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Chapter Four
Declan
Then
Ilean up against anax, watching the car drive up to the front of the cabin. Celeste gets out of the car, followed by Maggie. She’s bundled up – looking fucking adorable in a cute winter hat with a big pompom on the top. Elizabeth greets them both with a hug. They talk for a few minutes while Will and Keene grab luggage from the back of the car. Maggie’s eyes drift over to me a few times, but she pulls them right back to Elizabeth. When everyone else scatters, Maggie starts walking toward me.
I’m not wearing a shirt, and she’s drinking me in with her eyes – making no effort to hide the lust she’s feeling.
As she gets closer, she says, “I can’t believe you did the lumberjack competition before we arrived.”
Still leaning on the ax, I say, “I don’t know if you could have handled it, Mags.”
She pouts out her bottom lip and crosses her arms over her chest. “Who won anyway?”
I point across the yard. “Eli.”
She shakes her head. “You Sterlings and your over-the-top Christmas traditions.”
I laugh. “It’s all James. The rest of us go along with it.”
She points her finger at me. “I don’t believe that for a second. You love every bit of it.”
It’s true. I do. I love our family Christmas. My siblings and I are not biologically related. We ended up in the same foster home and when our foster mother died, James adopted all of us when he was still in college. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how damn lucky I am to be a part of this family.
“Okay. Okay. You got me. I love Christmas too and all of our ridiculous, over-the-top traditions.”
She shoots me a flirty grin, and I return one. Her eyes fall away from my face, drifting down my chest and abs. I lower my voice and say, “Maggie, it’s supposed to be a secret. If you keep staring at me like that everyone will know.”
“You stare at me like that all the time,” she counters.
I shake my head. “Yeah. But I’m me.”
She rolls her eyes.
“It’s good to see you,” I say, pushing off from my ax and moving toward her.
“I’ve missed you,” she says. She casts her eyes down for a second and then says softly, “You’ve managed to get under my skin.”
Her words send tingles through my body – it’s exactly how I feel. After we hooked up at the Election Party, we stayed in that hotel room for three of the most amazing days of my life. I’d still be there if she hadn’t insisted she needed to go to work. I’ve thought about her every damn day since then.
“Do we dare sneak around after everyone’s in bed?” she asks.
One side of my mouth pulls up. “I’m willing to risk it.”
