And I see everything about you, Clark Woodward. You have so much love and compassion bottled up, so much you’ve hidden and want to give now you know how. What if I disappoint you? What if I fail and don’t live up to the me who exists on December 24? What if the magic dissolves on the 26th and you go back to Dallas and I’m alone in a crowd again? She didn’t ask any of those questions. And he didn’t answer. What he gave her, as he closed the gap between them, was so much better.

“I never knew I could feel this way. I thought I was trapped, but you opened my entire world up. And filled my house with so many pine needles I don’t think I’ll ever get them out.”

“It’s easy, you just take a high-powered vacuum and—”

“You’ve made this stupid holiday into one of the best days of my life. You made me feel something, Kate. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve let myself feel anything?”

“I’m happy I could help,” she said, ever the diplomat even as his nose almost brushed her with its closeness. Her heart—oh, her poor reckless heart—threw itself against her ribcage, banging to get out. A strong hand landed on her right cheek. His pulse was as fast as hers.

“Why did you come to my house in the first place? And why did you stay?”

“I just didn’t want you to be alone anymore.”

“And I don’t want to be alone anymore. But I don’t want you to be alone anymore either,” he said.

A pause. A lifetime of happiness hung in the balance of that pause. Kate said nothing. She didn’t know how.

“May I kiss you?”

“Only if you want me to fall in love with you.”

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Despite what his boarding school roommates or overly friendly colleagues in the office thought, Clark had kissed women before. They never set his soul on fire as they seemed to do in the movies, nor did they live up to the locker room banter thrown around by the men in his acquaintance, nor was it a gentlemanly thing to do, so he never bragged about his romantic encounters.

Now, he thanked his past self for never inflating the memories or exaggerating the stories. They only would have cheapened the most perfect kiss in all the world.