Page 38 of Theirs for the Holidays

He gives me a crooked smile and nudges me with his elbow. “You didn’t miss me. I’m here right now.”

Something about the way he says that makes my heart beat a little faster. He’s close enough that I can smell his shampoo and the sweat on his skin over the hot metal scent of my car, and every part of my body seems to be aware of it. It’s masculine and enticing, and I want to lean in for more, but I don’t let myself do that.

“So um,” I say, trying to get back on track. “Any idea what I should do about this?”

“If you don’t have any coolant, I’m out of ideas,” he replies. He pokes at a few things, frowning as he does, and I watch the way his hands move, strong and sure even if he doesn’t really know what he’s looking for. “I have a lot of skills, but fixing this isn’t one of them.”

“Of course,” I sigh, pushing my bangs back from my face. “I’ll just have to figure something else out.”

“I can give you a ride into town. Then you can have them come tow your car to the mechanic. That’s the best I got.” He holds out a hand to me, to shake on the deal.

I laugh a little, fitting my palm against his and shaking on it. “I’ll take that. Much better than melting out here in the heat.”

Lennox slams the hood of my car down, and I grab my purse and suitcase from the car, locking it up so that no one gets any bright ideas while it’s sitting on the side of the road.

I slide into Lennox’s car, sighing with pleasure as the AC blasts over me.

“You’re my hero,” I tell him with a smile, and he smiles back.

I tell him more about my trip as we head into town, and he tells me what he’s been up to in Sweetwater Lake while he’s been home. Same old, same old really is the way things work in small towns, and it’s cozy and familiar in a way that I like.

Lennox takes me to my apartment, pulling up into one of the front parking spaces. “Here you are,” he says, giving me a little bow from the seat. “Safe and sound.”

“Thank you,” I say. “Really, you saved my ass today.”

“All in a day’s work.”

I go to get out of the car, but something makes me pause. It’s the realization that I don’t want this to end just yet. I see Lennox so rarely now that we’re both so busy, and he’s going to be leaving again soon for who knows how long.

“Do you want to come in?” I blurt out, impulse taking over. “I could, uh, give you a drink or something? To say thank you for the ride.”

“You don’t have to thank me for the ride,” he says, looking over at me. I’m bracing myself for him to turn me down when he smiles. “But yeah, I do want to come up.”

I smile back, and we both get out of the car. He helps me with my suitcase, going up the two flights of stairs to my apartment because of course this place doesn’t have an elevator.

Thank goodness I cleaned my place up before I left for my trip, not wanting to come back to a mess after driving all day, so there’s nothing embarrassing to hide from him.

I cross to the kitchen and pull out a bottle of vodka that I’ve kept stashed in the freezer for “emergencies.”

“What kind of emergencies require vodka?” Lennox wants to know.

“Classes kicking my butt. My mom being annoying. The upstairs neighbors having sex parties,” I say, only half teasing.

I pour us drinks and slide Lennox’s glass to him. He lifts it, toasting me, and I smile around the burn of the booze.

It lights a fire down my body, settling warm and heavy in my belly. Lennox drains his in one smooth swallow, and I can’t help but watch the way his throat bobs. I can’t tell if he’s taller and broader the way he seems or if it’s just that my tiny apartment feels even smaller with him in it.

Either way, he takes up a lot of the space, and my eyes keep gravitating to him.

He asks me questions about school, and I answer them easily. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but the conversation flows so well that it feels like no time at all. He laughs when I tell him a story about my RA setting the kitchen on fire by pouring water on a grease fire.

“I thought RAs were supposed to be the responsible ones,” he says.

“So did we. But he had no idea what he was doing.”

He tells me about some of the people in his squad and the prank war he engaged in once.

When both glasses are empty, I pour us another drink, and the heat of the day turns into a cooler evening as we keep talking and catching up.