Page 41 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1)

Chapter Thirty

Miles

A fter we finished eating, Winter pulled me into his side so we could curl up on the couch together. We were currently looking for something to watch, but I couldn’t pay much attention until I got something off my chest.

So I took a breath and finally said what I’d been wanting to say all night. “I know this is a million years too late, but… thank you for what you did for me in high school.”

He made a sort of disgusted face. “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”

“After that day… after you stood up for me, whenever you were around, the bullies stayed away.”

He stared at me for a long time before saying, “So that means they still bothered you when I wasn’t around.” He said it like a statement, and I was grateful I didn’t really have to answer because who wanted to go down that road right now?

I shrugged and looked down, not really wanting to get into it. That had been a long time ago, but even after all these years, sometimes, it still hurt to think about. But I refused to let my past ruin our night together. Especially not when this charming and sexy man had his arms around me.

That thought made me realize there was still something else I wanted to bring up that might ruin this whole thing for us both. But I… I had to say it before this went any further.

“Winter?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

My belly swooped. No one had ever called me that—or any of the other nicknames he’d given me—before. Of course right now would be the time when he called me something romantic instead of something ridiculous.

I turned to face him and cleared my throat. “I know this might change things between us, and I’m really sorry about the timing. It’s just… well, I think I should ask you before we take this any further, just in case you change your mind.”

His brow furrowed, but he still brushed the hair off my forehead—I hadn’t gelled it after my shower, so it was a disaster, but he didn’t seem to mind.

He said, “I’m listening.”

I swallowed thickly. “I, um, I’d really love to hire you on permanently at Carry A Faerie.

I’m not sure how much of a raise I can give you, but I’ll definitely pay you more than what you’re making now, and I have a good benefits package and everything.

And while I’m obviously the owner, I’m kind of looking for a field partner, so we could hopefully work together and do bigger jobs than what I’ve been doing alone.

And the smaller things will take less time too, so I think it’ll be a good move all around.

Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s totally okay.

I promise I won’t be mad or anything. And this, uh, thing between us, is up to you how you want to move forward.

There’s no pressure from me either way on anything, I swear.

You can have the job whether you kiss me again or not, or you can kiss me even if you don’t take the job or—fuck, I don’t even know what I’m saying right now. I just—”

He cut me off with a kiss, sufficiently shutting me up, thank fuck.

The kiss lingered for only a moment, but I could feel his smiling lips against mine. When he pulled back, he said, “I’d love to come work for you, My-my. And I’d also love to keep kissing you, if that’s alright?”

I nodded, but I pressed on his chest to stop him for a second. “But you don’t even know what salary I’m offering you or anything like that.”

He placed his hand on the side of my neck, rubbing his thumb over the pulse point there.

“I loved working with you this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I honestly hate my job. I hate using all the poisons and all of that stuff. I hate killing faeries. I love the fact that we’ll get to take those gnomes to a sanctuary after we finally catch them. ”

“If you hate your job, are you sure you even want to be an exterminator then? I’m sure we could find you something else.

I know you looked, but maybe I can call some people I know, and since you’ve had the same job for the last decade, I’m sure more people would be willing to hire you. I don’t want you to settle.”

He grinned. “God, you’re sweet. I really want to help the faeries the way you do. So yes, if I get to save faeries, plus get the bonus of working with you, I don’t even care what the salary is.”

“Are you sure? Are you positive I’m not putting pressure on you?”

He barked out a laugh. “I love that you’re worried about me, sugar butt, but I promise you I wouldn’t accept unless I wanted to.”

Searching his eyes for a long moment, I finally saw the truth in them.

Normally, I could just read someone to see if they were telling the truth.

Doing it this way and having to fully trust someone else to be truthful was a strange feeling.

A little uncomfortable, if I was being honest, but also… nice.

I sent him a small smile. “Okay then. Welcome to Carry A Faerie, Win.”

He gave a bow of the head. “Thanks. Can I seal it with a kiss?”

I swallowed and nodded.

His gaze softened, and he cupped my cheek, offered a smile, and leaned back in to press the sweetest, softest kiss on my lips. The touch was so tender, so full of affection, it made my heart pound and my chest grow tight with emotion—but only my emotions since I couldn’t feel his.

And that only made me want to get closer to him.

Our kiss went from tender and soft to almost frantic as it deepened, and I twisted to face him more fully on the couch. Win’s arms wrapped around me, and he tugged me closer as one hand slipped under the back of my shirt.

He broke the kiss long enough to ask, “This okay?”

I nodded. “Mmmmphhh.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know what that means.”

I laughed. “It means yes, Win. Please touch me. Don’t stop.”

He let out a choking noise before diving back in to capture my lips in an urgent kiss. Our tongues brushed, sending chills down my spine, and when he broke away and started kissing down my neck, it lit my body on fire.

I grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged on it, so Winter quickly whipped it over his head, dropping it to the ground.

He grabbed the bottom of my shirt and moved his eyebrows up and down, making the goofiest face I’d ever seen.

It took me a second to figure out what the hell he was doing, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Are you trying to lift one eyebrow?”

His sigh turned into a chuckle, and he leaned his forehead on my shoulder. “Oh my god, was it really that bad? I thought for sure I was doing it that time.”

I laughed again, cupped his cheeks, and pulled his face up so I could look at him. With a straight face, I said, “It was the most ridiculous facial expression I’ve ever seen.”

He blinked, then barked out a laugh. “You shit.” He tackled me onto my back, and I landed on the soft couch cushions with a loud laugh. His fingers found my side, tickling me and making me squirm before I captured him with my legs and playfully bit his shoulder.

We both laughed as he settled in against my hips, and I dropped my legs to make more room on the couch. Man, I really should’ve bought a bigger one. I was able to hook one leg around his calf as I stared up at the beautiful man who, for some unknown reason, seemed to really want me.

Sola really had brought me a lot of luck because having him here with me was a literal dream come true.

Win hovered over me, shaking his head, still chuckling softly, a huge grin on his handsome face.

As our laughter quieted, I stared into his ice-blue eyes, and the amount of affection I saw in them was almost overwhelming.

We hadn’t been spending time together for very long at all, but I’d known him since we were kids and this weekend had been intense and scary.

He’d been there for me in more ways than I’d ever expected of anyone, in more ways than I even realized.

I could only hope he could see—feel, sense—how much he already meant to me in such a short amount of time.

Reaching up, I brushed my fingers through his hair, then gently tugged on the back of his neck. “Come here.”

He covered me with his body, and our mouths met again in a deep kiss filled with so much tenderness and a whole lot of want. I grabbed onto his back, pulling him even closer until I felt his erection brush against mine.

Both of us groaned, and Winter shifted his hips again. This time, I moved with him, rubbing our cocks against each other. I swore it was like sparks were flying off us, between us, through us.

Winter lifted up and dragged my shirt up, kissing along my belly and chest. “Take this off.”

“Mhm.” I tried to peel my shirt off, but I couldn’t lift up far enough with Win on top of me. I managed to pull it over my head and shoulders, but then I couldn’t get the right angle. After fighting with it for a few seconds, I admitted defeat.

I was stuck in my shirt.

I’d embarrassed myself so many times in front of Win this weekend, so why not add another? Right in the middle of making out?

I huffed and stopped moving, then said through my shirt, “I’m stuck. Help.”

Winter laughed and sat up, straddling my hips as he tried to tug it off. “Oh my god, why is it stuck?”

I laughed. “I don’t know, but get it off before I freak out.”

He pulled me up so I was sitting, and finally we were able to free my poor head and shoulders from the shirt, both of us laughing at the ridiculousness.

As soon as he dropped it on the floor, he gently pushed me on my back and lay back down on top of me and kissed my lips. “Saved you again, Sidekick.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but laugh. “Shut up and kiss me.”

“As you wish, my darling.”

The way he said it made me laugh, so when he dove back in, we were both smiling, and our teeth clanked. That made us both laugh harder, and Win started kissing down my neck. As I tilted my head to allow more access, I ran my hand over the skin of his back, then took a chance and grabbed his ass.