Tristan still smiled even though a few hours had passed when he thought of the small flash of panic in Cosima’s eyes before she eventually leaned in for the kiss. And God, he was happy she did. Her lips were so exquisitely soft, her body so pliant that Tristan almost lost track of himself and where they were. When she parted her lips and sighed into his mouth, Tristan’s hands shot to the back of her head, desperate to deepen the kiss. His tongue teased the inseam of her bottom lip, and he was just about to delve into her sweetness when she pulled away abruptly, the flashing in her eyes letting him know she had been just as close to losing all sense of awareness as he was. He brought his lips to her forehead, willing his body to calm down.

“Later,” he whispered, needing her to know that he couldn’t wait to properly explore the chemistry between them.

When she smiled and let him know she would hold him to that promise, Tristan wanted to end the skating date immediately so that later could come expeditiously, but he shut down the impulse.

He was still trying to shut down the impulse now as he watched her sashay into the lobby of her apartment.

“I can’t believe you’ve waited until the last minute to set up your tree,” he said, trying his best to keep his attention off her ass as she moved in front of him.

“Wait until you realize I don’t have any decorations,” she shot over her shoulder before turning so he could see her megawatt smile. Tristan groaned. They had agreed to split the days evenly, with Tristan choosing the first Christmas Eve activity and Cosima deciding what they would do later in the day. He’d spent the entire drive back to her apartment trying to figure out what she wanted to do, and he didn’t even come close to setting up her Christmas tree. When he expressed shock that this would be the activity she chose, Cosima suggested that it would be a character-building exercise for him because he’d never decorated a Christmas tree. Growing up, he’d always stayed holed up in his room while his family decorated the tree, managing only to come out to steal the sugar cookies his mother always baked. Lorraine loved minimalist Christmas trees, so the trees during their marriage weren’t decorated with much more than string lights. This year he didn’t want his lack of experience to prevent Nia from having a tree she would hopefully talk about for years to come, so he’d hired a professional company to decorate the tree and his entire living area in pinks, purples, and silvers.