Page 37 of Christmas in Quincy (The Edens 0.50)

But there he was. All six foot three inches of glorious man holding two white ceramic mugs. I loved The Eloise Inn, but they really needed to look into in-room coffee.

“Thought you might want this.” He held out a mug.

What I wanted was to roll back time. Well, not completely. I didn’t want to forget kissing Austin.

“Thank you.” I took the mug as his gaze tracked down my body. My very naked body covered only with a white bath sheet.

The right thing to do would be to get dressed and talk about this far, far away from the bed that seemed to get bigger every time the two of us were in this room together. Instead, I dropped my chin and swallowed the lump in my throat.

“About last night—” I said at the same time Austin said, “I’m sorry I kissed you.”

I blinked and my eyes whipped up to his. “What?”

“I’m sorry I kissed you.” He didn’t look sorry. There was a small smile on his mouth, and Austin never smiled at me. Never. Except he had last night, like he was right now. Those brown eyes were darker than normal. He didn’t seem at all uncomfortable or upset to find me freshly showered and wearing a towel.

“You kissed me? I thought I kissed you.”

“No.”

“But I kissed you back.”

“You did.”

What the hell was happening? I was never drinking again. Clearly, some women were born capable of rational thought after two nights of drinking. Not me.

Austin stood across from me, his eyes flickering between my eyes and my mouth.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why did you kiss me?”

He turned and set his mug on the nightstand, then crossed the room. He didn’t touch me but he stood close, only inches away. “You said yesterday that I didn’t like you. But that’s not true. I like you. I’ve always liked you. And I guess, I just . . . I let my guard down. I’m sorry.”

My jaw dropped. “Sorry?”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” I sounded like a parrot. A hungover parrot.

He nodded. “It was unprofessional.”

“Unprofessional?”

“You’re my client, Cleo.”

“But you wanted to kiss me.”

“Yes.”

Austin had wanted to kiss me. Well, what the actual fuck did I do with this information?

My head was seconds away from exploding, like the time I’d dropped a sack of flour in the bakery and the entire thing had gone up in a white puff.

Okay, so I hadn’t made a move on Austin. He’d been the one to initiate the kiss. My brain began to reengage and details from last night cleared through the wine fog. Austin had touched my face. He’d cupped my cheek. He’d been the one to lean in.

And here he was, apologizing for it. Regretting it.

“Let’s forget it ever happened.” I set my coffee mug on the TV stand and bent to open a drawer for some clothes. I balled up a pair of panties in my fist and hid my bra in a tee, then took out a pair of jeans.

“Cleo . . .” Austin sighed as I stood, my clothes clutched to my chest.