Page 98 of Turning Up the Heat

“What?” Quinn asked, leaning back to look at me.

“I want you to move in with me.”

Quinn stood perfectly still, his face unmoving. My heart flip-flopped in my chest.Maybe I’d misread the situation?My nerves jangled and buzzed while he stared at me, unblinking.

“I mean, I know I’m a little messy, and don’t really fold my laundry, and get up super early in the morning, so I could see why you might hesitate...”

Quinn pressed a finger to my lips. “Ssh. No.”

“No?” I asked, a huge pit yawning open in my stomach.

“No, I’m not hesitating. Yes, I will move in with you. And I don’t care if you fold your laundry or get up early or any of those things. I want to be with you, Delaney. Every day and every night. At least when we’re not working. I love you.”

My heart lifted, the pit in my stomach vanishing. “I love you, too, Quinn. Merry Christmas.” I stood on tiptoe, my hands around Quinn’s strong neck, and kissed him under the stars and the twinkly lights until I couldn’t feel my body any longer.

When we finally broke away from each other, Quinn ran his hand over my hair.

“It’s snowing,” he said, a fat white snowflake balanced on the tip of his finger.

“Oh. Oh. It is.” I threw my head back and looked up at the sky, cold, fat flakes falling on my face.

“Merry Christmas, Delaney. Welcome home.”

Resting my head on his strong shoulder, I breathed him in—all his goodness, his stubbornness, his best traits and his flaws.

“Merry Christmas, Quinn.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist, and we headed back to the bakery to celebrate our first Christmas Eve as a couple together.

THE END