Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
WILLOW
In theory, this one sounds simple. Casual. Totally non-dramatic. Just a brush of fingers, a nudge of the arm—something light enough to pass as friendly but intentional enough to make him notice.
In practice? Absolute fucking disaster.
We’re at the counter unpacking a shipment of books. Roman is doing his usual thing—stacking too many hardcovers in his arms like he’s auditioning for World’s Strongest Man—while I hover beside him, plotting my moment.
Okay, Willow. All you have to do is graze his hand. Totally natural. Totally breezy. People touch each other’s hands all the time. This is nothing.
I reach out, fingers aiming for the edge of the stack he’s holding. But instead of a light, graceful brush, I miscalculate. My hand slips and—
CRASH.
Twenty copies of A Christmas Carol hit the floor like we just murdered Dickens himself.
Roman freezes, books still balanced precariously in his arms. Then he turns that maddening, infuriatingly amused grin on me. “Subtle,” he drawls. “Very subtle.”
Heat burns all the way up my neck. “I was—helping. That was me helping.”
“Helping what? Gravity?” He crouches to gather the fallen books, still grinning. “You trying to flirt with me, Princess, or stage a holiday massacre?”
I drop to my knees beside him, scrambling to shove books back into the box before I actually dissolve into the floor. “Oh my God, shut up.”
He doesn’t. Of course, he doesn’t. His shoulder brushes mine, warm and solid, and my stomach somersaults. Then his fingers catch mine on the same book, and the world goes still.
For a breath, neither of us moves. His hand is on mine—warm, rough, familiar—and I forget how to breathe. My heart is doing its best impression of a jackhammer.
Roman glances sideways, voice low, teasing but edged with something else. “If this is what happens when you touch lightly, I’m terrified to see what happens when you go all in.”
I snatch my hand back like I’ve been burned. “Shut. Up.”
He chuckles, the sound curling down my spine in ways it absolutely shouldn’t. “Whatever you say, Princess.”