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I struggled to sit up and nodded, casting my gaze down at my lap.
You okay in there, bean?
Pea was probably more accurate at this point. I didn’t know all the stages, but he or she had to be minuscule right now.
So easy to harm.
“Hey, hey, look at me. Did y
ou get hurt? I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful. Let me carry you inside.” Asher tipped up my chin, his beautiful hazel eyes narrowed on my face. They were the greenest I’d ever seen them.
Sneakily, I pulled a snowball from my pocket and nailed him dead in the nose.
Mashing it in for good measure while he sputtered and laughed and called me names not befitting a parent.
He grabbed my hand, now red and nearly numb from playing in the snow with no gloves, and kissed every one of my fingertips. When he finished with that hand, he picked up the other and did the same, then tucked them between his palms to rub some warmth back into them. Snow dripped from his face, clung to his eyebrows, and his hands were as red or redder than mine, but he didn’t seem to notice. All his attention was centered on me.
Suddenly, I wasn’t that cold anymore.
“Deserved it.” The rumble of his voice tweaked something low in my belly. “My penance is to carry you inside.”
I nudged him back and looked up at the cloudy sky, currently a slate gray tinged with the orangish-pink hues that came with a storm. His house had so many security lights that the lawn was well-lit. Beyond that glow, the world was freezing and dark.
Being here with him and Lily made me feel safe and warm. Even if my ass was parked on an icy sidewalk and snow was falling so very fast.
“I may be a dude who doesn’t date much, but even I know better than to answer that question.”
He started to rise but I stopped him with a hand on his cheek. “You don’t date much?”
“No.”
“Define much.”
He took a few seconds to answer. “You’re the only woman I’ve slept with since… I don’t know. It’s been a damn long time.” He took a quick, deep breath. “What about you?”
“I’ve never slept with a woman. Should I try it?”
I waited for him to suggest a threesome or something else that fit the typical crude male response. Instead, he somberly shook his head. “I don’t recommend it. It’s terrible.”
“Oh, is that so? Is that why you found me arousing even after I’d been draped over your toilet?”
His smile almost made me smile, and that never happened. But I’d laughed so much in the last half hour. Being with him and his girl made me happy.
Scarily so.
“I’d find you arousing in any and all states.” His gaze dropped to my mouth and lingered. “Problem for me, since now I’m paying your paycheck.”
“One of them,” I reminded him. “And it’s only a problem if we make it one.”
“Is that so?” His gaze still hadn’t left my lips.
And I liked it. A freaking lot.
Rather than answer, I glanced over my shoulder to where Lily was happily bouncing her legs and throwing snow on herself. “Your daughter seems to enjoy this weather.”
“Told you. She’d stay out here all night if we let her.”
It was such a small, stupid thing, but that he included me in the decision-making process for Lily made warmth spread inside me. “I’d love to play out here with her some more, but next time, I better bring some gloves.”
