Connected: Part 4 of the On The Edge Series

Chapter 24

"I love you," he whispered into my ear.

I hung onto him, my arms twisting behind me to find his neck as the waves of sensation rolled through me. Once strength returned to my body, I turned in his arms, allowing my lips to glide across his chest. His skin tasted sweet from the water that clung to him.

"That's what I get for washing your hair?" I managed.

Billy's chest lept with a laugh behind my lips.

"What would I get if I learned to cook?" I teased, as I turned to face him.

"Sweetheart, I love you; everything else you do is just gravy," he flirted before his lips met mine in a deep kiss. "I'm going to leave you to your shower; otherwise, we'll just keep getting dirty," he teased.

"Yeah, we went from PG-13 to X pretty quickly," I agreed as he slipped from the shower.

The sounds of Billy at the piano filtered through the condo as I dressed. He wasn't singing, but it was easy to feel where his mind was from the song selection. He would flip from upbeat rockabilly to Christmas songs and back. It filled the condo with a happy feeling that spread a smile across my face.

"Hey," I whispered as I slipped next to him.

"Hello." His tone curled around the l's in his alluring midwestern accent as his fingers continued to dance across the keys. "How are you feeling?"

"Extremely relaxed." My answer made me blush.

Billy's smile split his face. "Any requests?"

"Hm," I pondered. "You pick," I finally resolved.

He gave me a smile before breaking into Loving Cup.

"I haven't heard this song in so long," I admitted, letting my head fall to his shoulder.

"We should get going," Billy murmured as the song quieted.

"Mmhmm, just a few more minutes," I whined.

"We have a lifetime," he reminded me as he pulled me from his side.

I reluctantly let him pull me up from the bench. "Just think, tonight we'll be back in Duluth," I mused.

"Are you excited or sad?" Billy asked as he helped me slip on my coat.

"Yes," I giggled. "This has been better and worse than I thought it would be. Thank you for coming."

"No thank you needed; there's no place I'd rather be." He kissed the crown of my head before slipping on his jacket and opening the door for me.

"Good thing we got that tree," I teased.

"Hey, it made the condo smell like Christmas, if nothing else," Billy defended. "I never knew you were such a Grinch."

"Mmhmm," I teased.

I flipped the station to one that played all Christmas songs for the ride and slid into Billy's side. No thoughts could stick in my head. The warm haze of Billy's proximity made my mind blur like I was still in a cozy dream.

"Merry Christmas," my mom enthusiastically greeted us at the door.

"Merry Christmas," Billy exuberantly said back as he pulled her into a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Mom," I offered as I hugged her as well.

My mom looked on with a beam as Billy again helped me with my coat.

"Anything I can do?" Billy asked as he hung up my coat.

"Actually, I realized that a couple of the legs on the kitchen stools were loose. Do you think you could tighten them up?" My mom had clearly given some thought to things for Billy to do.