I kiss her again. The kiss I’ve been wanting all my life.
The kiss I saved for her and her alone.
It’s better than I imagined, and you better believe I’ve been imagining this. Dreaming of it. Her lips are soft, and she moans gently as the kiss deepens, as our tongues entwine. As the heat of our hearts warms us up from our fingers to our toes.
When we pull apart, I feel like a new man.
“That was my first kiss,” she admits, her words causing my heart to pound. Is that true? Has she waited for me the way I’ve waited for her? “Is that insane?” she asks. Her cheeks are red. “I’m twenty-five years old and never kissed a man before.”
I clench my jaw, then look down to the floor, my cock bulging in my jeans. “Not insane to me.”
“I bet you’ve kissed lots of other girls,” she says, revealing a trace of insecurity, something I’ve rarely glimpsed in her.
“Not one.”
“Never?”
I shake my head. “Never.”
“I always figured, since you left school early you —”
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know, Maple.”
She nods. “I’m realizing that.”
I want so much more of her, want to hold her against me all night long, but Sammy is up, barking up a storm and it makes us step back, move to the window to see a big truck coming up the driveway.
“Are you kidding me?” I groan, running a hand through my hair. It’s the last person I want here when Maple and I so close to… well, everything.
“It’s Asher,” she says, eyes widening, her fingers running through her hair to smooth it.
“You know him?”
“Sort of.” She frowns. “What’s he here for?”
“No fucking clue.”
Her head snaps back to me and I regret my word choice.
Asher is knocking on the door a minute later. Grunting, I pull it open, hating that he’s here.
“Filson,” he says curtly. “What is Maple St. Claire’s car doing here?”
Behind me, Maple’s voice rings out. “Hey, Asher.”
He frowns, taking us both in. His designer winter parka flashing its label, his boots look brand new, everything about him is curated. Pretentious. A city council member with more sway than he’s earned.
And he’s looking at Maple like she’s his.
“I came here to give you this, the final decision by the board.” Asher Martin hands me an envelope and I take it, not wanting to discuss this in front of Maple. “I figured I’d hand-deliver it since you refuse to use email.”
“Picked a bad day to drive up here,” I say.
He sneers. “Have you seen my truck?” His brand-new, top-of-the-line truck is directly behind my old as fuck Chevy pickup. “Looks like you’re more than overdue for an upgrade.”
My truck may be old, but it’s been as true a friend as Sammy and I won’t have anyone standing on my front steps judging her.
“Did you need anything else?” I ask tightly.
“I only need her.” He gives Maple a smile, gleaming white teeth that look more like a wolf snarl than anything else. “Need help getting home? I could follow behind you to make sure you get home in one piece.”
“Oh, um…” She looks between us both as if caught in the headlights.
“We have a date this afternoon. I know you didn’t forget. Ice skating in the park, you said it was your favorite holiday tradition.”
“One of them,” she corrects. “One of my favorites.”
“Right,” Asher chuckles and my shoulders tense. This douche bag is taking Maple out? “Sorry, what were you up here for again?” he asks Maple.
She falters, not seeming to want him to know she came here asking me to be her glorified handyman. And I won’t out her even if she and Asher are dating.
Because unless she was lying, I was still Maple St. Claire’s first kiss.
And that counts for something.
Everything, maybe.
“She wanted me to come by and put up her Christmas lights,” I tell him, letting her off the hook.
“Right,” she says, exhaling her relief. “Tomorrow morning, right?”
Asher frowns. “Don’t you have the soup kitchen volunteer meeting tomorrow?”
I snort. “Keeping pretty close tabs on her, huh?”
He lifts his eyebrows, then takes in my cabin and smirks. “Yeah, I am.”
“The meeting is in the afternoon, Asher,” she says as an awkward silence surrounds the three of us. “Okay, um, well, I guess we should go, Asher. Filson, tomorrow?” She pulls her knit cap down on her head and steps away from me. Outside, the snow has stopped falling, and the sky is clear again.
Asher puffs up his chest as if he’s won something. I grit my teeth, turning to Maple. “You sure you’re good?”
She nods, not meeting my eyes. “I’m fine. Thanks again for…”
“Helping with the Christmas lights?”
She nods. “Right. For that.”
Asher puts an arm over her shoulder as he leads her to her car. I want to watch, to make sure she gets down the driveway without any trouble, but I can’t stand the sight of his arm across her.