“Are you okay?” Soren asks, climbing out of the water much slower.
“Just peachy,” I grumble, hitting away his outstretched hand and pulling myself up with the edge of the hot tub. I slip twice more on the way to the door. The wind has picked up, and so has the snow. It’s impossible to see anything beyond the balcony.
“At least she didn’t lock us out here,” Soren says.
“Why would someone do that?” I reply sarcastically. Karma makes her thoughts on my recent bad idea known as I slip again.
I flail, bracing for impact, but two large hands encircle my waist, pulling me safely against a chest much too desirable to become so familiar with.
“Seems like that move has been played before.” Soren’s voice tumbles over my skin, warming my neck and down my spine.
My stomach swoops. “When one catches a thief, where else should one keep him?”
I can’t see his amusement, but I can feel it in the pressure of his thumb against my bare skin at my waist and the small shake of his shoulders. “I could think of better places.”
“Would one be jail?”
His fingers tighten around my hips. “Depends on who the warden is.”
Is he flirting with me right now?
He must seem to recognize the mood shift at the same time I do, because he clears his throat. “Would you allow me to use a shower to get this red out before it sinks in, or can I take the painting and go? It seems you have your hands full.”
“And suffer alone? I don’t think so. Congratulations. You’ve just found yourself a very dysfunctional home for Christmas.” I turn my head, my breath catching when I realize just how close we are.
His hold on me stiffens, and his expression is hard to read, but the crinkling of his eyes tells me my words mean something to him.
Hopefully not too much.
Chapter 12
Soren
“I’mgoingtocheckon Bella,” Maya says, and scurries off while I stand frozen in the same spot she left me by the door. It’s been a long time since I’ve been invited to… well, anywhere. I don’t have friends. Not because I’m unlikable, which I might be, but because I don’t have time for them. I certainly didn’t expect such an invitation to come from the woman who quite literally tried to freeze me out. While I know she’s not serious, something inside me wonders what it would be like to spend Christmas with her and Bella.
The idea is more enticing than it should be.
What am I thinking? I can’t pretend we are a family for the holiday. I’m not welcome. Not by Maya, and certainly not by the kid’s parents.
Mayaknows I’ll eventually leave. Telling me to stay was a slip of the tongue—another one of her rounded barbs she thinks will hurt me. I’m not wanted. The problem is I’ve known that for a long time, and it does sting.
Now I sound like a sad sap. Why did I ever pay for therapy when I could have hired this woman to break me down piece by piece? She would have done it gladly.
Maya reenters the room, and something about the sight of her wet hair and vibrant skin color gets my heart racing. Which is ridiculous. She looks like Elmo… but like the sexy Halloween version with curves.
“The little monster is asleep, thank goodness. Come on, we want the sauna.” She motions for me to follow her down the hall. “It exhumes the pores quicker. Ask me how I know?”
“Exhumes? You sound like an archeologist.”
She stops dead in her tracks. “Because I am.”
I pull to a halt, catching sight of her face in the mirror on the wall. Her expression is dark and sullen.
Of course, I remember archeology was her dream, but she really did it? So why is she working as a nanny? I know the job industry is rough, and she probably makes a lot in a household like this, but she had much bigger plans and dreams.
I open my mouth to ask the questions on my tongue, but she spins around, water flipping off her hair and sprinkling my face as she speeds away.
“Hurry, before I change my mind and leave you to look like you ate too many candy canes for Christmas.”
