Page 14 of It's a Wonderful Knife

After the smelly bus and dusty hayride, I hadn’t expected the cabin to be so nice inside. It smelled of lemon polish, and it was spotlessly clean. There were hardwood floors and a queen-sized bed with an off-white iron headboard. The bed had a fluffy white comforter and tons of pillows, with a colorful red, blue, and yellow patchwork quilt at the foot of the bed. The walls of the log cabin were striped white and brown, mimicking the log cabin look. A distressed black wooden mirror hung on one wall, and the windows had tan canvas drapes, pulled aside to let in the natural light.

To the right was a tiny kitchen with a brass farm sink, small stove, and white old-fashioned-looking fridge. There was a small wooden slab table with fresh-cut blue and yellow flowers in a vase. It was obvious that someone had taken great care to make the cabin feel warm and welcoming. Something told me Ezra hadn’t been that person.

“This is really cozy,” I said, meeting Royce’s uncertain gaze.

He looked relieved. “I was worried it might be too rustic for you.”

“Nope. I like it.” I eyed the bed. “Good-sized bed too. We won’t be on top of each other too much.”

“Aww, but I like being on top of you.” Royce smiled, a flicker of heat in his eyes.

My pulse sped up as we held each other’s gaze. “Somebody is feeling frisky.”

“I’m just really happy you’re here with me.”

“I’m happy to be here.” I smiled. “We should unpack before we do anything else.”

“Sure. We can do that. I know you like things organized.” He gestured to the horizontal dresser against one wall. “You can have the top three drawers; I’ll take the bottom three.”

“You sure?” I rolled my suitcase over to the dresser. “I don’t want you to throw your back out.”

“If I do, it won’t be because of that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re just raring to go, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “Am I coming on too strong?”

“No. I like it when you’re like this. It takes all the guesswork out of things.” I’d worried this getaway would lack romance because there were so many people on the trip with us, but apparently Royce’s libido wasn’t dampened in any way.

He pushed his suitcase closer. “I can’t believe you’re here with me.”

I unzipped my bag and began placing things carefully in the drawers. “I can hardly believe it myself. If anyone had told me a year ago I’d be chopping down a Christmas tree, I’d have thought they were insane.”

“I’ll bet.” He studied me, his honey-brown eyes sincere. “Sorry we didn’t sit together on the bus.”

“I fully intended for you to sit with me. Hermina and her rat of a dog stole your seat before I realized what was happening.”

He sighed. “I figured it was something like that. I knew you didn’t intentionally ditch me.”

“Of course not. In fact, I, uh, missed you today.” While I found making emotional declarations embarrassing, Royce loved hearing them. Since I wanted to be the kind of partner he needed, I’d make them all day long if need be.

“Did you?” Royce looked pleased.

“Definitely.” I sighed. “How was it sitting with River?”

“That wasn’t my choice.”

“I know.” He didn’t mind River like I did, but he wasn’t a huge fan either. Royce pretty much accepted people for who they were. Something I wanted to learn to do. “Did he try to seduce you, like usual?”

Royce gave a bark of a laugh. “Uh… no. He was mostly on his phone the whole time. I suspect Lucas and him were making fun of the group the whole ride.”

I sniffed. “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

“On the ride back, we’ll have to plan more strategically.” He grinned. “Maybe we should sleep on the bus the night before we leave so no one can outsmart us.”

“Sounds good to me. Whatever I need to do to sit with you, I’ll do it.” I slipped my arms around his waist and pressed my lips to his. He gave a happy little sigh, and when the kiss ended, I said softly, “After all, I’m only here to be with you.”

He pushed the hair off my forehead, his eyes warm. “I’m only here for you too, Max.”