Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Aurora
I sat on the bed and stared at the wall. A part of me wanted to get my car unstuck, find my Airbnb and get working on my piece, but a bigger part of me wanted to stay.
I didn’t celebrate Christmas or spend time with family. I should run for the hills. My mind and heart disagreed, sparking a battle I wasn’t invited to and did not know how to fix.
Looking down at the now empty tray of breakfast made me think of the kids and their adorable faces. How could I say no to them?
Yet I barely knew these people. Besides, how kind they were. So why did it matter to me?
My finger hovered over the call button on my phone, ready to dial a tow truck, when a thought hit me- when will I ever have the chance to decorate gingerbread houses with a hot mountain man and his two children? Probably never.
So instead of hitting the call button, I cleared the screen and pulled up my messages, sending a quick text to the Airbnb owner that I was stuck in the snow and I’d get back to them on when I’d arrive. I had paid in advance from now until a few days after Christmas, so I doubted they cared.
Once the message was sent, I shut my phone off and tossed it on the bed. I changed into my comfiest leggings, sweater, and fuzzy socks, threw my hair up into a messy bun, and grabbed the empty tray off the bed before heading downstairs.
For the first time in a long time, I looked forward to Christmas activities with family.
As soon as I walked into the kitchen, the children ran up behind me. “Aurora! Are you staying?” Auggie asked, his light brown curls covering some of his eyes.
I placed the tray down on the counter and my dishes in the sink. “I think so. There’s way too much snow outside for me to leave, right?” I grinned.
“Yes, there’s a lot! My dad is out there plowing it right now. Want to go to see?” Auggie asked, his little sister dancing next to him while laughing.
“Come see Daddy!” Lola said. She didn’t have her front teeth and still was adorable as ever. Her sweet, child voice melted my heart.
Both of them could ask me for the world and I’d give it to them in an instant.
Lola wrapped her little hand around mine and I followed along to the living room, having only taken a quick peek at the room last night.
It was huge, with a big TV on the wall, a large sectional couch, and a huge bay window.
The Christmas tree stood along the far wall, near the dining room that led into the kitchen, and it glowed with lights and tinsel and lots of ornaments.
At the window, they pointed to their father happily plowing the driveway in his truck, Peanut right beside him.
“Daddy loves Peanut. They are best friends.” Auggie explained. “They do everything together.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. I bet you guys are Peanut’s best friends, too.”
“Yep! And Daddy’s,” Lola declared while jumping up and down and clapping. Her endless energy amazed me. I wish I had the same.
“So, tell me about the decorating today. What do you guys do?”
Auggie’s eyes lit up. “C’mon, I’ll show you!”
Both kids talked my ear off as they showed me what the gingerbread world was all about. By the time Cedar walked inside with Peanut, the kids had moved onto showing me pictures of gingerbread houses in the past.
“Wow, look at those windows!” I pointed to the stained-glass windows of one gingerbread house, the cabin like structure looking very similar to the cabin they lived in.
Peanut barreled into the kitchen first, followed by Cedar, who cackled with laughter when he spotted us at the table. “They got you with the pictures, huh?”
“I love them.” I said. “They’re all so cool looking.”
“I like her, Daddy.” Lola declared.
“Me too.” Auggie said. “She’s nice.”
“I see you worked your charm on my kids?” Cedar asked as he sat down next to me. His musky scent twisted my insides. I squirmed in my seat unsure I could even handle him sitting beside me.
“No, more like they worked their charm on me.” I picked up the pictures and moved them into a neat pile, Auggie doing the same.
Lola climbed into her father’s lap and hugged him tight and I swooned so hard. Seeing how much his children adored him told me everything I needed to know.
And as the day went on and I met his younger brother Tim, who the kids called Uncle Timmy, and his parents, Peggy and Bruce, or Papa and Nana, I had more fun than I could’ve ever imagined.
Peggy offered me a small gingerbread house to decorate, and I joined in, asking the kids for help, and laughing hysterically at silly mistakes.
I forgot all about my work deadline. Forgot about my problems, my work issues, and everything else stressing me out, pushing it all deep down.
Auggie and Lola brought out the fun in Christmas, the fun we often lose sight of while drowning in the busy stressfulness of it all. I liked it and I wanted more of it.
But what I wanted the most of?
Cedar.
The kiss played on repeat in my head.
Every look, every touch, every spoken word, all of it just made me fall harder.
And watching him interact with his children, so patient and loving, had me falling for him quickly. So quickly I could barely catch my breath.
“You’re glowing.” Cedar said as he walked into the living room after having put the kids to bed upstairs.
I blinked, a smile crossing my face as I watched him sit beside me. “It’s probably just the fire.”
Cedar moved closer, and my insides constructed. I sat up straighter and squeezed my thighs together. Did he have to be so damn hot?
“No, I don’t think so. You’re so beautiful you steal my breath, Aurora. And I think I’ve waited long enough to do this again.”
Cedar reached over with one hand and cupped the side of my face, the rough pad of his thumb caressing my cheek. Then he dipped his head low, moving his head closer to mine, his lips only inches away.
My breath caught in my throat and my heart pounded in my chest, threatening to break open my rib cage and splatter on the floor.
Cedar brushed his lips against mine and whispered, “I’m going to rock your fucking world, baby.”
And then he kissed me so hard, my panties were a total goner.