Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

“Don’t you need to work?”

He lifted his mouth just enough to answer. “Probably. But you’re distracting me.”

“Do not use me as an excuse. Go and work.” She pushed at his chest. “Deadline.”

He smiled against her mouth. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

“I’m just pointing out that we’ve been indoors for two days and we’ve done nothing but talk and have sex. Neither of us has done any work.”

He stilled and then slowly lifted his head, a frown on his face. “Two days?”

“Yes, Alec. Two days.” And the fact that he hadn’t registered the time passing sent a warm buzz through her body. “We need to go back in the house and warm up at least before we walk over to your neighbor.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It was over an hour before they were ready to leave the house again and Alec didn’t work. Instead he used the hour well, stripping her naked in the daylight and exploring every curve with slow deliberation. He knew exactly how to touch her, where to touch her, and he used that knowledge, swamping her with sensation.

She could have stayed there all day, but she knew Alec was worried about Meg, so she dressed in her warmest layers and went down to the kitchen.

She poured soup into a flask and put it in a backpack along with a loaf of crusty bread and some cookies Emily had made. “Do you think she’ll need anything else? Canned goods?”

Alec shook his head. “If she does, then she can give us a list and we’ll stock up at Harbor Stores. But she should be all right. Zach checked on her last week.”

“This is one of the many things I love about the island.” Sky fastened the backpack. “Does the island grapevine know that bad boy Zach is checking in on little old ladies?”

“Not sure.” He zipped his coat. “I don’t pay much attention to island gossip.” He opened the door and Skylar gasped as the cold hit her.

“Funny, really, to choose to live in a place where it’s so cold it hurts your face.”

“You didn’t choose to. You’re my guest. You can leave whenever it gets too much.”

Her heart gave a lurch. “Are you asking me to leave?”

He turned with a frown. “No.”

“Because if the sex is distracting you from your work—”

“It is.” He gave a sexy half smile that made her heart kick against her chest.

She tried to remember if this was the way she’d felt a few days ago but she couldn’t remember.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be bored with each other soon.”

He looked at her steadily. “What about you? Is it distracting you from your work?”

“No. I’m going to need to go back to the studio at some point, but right now I’m working on ideas for my next collection and I can do that anywhere.” She wasn’t ready to go back to New York yet. It was as if that part of her life was somehow connected with Richard and while she was here, he couldn’t intrude.

Wishing she’d never mentioned it she looked across the sea. “Maine has extreme light changes. It’s spectacular. I’d live here if I could.”

“Permanently?”

They started to walk, trudging through the snow toward the road.

“Maybe.” She wasn’t sure exactly when the thought had come to her. All she knew was that life always felt better when she was on the island. “This place has always been special to me. It’s a sanctuary, somewhere to escape to. Whenever I come here I leave my troubles behind on the mainland.”

“You never thought of moving here before?”

“No. After I graduated I stayed in the city. My studio space is there. And then I started dating a guy who regarded a trip here as the equivalent of space travel.”