I placed the tiles one by one, then flashed Leo an innocent smile. “Tempting, six points.”
Leo mumbled a curse.
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw and dropped his head back like he was in pain. I almost took pity on the man. Trying to push him over the edge was wrong, and I fully expected a lump of coal in my stocking tomorrow morning, but I was having too much fun to stop.
If you’re snowed in with your enemy-turned-potential lover, you take advantage of the situation first.
It’s science.
The snow had piled up outside and still fell in a swirl of white as the day faded into night. There was something almost tranquil about watching it through the window; the raging force separated by a barrier ofglass and wood.
I’d been running from one thing to the next for so long, it felt good to stop. Facing the storm wasn’t only about uncovering secrets. It was about slowing down long enough to appreciate the moments I missed most. The quiet ones by the fire. The long looks. How my heart fluttered by being near someone. A laugh that made my cheeks ache.
It was those simple things that made Leo and me great. Even after all these years. Even after the hurt. We couldn’t bury that part of us.
And Leo was trying—poorly. He just hadn’t realized yet I had no intention of letting him push me away this time.
The shadows deepened, making the candles glow brighter, the wax pooling inside the glass jars.
I moved closer to Leo, scooting the three feet to lean over him. His head jerked, eyes opening to find me pressed against him.
“Bennett.” He whispered my name as if it were an ache he couldn’t soothe. He was the only one who’d ever called me that, and hearing it now, filled with such quiet intensity was almost my breaking point.
Slowly, I reached past him to twist my fingers around the candle wick in the jar near his elbow. The extinguished flame ignited back to life on a spark of magic.
“The candle went out,” I murmured, as his ragged breath fanned my neck. He’d gone still, a whipcord tightness in his muscles. His hands settled around my waist as if he’d lost the fight battling for control.
He was warm and solid beneath me, and I couldn’t hold on to my secret any longer. My game had lost its appeal to the possibility of the real thing. An honest relationship with Leo. My mischief paled in the face of that.
My lips parted; the words on the edge of my tongue.
Leo made a rough sound in the back of his throat as he lifted me off him. I bounced on the couch cushion, staring at the spot Leo had been.
He was up again, this time pacing in front of the windows. Tension radiated from him, and I stood, wiping anxious palms down my leggings. I might have gone too far with that one.
I was lucky Leo hadn’t tossed me in a snowbank. I had it coming.
“Okay, so maybe no more board games. We could try something more cerebral. How about Two Truths and a Lie? I’ll start.”
Leo spun toward me, his expression as fierce as the storm raging beyond the window. His humorless laugh echoed into the rafters.
“Enough, Sage. I don’t know if this is some twisted version of revenge, and maybe I deserve it, but I’ve had enough.”
He prowled closer, and I stepped back until I bumped the edge of the sofa. There was nowhere else to go.
To answer my earlier question about walking in nature, yes, there were bears in Cold Spell. I just poked one, and now I had to stay still, hoping he wouldn’t devour me whole.
Leo’s body pinned me in place, and a strange note burned in his voice when he spoke.
“No more fireside games. No more leaning over me, wearing nothing but silk.” His finger deliberately trailed along the thin strap of my camisole, making my stomach clench. “And most of all—“ Leo grasped my chin, tilting my head until our gazes locked. “Stop making my only Christmas Eve with you a brutal reminder of what I lose when the snow stops.”
Leo’s words sucked all the air out of the room. Even the wind obeyed, smothering its wicked howl. The silence had a weight to it, making my chest constrict until I swallowed a breath, my voice wavering when I spoke.
“I said, I’ll start. Two Truths and a Lie.”
Leo’s gaze grew cold, giving the ice outside a run for its money, but I kept going. He was right. I’d had enough too.
“One: you taught me how to ski. Two: I won Agent of the Year. And three: Your father threatened to ruin my parents unless you stopped seeing me. So you stayed away and never showed up for our date.”
