Snowflake Wishes by Maggie McGinnis Page B

parts on both sides at once.
    â€œHow in the world are we going to sleep here?” she asked.
    Noah looked around him. “We’ve got two winter coats, one blanket, and two vinyl booth seats. Suggestions?”
    â€œWell, last time some guy purposely stranded me in a mountain diner—”
    â€œYeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes.
    â€œWhat if we each sit on one side and put our feet up on the other? Kind of sit-sleep?”
    He raised his eyebrows. “Will your feet reach over to this side?”
    â€œReally? A short joke?” She shook her head, shifting her body so her feet came up under the table and onto his side of the booth. It was hideously awkward, since the position left her butt hanging somewhere in midair under the booth.
    â€œComfortable?” His eyebrows were up again, his lips trying not to smile.
    â€œJust like a feather bed.”
    â€œCome sit on this side with me. I’ll even let you lean on me if you promise not to snore.”
    She laughed. “I don’t snore.”
    â€œOf course not. Never did.”
    With those two sentences, Piper felt walls crumbling as she remembered him yawning through an entire Sunday long ago. It turned out she’d kept him awake for most of the night, but he hadn’t had the heart to poke her … or suffocate her with a pillow.
    The wind howled outside the window, making Piper shiver, even though the diner was perfectly warm. She looked at Noah, and every cell in her body wanted to scooch over and sit beside him, letting his warmth envelop her as they both drifted to sleep.
    â€œCome on, Piper. It’s an accepted blizzard survival method—you curl up and share body heat.”
    â€œWe’re in a perfectly warm diner.”
    He tipped his head toward the window. “In a blizzard. It counts.”
    She rolled her eyes, but before she could talk herself out of it, she pushed herself out of the booth and then slid in beside him. He stretched his legs across to the other seat, and she’d be damned if he didn’t actually look kind of comfortable.
    He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, the picture of a guy who had no intentions of taking liberties with the situation. She should have been relieved, but instead, she found herself wishing maybe he’d sling his arm around her shoulders or something.
    â€œYou can prop your feet up on my legs if it helps, shorty.” His eyes stayed closed, but he smiled.
    Piper fussed around with her coat, trying to make the tiny booth as comfortable as possible, and finally she gingerly propped her feet on his legs, then laid her head back against the top of the booth. She couldn’t imagine sleeping in this position.
    â€œYou’re never going to fall asleep like that.” He opened one eye and lifted his arm. “C’mere. I won’t bite.”
    With a sigh, she leaned against him, snuggling in as his arm came down around her. His body was the perfect combination of hard, soft, warm … solid, and it was all she could do not to sneak her hand under his sweater to feel the sculpted planes of his chest.
    She swallowed hard.
    He opened one eye again. “I know it’s tough being this close to my body without ripping my clothes off, but if you could remember we’re in a public diner, I’d appreciate it.”
    â€œI’ll do my best.” She kept her head down lest he see the redness she could feel taking over her cheeks.
    He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and she struggled not to melt. “Sweet dreams, Piper.”
    She stayed snuggled against him for what felt like an hour, but despite being actually sort of comfortable, she couldn’t fall asleep. Her brain was cruising at warp speed, and her pathetic little eggs were having a luau, thinking there was a remote possibility they might not actually die.
    â€œPiper?” His voice rumbled through his chest and to her cheek. “You going to twitch all