Page 6 of Christmas Replay (Majestic Falls: Christmas Spice #4)

Cliff

I could see the wheels turning in Alissa’s ahead, and I didn’t know how to stop them. We had a couple things going for us and about a million obstacles in our way. But if nothing else, I was someone who knew how to overcome.

Growing up, I’d been a combination of shy and insecure.

That problem was only exacerbated by me being dyslexic and having trouble in school for a few years until my teachers and parents figured it out.

Yet, I’d turned it around. I’d jumped those hurdles to graduate valedictorian of my high school class and then excel in college and law school.

I was still socially awkward at times. I hadn’t been able to fully shake my shyness or the insecurity that sometimes took me by surprise. But I’d learned how to pretend really well and thereby circumvent it.

Because of that, I was completely sure Alissa and I could figure out anything that might be a problem. Proximity was a major factor; I knew that. And I wasn’t fully moved here. My practice wasn’t yet set up, either. If those were our only issues, we were golden.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

She lifted a shoulder. I’d noticed she did that when she tried to make light of something. A single shoulder raising, a half-smile-part grimace. “Just thinking about your house here and my shop…there.”

I nodded. “Would it help to know I’m setting up my practice in town? I’ll have a place there, too. This will be…more for weekends and vacations.”

“You’re serious?”

I nodded. “Completely. Plus…there’s this coffee shop near the office space I’m renting. I really like it. I think the prices might be good, too, even though they’ve yet to let me pay.”

“Cliff…I…” Her eyes were glossy with emotion as she gazed up at me. There was no way she didn’t know all these plans I’d made were directly related to her.

“Can I kiss you?”

“I think I might hurt you if you don’t.”

I grinned, then my smile faded as I tipped my face toward hers.

Our lips meeting was…coming home. She felt perfect against me, made to kiss me.

My fingers traced her cheeks then moved around to thread into her hair.

The silky strands were soft against the back of my hands, and I wondered how the rest of her would feel.

My whole body was tensed, aroused, reaching for her.

Even understanding how fast things were moving between us because they were just meant to be , I knew we couldn’t have more than this kiss tonight.

My tongue skimmed along hers, tasting, exploring.

Her lips were as soft as her hair—different, but pillowy soft .

A sated sound rumbled in my throat while we kissed. An answering sound murmured from her, urging me on, as did her hands clinging to my shoulders. Her chest pressed into mine, and I wondered if she felt the thundering of my heart.

“Alissa,” I whispered. My mouth made a trail across her jaw. She tilted her head, and I followed the path down her neck. Her pulse throbbed under my lips, and I breathed in her sweet sugar cookie scent and just the faintest trace of coffee. I could gobble her up and never get enough.

“Cliff,” she replied, when I didn’t finish my thought. She distracted me, and I feared I might never have a clear thought again.

“We should go to bed—separately, I mean. It’s late, and before we rush into something we shouldn’t yet…”

“Okay.”

I looked down at her, seeing heat blooming in her cheeks. Arousal? Embarrassment? I hoped not the latter. Her lips were swollen and pink, her eyes slightly glassy and her pupils dilated. The back of my curled index finger caressed along her cheekbone, noticing the porcelain smoothness.

“So beautiful,” I murmured, almost to myself.

“Have you looked in a mirror?” she chuckled. “Seriously, that night you walked in last year, I was stunned. And then you seemed interested in me—”

“I was way more than interested.”

She had to know that. She knew that, right?

“I couldn’t believe a man who looks like you would give me the time of day.”

My eyes widened. She saw something I didn’t. Also, I wasn’t exactly leaving a swath of swooning women in my wake. Which was fine. I was only interested in one woman swooning . Or thinking I was good-looking, anyway.

“I walked into that coffeeshop, dead exhausted from a long day at work before jumping into my car and heading here. When I walked into your place and saw you, everything inside me came alive. Leaving to come to Christmas was seriously one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.

I wanted to stay there all night with you.

I stopped by on the way home, you know?”

“No! No, I didn’t know.”

“The place was still closed. I thought maybe it was a sign. I’d already half convinced myself that the whole mutual attraction was all in my head, that maybe, I’d been a lonely traveler that you’d taken pity on.”

She snorted and narrowed her eyes at me. “I don’t just go around kissing random travelers! I—”

I pressed two fingers over her lips. “I know. I was dumb. I figured that out when I was dead exhausted at work and the only thing that gave me a few minutes of peace was thinking about that short time. Is that pathetic? Do you think I’m weird or obsessed because of that?”

Her tongue darted out to dampen her lip and swiped across my fingers, too. “No,” she said from behind them.

I started to drop my hand, and she caught my wrist. Shocking me, she pressed her lips to the palm then brought it to her face and nuzzled her cheek into it.

“I thought of you just as much,” she confessed. “My staff—the ones who know about our meeting, anyway—call last year Cliffgate . It was a big deal to me.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t back sooner. I really was tied down with the case.

I knew even if I’d tried to carve out some hours for a trip here, it would have been a round trip the same day.

I couldn’t have given you the attention you deserve.

Then the further into the year it got, the more I started to think…

wouldn’t it be perfect to come back on Christmas Eve?

Return to the scene of the crime, same time next year… ? All of that.”

“I understand. But can I just throw out there…any of your time would have been okay. I would have one-hundred percent understood. But we could have at least exchanged numbers, talked, doing the long distance thing at the end of your long days.”

I studied her, this totally surprising woman. “You’re pretty amazing.”

“I know.” She laughed. “You’re one lucky guy, ending up with all this.”

“I am lucky. Trust me, I’ve been thanking my stars ever since you agreed to even talk to me tonight.” My fingers laced with hers as we headed back toward the bedrooms.

“There was a reason I was working tonight.”

I glanced over at her. “Yeah? Someone call off?”

“Smartass.”

At her door, my lips brushed over hers again. I was careful to keep it light. With a bed just feet away, I wasn’t chancing anything.

“Goodnight, love,” I whispered against her mouth after a few long moments.

“‘Night, Cliff. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Thanks for saying yes.”

“Seemed easier than you kidnapping me.”

I shook my head, grinning, and watched her duck into her bedroom before I shut down the house then headed to my own room.

I knew there was no way I’d get any sleep.

But hey, Alissa was here, and I was within reach of making that long-term.

Chances were good that this would be a very merry Christmas.