“Is that everything?” he asked.
She held her phone up high. “I think so. Let me just check this back row of boxes.”
A sharp crack of splintering wood echoed through the attic. Even as she yelped, he leapt forward, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her back before she could plunge through the floor and the ceiling below. Her phone clattered across the plywood.
“You okay?”
“I…yeah.” Her voice was level enough, but her hands had fisted in his shirt, hanging on, and her body trembled against his in the wake of the adrenaline dump.
The light from wherever her phone landed cast crazy shadows on her face as she looked up at him, her pupils blown wide, and Ryan forgot for a second that it had been a mere fall he’d saved her from. His own pulse was hammering with more than just adrenaline, and he couldn’t quite stop his hands from sliding over her hips and partway up her spine to pull her closer. She licked her lips, flattening her palms against his chest.
Just one taste…
He started to close the distance between them.
“Everything okay up there?” Percy’s voice echoed up from the garage, as effective as a bucket of ice water. “I thought I heard a crash.”
“It’s fine,” Ryan called back, not taking his eyes off Hannah’s. “Some of the attic flooring is rotten. I’ll fix it later. Nobody’s hurt.”
“We’d best get to it. Lots of work to do.” Flashing a wry smile, she stepped back.
The keen edge of disappointment sliced through him at another opportunity lost.
Chapter 6
Hannah backed away from Ryan before she did something crazy like leap back into his arms and climb him like a tree. Scooping up her phone, she backed down the ladder, lifting her gaze to his just before her head cleared the entrance. He was still standing where she’d left him, a hungry expression in his eyes. Her cheeks heated. She ducked her head, but not before his lips curved into a smile.
Needing a chance to find her composure after the near miss of falling through the floor—sure, it was the near miss and not the near kiss—she directed Ryan and Percy outside to fit the tree into the stand while she began slicing cookies to bake.
She definitely hadn’t imagined it this time. They’d been having a Moment, damn it. Ryan had been seconds away from kissing her, and then—Perseus Interruptus. Fifteen months since she’d been kissed. Longer than that since anyone had tempted her for more. She’d been fine with that until him. And now she was supposed to work alongside him decorating this house and pretend she wasn’t thinking about what those muscles she’d felt beneath her hands would look like without a shirt?
Huffing out a breath, she arranged dough on the cookie sheet she’d unearthed. It would be fine. There was bound to be some other opportunity, right? And now that she knew she wasn’t imagining things, she could help create an opportunity. That wasn’t cheating, was it?
The guys came back inside as she was sliding the tray of cookies into the oven.
“What kind of cookies are those?” Percy asked.
Because he sounded like a curious little boy, Hannah found a smile. “Ginger snaps. They’ll make the house smell like Christmas as we decorate.”
“Are you ready for me to bring the tree inside?” If Ryan was still affected by the almost kiss, it didn’t show in his expression.
Fine. Two could play at that game. “Let’s finish clearing the space.”
Between the two of them, they shifted around living room furniture to make room in front of the big picture window, then hauled in the tree. Once the netting was cut and the branches sprang out, she directed him in making the minute adjustments necessary so that it stood straight and tall. He was a good sport through the process, lips curved in an indulgent smile. By the time she was happy with it, the buzzer was going off for the cookies.
“Ryan, can you sort the stuff in the foyer into indoor and outdoor piles, while I deal with the cookies?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Hannah headed for the kitchen, trailed by her octogenarian shadow.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the boy was flirting,” Percy observed.
“Is that an unusual state of affairs?” She pulled the cookies from the oven and began transferring them to the cooling rack she’d found earlier.
“Not his default setting. Always has his mind on the mission. That’s his Delta Force training.”
She bobbled a cookie. “Delta Force? He’s special forces?”
“Didn’t mention that, huh?”
“No.” Now his reticence at dinner last night made more sense. He was a certified badass.
“He won’t brag on himself, so I’ll brag for him. He’s a special forces medical sergeant and a damned good one.”
“Mmhmm, I’m so good you won’t let me examine you.” Ryan’s expression was clearly dialed to not amused as he joined them.
“I got all my limbs still attached and no shrapnel sticking out of me. I’m not in need of your services,” Percy insisted.
Hannah caught the faint tightening in Ryan’s jaw. She wanted to touch him, to soothe that stress away and make him forget about Percy’s careless words.
“These cookies need a few minutes to cool,” she said. “Percy, weren’t you in charge of music?”
“Reckon I was. I apologize.” He snatched a cookie from the rack and tossed it from hand to hand to cool as he walked out of the room.
Because she wasn’t a woman who tended to ignore the urges of her heart, she crossed to Ryan and laid a hand on his arm. The muscles were corded with tension. His dark eyes fixed on hers. She didn’t say anything—didn’t know what to say—just ran her hand down his arm until her fingers could link with his. An offering of comfort. After a moment, his hand closed around hers, strong and warm.
Jazz piano spilled out from the living room. Ryan canted his head to the side as if trying to identify the song. Hannah recognized it instantly.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas. The Vince Guaraldi Trio.”
One corner of his mouth kicked up. “You know, like, every Christmas song ever made, don’t you?”
“Maybe not every one, but a lot. And come on, this is a classic Christmas soundtrack. Didn’t you watch A Charlie Brown Christmas as a kid?”
“We were much more into A Christmas Story.”
“That is only the worst Christmas movie ever made.”
The other side of his mouth curved. “It’s a classic. I mean, obviously—they have an all day marathon of it every year.”
“I don’t think we can be friends anymore.” She called it a win when his eyes lost that haunted edge.
“Friends,” he murmured. “Is that what we’re doing?”
Fresh tension snapped between them, stealing her breath. How could he turn the mood so fast?
“You two comin’?” Percy shouted.
Something hot flickered in Ryan’s gaze.
Oh, mercy. Finding her voice, Hannah managed to call back, “Just plating the cookies!” With one last squeeze of Ryan’s hand, she moved to make up a tray with still warm cookies and glasses of milk for everybody. Maybe the milk would cool the heat in her cheeks.