As if it couldn’t help itself, his hand settled a few inches above her knee, and he sighed at the feel of her silky soft skin beneath his fingertips.
“Do you need me to give you a shoulder massage?” she asked.
“Maybe in a minute. Right now, I’m enjoying being here, alone, just like this.” He drifted his palm a few inches higher, and the tulle of her skirt tickled the top of his hand. Every cell in his body pulsed with the desire to slip beneath the layers of fabric and feel his way to the juncture between her thighs, but that’d only invite more trouble.
The kind of trouble that exponentially increased by the second, and why did that make it that much more tempting?
“How long do you think we have before someone comes looking?” Julie asked, the rasp of her voice in his ear ratcheting up his already racing pulse.
“Not long enough for everything I want to do to you, that’s for sure.”
Her eyes met his, and the organ hammering away in his chest unraveled. The tip of her pink tongue wet her lips, and he was pretty sure this was the way he was going to die. Doing his damnedest to avoid fucking his best friend while his libido raged at her nearness.
A groan slipped out as Julie coasted her foot over the top of his shin. His slacks barely acted as a barrier, the thin fabric and all the inches of bare skin Julie’s dress put on display a potent combination.
“Sorry,” she said, tucking her foot between his knees. “My foot’s getting cold.”
“Better use me to warm it up, then,” he said, as opposed to telling her to get a blanket like he should. Since he was already descending a steep, slippery slope, he might as well quicken his steps, the same way he would if he were running downhill. He toyed with her fingers, laced his through hers, and then secured their entwined hands directly over his palpitating heart.
Did she feel what she was doing to him? If she lifted her knee another inch, it’d graze the hardening flesh beneath his zipper. His emotions held a tug of war, one team urging her to do it and the other heaving with all its might to avoid being dragged across that line.
Not that he’d require much dragging. At this point, he wished his strength of will was shittier. It was what’d driven him to practice and train and do whatever it took to attain his goals.
As he considered what he might agree to give up just to be with Julie the way he wanted, a ribbon of fear wound around his lungs and gave a sharp yank.
He sat up, removing himself from what was quickly becoming an emergency situation. “I know it’s a few hours early, but I was hoping to give you your present now.”
Julie pushed herself up to her elbows, hair slightly mussed, and he curled his fingers into a fist to avoid giving in to temptation and raking a hand through the soft strands.
Her legs went to swinging, so he diverted his gaze upward. Where it snagged on her red lips. Without permission, his mind conjured a dirty image reel, complete with scenes of kissing that sinful mouth. Of red lipstick tracks leading down his torso.
Ringing around his—
Gavin shot to his feet, so fast the room spun for a second. “So, your gift… It’s not anything huge, and maybe it’s no good. I just saw it and thought of you, and I’d say you could totally take it back, but it’s personalized, so…”
Julie blinked at him. “Whoa. I think that’s the most words you’ve ever spoken, especially that quickly and all slurred together.” She stood and, without her heels, she was her extra-short self again. From this vantage point, he could also see down the front of her dress, and that settled it—Jules was definitely trying to kill him. “Are you okay? Did you get into the holiday punch?”
He wished. That’d mean this frenetic energy coursing through him would eventually fade and he’d return to himself. After spending the last six days with Julie, he was starting to wonder if that was even possible. “I think it’s just hitting me that I have to leave tomorrow afternoon, and…” The right words wouldn’t come, so he simply exhaled.
Julie fiddled with the layers of her skirt, fluffing them only to smooth them into place. “I’m doing my best not to think about that.” Was it his imagination or did her voice crack on the end?
So he wouldn’t lose the rest of his sanity analyzing all that, he knelt in front of his suitcase, unzipped it, and searched the messy contents. An elf, he was not, and the wonky wrap job proved as much.
“Should I run to my room and get your present?”
“No, that’s okay. I just wanted to give this to you away from everyone else, so I actually have the chance to explain the meaning.” His nerves stretched too tight, one tiny string at a time coming apart as he straightened and extended the package her way.
An excited gleam flickered within her endlessly blue eyes, and he certainly hoped she wasn’t about to be disappointed. It was one thing to experience all these overwhelming emotions for her, but did they have to tinge every single thing they did together?
Julie slid her finger between the folds of paper, tugged the tape, and then ripped the rest of the festive wrapping off the tiny box. Her eyes flicked to him before returning to the box, as if she didn’t know how lids worked.
After seconds or possibly an eternity, she popped off the top and reached inside. Her jaw dropped, and if that was fake enthusiasm, she was a damn good actress. “A serotonin molecule?”
He pointed at the design at the top, a square with Se in the center, so that it looked like one of the elements in the periodic table. “It’s the happy hormone, and I thought it fit because you’re like ten shots of happiness.” The last sentence he’d planned to say snagged on the roof of his mouth, but he forced it out anyway. “And because you make me happy.”
She pressed her lips together and batted her eyelashes faster and faster. When she lifted her face to his, her eyes were shiny. “Thank you. I love it.”
“Admittedly, I went back and forth a long time on whether to make the gemstone charm your birthstone or your favorite color.”
“And you chose red. My favorite, and also the color of most organs, FYI.”
“I didn’t so much choose it because of that,” he said.
Her forehead crinkled, and he held his breath. Maybe he’d read her wrong. “Okay, so silly question. Do you think the person who sells these knows that Se is actually the symbol for selenium?”
A laugh slipped out. Here he was sharing a piece of his soul, and her mind was struggling to process the liberties the crafter had made with the periodic table. “I’d guess they’re aware. They probably didn’t realize they’d have to impress a scientific genius.”
That dimple popped in her cheek. “I know you’re just buttering me up, but I don’t even care.” She carefully removed the thin silver chain and studied the dangling molecule. “In case I haven’t made it clear, you make me happy, too. Honestly, this trip is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”