Page 1 (2/2)

Her breath caught, and there was a lotin a restaurant "Is sex all you think about?"

"No But I think about it a lot With you" He flicked her earlobe with his tongue, and souys really that ed

"It’s the testosterone A guy’d follow his girl all the way to Siberia if he thought it et hihed, and he sh," he said "You don’t do it enough"

She’d been a serious kid, and not just because she was adopted She loved her family, both her adoptive parents and her birth parents She was lucky enough to have the that in spite of her luck and the wealth of love she’d been showered with, she ell, serious

And still looking for her place to belong

She thought--hoped--that her place to belong ith Nick, and it filled her with a giddiness that was hard to contain He filled her with giddiness

Dinner caet to the point of the expensive restaurant When the check arrived, he scooped it before she could He always did that, even though he was drowning in college debt and, thanks to her four parents, she was not

Outside, there were no cabs to be had There was only a lightThe construction creas gone Not that it mattered No one would have bothered her with Nick at her side He held hih, easy confidence He never went looking for trouble, but there was an edge to him that said if he happened to corowing up as he had, she had no doubt he could do so with little to no effort

Theythe crazy, over-the-top lights and Christmas decorations of the city At her door, Nick playfully pushed her up against it "You’re all wet, Mia…"

She took aher pinned, then tipped her head to his The flight confiro in…"

He bent and kissed her cheek, her jaw, her throat, his hands slipping inside her coat "I’ainst her skin,her shiver because she knew exactly what his hands and mouth could do "But out here in the hall?"

She went still and then s to say"

He laughed and straightened, leaving his hands on her hips "No?" His eyes were glea withhi up a little "Nick--"

He kissed her again, full of intent and purpose, and only when her bones had melted did he pull slowly back "Sorry," he said "You’re just so daobble me up inside," she promised "But I sort of have a Christmas present for you"

He dropped his hands froether for a weekend next ift to each other"

"Okay, so it’s not a Christmas present," she said "Call it a present present Do you re ho?" She hesitated "Well…I bought two plane tickets, not just one" She pulled his confirmation from her purse and handed it to him

Mia’s aunt Chloe and her fiancé, Sawyer Tho committed but not tethered had suited both of their wild souls, but recently Chloe had caught baby fever from her sister Maddie, who’d just had her second child

Nick stared down at the paper Mia had handed hiton State?"

"Yes," Mia said She’d spent her first sue seventeen, where she’d found and met her birth parents She’d discovered her first crush there, too, her first love

She and Carlos had done their best, but they’d been so young Too young Their teenage roone to Lucky Harbor as often as she could over the past five years "I realize it’s all the way across the country," she said "And also that it’s short notice, but I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now I just didn’t want you to feel obligated"

He wasn’t looking like he felt obligated He was looking like she’d clobbered him over the head with her purse, and some of her happiness faded

"You want me to meet your birth parents?" he asked slowly

"No," she said slowly "Well, yes But mostly I just want to spend the holiday with you" She knew the holidays had never been kind to hiical it could be "This’ll be our first Christmas It’ll be fun" She smiled

He didn’t "Mia, I can’t"

She took in his blank expression and got suddenly cold "Can’t?" she

"Okay, won’t," he corrected, voice soft but hisup against her front door

Nick reached for her, but she lifted a hand, holding hihtly as she could "It’s not a request for a dia like that" She’d never make that request of him Maybe she’d secretly hoped that someday he’d make that request, but she certainly wouldn’t

"I can’t," he repeated

No war She actually looked down at herself Was she bleeding? It felt like she was bleeding But she wasn’t She was in perfect working order as Mrs Claus Feeling stupid, she lifted her chin "Okay," she said quietly, even as her heart seized "Neverat the moment since she didn’t want to fall apart, yet, she unlocked her door and stepped inside Don’t look back, don’t look back--

She totally looked back

Tension radiated froo, he’d been touching her as if he needed her er

She quietly shut and locked the door, then leaned back against it

He hadn’t picked her

Chapter 2

Nick spent the next hour studying the ticket confiriven him as if it held the answers to the universe Not that he was actually seeing the piece of paper Nope, he kept flashing back to Mia sitting across fro like silk to her shoulders, her reen eyes full of affection and heat