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“I think they see a version of you,” said Tad. “But an outdated version.”
“Exactly.” Sarah made apffsound. “They see little Chickadee in her red shoes, but that hasn’t been me in a long, long time.”
“Want to know what I see?”
Sarah’s heart thumped.Didshe? She bobbed her head quick, before she could change her mind. Tad turned to face her, took her hands in his.
“I see a woman who knows what she wants. A passionate woman who’s up at first light, working her ass off to make her dreams come true. Anything you set your mind to, you’ll find a way to achieve. But that’s just one side of you. That’s not all there is.”
“What—what else is there?”
Tad pushed her hair back, caressed her cheek. “You’re warm and generous, thoughtful and kind. You don’t help other people because you want something back. Well,sometimesyou do, but—but— Hey! Don’t hit me!”
Sarah smacked him with a pillow, upside his head. Tad batted it off, laughing, and held her still.
“I just meant, even when you want something, you’d still do your best for the other person even if the answer was no. Like with West’s Grinch suit. You’d still have let him wear it if I hadn’t joined the Games.”
“That’s better,” said Sarah, blinking back sudden tears, afraid he’d see them and think he’d upset her. On the contrary, they were tears of joy. Tad saw her, really saw her, and that meant the world. Better yet, he appreciated her for exactly who she was. “It feels good to be seen.”
“It does,” agreed Tad. He leaned in and kissed her, so sweet and tender she barely felt his beard. Sarah slid her hand up his side, his rough flannel work shirt warm against her palm. She could feel his breathing, the beat of his heart, a slow, even pulse that picked up at her touch. He gasped as she kissed her way down his neck, shivered as she popped his top button. When she nipped at his collarbone, he pushed her away.
“We should go upstairs,” he said. “Behind a door with a lock.”
“Oh, right. In case West…”
“Shh—tiptoe.”
They crept upstairs giggling, pausing at the landing to savor another kiss. Then they were safe, Tad easing the door shut, Sarah turning the lock. Tad trapped her against the door and pinned her hands above her head. He leaned down and kissed her, and she bit back a moan. She loved feeling possessed by him, seen and wanted and held. She loved the sounds he made, his harsh, eager breaths.
“Let me get this off you.” She reached for his belt buckle when he came up for air, whipped off his belt in one fast, fluid motion. Tad made a choked sound as she dropped to her knees, tugging his jeans down as she went. She took him in her mouth, and he bit his hand hard. His groans still escaped him, and Sarah thrilled to his pleasure, the way his cock throbbed and jumped, and his body went tense. This, too, was something she wanted him to have—and she wanted something in return, payment in kind, which she knew he would give her.
Tad raked his hand through her hair, pulled her head back. “I can’t take much more if you want me to last.”
“Oh, I do.” She smiled and got to her feet, and Tad led her to the bed. He laid her down gently, smoothed her hair over the pillow. For a moment, he just looked at her, drinking her in.
“I’m so lucky,” he said.
“That makes two of us.”
Tad kissed her gently, then he reached for a condom. Sarah teased him as he rolled it on, nails down his back, hot breath at his ear. He shuddered and groaned, and then he was in her, cradling her head so she’d meet his eyes. His face took her breath away, lips slightly parted, chin tilted up. And his eyes, that fire—she could only imagine it was reflected in her own.
“I see you,” she whispered, and she wasn’t sure if he heard. But she heard his breath catch, felt him shudder all over. Saw his lips quirk up into a smile. Then she was lost in his closeness, in her pleasure, in the bright sparks of bliss that chased down her spine.
9
Tad was in the zone, the familiar sounds of the kitchen sharpening his focus rather than dulling it. The rhythm was comforting, the creak of the walls, the whirr of the microwave. Sarah and West’s chatter drifting down the hall. He reached for his ruler, and—
“Dad? Can we?Please?”
“Huh?” Tad dropped his ruler. It skittered under the sink. “Where’d you come from? I thought you were playing cards.”
“We were,” said West. “But it’s finally stopped snowing, and Sarah says there’s sledding snow.”
Tad blinked. “Sledding snow?”
Sarah retrieved his ruler and wiped it with a cloth. “Not too wet, not too powdery. Perfect for sleds.”
Tad glanced at his sketches. He had a ways to go yet. “I don’t have time,” he said. “Not if I want to finish the Whites’ deck set and your kitchen, and be ready for Vince’s job by the New Year.”
