayley had barely touched her.
One Walk in Winter Page 19
