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His heart rate didn’t slow down, but he felt less like he was going to die. “What if I can’t be what you need?”
“What if you can?” She took a step closer, her hand back to tightly clutching the towel, her eyes steady on his.
“What if I let you down again?” He stood right in front of her, his heartbeat frenzied, every part of him aching for her.
“Then you apologise and do better. Like you already are.” She moved just enough so that her front was pressed up against his, and he couldn’t have stopped himself even if he’d wanted to. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her as close as he could get her.
A sigh escaped from her.
That was when his heart shattered.
Except it wasn’t breaking, it was breaking free.
He was shaking with need, desperate to carry her to his bed, but he’d already shown her that part of him. Instead, he dropped a kiss to where the sparkly red stars had been painted at her temple. She must’ve washed them off in the shower. “I’ve wanted to do this all day.” He kissed where he imagined the next star had been, and the next, until he’d kissed his way to her lips.
“I can’t believe you came to the picnic. I didn’t think you would.” Her voice was a whisper.
“I did that for you.” He brushed another kiss across her lips. “I wanted to see you. And show you… I’m trying.”
She kissed him hard then, her mouth opening against his, her tongue finding his, her hands —both of them, which meant the towel had—
The alarm he’d set on his smart speaker went off. They broke apart, and he wasn’t the only one breathing hard.
“Copper’s meds. I set an alarm.”
Lena snatched up the towel which was pooled at their feet. “Oh, that was good thinking. I should—”
“I got it, luv. He likes cheese, yeah?”
She nodded as she wrapped the towel back around her and he almost wished he hadn’t set the alarm. But Copper was their priority.
His breathing was almost normal when she came back, dressed in the strappy tank top and candy cane shorts he loved, and plopped herself down on the couch, like she was tempting him on purpose.
“You know what time it is?”
“No idea.” She gave him a smile. “Time for you to get your shower? You’re still in your Grinch shirt.”
“In a bit.” He cleared his throat, the words suddenly stuck. “I was going to bring this over to you in the morning, but it’s gone midnight, so…Merry Christmas, luv.” He bent down and reached under the Christmas tree for the two small packages he’d wrapped. They looked like a child had wrapped them, but he’d found sparkly red and green ribbon that he was pretty proud of. He held them out to her.
“What’s this?” She looked somewhere between stunned and pleased and worried.
“Christmas.” When her expression didn’t clear, he went on. “We said we were going to spend Christmas together, so I—” She wasn’t taking them, so he set the packages in her lap.
“But—”
“Just open them.” He pointed to the smaller gift. “That one first.”
She untied the green ribbon, but instead of tossing it aside, she draped it around her neck, then re-tied it into a bow. “I like this. Sparkly!”
“I know some things about you. Sparkles is one.”
She laughed. “You’d noticed?”
“Yeah.” He was pretty sure she was stalling. “Open it.”
She gave him that wicked, sly grin he loved and then ripped into the paper like the most excited kid on Christmas day. “Awwww!” She held up the squeaky ball he’d bought for Copper.
“The lady at the Pampered Pets shop said if he didn’t like it, we could bring it—”
