Page 33 of How to Kiss on Christmas Morning

“Noah, you ran out of bandwidth. You were exhausted. Stressed. You can’t judge yourself by your worst day.”

“Yeah, maybe not. But that’s easier said than done.” He scrubs his hands over his face and leans back in his chair. “Man. Wow.” He motions between us. “This doesn’t usually happen for me.”

Heat blooms and spreads through my chest. “This being…the talking?”

“The talking, the feelings. All of it.” He lifts his gaze to meet mine. “It’s different with you.”

I offer him a teasing smile. “And here I thought I wasn’tneededat all.”

He smiles. Now that he’s already done it once, they seem to be coming more easily. “I shouldn’t have said that. But you have to understand my hesitation. You’re probably too young for me, and the fact that Olivia?—”

“Young?” I say, interrupting him. “How young do you think I am?”

“You just finished nursing school, so that makes you what, twenty-one? Twenty-two?”

“I started school late,” I say. “I’m twenty-five.”

“Positively ancient,” he says, laughter in his tone.

There is so much we aren’t saying. He’s owning that Olivia might have intended to set us up, but he isn’t saying whether that’s good or bad. And why should he? I have no idea where I’ll be working come January. And at this point, neither does he.

It’s probably a terrible idea to start anything when both of our lives are so uncertain.

Then again, he just said things were different with me. And this whole conversation, I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time imagining how pretty his big blue eyes would look on a baby.

Maybe we don’t know what will happen next.

But I’m sure I’ll regret it if I leave Stonebrook Farm without being honest about my interest—about how he makes me feel.

I drain the last of my wine, nerves spiking as I ask, “Is that why you didn’t kiss me today? Outside by the tree? Because you thought I was too young for you?”

He leans forward and props his elbows on his knees. “I wanted to. I wasn’t even thinking about your age. But…” He hesitates and breathes out a sigh. “I’m a mess right now, Megan.”

I reach out and grab the bottle of wine, filling my glass a second time. When I hold it up in his direction, he nods, and I fill his as well. “Well that makes two of us,” I say. “I have no idea where I’m going to work next month. I have no idea if I’ll pass my licensing exam or where I’m going to live or how anything is going to look in my future.”

“What does that make us?” Noah asks through a chuckle.

“I have no idea,” I say. “Probably perfect for each other.”

He grins. “So maybe we just…finish the rest of the wine and get to know each other? See what happens?”

“I like that plan,” I say. “But I do need you to tell me just one thing first.”

“Anything,” he says, and I can tell by the sincerity in his tone that he really means it.

“Are youevergoing to kiss me? Because honestly, sitting here and wondering all night might actually kill me.”

Fire flashes in Noah’s eyes as he studies me, his gaze holding mine in that quiet way I’ve grown used to over the last few days. Then he shifts and stands, slowly closing the distance between us.

When he reaches me, he takes my wine glass out of my hand and sets it on the side table, then he leans down, placing his palms on either arm of my chair.

“We can’t have that,” he says.

My heart rate picks up speed, my skin prickling with new awareness. “No?”

He brushes his nose against mine, his breath warm on my cheek. “Nope. I like you too much for you to die over a kiss.”

Finally,I think.