Page 10 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

Staying with Gage might be even more dangerous than being on the run from Joel.

Six

Gage

Ihad been a fuckingidiot.

I knew better than to allow myself to slip around Julie, but I couldn’t help myself.

Last night, when she let me hold her while she cried and then fell asleep in my arms, it changed something.Something inside of me snapped, and I was no longer just her brother’s (ex) best friend.I was a man on a mission to protect what was mine, and I felt a ferocity that ran through my blood, knowing I would do anything to keep her and Daisy safe.

The problem was that she wasn’t mine to protect.She was the one woman I wasn’t supposed to fall for—ever.Patrick had made that abundantly clear during our teen years when my attraction to Julie reached an all-time high.But pushing him aside, I knew that it wasn’t right to fall for her right now.She didn’t need someone stepping in and trying to seduce her—she needed someone who would keep her safe.Someone who would lay their life on the line to make sure no harm ever came to either of them.

Instead, I decided to let my dick talk this morning, and he was quite the chatty bastard.

There was no doubt that Julie had felt my erection this morning, given how close I had gotten to her.But trying to stop it was like trying to tell a man not to drink the water when stranded in the desert—it was stupid and didn’t make sense.Then again, when it came to Julie, nothing made sense at the moment.

I pulled out the stuff I needed for the pancakes I was making for Daisy and tried to focus on cooking instead of thinking about Julie and how good she smelled as she walked through the kitchen with her hair wet from the shower.

“Did you convince Gage to make you pancakes?”she asked Daisy, ruffling her hair as she passed by, smiling at her daughter as she handed her a unicorn stuffed animal.

“He offered,” Daisy replied with a shrug as she squeezed the toy and smiled.

“That is true,” I said with a wink as I added way too many chocolate chips, ignoring the ping from my phone sitting on the counter beside me.

“You’re going to have to learn to say no,” Julie teased, raising her eyebrows and giving me a look that was meant to be scolding but was adorable and playful instead.

“I thought I made myself clear this morning that when it comes to you and Daisy, I will never say no.”I swallowed hard, allowing myself to taste the truth in the words I had spoken.

Julie’s cheeks flushed the slightest shade of pink as she blushed and looked away.

“I would have made breakfast,” she said, changing the subject.“You don’t have to keep cooking for us.”

“Like I said, I don’t mind.I would be making food for myself regardless.Making extra isn’t as big of a deal as you seem to think it is.”

“So you typically make yourself chocolate chip pancakes and twenty slices of bacon for breakfast?”She put her hand on her hip and tilted her head as she studied me with a knowing grin.