Page 61 of Distracted

My eyes locked in on her hopeful ones, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from wanting to touch her. So, I slipped an arm around her waist, pulled her close, and allowed my voice to drop a few octaves. “We can do it a hundred more times if it’s going to make you that happy.”

With one of her palms pressed tight to my chest, Ellery’s eyes searched my face. I watched as her gaze settled on my mouth.

Her breathing picked up, and her chest began to rise and fall rapidly with it.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was fighting this attraction. Maybe Ellery was struggling to hold herself back just as much as I was.

If she made this move, if she gave me that opening, there was no question I was going to take it.

Take it and run.

Because the more I was around her, the more I was finding that there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about her.

Ellery leaned her weight into me, pressing up slightly on her toes, and when our mouths were mere inches apart, Ellery was pushed forward into me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

That came from someone behind her.

“It’s okay,” Ellery immediately replied, the heat hitting her cheeks.

This younger girl had stumbled into Ellery and completely ruined our moment. Yes, ruined.

Because when Ellery returned her attention to me, she didn’t attempt to dive in for a kiss again. Instead, with her face flushed, she murmured, “We should probably get out of the way and head back up to the top.”

I wanted to be disappointed, and to some extent, I guess I was. But I decided it was better to look on the bright side.

At least I knew that a kiss wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibilities before the night was over. For now, I was going to give Ellery what she had requested and take her to the top again.

With any luck, I’d have another shot at kissing her beautiful mouth.

And the truth was, I couldn’t be mad that it didn’t happen before. Because we got back to the snowtubing and had an absolute blast.

It was the most fun I’d had in as long as I could remember.

SIXTEEN

Ellery

I didn’t prepare for this.

I didn’t anticipate this.

I’d spent the majority of my life, even before I married Patrick, being a planner. I planned my days. I planned my stories. I planned my future.

And while I didn’t necessarily get anywhere near what I had hoped to get when it came to my future, it was my knack for planning that got me to where I was now.

Planning had gotten me out of that situation, even if I was technically still in the midst of it.

Today was different, though.

Today was about not making a plan.

Today was spontaneous and exciting.

Today was nothing short of magical.

It was all thanks to Kane. He’d given me the best day of my life. Hands down.