Page 86 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

He rolled his eyes and bopped my nose.

“Why’d you give up your books, Sam?” I asked.

He let his cheek fall against the hand still above me. “I told you. It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re so full of crap.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You said those books had original dust jackets. That there were even some errors on the page, which made them priceless.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I remember that.”

They meant something to you.

And you mean something to me.

Even when I’m trying so desperately hard for you not to.

“Why’d you do it, Sam?” I pressed.

He groaned. “You’re not going to drop this, are you?”

“I’m a Mancini. Since when do we drop anything?”

He closed his eyes for a moment—like it would make whatever he was about to say next easier—before opening them again. “It’s important to you, right? Saving The Market?”

I nodded.

“That’s why.” He stood up straight and grazed his fingers over the bottom of one of my braids. “I did it for you.”

Thank God for the shelves behind me, or I would’ve 100 percent dropped to the floor.

I did it for you.

How could he just say something like that and not expect me to…

Screw it.

I uncrossed my arms and ran my fingers down the front of his flannel shirt, settling them near the hem before pressing my forehead against his broad chest.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and the air between us sparked with tension. As I inhaled his familiar scent of sweet pine, the butterflies that were hibernating after our almost-kiss at my house startled awake, going full circus-mode with death-defying loops, leaps, and spins in my stomach. Every single one of my senses was aflame, prickling with so much heat that I felt I would literally combust if I didn’t get closer to Sam that instant.

I lifted my gaze.

He swallowed hard, and I counted the times both our chests rose and fell together.

One.

Two.

Three.

He lowered his chin.

I tilted my head.

And then the door banged open.

“Are you two about done—” Bianca stopped short. She stared at the two of us for a long and extremely uncomfortable moment before grinning. “You know what? Take your time.” She winked and scurried away.