Page 89 of A Winter Wish

She was staring at the flames licking the inside of the wood burner when there was a knock at the door. It would be Freyja, who ran the cabins. She’d come by around the same time yesterday on her snowmobile, checking in to see if Lexie needed anything. Lexie got to her feet, pulled on her thick slipper socks, and crossed to the door. It wasn’t Freyja, though, who stood on the other side of the door.

Theo was standing in the snow, hands buried in the pockets of his blue winter coat, his expression uncertain, almost guarded. How had he found her? That was her first thought. Her second was that she really wished she wasn’t in her flannel pajamas, about the least sexy thing she could imagine, her face bare of makeup after the shower she’d had earlier.

And then, it was like it caught up with her—the fact that he was here, standing right in front of her. “Theo?” It was like she had to check, by saying his name out loud.

He managed a small smile, though his eyes were still guarded, the amber in their depths banked. “Thank God it’s you. I’ve knocked on three of the other cabins already, been invited in by a friendly-seeming old man, and been asked by a child if I’m one of the Yule Lads. I was on the verge of giving up, thought I must have the wrong place.”

He was babbling. Theo was babbling. And she could think of nothing—nothing to say.

“You’re here,” she stated dumbly. Great, Lexie. But her heart was hammering, the fingers of her left hand still curled around the wooden door. Like she couldn’t really believe it. Like she might break the spell if she moved or said something to scare him off.

Theo ran a hand through his hair, down the back of his neck. “I…Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.”

“You weren’t on the flight.”

“No. I missed it. Ange gave me an earful about it.”

Despite her shock, Lexie laughed, the sound slightly too high, and bouncing around the snow-covered trees. “I can imagine.”

“But then she helped me find a new flight. So, well…” He opened his arms to finish the sentence.

“Jesus.” She pushed the door open fully. Then, not knowing what to do with her arms, she folded them. “You could have texted, given me a heads-up.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I was going for the grand gesture.” But he still wasn’t making a move toward her. He wasn’t sweeping her into his arms or bending to kiss her. They were both just standing there, either side of the threshold, staring at each other.

“Why are you here, Theo?” Lexie asked quietly. She needed to know, for sure. Needed him to say it.

“I…” He swallowed—and she saw how nervous he was. Maybe it should make her feel nervous too, but oddly, it calmed her down a little. “I wanted to tell you something.”

Her body went tight in anticipation, like every part of her was holding its breath. She was getting cold now, the heat of the log cabin fighting with the icy cold of outside—but neither of them had crossed the threshold. Like they were both waiting for something.

“We don’t have to keep the company,” Theo blurted out.

Lexie’s heart plummeted. “Oh. Right.”

“No, I don’t mean…Not like that. I just, I wanted to make it clear that you don’t need to keep it because of me.”

Lexie frowned. “But you love it.”

“Yeah. But I’d rather have you.” He met her gaze, his tone dead serious, without the playful edge she knew so well.

“Oh.” But it was a different “oh” this time, and she couldn’t help but smile, as a lightness settled over her.

Seeing her smile, Theo’s expression softened too, and he took a careful step toward her, so that she had to tilt her head to look up at him. “I can find other jobs I love,” he continued. “But I won’t find another you.” Her heart actually skipped at this. “And I don’t want you to keep it, just because you think that’s what I want. We can sell it. Use the money to go to the Caribbean or whatever.”

Lexie laughed, and took her own step forward, meeting him just outside the threshold. His arms came around her, finally, and every part of her body hummed, while a deeper part of her, the part that really counted, seemed to settle.

“Let’s keep it,” she said, wrapping her arms around him too. “For now. And when we’re ready, when it’s the right time, we’ll sell it. If we want to.” It was a little terrifying, committing to that—to a version of the future that meant committing to something, and more, committing to him. And yet, there was a spark of excitement inside her, too. Of hope.

His fingers flexed on her back, digging in through her flannel pajama top. And the way he was looking at her right now, the way his gaze dropped to her mouth, back to her eyes again, made her sure that it didn’t matter in the slightest what she was wearing.

Lexie cocked her head. “You came all the way to tell me that, did you?”

“Well, I’ve heard the signal can be pretty bad in Iceland, and I didn’t want to risk a patchy conversation, so-o…”

Lexie laughed. She loved that about him—about them. She loved that they could make each other laugh.

Theo lifted one hand to her hair, tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “I came to tell you—”