“Sorry. I’m making some tea. Do you want some?”
“Sure.”
Josh leaned against the kitchen wall while the water boiled. Why was it that water took so long to boil?
His hair was tousled and T-shirt rumpled. It would be so easy to take two steps and stand in front of him, rest her hands at his waist and lean into him. The way he stood practically invited her to do it. She would just have to take two steps. That’s all that separated them.
She couldn’t do it, though. It would ruin everything.
The hiss of the teapot caused her to jump. She turned to reach for it at the same time he did.
“Oops. Sorry.”
“I can get it.”
Their hands brushed up against each other, their bodies so close. She looked up at him. He looked down at her. Something in his gaze was different—fiery, full of desire.
Her eyes dropped to his lips, but the moment she realized what she had done, she knew she should turn her eyes away. Look anywhere else but at him, at his lips.
She couldn’t. His tongue peeked out, quickly wetting his lips.
It happened before she even realized it was happening. She wasn’t even sure if she moved first or if he did, but somehow she found her lips against his and it felt good. It was hesitant at first, slowly building. He knew what he was doing, whereas Micah...had been out of practice for a while...a long while.
Gently he backed her up until she felt the solidity of rough brick behind her. She was trapped between a wall and an immovable man. Never before had the thought of confinement been so enticing.
A heavenly rush swept through her body as his hands traveled down her sides, gripping her hips. His kiss was demanding, bruising. The rough edges of the brick wall scratched against the delicate skin of her back as his body leaned heavily against her. His fingertips dug into her flesh as he pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss.
The intense push and pull didn’t end with him. She gave back just as much. Her greedy hands slid under his shirt, fingers splayed on his strong, broad back. Desire caused her to sink her nails into his skin as she held on for dear life.
His large hands slid down her hips and gripped her thighs, lifting her up and setting her down on the kitchen counter. His hands remained on her thighs as she pulled him in closer to her. She arched her back, needing as much of her to touch as much of him as possible.
“Micah.” The way he spoke her name, with such reverence, such passion, stirred her deep within.
“Say it again.”
“Micah.”
She woke in a full-body sweat. Again. She pushed damp strands of hair back from her face and threw the cover off her body. Pulling herself up from the chair she had slept in, she noticed the couch across from her was vacant.
It had only been a dream.
She released the deep breath she had been holding. Thank God.
“Micah, you want any coffee?”
She padded to the kitchen in her slippers, the smell of coffee permeating the air. Josh looked just as he had in the dream. Her fingers tingled, itched to touch him, to run through his tousled hair, to reenact the dream still vivid in her mind.
She curled her fingers into a tight fist, bringing the errant tingling into submission. Control yourself, woman!
“Coffee?” Oh, his voice even sounded like she had imagined, all gravelly and rough with sleep.
“Yes, please.” She sat on the barstool at the kitchen counter. He turned and set a cup of hot coffee in front of her, but avoided eye contact. That was fine with her. She couldn’t have him analyzing her and finding out about her late-night musings. Her thoughts were never safe with the way he read her like a book.
“I’m gonna start clearing off my truck, then we can go pick up your car. We may have to dig it out, though.”
“Okay. I’ll get dressed.”
Ten minutes later she found Josh outside, meticulously removing all evidence of snow from his truck. She wouldn’t dare offer to help. He never let anyone touch his baby. She jumped into the cab and waited for him.
When they pulled up to the coffee-shop parking lot, her car was barely visible. It appeared to be more a giant mound of snow than a vehicle.
“This is going to be fun.” Josh parked the truck and looked over at her. “You ready?”
“As ready as I will ever be.”
* * *
Josh couldn’t believe she didn’t remember. He had walked on eggshells all morning, waiting for the awkward conversation that never came.
He looked over at her. Micah softly hummed to herself as she was hard at work on the one side of her car while he tackled the other side.
They had to shovel around the car just to get close to it. Despite the frigid temperature, Josh had worked up quite a sweat. Slowly but surely they were uncovering her little car.
He looked up at her again. She really was oblivious to what had happened last night.
Josh had woken to the sound of her walking around the apartment. It had been dark, but he’d found her in the kitchen, where she appeared to be making tea. But tea never happened.
Still in a sleepy haze, he hadn’t been able to control himself and apparently neither had she. The heated make-out session had annihilated any semblance of control he thought he still possessed. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected her to be so responsive to him.
Her uninhibited passion in all of its blinding glory was far more beautiful than his finite imagination could ever have made up.
And she didn’t remember a thing about it. Had she been sleepwalking? Or was it sleep kissing? Oh, God. If that was how she kissed in her sleep, he wouldn’t be able to handle a kiss with her fully awake and not drunk.
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. If she didn’t remember and had truly been unaware of what transpired between them, then there was no harm done. If he could just go on as though it had never happened, she would never know.
Micah must have pushed the scraper a little too hard, because it slipped and sent snow flying into the air in his direction. He tried to duck out of its path, but failed, getting hit on the side of his face.
He couldn’t pass up this opportunity. He reached down, grabbed some snow and shot back up, tossing a snowball right at her.
“Hey! We are trying to clean off the car, not put more back on it!” She countered with a snowball that just missed his shoulder.
“You started it.”
Snowballs went flying through the air, rapid-fire. He threw then dodged, accidentally nailing her in the head once or twice. He felt a small pang of guilt, but got over it quickly. She would survive.
Micah hid behind the car, attempting to make as much ammunition as she could, but he was onto her. He quietly crept around the car. And as he peeked from behind the trunk, he could see her stand abruptly and fire one toward where he had been standing. She stood on her tiptoes to see if she could find him. He took the opportunity, lunged from the rear of the car and tackled her into the snow.
A spark of heat jolted him as he fell to the ground on top of her. Her body was warm beneath his, a stark contrast to the icy, wet snow that engulfed them. His face was mere inches from hers. It had started to snow again, and tiny snowflakes floated all around her.
He