Christmas Kisses by H.M. Ward Read Free Book Online

rebuff my advances all night and is worried about it. I make a vow to keep my hands to myself. Cross my heart and hope to die. Or not.
    I watch Ryan’s hands on th e deck, the way they move. If his fingers could trail down my chest, just for a m oment , I’d die. I know I would. There’s no way I could live through that, and yet.
    Oh, fuck. Pick a game. I don’t know any card games except Old Maid, War, and—“Go Fish.” I smile like I’m serious when he looks up.
    Ryan laughs and shakes his head. “ Okay, and what are the stakes?” He deals cards and lets me make the rules of this crazy little card game.
    I move to pull my knees into my chest and stop. Damn dress. I want to sit on the floor with him the way we used to, when I was wearing jeans and a tee shirt, not this. I shift my legs. His eyes follow the movement, but he doesn’t comment. “Winner gets to ch o ose the next game.”
    “And the loser?”
    “Does a booty dance in the snow.” Yeah, that sounds good and clean, right? Plus , it ’ s freezing and should cool off my flaming panties pretty fast. I intend to lose. I suck at every card game invented. I’m a guaranteed loser.
    “A booty dance?” he asks.
    “Yeah, are you up for it? Or is that too girlie for you?”
    He sh r ug s his shoul ders, “ Nope, and y ou know that you’re the one who’s going to be dancing, right?”
    “Booty dance,” I correct.
    “What’s the difference?”
    “Regular dancing doesn’t count. You have to wildly shake your booty.”
    “Ah, so it’s meant to be freezing and humiliating?”
    “Yup.” I rub my palms together and pick up my cards. “Hello. My name is Holly Connelly. You killed my Caprice. Prepare to die.”
    He grins at me, but it mixes with another expression, like he thinks I might be crazy. Well, that’s okay. I am crazy. I’m in his room, alone, in the middle of a snow storm playing Go Fish. Of course I’m crazy. “Come on, pokey, pick a card so I can kick your ass.” I talk trash like I’m trying to win and by the third round, I’m clearly losing.
    Ryan laughs. “Better get that booty dance ready. I believe I kicked your ass.” He puts down his last two cards and I pout.
    “Another round?”
    “Hell, no. We’re going outside right now.” He jumps up and take s my arm, pulling me up with him. I pause trying to grab my boots, and he lets me pull them on. I zip them quickly and act like I’m dreading it. When we push through the front doors, I walk out onto the snow covered front lawn of the dorm.
    I glance back at him. The cold air fills my lungs, stinging my cheeks and whipping my hair across my face. God, he looks beautiful. He stands there watching me as the snow falls around him. There’s a street light behind Ryan’s head that casts a golden glow around his face. I thought the snow would chill me, help me snap out of it, but it doesn’t. Awh , crap .
    The longer I wait, the worse it’ll be. I turn abruptly and hold my hands up and shake my butt. I turn around 360 degrees, laughing and doing a kickass booty dance, when I see Ryan’s face. He’s smiling so hard that it looks like his cheeks will crack. The wind whips at the hem of my dress lifting it, and my hands smack it bac k down. My body is frozen. Snow flakes cling to my skin and melt. I stop and look at him.
    I open my mouth to say something, but he cuts me off. “That was the best booty dance, I have ever seen. And I mean, in my entire life.”
    I grin. I can’t help it. I love making him laugh. “Well, that’s the only one you’re going to see tonight. I’m not losing again.”
    “Good thing you went first. Now I know exactly how silly I’ll look. It’s a good threat to those of us who have never booty danced before.”
    We laugh like lunatics and go back to his room, play another game—this time War—and after a do-over, and another retry, I lose all three times. Every time I lost the stakes compounded , which means my booty dance has to be three times