‘So, what if I don’t need you. What if I just want you to stay?’
‘You want me to stay?’ Why did he sound so damn incredulous about that? Like she couldn’t possibly want him to stay if she didn’t have odd jobs for him to do? Did he really think she was that shitty of a person?
She was a reformed shitty person! Or trying to be, anyway.
‘For safety,’ she said, still wanting him to stay. Wanting to show him that she wasn’t a shitty person anymore.
She gestured around them, the snow swirling past the porch. ‘The storm.’
‘It’s not that bad.’
‘Look, Buffalo Man, just because you’re not scared of snow doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. I can’t in good conscience let you drive off in this.’
His gaze met hers and she didn’t know why he was so torn about this decision, but he clearly was. This man, who had pushed his way into her house to check her heat just a handful of days ago, now couldn’t seem to convince himself to cross the threshold.
Kira huffed. ‘You’re getting snow in my house. At least come in and have this decision-making crisis inside.’
Bennett blinked. Kira ignored the snowflakes glistening on his long eyelashes. Details like that were absolutely not helpful at the moment.
‘Sorry.’ He left his shovel next to hers and stepped inside. Not that it was much warmer in the drafty entryway, but Kira had solved that problem.
‘Leave your boots and coat there and follow me,’ she said, leading the way to the cozy nook she’d made in her living room. She pushed back the blanket she’d hung in the doorway separating the living room and the front hall. She had another one tacked up in the door between the living room and the kitchen. They helped keep the heat from the fire in the room. It was actually quite toasty.
Bennett stepped in after her. He looked around, taking in the roaring fire and the blankets— the clear lack of smoke or freezing temps, obviously throwing him for a loop. His mouth opened and closed in an attempt to speak but nothing came out.
Kira couldn’t help her smug smile.
See. She could do it. She could take care of herself.
‘Okay, take your pants off,’ she said, turning to him.
Bennett coughed. ‘Take my … what?’
‘Take. Your. Pants. Off,’ she said slowly, like he just hadn’t understood her and not that he was horrified at the suggestion. ‘They’re all wet. I’ll throw them in the drier. Probably your socks, too.’ She glanced down at his holly-printed socks.
When she looked up, a blush had crossed Bennett’s cheeks. He blushed?! Ugh, just when she’d decided not to seduce him, he had to go and blush like that? Unfair. Absolutely underhanded move.
‘I can’t just … sit here without pants on.’ He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘I’m fine like this.’
‘You’re not fine. You’re wet, you stubborn ass.’
A flare of excitement went off in her gut at his surprised expression. Why was it so fun to tease him?
‘I’ll get you something to put on,’ she said, hustling out of her grown-up blanket fort and up the stairs. It was a good twenty degrees colder up here, so she didn’t waste time grabbing something for Bennett to wear and heading back down again.
He still had his pants on when she reappeared. Disappointing.
‘Here. To preserve your modesty.’ She stuck the old bathrobe out between them, but Bennett just stared at it.
‘You want me to wear that?’ he said at last, taking in the very fuzzy pinkness of the whole thing.
‘It’s all I have that will fit you. It’s this or…’ she raised her eyebrows suggestively, ‘… or nothing.’
Bennett snatched it from her hand, his cheeks turning an even brighter red.
She laughed, tempted to stay and torment him a bit further, but she didn’t want to scare him off quite yet.
‘I’ll go make us some coffee while you change.’
The freezing temperature of her kitchen sobered her slightly while she waited for the coffee to brew. What exactly was she doing with this man? If she was trying to be a better person, it seemed important to examine her motives. But, like, quickly, because she was freezing her ass off out here.
She reached for two mugs and poured them both fresh coffee.
‘How do you take it?’ she called.
‘Milk and too much sugar for a grown man,’ he replied and she bit down on a smile.
Damn it. At some point, she started liking him.
What would her old self have done in this situation? If she could figure that out, she could just do the opposite and that would probably be what a decent human being would do.
Hmm. She didn’t actually know what her old self would have done in this situation, because her old self probably wouldn’t have invited the nice man in in the first place.
‘Do you need help out there?’ His voice came through the blanket again.
‘Nope, all good. Be out in a sec.’
Right. Okay. What were the facts here? She went over them as she poured milk into Bennett’s mug and heaped in two teaspoons of sugar.
