Page 82 of Theirs for the Holidays

But here we are. Me, sore and happy in the morning with the three of them.

I move around a bit, shifting in place. Since my bed was broken, we all ended up camping out in the living room, making a big pile of blankets and pillows in the middle of the floor.

It’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it’s nice. Cozy, in a way. There’s residual heat from the fireplace, and from the three bodies under the blankets with me.

When I turn onto my side, I can see that Rhett is awake too. His eyes are open and he looks like he’s drifting on a sea of his own thoughts. Lennox and Sawyer are still asleep, snoring softly, and I smile at Rhett when he looks at me.

Tentatively, he smiles back. It’s just a little thing, his lips quirking up at the corners, but it makes me feel even warmer.

“I’m surprised you weren’t up with the sun,” I say, teasing a little.

“Is that what you think I do?” he asks, whispering back.

I laugh, shrugging. “I don’t know. That’s what mountain men do on TV. Get up and go forage for breakfast and all that. I am surprised you’re not off chopping wood again, though. That’s what you did last time, and last night was definitely… a lot.”

That’s a way to put it, but it doesn’t seem to encompass everything that happened. I don’t know a word or a phrase for that so ‘a lot’ is going to have to do for now.

“It was,” Rhett agrees. Something thoughtful passes over his face. “But I was comfortable right where I was when I woke up. So I stayed put.”

My heart flutters a little, and my smile only grows. It’s a soft, vulnerable thing to say, especially coming from Rhett. I have no idea what last night’s events mean, for any of us, but the way he’s looking at me warms me from the inside out.

He seems peaceful in a way he hasn’t in a long time, and it feels amazing to know that I have any part to play in that.

“Hold on a second,” I tell him. I move carefully—because I’m still so sore and because I don’t want to wake up the others justyet—slipping out of the covers and padding across the house to my bedroom.

I pull a small bag out of my drawer and then bring it back to the living room, scooting down until I can claim my warm spot in the blankets again.

Rhett watches me curiously, and I smile and hand over the cloth bag. He tips the contents into his hand and ends up holding a leather bracelet. It’s made of a soft, dark brown leather, and there’s a medallion in the center, made of intricately carved wood.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“A bracelet,” I say, grinning when he shoots me a look. I laugh softly and shrug. “I don’t know, I thought it would fit your lumberjack style. It seemed perfect for you when I saw it.”

There’s a soft look on his face, and his fingers caress the leather gently. He traces the carvings in the wood, and I watch him, pleased that he seems to like it.

He clasps it around his wrist—a perfect fit. “See?” I say. “It suits you so well.”

“It does,” he agrees. “Thank you.” Then he reaches out to palm the back of my head, pulling me in so he can kiss me.

Where his kisses last night were heated and rough around the edges, this one is softer and slower. A languid morning kiss that thrills me to my toes.

Something about that makes the other two wake up, and I can hear them talking sleepily as Rhett kisses me. When he finally lets me go, it’s only a matter of seconds before I’m being pulled into Lennox’s arms.

“Good morning,” he murmurs, tucking hair behind my ear before he goes in for a kiss of his own.

Sawyer has his turn next, and I feel like I’m floating on a cloud of warm contentment by the time he lets me go.

And then I shift and end up hissing in pain when another jolt of that soreness makes itself known.

“You okay?” Sawyer asks.

I give him a look. “Oh yeah, just my body being unimpressed with all the exercise last night.”

He snorts. “You seemed pretty impressed last night.”

“Did we hurt you?” Lennox wants to know.

I shake my head. “No, it’s just… it’s been a while since I had sex, period, and last night was…”