If I Had You (Christmas In Harper Falls) by Mary J. Williams

me how much the movie touched
    them. One lady said she cried for two hours straight then called her mother.
    They saw it together the next day.”
    “Did she cry again?”
    “They both did,” Sam said. “Like
    babies.”
    “I don’t know, Sam.” It was tempting. For so many
    reasons.
    “Think about it. No hurry. No pressure.”
    “Really?”
    Hearing the doubt in her voice, Sam smiled. His reputation
    for getting what he wanted was well known — and well earned.
    “I promise not to push — for now. A month, maybe two,
    down the road? No guarantees.”
    Lila felt a rush of emotion that had nothing to with her
    book. A month, maybe two, down the road. A chance to have contact
    with Sam after this week. Did that make her a glutton for punishment? Getting
    all tingly thinking about a chance to talk with Sam at some unsettled
    date? Lila didn’t care. She would take what she could get and worry about the
    implications later.
    “Deal.”
    Sam pulled Lila in for a long kiss. He wondered if she
    realized what she had agreed to. As far as he was concerned, she gave him
    permission to walk back into her life. As he deepened the kiss, his hands
    delving under her robe, Sam knew one thing. He wouldn’t wait long. A month? He
    could go without seeing her, touching her, for that long. Then Lila moaned. Her
    fingers threaded through his hair. The kiss escalated, soared.
    “Three weeks,” Sam hissed through his teeth when
    her hand left his hair to cup his erection.
    “Hmm?” Lila asked. Her eyes were cloudy with
    passion.
    “Nothing, honey.”
    Sam lifted Lila. Would his arms feel empty after he left
    her? Two weeks would be pushing his luck. Three. Definitely three.

 
CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    THE WEEK FLEW by. Time never dragged when you wanted it to.
    Lila felt like she was in a strange bubble. Insulated from
    the outside world, yet aware that as every minute passed, their time together
    slipped away.
    With the holiday rush behind her, she could leave Peony in the hands of her very competent assistant manager. Lila was free to spend
    her days, and nights, playing with Sam.
    Alex and her friends left them in peace. No unannounced
    visits or off-hours phone calls. She was in touch, in a normal way; as though
    she didn’t have a temporary roommate whom everyone knew shared her bed. She
    knew Alex wasn’t happy with the situation, but she appreciated his backing off.
    He let her make her own decisions. He acknowledged she was an adult. Lila loved
    him all the more for it.
    They took Cooper for long walks. They found he was a snow
    dog, happy to frolic for hours. He would chase anything that moved, squirrel,
    leaf. It was all fair game. Being outdoors with his two favorite people, Cooper
    was in doggy heaven.
    When they returned to the apartment, Cooper collapsed in an
    exhausted heap, content, and ready to sleep for hours. Lila and Sam used the
    time to become better acquainted. They would share a quiet meal, discussing a
    wide variety of topics. Nothing was out of bounds. Politics, religion. Global
    warming, pollution. Family Guy versus American Dad . They agreed
    on most subjects, debated others with a heated respectfulness.
    Either way, it always ended the same — in bed. Or on the
    couch. On the floor. In the shower. The sex was sometimes playful. Sometimes
    intense. Always satisfying beyond her wildest imagination. Sam was a dream
    lover. Considerate, inventive, and willing to let Lila experiment. Even when
    her fantasy turned out to be completely impractical.
    “Where did you hear about this position?”
    “In a book.”
    “Not The Joy of Sex ?” Sam tried to adjust
    his position. Logistically, Tab A was not going to fit into Slot B.
    “No.”
    Lila shifted. She peered up at him between her spread legs.
    Bent over, grasping her ankles was an incredibly awkward sex position. Not to
    mention uncomfortable.
    “The Kama Sutra ?”
    “ My Wild Weekend with the Billionaire Next Door .”
    “Ah.”
    Giving up, Lila