“It’s not Christmassy, but it looks good on you,” he said, referring to the hot-pink, lime-green, and yellow-striped blanket they regularly used to keep the llamas warm.
“Thank you. And don’t worry, I still have plenty of hot cocoa.” She pulled a second flask from her back pocket.
“How many of those did you carry with you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She winked and uncapped the flask, taking a long sip before handing it to Liam.
“It does hit the spot,” he said, taking a drink and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“It does, doesn’t it?” Cassidy said, accepting the flask back.
As she did, the blanket slipped off her shoulders. He stepped forward and caught it, helping to secure it in place, but this time, he didn’t let go.
The two of them stood face to face, alone in the barn, with nothing but straw surrounding them and the wind howling outside.
Liam should’ve stepped back. Should’ve made some awkward joke about the weather. Changed the subject. Distracted himself with anything but the look in her eyes. It was wide and searching, as if she was asking him a question.Can you feel it too?
And God help him, he could.
Being with her like this—alone, close, warm—was the closest thing to true happiness he’d felt in years.
What would happen if they kissed, if they gave in to the sizzling temptation that crackled and snapped between them?
He stepped closer, just enough to test the air between them.
She reacted by placing her hand gently at his waist and tilting her face up to him.
That one touch burned through every boundary he’d tried to build. Every reason not to… disappeared.
Liam bent his head slowly, giving her every second to pull away.
She didn’t.
His lips brushed the corner of her mouth—gentle, tentative, testing.
She made a soft sound, full of longing.
He deepened the kiss.
Cassidy melted into him like she’d been waiting for this—like they both had. Her arms slipped around his neck, pulling him closer, and Liam was gone. His hands gripped her waist, anchoring himself to the one thing in the world that suddenly made sense.
She tasted like warmth and chocolate, like the promise of something real. Of something worth believing in again.
This wasn’t just lust. He knew that. And that was what undid him. Because Cassidy wasn’t someone you kissed to pass the time or to forget the ache in your chest. She was the kind of woman who could burn herself into your life, who made you want things you’d sworn you’d stopped wanting.
Liam still carried the ghost of a Christmas past that had ended in heartbreak. But with Cassidy in his arms, soft and alive and kissing him back like she wanted every part of him, the past felt quieter, the edges dulling beneath the heat rushing through him. She opened to him, and he didn’t hold back.
He lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around his hips, her breath catching as he pressed her back against the post in the darkened corner of the barn. His body fit against hers, solid and hot, every nerve lit up as she rocked against him, kissing him deeper.
She let out a soft sound, half sigh, half plea, and it nearly undid him.
His hands roamed down her thighs, gripping, sliding back up to her hips, pulling her tighter, closer, until there was nothing between them but heat and need.
God, she felt good.
Her scent surrounded him—sweet cocoa and cold winter air, mixed with the warm, wild fragrance of her skin—and it made him dizzy, made him forget every reason he’d given himself to stay away.
Cassidy kissed him like she wanted this as much as he did, like she trusted him with this moment, her breath, her body.
