“I spent the night at my folks’ last night, so we could all have Christmas morning. He’s still there. I’ll pick him up tomorrow.”
Still watching the snow, Dex said, “You have a good family, Kelsey.”
“I do, yeah.” She came closer, stood at his side. “So do you, Dex.”
His chuckle was melancholy. “It’s different.”
“I know. Still good, though.”
A nod provided his only answer.
“Dex, do you want to talk?”
He took a draw from his beer. “I did, yeah. Do you?”
Kelsey thought about that and eventually shook her head. “Not especially right now, no.”
“No?” Finally, he turned to face her. “Why not?”
“I’m afraid if we talk, you’ll talk yourself out of the reason you’re here.”
“I’m afraid of that, too.” He looked down at his bottle. “What do you want, Kelsey?”
It was kind of unfair, she thought, that he put everything on her. She’d have liked him to make a move, too. Like the way he’d grabbed her head and changed their kiss at the Cranes’, made it so much more intense, so much more meaningful.
But obviously, his misgivings about this had him sitting back, making her—he probably thought he waslettingher—lead them where she wanted them to go.
Okay, then. She set her beer on a shelf in the bookcase beside the fireplace, and she took his beer and set it beside hers.
Then she went right to him and put her arms around his neck. He was tall and strong and warm, and his eyes blazed fire at her.
“I want you to spend the night with me,” she said.